1950s Camillus Navy Pilot Survival Knife

[bayonetman]

Many of you know that in addition to my interest in bayonets, I have an interest also in military knives, especially those made by Camillus.

 

Collecting Camillus is easier than many others since they were a large producer which means there are a lot of them, many different models, and thanks to Tom Williams and Frank Trzaska, there is a great deal of authoritative information available.

 

For some time I have been keeping an eye out for one of the somewhat harder ones to find, the 1953-1957 era Pilots Survival Knife which bridged the gap between the USN Mark 1 knife which many aircrew carried, the Jiant Jackknife which was the official knife, and the later and very well known Jet Pilots Knife.

 

This knife is often misidentified as a USN Mark One, as it was by M.H. Cole in his books. Frank wrote an excellent article for Knife World magazine on these knives in the December 1998 issue. The article fortunately was reprinted in Military Knives, A Reference Book which is an absolute necessity for anyone interested in US military knives. It is inexpensive and can be ordered directly from Frank's website at http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/.

 

I finally found one at a price I could afford and in acceptable condition, although it does show quite a bit of use. However, I like pieces that have that "been there, done that" look so it didn't bother me as much as it would some.

 

I am posting a photo for those that are not familiar with these so you might know what to look for. Other than the maker mark, they are not otherwise military marked. They were also made by Imperial and Schrade Walden.

 

5" unfullered blade, 6 ring leather grip with high impact plastic spacers at each end , flat pommel plate peened on, Parkerized finish (although Frank comments that some are bright) .

 

Sheaths are basically as shown, most are found with 6 rivets as shown although the rare earliest issue had only 5. This one has a couple of anomalies, especially the angled corner on the upper side. It apparently was made this way (see the rivet location and the stitching, also the edge border follows the line) but that is not standard. Normally a standard type leather grip retainer which is missing on this one.

 

This specimen is marked with a name which is marked over another name. Haven't done any research on the name, don't think I will find much but may give it a shot one of these days. Name is Sedell (the J look to the first letter is due to a capital T under the S)

 

I keep telling myself that one of these days I should put a lot of this Camillus information together in the reference section - maybe during the winter when I am otherwise bored.

 

[thorin6]

I've seen at least one of those on either Ebay or Gunbroker in the past year; never knew what it was. I think it was advertised as a USN Mk1.

[Jack's Son]

Gary,

You could fill the reference section in just one winter, if you're a mind too. :thumbsup:

[SKIPH]

-Gary-I'm a 100% in agreement with what you said. The pilot's knives are really nice. I have 3, a Camillus, and 2 Imperials. I have the bent guard Imperial, mint condition, which is as nice a knife as you could find. Something I have pondered over in looking at the pilot knives was how delicate, and light they seem. It would be very easy to break the tip of the blade, or even the blade itself, I can see where they would have developed the more robust, and practical JPK. The sheath that you picture, with the downward cut, looks like it was designed for the bent guard Imperial version, I'll dig out mine this afternoon and check out the sheaths again, not sure if I have that, Can't do it now, too early in the morning, and have to leave for work. SKIP

[bayonetman]

Skip, I went back and checked my photo files where I keep reference photos, and you are correct. The sheath on this Camillus knife is one that was for the bent guard Imperial, I assume they were probably swapped in service. Now I guess I will have to find a Camillus sheath, but thanks for pointing this out.

[sactroop]

My sterile Camillus is pretty beat up. Looks to me that the tip was probably broken at sometime and the tip reworked.

 

 

I’ll have to get the others out and take some pictures. I’ve run across the sheaths for the bent guard more often then the one for the straight guards. So much so I’m wondering if there’s something to be discovered about these sheaths?

[SKIPH]

Gary-Hold on! Just got home from work checked out my pilot knives. The Mint Camillus came in the same scabbard as yours. The sheath with the cut out was issued with the knife. My bent guard Imperial has a regular flat top , that keeps the guard slightly raised. Now, we have something to ponder! Did the company making scabbards mis-direct where the cut out scabbards were to go? Maybe they were originally made for Imperial. Orders got switched. That is if it was the same manufacturer. Dilemma-Do I switch my bent guard Imperial to the cut out sheath (which in my mind is correct), or do I leave them as is. Would the switch be ethical, or just rationalized? Would it screw up the knife collecting world in the future? I wonder!!! Food for thought. HA HA! SKIP

[bayonetman]

I have to admit that if I had them I would probably swap the sheathes, but I guess it is possible that some were issued "wrong" . Not sure how they were issued, I assume with a sheath in the box so to speak. The sheathes are rather flimsy, most of the few I have seen show wear and damage and it is certainly not out of the question that they got switched around a lot while in service.

