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The Jet Pilots Survival Knife


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In an e-mail explaining why he did not include Japanese copies of the Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knives on his book “Knives of the United States Military in Vietnam,” Mr. Mike Silvey told me:

 

“That knife, like many others, were not included because I was intent on presenting the higher end knives used by Special Forces and other professional soldiers. Also, I had to limit the number of photos to keep the cost of the book affordable for most collectors. I've always regretted not including some of the more common knives like the 5" Jet Pilot's knife ... probably the most often carried knife in Vietnam. There were also the Japanese made Mark 2 knives sold in the PX and many others.”

 

Fortunately for us, another fellow collector and author, Frank Trzaska, has compiled and published a lot of information on the Vietnam era ubiquitous “Jet Pilots Survival Knife,” commonly known among the collecting community as “JPK’s.” So, I would like to start this post by thanking Frank for sharing that wealth of information (see References) with the rest of us. :bravo:

 

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Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF (1922-2007)

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JPK’s in my collection

6” Blade – Blade Marked (1957-1966)

1. Camillus, screw-on pommel (1958-1959). The knife was blued by the original owner, who had a custom, expensive sheath made for it. He never used it again afterwards.

 

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2. Camillus, peened pommel (1959-1961)

 

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5” Blade – Blade Marked (1961-1966)

3. Camillus

 

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4. Camillus - Polston knife display. The knife on this display belonged to Major Harry Polston, USAF Ret. (1932-2003). I will post more details on it at a later time.

 

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5. Columbus Milpar (1964-1966). Notice the cord still attached…

 

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6. Utica Cutlery (1964-1966). Rare. Sheath and handle dyed black. This is the Crown Jewel of my JPK collection! ;)

 

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5” Blade – Pommel Marked (1967-to Date)

7. Camillus, 2-71. Metal protector on sheath tip (1-67 to 7-74)

 

post-70-1327777270.jpg

 

8. Ontario, 1-73.

 

Note:

a. Ontario began supplying JPK’S to the US Armed Forces on 1-1969.

b. A full metal protector was added to the back of sheaths in 7-74

 

 

post-70-1327777350.jpg

 

Incidentally, Ontario Knife is still supplying JPK’s to the military as verified on this e-mail to my friend and fellow military knife collector from “Down Under” Dutchy357:

 

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 9:30 PM, Green, Sue <[email protected]> wrote:

 

Thank you for your email. Yes, we still sell the Pilots survival knife to the military. Ontario Knife Company has made this knife since the 1969 and we still sell quite a few each year. We also supply the ASEK (Air Survival Egress Knife) to the Army which is an upgrade of the old knife.

Please let me know if I can supply any further information.

 

Sue Green

Ontario Knife Company

26 Empire Street

Franklinville, NY 14737

 

Others American JPK’s in my collection

9. Camillus, Desert Tan (epoxy coating) Finish – 2003

 

post-70-1327777683.jpg

 

10. Camillus 6” Blade – Dog heads “theater” knife. Saw teeth removed.

 

post-70-1327777786.jpg

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Commercial Copies

The popularity of the Jet Pilot Survival Knife spawned a multitude of copies and knock-off’s--some very good and some very bad.

 

Most of the copies were made in Japan and were available in stores in the States, via mail-order catalogs and in the PX’s. Japanese JPK copies with the name brand of importers like Kiffe, Hoffritz, Valor, PIC and OMOR were common (PICTURES). These knives were very popular among military personnel that did not have easy access to government issue JPK’s and were widely used in the 60’s and 70’s by a lot of our servicemen. Here are two examples—photos courtesy of Administrator GWB123 and Moderator Bayonetman.

 

GWB123 tells me that he bought his knife in the 1970’s at a knife shop in a shopping mall, either when he was in ROTC, or later on when he was in Active Duty. He distinctly remembers that he paid $12.50 for it—not exactly a pittance back then. He says that, originally, the sheath had the natural leather color but it did not go well with their camo back then and so he spent about a half an hour “painting” it with black leather shoe dye :D

 

post-70-1327777937.jpgpost-70-1327777955.jpgpost-70-1327778054.jpg

 

Bayonetman’s example, imported by Kiffe from Japan, was carried in Vietnam by a local serviceman who also blackened the sheath. Bayonetman believes that it is possible that the knife was carried "in country".

 

post-70-1327778162.jpg

 

As mentioned, while a lot of the copies were very well made, some, albeit functional, were of clearly inferior quality. Take a look at the blade shown below and the photos of a couple of my knock-off’s:

 

post-70-1327778229.jpg

 

This is why the following recent description by a seller in a famous auction website made me laugh:

 

This is a US Jet Pilots Survival Knife. This is a new issue never used. After WWII the US military began purchasing edged weapons from Japan notably "Kiffe."The product they were turning out was better then expected,since then they have produced knives for the US for years. This knife is stamped on the ricasso ..Japan..The workmanship ithat went into this knife is better the Camillus or Ontario. The stacked leather washer handle is perfect,the crossguard is very tight (not like others) the saw tooth back on the blade is far superior then the others (you could cut a rope with this one). This knife has the leather sheath with the sharpening stone. Another plus with this knife is that the sheath uses a the rawhide tie instead of the metal snap which used to rust and would not open.

