Imperial Pilots Knife, post-war

[Slufstuff]

Here is a recent gun show find, a 1950's vintage Imperial Pilots Knife. It is in good condition, light wear. Leather handle is tight, I think a pretty good example. Unfortunately, it was in a Cattaraugus Q225 leather sheath. I guess I'll still be looking for the proper one for this knife.

 

[sactroop]

A drawing from old Camillus files and an amendment to the specifications that may help in your search.

Happy hunting nice Imperial.

 

[SKIPH]

Slufstuff-The pilot knives had a small variety of sheaths. Here is a photo of mine, and you can see the different ones.  I always felt that the style of the light tan one w/ the cut out. was designed for the Imperial bent guard, but it seems not. SKIP

[SolWarrior]

Wow. Very nice blades. What's the blade length on these Imperial pilot knives? Looks like a 5 inch blade. Sactroop's illustration shows the blade pocket at 6 inches but a 6" blade would likely poke through and tear the stitching. 

[sactroop]

Yes sheaths tend to average about an inch longer than the blade length they're intended to hold.  The blade length spec was 5 inches.  Imperial, Schrade Walden, and Camillus held contracts.  The blade profile was based on the WW2 Mark1, as the Navy requested.  This is the knife that preceded the Jet Pilots Survival Knife.