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Jet Pilots knives 5 1/2 inch


doyler
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Here are some examples of the second type Jet pilots knife from my collection.From left to right are:

Camillus dated 3-67

Camillus dated 11-68

Ontario dated 2-80

Ontario dated 9-88

 

The 9-88 Ontario(4th knife) was carried by a pilot in the AirForce the others were all obtained at shows or flea markets.Comments welcome.

 

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Also notice the differance between the tip grind on the Camillus and Ontario knives

 

RON

I have an unissued Utica.It is dated with gray paint on the pommel top.Any Idea of value?Thanks,Pony.

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I have an unissued Utica.It is dated with gray paint on the pommel top.Any Idea of value?Thanks,Pony.

 

I don't recall ever seeing a dated Utica - would you mind telling me the date and a clear photo if possible?

 

The gray (or blue-gray) paint is correct, was for rust resistance after the pommel was peened on.

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BOB K. RKSS
I have an unissued Utica.It is dated with gray paint on the pommel top.Any Idea of value?Thanks,Pony.

>>> Post photos > value depends on Condition & Date.

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>>> Post photos > value depends on Condition & Date.

Here is the unissued Utica Jet Pilot's Knife.I think it's quite rare.Anybody wanna take a guess at value?Thanks,Pony. SORRY,It is not dated!

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Here is the unissued Utica Jet Pilot's Knife.I think it's quite rare.Anybody wanna take a guess at value?Thanks,Pony. SORRY,It is not dated!

 

Yes, it is quite rare, and good luck on getting a value. In the past 10 years or so I have only seen two ot these, one sold on eBay sometime back but was in well used condition. The other one was in a private collection, not for sale. Value? Whatever someone wants to pay as there is no established value for these. If you want to find out, put it on eBay with a high reserve and see what happens.

 

US Military Knives, Bayonets and Machetes Price Guide shows $1000 and up.

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Yes, it is quite rare, and good luck on getting a value. In the past 10 years or so I have only seen two ot these, one sold on eBay sometime back but was in well used condition. The other one was in a private collection, not for sale. Value? Whatever someone wants to pay as there is no established value for these. If you want to find out, put it on eBay with a high reserve and see what happens.

 

US Military Knives, Bayonets and Machetes Price Guide shows $1000 and up.

Gary,As I stated,it is not dated.Does that make a difference?Pony.

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In Coles book volumeIII on page 147 Cole states the manufacture of the Jet knife after 1962 when it was shortened one inch was made by Camillius and Milpar and at this time is being made by Utica Cutlery Co and the Ontario Knife Co of New York.I presume he is stating at the time of the drawing for the book.I see the drawing is dated under his signiture: M.H.COLE 71(1971)the book is dated 1979 but many of the plates were brought over from book I and book II.I would say your Utica is early 70s vintage.I also see there is no steel tip on your sheath wich is to me an early model.Some later sheaths had a metal tip and the last ones like the ones in my earlier post dated in the 1980s have a metal tip that wraps over the end and extends up the back of the sheath half way.

 

RON

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Yes, it is quite rare, and good luck on getting a value. In the past 10 years or so I have only seen two ot these, one sold on eBay sometime back but was in well used condition. The other one was in a private collection, not for sale. Value? Whatever someone wants to pay as there is no established value for these. If you want to find out, put it on eBay with a high reserve and see what happens.

 

US Military Knives, Bayonets and Machetes Price Guide shows $1000 and up.

 

What does the guide say for a Marbles 6 inch,blue model in exc plus condition?

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1. None of the few known Utica's are dated. They are so uncommon that it may be that all that were made was a small test run to submit for a possible contract. Frank Trzaska mentions in one of his articles that he had seen only one for sale in 20 years, and had been actively searching for one for a friend for 6 years. That degree of scarcity has to indicate either a very small (less than 100, maybe much less) production run or that the bulk of them went somewhere other than in regular US inventory. I know of a few scarce knives where the production run is known to have been well under 1000 and I see them far more often than the Utica Jet Pilot knife.

 

2. The book says that a Marbles 6 inch Jet Pilot knife, blued, is valued at $1200 and up.

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Gary

Thanks for the update.I agree the Utica is pretty scarce.I have also seen Franks articles.I was trying to put a time frame on the knife by useing Coles book and drawings,since the Uticas are note dated and Coles original drawing was dated 71.Could have been made earlier.They do have the same look and finnish as the other contracted knives of that period.Will be fun to start looking for one!!!You dont even see the 1980s dated one much at shows anymore.Take care

 

RON

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Gary

Thanks for the update.I agree the Utica is pretty scarce.I have also seen Franks articles.I was trying to put a time frame on the knife by useing Coles book and drawings,since the Uticas are note dated and Coles original drawing was dated 71.Could have been made earlier.They do have the same look and finnish as the other contracted knives of that period.Will be fun to start looking for one!!!You dont even see the 1980s dated one much at shows anymore.Take care

 

RON

Thanks for the research help on my Utica knife.I guess I have a really scarce bird.Pony.

