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linemen tools and pouch HELP


Costa
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picked this item up today. I know it is a signal corps linemen pouch and tools but, is it all ww2?? knife is made by cutmaster, pliers made by H BOKER-USA -5613-6 STAMPED. back of pouch has painted in yellow Co I 123 No5. scratched in leather is I Co 1 2 3 (in roman numerals) and L9 as seen. want to know if this is a ww2 set up.

post-73-0-18677800-1505331758.jpg

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The knife and pliers were current issue in the 1960's. For awhile, when I was in the USAF, I worked in the Tool Issue Center of the 410th Supply Sqd. I have one of those knives and I had a pair of pliers just like those shown. Never seen that pouch tho.

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The pouch stamped on the front and the wooden handled electrician's knife are most likely WWII (pouches stamped on the rear in ink are 60s/70s). The pliers are probably later, maybe 60s. Both the pliers and the knife may be commercial. Not uncommon to find such mixed sets.

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The pouch stamped on the front and the wooden handled electrician's knife are most likely WWII (pouches stamped on the rear in ink are 60s/70s). The pliers are probably later, maybe 60s. Both the pliers and the knife may be commercial. Not uncommon to find such mixed sets.

Just about all the hand tools the government buys are from "commercial", sources. Specialized tools may be made just for the military, but the majority are items available commercially. The point is; it is very heard to distinguish hand tools bought for the military to use and those you can buy on the civilian market

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Just about all the hand tools the government buys are from "commercial", sources. Specialized tools may be made just for the military, but the majority are items available commercially. The point is; it is very heard to distinguish hand tools bought for the military to use and those you can buy on the civilian market

That's particularly true after WWII, but the complete linesman tools (pouch, knife, pliers) I've found from WW2 have been marked. The problem comes that these sets stayed around for many years and many times the pliers and the knife were swapped out for more recent manufactured tools. From the Vietnam era on, neither the pliers or the knife were marked as best I can tell, as the ones we had in Germany in the early 70s (from the Service Supply Store) were indistinguishable from the commercial items. I might also add that we often repurposed the pouch; being in the Engineers we would carry the four-blade steel knife and the blasting cap crimpers instead of the electricians knife and the pliers.

 

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