Misfit 45 Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share #26 Posted November 19, 2018 The Camillus MIL-K 818 knives were made from 1957 to 2006. (There is a very rare one made and dated 1949) I do not collect these. My stainless pocket knife collection is limited to any with brass liners; WWII, "Ulster 48", although I would not mind getting a nice Camillus 1957 or the 1949. I think the 1949 will be permanently outside my realistic budget parameters. Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #27 Posted December 22, 2018 Hi Folks, Interestingly enough, I just found a much better smooth handled Kingston/US 45 pocket knife than the one that I posted in post #18. I’d like to compare it to my checkered handled Kingston/US 45, to see if the similarities warrant a second look at the possibility that these are not just “parts knives” that were thrown together for commercial sales after the war. Having seen a few of these, there seems to be a few unique features that are common to both knives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #28 Posted December 22, 2018 The most obvious similarity is the clevis markings which are identical, with Kingston on one side and U.S. 45 on the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #29 Posted December 22, 2018 Here's the Kingston side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #30 Posted December 22, 2018 In addition, the narrow screwdriver, without the lift pin stud, is the same on each knife. This is a feature that sets the Kingston 45 apart from the more common Kingston general purpose knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #31 Posted December 22, 2018 The can opener, the hole punch and the screw driver on each knife are virtually identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #32 Posted December 22, 2018 Here's the hole punch on each knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #33 Posted December 22, 2018 The main blade on the smooth handle knife is marked “USA”, while the main blade on the checkered handled knife is marked “Made in USA”. However, my first smooth handled knife, in post #18, is also marked “Made in USA”. In post #20, Bellumbill’s smooth knife is marked “USA”. The main blade on the smooth handled knife has a “full belly” shape, while the checkered knife has more of a straight edge, however, that may be due to the knife having been sharpened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted December 22, 2018 Author Share #34 Posted December 22, 2018 So, how did these smooth scaled knives get produced in the first place? I would not think that these scales were just accidentally left un-checkered. These pocket knives with smooth scales, are not without precedence since the earliest prototypes had smooth scales. Maybe Kingston had a bunch left over from the prototypes, and just added them to the mix. In any event, other than the scales themselves, these two knives have too many similarities to ignore. I would like to suggest that since these Kingston/US 45 knives have so many distinctive features in common, I would think that the smooth and checkered Kingston/US 45 knives were made concurrently, but with no conclusive documentation to that effect, the mystery remains unsolved. Any thoughts? Marv Thanks Dustin, for the vintage photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave grunt Posted December 22, 2018 Share #35 Posted December 22, 2018 I have a " U.S. MARINE CORPS " utility knife marked CRAFTSMAN ( underlined ) on the main blade. No other markings than those two. It has a non-beveled unmarked can opener, no assist on the screwdriver and they are both on the same side. The craftsman is extremely faint. I will try to post a picture of the blade. Has anyone heard of a craftsman made Marine utility knife? It does have the brass on the bottom. If anyone has any info, I would be interested in hearing their thoughts. Thank you in advance. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted December 22, 2018 Share #36 Posted December 22, 2018 This doesn't sound unusual. I've got some pictures I saved of a post-war Ulster-48 with a very clear "Craftsman" etch on the main blade. Also at the end of WW2 several companies took knives that appear to have been leftover stock when the Government contracts were cancelled and sold them to the Boy Scouts of America. In many cases these knives had also been blade etched with the Boy Scout information. From what I've run across this went on at least until 1947, but it may have been longer. One of the images I saw was of a United States Marine Corps Kingston with the Boy Scouts blade etch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave grunt Posted December 23, 2018 Share #37 Posted December 23, 2018 sactroop thank you very much for the info. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12A54 Posted April 15, 2019 Share #38 Posted April 15, 2019 Here's a pretty rare Kingston - used by General of the Army George C. Marshall (and on display at the Marshall Museum in Lexington, VA): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misfit 45 Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share #39 Posted April 16, 2019 That is spectacular! One of a kind! Marv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted April 16, 2019 Share #40 Posted April 16, 2019 I know we finally moved some threads dealing specifically with the Camillus 1949 version of these knives and pinned them. Bringing this thread back up, reminds me that we have quite a few threads about the more general subject of the metal utility knives through out the time period from WW2 to the near present also. Some of those threads are packed with unique and insightful information. At the same time they tend to ask five new questions for every question that seems to be answered. I just got done digging thru the archives for the thread that Dustin started about 3 years ago showing us the contents of the Army's WW2 Infantry Board Report on the study of standardizing a pocket knife for general use by service personal. I found it on page 11 finally. I'm proposing that we might consider collecting together at least some of these threads and possibly even creating a new category under the "Edged Weapons Reference" subform. Or maybe I'm just being selfish and lazy today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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