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Video of Schrade Walden Orange Parachutist Shroud Cutter Knife


Bob Hudson
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I thought I'd share this short video I did on the Schrade Walden MC-1 Orange Parachutist knife.

 

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Nice one! A friend flew 170+ missions in VN (F-100s and then later A-10s into the 2000s) and promised to give me his parachutist knife long ago. Just last weekend at a hangar party I saw a mutual buddy had one he got from him so I was kinda disappointed(it's just stuff, I thought). Then this vet, who was also there, said he had 5 or 6 of them. The one I handled was kinda loose and wouldn't lock closed. Maybe if I bug him a bit I'll eventually end up with one that works well.

BTW, he said the bomber pilots kept their (parachutist) knives in the designated thigh pocket of their flight suits but the fighter pilots would carry theirs in their survival vests. Apparently, it was a thing for a seasoned fighter pilot to reach down and rip the "pecker pocket" (his words, not mine) off a new fighter pilot's flight suit as a sort of initiation/tradition as he didn't need that pocket. He said you could tell the real pilots from the sissies that flew bombers this way. He's a hoot!

 

Thanks for the video!

Dave

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I think some don't realize these were designed to be carried with the hook extended, like the stand alone fixed blade shroud knives are. Here is one that I have that came in a USN MA-2 ejection seat torso harness that was modified with the survival gear pockets to eliminate wearing a SV-2B survival vest. This one is made by Camillus and was from the mid 90s. Also note the safety precaution taping the snap blade closed. I left it as I found it in the harness. These were carried in OV-1 Mohawk survival vests as well like the Navy carried them in SV-2 vests. If you look at the pockets for them in G suits, you will see its reinforced to carry it with the hook open. Id probably imagine most who did carry them just in the flight suit pocket carried them closed up.

 

 

post-11373-0-33720900-1554948437.jpg

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I think some don't realize these were designed to be carried with the hook extended, like the stand alone fixed blade shroud knives are.

 

 

Wasn't it the Navy that used the non-folding hook?

 

The folding knives have been criticized because the lanyard bail is kind of in the way of the large blade as it opens, but it was designed to operate with the hook open.

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Wasn't it the Navy that used the non-folding hook?

 

The folding knives have been criticized because the lanyard bail is kind of in the way of the large blade as it opens, but it was designed to operate with the hook open.

 

The USN and the USAF use the fixed ones now. They are in USN survival vests and USAF still puts them in G suit pockets. Not sure on the USN, but the USAF installed the fixed blade ones on the parachute riser of back chutes and even on the F-4 Phantoms ejection seat chute riser. The fixed blade ones come in a bright orange nylon pouch that was designed to be mounted on the RH chute riser if I recall correct. When the chute deployed, it was there above you to grab and use if needed. The MC-1 snap blade knives were used by all services, Ive seen some come from USN, USAF and US Army aircrews. I was surprised to see that one I posted come from a Navy rig that late in the 90s. Army used them in the OV-1 survival vests til they retired the aircraft in 1996.

 

I was actually shown by a US Army Vietnam vet to use the bail when opening them. They should have a strong spring and they will have a tendency to open and then hit its full travel and retreat back towards the close instead of locking. He showed me putting the bail straight out helped slow it down a little and reach the locked position. Then the slide lock is used by the button. That should be engaged in both the closed and open positions for safety.

 

Id love to hear from any Paratrooper vets to see if they actually ever carried them. Where would it be carried for them, cant really access your pockets with a chute harness on and there's no pouch for them that Im aware of on a troop type chute.

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Also not sure how long that MIL spec stayed around as the ones from the 70s and 80s were MIL-K-25594 and labeled as KNIFE, POCKET W/HOOK BLADE. This MIL spec was cancelled in 1993 so you can see they must have been phasing the snap blade versions out in the 90s. That torso harness I have was actually placed in service in 93 that had the MC-1 in it. Any of the shrouds Ive seen from recently were the fixed blade hooks with no pocket knife and made by Aerial Machine & Tool.

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Ive been really interested in these lately so I keep reading and finding more info. It looks like that MIL-K-10043 spec was last updated in 63 as I think you mentioned in your vid, and then looks to have been cancelled in 1968, so perhaps 68 is the time frame it became the MIL-K-25594. Found this image of the drawing and specs of the knife, and then also showing a picture from a friend who used this knife in Vietnam 1965-1966 flying Army OV-1 Mohawks. Note it has a similar constructed lanyard still attached as whats shown in the spec drawing. His is a Camillus example of the knife.

post-11373-0-33749200-1555017007_thumb.jpg

post-11373-0-88145200-1555017013.jpg

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It looks like that MIL-K-10043 spec was last updated in 63 as I think you mentioned in your vid, and then looks to have been cancelled in 1968, so perhaps 68 is the time frame it became the MIL-K-25594. Found this image of the drawing and specs of the knife

 

That clears up my question to whether the MIL-K-10043 spec was a two-bladed knife, or single-bladed like these WWII automatic parachute knives with no hook.

 

mc1.jpg

 

In another thread, the forum's Charlie Flick earlier posted these examples of the first style:

 

flick-knifes.jpg

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From what I can tell there does seem to be overlap for the two specifications, MIL-K-100-43 (possibly 1949 or even earlier to 1968) and MIL-K-25594 (1957-1993).

Colonial attaches the same National Stock Number (5110-00-526-8740)to a knife they describe as a Paratrooper's knife, and MC-1. They id theirs as an M-724.

While its outside appearance looks like the traditional MC-1, its construction, IMHO is much better than the one's contracted to the USAF.

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Here is a picture of two different arrangements of the non-folding hook. The cases are held together by very thin thread, and the hook itself has a rubber piece over the hook. The gray-green pouch has some nomenclature that is visible, but the nomenclature on the orange one is very faint.

 

 

post-11546-0-07320000-1555028064_thumb.jpg

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Those are neat. Not a very long lanyard once you get it out.

Dave

 

They mount those cases on the parachute riser right below the connector links so you dont really need much lanyard to reach up and cut a shroud line free.

 

Ive seen these fixed ones made by both Schrade Walden and Aerial Machine & Tool Company (AMTC)

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