 

This knife and sheath are mostly misidentified. Other than the article mentioned in my first post, I don't recall a reference that gets it right. Silvey and Boyd's United States Knives Collectors Guide shows them as Mark 1s and shows a straight guard Imperial in a leather Mark 1 sheath that looks like the one Camillus used. He also shows two bent guard Imperials in the right type sheathes with one of them stated to be bright finish and red spacers. Frank states that he feels that to be a commercial knife and I tend to agree.

 

Silvey in United States Military Knives 1941-1991 again shows the Camillus as a Mark 1 in a USN Mark 1 sheath (which I think might be possible as it is certainly a better sheath in terms of durability and may have been swapped out by an air crewman in the 50s). Shows the Imperial bent guard with correct sheath as a Mark 1. Shows a Schrade Walden as a Mark 1 in a bent guard sheath. He shows all three as Mark 1s in Knives of the United States Military in World War 2 but doesn't show sheathes.

 

I think Frank was the first writer to correctly identify this knife, the others simply did not have the information at the time they wrote. I believe Tom Williams of Camillus was the one who gave Frank most of the information from the Camillus files. All of us owe a great deal to both Frank and Tom for all of the information they found and share with the rest of us.

 

Here is the photo of the Imperial from my files. I sold this knife on eBay awhile back for a friend, didn't draw much interest even though it was correctly identified.

 

[SKIPH]

Now I'm really torn. Do I put the Imperial in the cut out sheath or not. Gary's last pic shows what probably is correct. But, I got the knife w/ the blade still in a thin wrapper with the straight sheath. Sactroop's pic had his Camillus in the cut out sheath also. It would be great if someone had a mint knife either Camillus, or Imperial in the wrapper or box w/ the original sheath. The mystery continues, and I'm undecided. Can't locate my straight guard Imperial to check out the scabbard-yet. SKIP

[SKIPH]

I STAND CORRECTED! In my haste to solve a mystery, I messed up. Yesterday I grabbed my bent guard Imperial, and what I thought was my straight guard Camillus. This was after I checked my inventory list, I mis-read a Camillus JPK for a pilots knife. Today I tore through my stuff, looking for what I thought was a missing Imperial straight guard, and found it. It was in the mint cut-out scabbard all the time. SHOULD HAVE HAD MY GLASSES ON! Did not read the maker mark on the knife. Any way, Imperial did get the cut out sheaths for the pilot knives, most likely as a generic for either straight guard or bent. But, that still doesn't solve the Camillus straight guard in cut-out sheaths mystery. My Imperial sheaths are two very different types with one left hand, the other right w/ cut-out. Has to have been a generic manufacturer for companies, plus Schrade. Now I could switch knives and sheaths, guilt free. Sorry! SKIP

[DJS134]

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I've been trying to identify a knife for a while and stumbled onto it (thread, not the knife).  Stacked leather washer (6) handle, oval pommel, no serrations on the spine, 5" blade without fuller or choil, and a 2 line tang stamp (Camillus N.Y.) on the ricasso.  It has been kicking around in the family for as long as I can remember and we assumed that it was issued to Dad when he was in the USN (1958 - 1962 NAS Pax).  You can see that he scratched his nickname "Ski" on the plastic spacer near the guard on both sides and the leather near the pommel.  I vaguely remember a scabbard but that would have been mid to late 60's.  

 

I'd run across the knife recently and started doing some research thinking that I'd add it to the BOB, camp pack, or hiking gear.  But it seems to be something of a rarity.  Touched up the edge and it sharpened up nicely.

 

Any other info on this blade other than the excellent info provided by Bayonetman?  I'm not a collector, but would like as much info as I can get and any suggestions for preservation/restoration.  The leather seems to be in pretty decent shape for the age and could probably use a soak in mineral oil.

[SKIPH]

DJS134- Quick suggestion on the leather handle. I just take a rag, and apply brown shoe polish on the leather washers, (do not fill in the grooves, not necessary). Apply it by hand, then cover the blade or wear a good glove, and brush the handle like you would a shoe. Finally buff the handle with a soft rag like a shoe. Been doing with with my leather handled knives for over 54 years, works great, and protects the leather. Also, put a light coat of oil on the pommel, guard, and blade.  Haven't lost a knife yet.  SKIP