I know this is a B-52 survival knife used by alert aircrew members and enlisted EWOs during the later part of the '50s and early '60s. But does it have an actual name or military numerical acryonym? I've been trying to find one and any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

-Sarah

Sarah,

 

This is referred to as a the "Giant Jack Knife" by the Colonial Cutlery Co. Another company made a much inferior version for a short period of time, but not for long, as it did not meet military specs. It was in use as an aircraft survival knife from late WWII until it was replaced by fixed blade pilot survival knives in the early 1960's. It came in two versions from Colonial. Your photo shows the Army Air Force version with no bail. The Navy version had a bail for a lanyard. They were issued in a canvas pouch.

 

HTH.

We issued orange switchblade knives to aircrews in the late 60's. They fit in a small pocket on the front inside of the left leg (near the groin area), of the K2B flight suits. They had a ring on the end and that was attached to a cord that had the other end attached to a small grommeted hole on the flap of the knife pocket.

Those orange switchblades were not of any great quality and I believe they were intended to just cut parachute shroud lines. I believe the real survival knives were in the survival kits.

We issued those orange knives to B-52, KC-135 and F-101B aircrews.

Thank you Gunbarrel and and Lee Ragan for the information given! I had been trying to find out more about this knife but it's difficult when you don't have much to go on.

 

-Sarah

There is quite a bit of information out there on Colonial's Giant Jack Knife and on the orange switchblades a.k.a. MC-1 Hook Blade Knives if you know where to look. On the book found by clicking on the link below there are two detailed write-ups on them by Frank Trzaska, who fortunately for us, sometimes visits this Forum. Anyone with even a partial interest on U.S. military knives should have this inexpensive book--I highly recommend it.

 

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/reference_guide.htm

There is quite a bit of information out there on Colonial's Giant Jack Knife and on the orange switchblades a.k.a. MC-1 Hook Blade Knives if you know where to look. On the book found by clicking on the link below there are two detailed write-ups on them by Frank Trzaska, who fortunately for us, sometimes visits this Forum. Anyone with even a partial interest on U.S. military knives should have this inexpensive book--I highly recommend it.

 

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/reference_guide.htm

 

 

Absolutely a must have book! Inexpensive and full of information you won't find anywhere else.

Hi all - I am late for this topic but that looks a lot like the Large knife that was standard issue in the USAAF Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1 of WW-II.

 

The main blade locks and there is a saw blade. Both are 5" long.

 

There were I believe two makers.

 

Your's was probably still in the AF's inventory.

 

Dustin (US MIL Forum member) can give you the specific information that you seek.

United Cutlery of Grand Rapids Michigan was the other maker.

Here is a post by Dustin that explains this knife:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1594-jiant-jack-knife/?hl=%2Bsurvival+%2Bkits&do=findComment&comment=8038

We issued orange switchblade knives to aircrews in the late 60's. They fit in a small pocket on the front inside of the left leg (near the groin area), of the K2B flight suits. They had a ring on the end and that was attached to a cord that had the other end attached to a small grommeted hole on the flap of the knife pocket.

Those orange switchblades were not of any great quality and I believe they were intended to just cut parachute shroud lines. I believe the real survival knives were in the survival kits.

We issued those orange knives to B-52, KC-135 and F-101B aircrews.

 

The orange switch blades you refer to were also made by Colonial and still are - in fact you can order them today with black handles.

 

The original spec called for the hook blade to be spring loaded for "one-handed" opening to cut shroud lines!

 

I was just telling Hawkdriver how many times I have seen the wrong equipment delivered and accepted by the military.

 

The end user aka "War Fighter" is the one who gets the shaft...

 

"The original spec called for the hook blade to be spring loaded for "one-handed" opening to cut shroud lines!"

 

 

That is an old wives tale, a myth and is incorrect, please do not continue the tale.

 

The original design was for the hooked blade to be open at all times while in the pocket on the left inner leg. The spring loaded blade was the clip point blade and was to be used to deflate a vest or raft if it were to open while in flight.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

I never heard the correct explanation before. You should be on Mythbusters, thanks for the information.

Thanks Frank!

It's a myth that was very popular in the Air Force. I first heard it back in the mid 70's. I'd go TDY with RC-135's then and those birds had a lot of operators in the back end of them, (Ravens). I'm not sure what percentage of the aircrews knew just how their MC-1 knives were supposed to be carried, but I know a lot of them carried them closed and sang the song that the spring mechanism was on the wrong blade.

 

That is an old wives tale, a myth and is incorrect, please do not continue the tale.

 

The original design was for the hooked blade to be open at all times while in the pocket on the left inner leg. The spring loaded blade was the clip point blade and was to be used to deflate a vest or raft if it were to open while in flight.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

 

OK Frank - I will concede that by writing "Spec" I was incorrect. We both know that Contractors "work" with the "Acquiring Agency" to avoid problems with our friends from DCAS. And the Spec would have been updated prior to delivery to reflect the delivered item.

