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A-2 Saw Knife Shovel Assembly


RWW
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There have been 4 variations of the A-2 tool I have seen.  Please post any others you might have.  The 1st version has a drawing number of 50C3947 on the shovel and came out in the 1950's.  This is the only version I have seen that also had a drawing number on the handle and blade as well.  Handle - 50C3946  Blade 50C3948  This one has a hole and slot that attaches the handle to the blades. The handle was put in the slot then moved to the side. A wing nut was tightened to hold the tool on the handle. The only color I have seen is what I call yellow zinc chromate. The saw knife blade is blued. The handle is smooth plastic.

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The next version had a change in the way the handle attached to the tools.  Rather that the hole and slot, this one changed to a round pin that fit a hole and again, the tool is held on by tightening a wing nut. The drawing number changed to 60C90302.  Based on the drawing number, the mounting change took place in 1960. These were the same color as the 1950's tool and also had a blued blade. The handle is a textured plastic and the metal is painted green. This tool came from a 1964 dated Cold Climate Kit.

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This one came from a 1967 kit and has the same part number 60C90302 on the blade.  The shovel color is olive drab rather than yellow. The blade is blued and the handle is textured plastic with the metal painted green.

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The final version was manufactured in the 1980's and 1990's and is the "current"" version.  It has a drawing number of 60C90302 on the blade as well. The shovel and blade are bright and the handle is smooth plastic.

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This is a comparison of the smooth and textured handles.

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Nice little study on those. Didn't know about them, much less the variations. Thanks.

BTW, I really miss that real zinc chromate paint!

Dave

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Very interesting to see the variations.  Never dawned on me that there was a few differences in em.  Ill have to check the ones I have one of these days but Id assume newer though I know 1 of my blades is zinc colored with the round hole.   My saw blades are still sealed in the foil/paper packing on both of the tools I have.  Missing a handle for 1 of them.

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  • 4 months later...

Below another early '60's variation of the tool. Yellow shovel, blued saw blade, unpainted handle. This one has a bright metal handle with a smooth plastic grip rather than the OD green paint and textured handle.  I have seen a mixture of handles and blades over the years. I first saw this handle in a picture of a '63 dated kit.  It is possible that the handle in the '64 kit was changed out with a later textured one.  If any of you have '63 or '64 dated Cold Climate Kits, please let us know what handle is in your kit!

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They say the devil is in the details.  The only difference in this handle and the later '80's and 90's handles is the size of the flat washer under the thumb screw.  This one has a 13/16" flat washer (on the right) while the later handles have a 1" washer (on the left).

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  • 2 months later...

Below are pictures of the tool assembly from my ejection seat kit.  Dates on the kit were hard to make sense of. It included GP Rations that expired in 1988, but the last item to expire in my kit was a first aid kit in 2006. Anyway, below are pics of the shovel/saw/handle, which are completely consistent with the 80s/90s characteristics you described above. The knife edge, I would add, is not what you would normally think of as "sharp". Is that govt. contractors cutting corners, or that intentional for some cutting purpose I'm not familiar with?

 

Thanks, RWW, for your posts and all the info and pics.  I have referred to them a number of times before finally joining the forum.

 

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Welcome to the Forum and thank you for your kind comments!  You are correct on the date range for your A-2 tool.  Some of the earlier blades were quite sharp, so I don't think there is any reason for a duller blade other than maybe just the manufacturing process.

 

When the Hot, Cold, and Overwater kits were used, the Mil Spec called for all the components to be no older than one year from the date of manufacturer of the kit.  When the Army changed to the Aircraft Modular Survival System (AMSS), rather than 3 kits with a specified set of components, units were able to pick and choose which components best suited their mission needs from a hot, cold, and overwater kits.

 

The Hot and Cold climate kit outer bags were used with the AMSS regardless of what the bag was labeled. You will see a lot of these outer bags with a mix of components and dates that were put together by the units.  Items like rations and first aid items that had an expiration date would have been updated and will be seen in kits that have much older components like pocket knives, water bags and other items that don't expire.  These items are considered serviceable as long as they pass inspection, regardless of the date on them.

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