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A nice collection of knives. Any idea why the top of the pommel was painted grey? And did all makers paint the pommels?

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A nice collection of knives. Any idea why the top of the pommel was painted grey? And did all makers paint the pommels?

Thanks for the comment.

The theory on painted pommels was to inhibit rust.The pommel,after being peened down was bright unfinnshed metal.

 

RON

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Thanks for the comment.

The theory on painted pommels was to inhibit rust.The pommel,after being peened down was bright unfinnshed metal.

 

RON

 

Thanks Ron.

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$1200 for a standard issue survival knife? Wow.

 

I better put mine in the safe!

 

I'll bet this is one you don't have in your collection. I bought this in the late 1970's and carried it on my web gear for nine years of service in the Army.

 

As I recalled I paid a whopping $12 for it, and only paid that much because I thought it looked cool! A lot of the troops simply carried butcher knives or their favorite Boy Scout sheath knife. This was before the "Rambo" craze... none of us carried a knife worth any more than that because you were just as likely to lose it somewhere in the field.

 

The sheath was originally a leather tan color. This stood out like a sore thumb against Army subdued uniforms, so I dyed it black with shoe leather dye. It stunk for days. If I was out in wet weather, I had to dry it out, and touch up the dye with one of those funky bottles with the little ball of cotton on the end of a metal swab.

 

You will note that it is manufactured of high quality Japanese industrial steel. If you look closely at the sharpening stone you will see it stamped "JAPAN" as is the hilt. There are no other markings on it.

 

Probably the most serious thing I ever did with this was open a box or cut some rope. But you had to have something cool hanging off your webgear or you just didn't have that hard core look!

 

I hate to disappoint you... but to me this little knife and the memories that go with it are worth more than anything else on the market.

 

By the way, there are a lot of misconceptions about these as being made as fighting knives. Quite the contrary, they were meant to be a cutting tool in a survival situation. I remember reading a manual that said NEVER, EVER make a spear using the knife as the spearpoint mounted on a stick. Let's say you managed to stick a wild pig with it, and the damn thing ran off. You not only lost your spear, but your knife as well. What you were supposed to to was take the knife and use it to sharpen the end of a stick, and use that as a weapon. If you stuck the pig and it ran off, you still had your hardened steel cutting tool to sharpen ANOTHER stick!

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BOB K. RKSS

Here's a mint condition Vietnam period made > Dated: "1-1969" "ONTARIO"; so this should put to rest notion (posted by another collector); that "Ontario didn't make these knives during the Vietnam War".

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BOB K. RKSS

Here's an early near mint condtion Blade Marked "CAMILLUS"; from My collection.

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BOB K. RKSS

Here are both CAMILLUS & ONTARIO > both Sheaths are Vietnam period, but NOTE the different SHAPE of first type CAMILLUS SHEATH > compared to to standard Vietnam issue: Ontario Sheath. thumbsup.gif

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gunbarrel
$1200 for a standard issue survival knife? Wow.

 

I better put mine in the safe!

 

Gil,

 

The $1,000 on up is for the rare Utica and the $1,200 on up is for the Marbles. Your knife is a Japanese replica currently worth under $50; of course, we understand that to you is priceless. Thanks for sharing it with us, along with the story.

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Here's a mint condition Vietnam period made > Dated: "1-1969" "ONTARIO"; so this should put to rest notion (posted by another collector); that "Ontario didn't make these knives during the Vietnam War".

 

Which collector said that Ontario didnt make knives during the Viet Nam War?It shows a clearly dated 1969 in Coles drawings in his books.As I stated in one post these drawing were brought over from his original books and the drawing is dated 1971.He shows another rendering of 4 knives done in 1978 and one of the drawn knives is the 1969 dated Ontario.

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BOB K. RKSS

Look under previous topic: "eBay Camillus Pilot's knife"; for collector's comment about "Ontario".

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Greg Robinson
Which collector said that Ontario didnt make knives during the Viet Nam War?It shows a clearly dated 1969 in Coles drawings in his books.As I stated in one post these drawing were brought over from his original books and the drawing is dated 1971.He shows another rendering of 4 knives done in 1978 and one of the drawn knives is the 1969 dated Ontario.

 

I may have said that....I don't recall for sure and am not inclined to do a search of earlier topics.....but if I did I would have said that either I "didn't think" they did "didn't believe" they did. I would never have made it an absolute without doing some research.

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