 

So - what I should have written was "the original Request for Proposal (RFP)".

 

Now the M2 Parachutist knife - adopted by the US Army in December (?) of 1940 did not have the hook blade - it was if I recall correctly the Schrade "Presto Knife" with a single blade opened by a push button for the Para Troopers to cut their shroud lines after landing. It was in the "inventory" until 1944? And I believe the Army Air Force began development of a replacement shroud cutter - because of the reports from the para troopers that had used the M2 in combat in Europe.

 

I will have to go back now and dig through my files - in particular to find Mil-K-25594C the spec for the MC-1 which the Air Force adopted in 1958? But the original AAF RFP - is the one that would shed the most light on this subject.

 

As for how the knife was used by the Air Force - I have no argument with your statement because that is exactly what was taught in Navy and Air Force Survival Schools after the MC-1 was in the inventory.

 

 

In fact the "Hook Blade knife" (used in the late model OV-1 Survival Vest and in NAVY Survival Vests and Kits) - is just a hook blade that does not fold, attached to an orange handle and is used the same way that you described in the knife pocket of the flightsuite.

 

Both the MC-1 and the Hook Blade Knife are being replaced for this purpose by the "Double Bladed Shroud Line Cutter"

NAVAIR 13-1-6.5, page 9-29 reflects the NAVYs Hook blade knife (the Army issued this same hook blade in some of the late 80s OV-1 vests. The Air Force version had a different handle configuration):

 

Here is a photo of the M2 Paratrooper knife issued to US paratroopers in WWII:

 

 

As you can see it looks a lot like the MC-1.

The photo of the M2 paratrooper knife was provided by icollector dot com. Note: the handle is cracked on this example.

 

The following Google search will bring up a lot of nice photos (including the one shown above) of this knife and some other Army "switch blade" or "auto" pocket knives used in WWII: WWII Paratrooper Knife

OK Frank - I checked the latest version of Mil-K25594D (which has been cancelled) and the MC-1 knife description and drawing (provided below) backs up what you said about the knife the Air Force adopted. Until I can find the paperwork for the AAF development program that I mentioned for the M2 replacement - I will not "sing the song" anymore.

 

I want to thank you Frank - because I joined this Forum to learn - and in addition to learning a great many things in "re-searching" the information - I found a NAVAIR document on Survival Gear that I had not seen before!

 

 

 

The original development work on the knife was accomplished jointly by the Engineering and Development Branch and the Aircrew Effectiveness Branch of the Aero Medical Laboratory. The design for the knife pocket resulted from the coordinated efforts of the Clothing and Aircrew Effectiveness Branches. This all took place in 1957 by the USAF not the USAAF.

 

This is all listed in the WADC Technical Report 57-545. Project No. 6325 Task No. 63751. I found the report some time in the early 1990's and had it declassified and put into the public domain through the Freedom of Information Act.

 

See http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/Documents.htm No. 49 or I can email you a copy if interested.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

Frank Thank You! I will check out the site - I appreciate it. Got an error with the posted link. So please email the Technical Report.

Frank Thank You! I will check out the site - I appreciate it. Got an error with the posted link. So please email the Technical Report.

 

Lets try again...

 

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/Documents.htm

 

 

And your email address is...?

We issued orange switchblade knives to aircrews in the late 60's.

 

 

 

The orange switch blades you refer to were also made by Colonial and still are - in fact you can order them today with black handles.

 

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Sorry...that is incorrect. The "orange switchblades" issued to air crews in the late 60's (proper name: MC-1) were made by Schrade, Camillus and Logan Smyth. That contract was canceled by by the USAF in 1993.

 

The Colonial you refer to is the M724, which came out in 2005. For more details, click on the linl and scroll down to "Colonial Curtlery":

 

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/knife_knotes_11.htm

 

Here it is on the Colonial website, available in four colors:

 

http://www.colonialknifecorp.com/M724Military.htm

I'm wondering if there hasn't been some update to the contract after Frank wrote that article in 97. In his 2005 piece on the M724 it does sound like it was being made under government contract at that time. I found that the MC-1 was still in Camillus's last catalog, 2006, available to LEO and Military only.

Here’s the article on the M724

http://usmilitaryknives.com/knife_knotes_11.htm

It’s near the bottom of the page. A find for M724 should bring you to the article.

Gunbarrel I can see now that my sentence was poorly written. I did not specify the time frame.

 

Like Sactroop I found some documents that indicate the Air Force did get this knife back in the inventory.

I will see if I can find these documents and the new contract number - if it did happen.

 

However the MC-1 / M724 and the Hook blade knife are all being replaced as indicated previously by that

shroud/harness cutting tool that I first saw on the Army's ASEK knife - except no finger grooves.