Curved Life Raft and Medical Knife

[dustin]

It is always fun to learn a developmental background on an item. One thing that has been fairly consistent is how much the USAAF copied RAF designs especially in regards to emergency or safety equipment. During the early stages of the war in Europe (1942-1943)the USAAF acquired a great deal of emergency equipment to include on bombardment aircraft and to compliment US equipment. Much of it was done on unit levels slowly spreading throughout all operational groups in the ETO. One item the USAAF adopted was the RAF Dinghy Knife. I do not know when the RAF adopted this item but it is listed in Reference Stores as 27c/2008 (complete assembly) The Knife 27c/2023, Sheath 27c/2024. As popularity and a necessity for such an item grew this knife was incorporated into USAAF purposes in two principle ways. First to be included with life rafts and second to be adopted as a first aid knife. The adoption as a first aid knife came first as outlined in Technical Maintenance Instruction 01-20E-25A titled Installation of RAF First Aid Knife dated 22 December 1943. The fabric was removed leaving just the leather sheath and knife which was then mounted on a 1/8"x6"x8" piece of plywood and was mounted near the first aid kit.

RAF Dinghy Knife

[dustin]

Drawings attached to Tech Maintenance 01-20E-25A

[dustin]

For life raft use the USAAF officially standardized for installation on life rafts in revised Tech. Order 04-15-1 dated 5 January 1944.

[dustin]

In the spring of 1943 many articles of RAF equipment was submitted to the AAF Material Command for consideration of adoption, the dinghy knife was included and by the end of the year a US designed life raft knife was developed to official replace the scout type which was standard equipment. This new knife was principally copied from the RAF model but made in an American way. this knife is also considerably smaller than the RAF type. The USAAF model is designated as Knife, Floating class 04-B and was supplied as Contractor Furnished Equipment and was applied to the raft at the factory. These became available on shipments of life rafts in February 1944.

 

Comparison of the RAF and USAAF types.

[Welshman]

Never seen one before, what a neat bit of gear, thanks for showing dustin

[dustin]

The Aeromedical Laboratory developed their own version of a copy making several slight changes of the AAF model used on life rafts. One change is that it only consisted of a leather sheath with two Lift-A-Dots for attachment to an aircraft fuselage. The other change was the curvature of the blade though both knives look very similar they were intended for completely different functions. For us in life rafts it was intended for cutting rope and line but the medical type was designed to cut clothing. The change in the blade was intended for a different cutting motion. This knife was designated as Knife, Emergency, Curved class 17B stk.# 7900-470950 and introduced about the same time the life raft version was.

 

A comparison of the AeroMed and life raft knife

[Tony V]

dustin

 

Great information,, thank you

 

Tony

[Patchcollector]

Interesting thread.I like these unusual knives.

[sactroop]

Dustin, Once again thanks for the great research. The next time I get the chance to do a walk thru on any of the WW2 U.S. medium/Large bombers I'm going to be looking for the Two Lift the Dot studs mounted on the fuselage.

[dustin]

Your welcome, threads like these are fun to do though off the normal radar of the masses so doesn't spark much conversation. They would be by the aero first aid kits and interesting if signs of either installations are present.

[manayunkman]

Thanks for posting this.

[rifledoc1]

Thanks to this highly information topic I know the floating curved blade type of life raft knives were applied to USAAF life rafts starting in early 1944. 

 

I am seeking information on the pictured floating curved life raft knife that I recently added to my collection.

 

I have two questions. 

 

1)     Is the additional fabric retaining strap a standard modification, and if yes, when was the modification implemented, and by which service/s?

 

2)     The sewing makers on the rectangular rubber interface indicate the knife was sewn onto the life raft surface instead of  through the use of an adhesive like rubber cement.  Was the sewing of these types of life raft knife onto life rafts a standard procedure, and if yes, when was the procedure standardized and by which service/s?

 

[dustin]

4 hours ago, rifledoc1 said:

Thanks to this highly information topic I know the floating curved blade type of life raft knives were applied to USAAF life rafts starting in early 1944. 

 

I am seeking information on the pictured floating curved life raft knife that I recently added to my collection.

 

I have two questions. 

 

1)     Is the additional fabric retaining strap a standard modification, and if yes, when was the modification implemented, and by which service/s?

 

2)     The sewing makers on the rectangular rubber interface indicate the knife was sewn onto the life raft surface instead of  through the use of an adhesive like rubber cement.  Was the sewing of these types of life raft knife onto life rafts a standard procedure, and if yes, when was the procedure standardized and by which service/s?

 

 

 

What you have there is a post WWII manufactured life raft knife, note: 56C####. That is a part number with "56" signifying fiscal year of said drawing. With that said, you have a cold war era revised type, or Vietnam era. This additionally explains the nylon retaining strap you referenced, an update. I presume it was sewn to something other than a liferaft, some sort of emergency accessory kit or other application. Could have been sewn to a survival vest of sorts as well. It is USAF. I do not believe the Navy ever adopted it, certainly not during WWII and pretty certain in the Cold War era as well.

[rifledoc1]

Dustin,

 

Thank you much for the information.  With what you provided I have done a few Google searches trying to find and photographs and/or documents that show or describe this variant of life raft knife as part of any 1950s or 1960s Air Force life raft accessory kits, but not luck yet. My assumption is it would be be part of the accessory kit for the Four-Man Type A-3B, Six-Man Type E-2B, or Twenty-Man Type F-2 series of life rafts.  If I do find anything I will post it under this topic thread.

[ffuries]

Just saw this post. In the Air Force we didn't attach this to the raft. It was/is stored in the accessory kit of the multiplace life rafts. Or at least it was while I was in from 86-08 as an Aircrew Life Support Technician.

 

 

Mike
TSgt, USAF Retired
Jan 86 - Sept 08
Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
(122X0, 1T1X1, 1P0X1)
NRA Life Member

[9th Infantry Manchu]

Just saw this - not sure if it's any help to anyone but I have one in the package with the manufacturer and part numbers from 1969  for reference. Jim

[sactroop]

Thanks for bringing up this old thread.  10 years ago I promised to leave an update that I forgot to do 4 years ago when I had the chance to climb all over an air worthy B25.

Sure enough they had a med kit attached to the bulkhead aft of the navigator station.  it was attached with the same lift-the-dot fasteners and near it were two more mounted lift-the-dot studs that I'm assuming the knife could be attached to.