WWII Pilot Knife?
- Thread starter Audiyo
- Start date
Charlie Tuna
Elite Member
By appearance I am going to say Vietnam or later. On the edge of the pommel there is possibly a date and a maker. If it is a 6 inch blade early Vietnam, if it is a 5 inch blade Vietnam to present day.
Charlie
Charlie
It could also be a replica or a wannabe. I found a toasty one underwater that looked military but wasn't.
You could try some Citric acid to loosen the rust. You might want to just try this by soaking just the handle and the grip as the blade may be too far gone. That might give you a chance to find some identifiable markings on it.
Nice find!
Nice find!
flyguy784
Elite Member
Ox shoe.
dirtydog
Forum Supporter
Nice find. I found one in a little better shape that the end of the handle screwed odd for a place to peek matches and paper. Mine is a reproduction.
In 1965 as a Marine in Vietnam, we were issued a Marine Corps K Bar knife. Kind of looks like one.
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=75001&itemnum=33606&redir=Y
Acey
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=75001&itemnum=33606&redir=Y
Acey
jackdaniels
Forum Supporter
Your right , it is a k bar, pilots were issued it to.
Charlie Tuna
Elite Member
It's a pilots survival knife like I said, easily identified by the hexagon nut shape of the pommel.
Bill_Ace_350
Elite Member
Not just pilots. Army personnel also. Our supply SGT was cool.
First of all I ain't no knife collector, nor do I claim to know a darn thing about them. With that being said I went on line and did a little research on United States Arm Forces, issued Survival Knives and their history. I did see as Charlie Tuna said in his post that most all Air Force Pilot Survival knives, that are the same shape as the dug knife in this thread, do have a hexagon nut shape as the pommel. Where as the USMC KA Bar knife has a round pommel. http://www.kabar.com/most-famous-knife. Most other survival knifes I saw which had the title of Pilot Survival Knife, had 6" and 5" blades. Where as the KA Bar had a 7" blade and 11 7/8" from tip of blade to the back of the pommel. There where Pilot Survival knives which did have a similar leather handle as to the KA Bar. I did not see anything where the manufacture of the USMC KA Bar knife made any other version of the knife for any of the other services. Did see how the knife got the name "KA BAR". It said that in the late 1800's a trapper wrote a letter to the knife company, thanking them for making such a tough, strong knife. He said in his letter that he had shot a bear with his rifle and the bear, I guess came after him. His rifle jamb so he pulled his knife and killed the bear with it. The trappers spelling was "ALITTLE ROUGH" in the letter and what he wrote to describe his killing the bear was; "KA Bar." Kill Bear. The company like that and so the knife was named the KA BAR. Don't know if it is true or not but it is a good story.
Acey
Acey
Charlie Tuna
Elite Member
Bill Ace,
I've heard many stories of things getting shuffled around. It's pretty neat what ended up where. They were cool knives, even had the proper holes tie to a stick to make a spear from the knife. Good balance and stout. I used to have a really early 5 inch blade one (they only made them undated for about a year or so). It was painted a weird off whitish dull kind of color. The story was in the dark it would illuminate slightly for locating. It came from the estate of a Marine who served in Vietnam and was in no way a pilot. Don't remember where I sold or traded it, but I'm sure I got something neat out of it. Clean the edges of the pommel and you may be able to read a name. Camillus made a pile of these, as did Utica. Most military issue ones made were dated in the format of 5-67, etc. There are civilian copies of the pattern, but by appearance this is the only knife I have seen with the bolt head pommel.
I've heard many stories of things getting shuffled around. It's pretty neat what ended up where. They were cool knives, even had the proper holes tie to a stick to make a spear from the knife. Good balance and stout. I used to have a really early 5 inch blade one (they only made them undated for about a year or so). It was painted a weird off whitish dull kind of color. The story was in the dark it would illuminate slightly for locating. It came from the estate of a Marine who served in Vietnam and was in no way a pilot. Don't remember where I sold or traded it, but I'm sure I got something neat out of it. Clean the edges of the pommel and you may be able to read a name. Camillus made a pile of these, as did Utica. Most military issue ones made were dated in the format of 5-67, etc. There are civilian copies of the pattern, but by appearance this is the only knife I have seen with the bolt head pommel.