Buyers beware! :w00t:

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Copies and knock-off’s in my collection

 

11. Factory marked “Japan.” Hand-marked with funny marking and “1975.” A well-made knife with an excellent custom-made sheath.

 

post-70-1327778387.jpg

 

Close-ups of the above knife.

 

post-70-1327778439.jpgpost-70-1327778455.jpgpost-70-1327778468.jpg

 

12. Japan, wooden handle, low-quality sheath made of synthetic material.

 

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13. Green plastic handle. Blade looks coated—no markings. Bought at a yard sale in England, near an American base. Probably made in Taiwan.

 

post-70-1327778653.jpg

 

Note that Camillus also produced a JPK with plastic handle for the commercial market, but of course, of superior quality.

 

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14. Japan, inferior quality. Note the sloppy leather handle and the puny fuller (“blood groove”).

 

post-70-1327778879.jpg

 

15. Japan, imported by “Hoffritz.” Hollow steel handle--screw pommel with compass. Well made—superior quality sheath.

 

post-70-1327778951.jpg

 

16. Montgomery Ward Model #60-12857 03, made in Japan. Hollow composition or aluminum handle with finger grooves. Screw-on pommel. No fullers—modified guard. Well made. This knife is new in the box!

 

post-70-1327779034.jpg

 

17. Parker Cutlery Co. made in Japan. A high-quality copy.

 

post-70-1327779095.jpg

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Others

 

The following photos are included here courtesy of Mr. John Gibson. His website is:

 

http://www.militaryfightingknives.com/

 

Note: Be sure to click on “John’s Collection” to see some superb military blades in his collection!

 

Milpar Aluminum Handle (rare)

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Knuckle Knife (John Gibson photograph)

 

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Thai-made JPK

Here is John’s description:

 

Only the second one I have ever seen. The blade is 9 3/8" long and made like a Pilots knife blade. It has some motteling and age darkening. The guard is steel with two holes on the one end. The handle is leather and in nice condition. The pommel appears to be a screw top (I did not try to take it off). It comes with a scabbard that was made just like a Pilots knife scabbard. It has a metal plate at the bottom and a grey stone. The grip strap has been replaced. I found no marks on the knife or scabbard. The knife is 14 7/8" overall. Homer Brett shows one in his book "The Military Knife & Bayonet" pg 261. The knife he shows has a shorter blade than this one, but no doubt Thai made.---------Neat Piece

 

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Thai-made JPK--Pic 2

 

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Thai-made JPK--Pic 3

 

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Thai-made JPK--Pic 4

 

post-70-1327780041.jpg

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This is the knife that superseded the JPK, the ASEK (Aircrew Survival Egress Knife). This is my one and only; it appears to have seen military use.

 

post-70-1327780187.jpg

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The Ultimate JPK?

That must be the Randall Model 18 – one of the Randall made knives that saw use in Vietnam. Take a look at this gorgeous knife; wish it was mine! :drool2:

 

post-70-1327780393.jpg

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Other Sheaths

These are not in my collection, but I’m including photos for reference.

 

Full metal protection on the back...

 

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Sew-in...

 

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MOLLE...

 

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Well, that's it for now, folks. Feedback is welcome. Thanks for looking!

 

References:

 

• The Jet Pilots Survival Knife by Frank Trzaska – Knife World November 1999

• Frank Trzaska’s Website: http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/

• Darwinism in the Knife Field – Frank Trzaska, Knife_Knotes_13

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/knife_knotes_13.htm

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Gunbarrel=Nice thread! I have seen most if not all of those repro JPKs, except the Thai version. I love the 6" w/ the knuckles. Please explain how they were attached? It looks as though the leather was drilled, but how was the knuckle welded, w/o ruining the leather washers? Real curious! SKIP

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Thanks, Skip--glad you enjoyed it. About the one with the knucks; it was Joh Gibson's and he sold it. I never held it in my hands. You can get John's e-mail address from his website and ask him.

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Loves me some Jet Pilot’s knives:

 

Mine aren’t nearly as pretty as yours. But they're mine.

IMG_0119.jpg

 

One of the knives, (a 1-1969 Ontario completely blackened) is a knife I traded from a Recon pilot I was stationed with in 77. I seem to have lost the notes I made at that time regarding the Pilot/knife. Maybe someday I’ll still run across those notes.

One of my 6” blades has the screw on pommel.

I feel very lucky to have a transitional Camillus knife with a 66 stamped blade and a 1-1967 pommel.

 

 

Gunbarrel, really nice presentation. I too really like that Utica with the black finish. I think some collectors make a mistake when they turn their noses up at the JPSK’s that have been treated black. While I can’t prove it I’m convinced that on more than one occasion unit commanders or other superiors ordered this gear changed to black finish the way a lot of boots, holsters, etc. were changed starting in the mid 50’s.

 

Any idea’s about what looks like a T-nut on the sheath of the Milpar knife?

 

Maybe one day I’ll trip over an aluminum handled Milpar.

 

I think my favorite in your collection is the Thai made interpretation of the JPSK.

 

My Air Force MOS was as a Photo Recon Technician. So I immediately recognized the RF-4C in the post above. I enlisted in April of 74 so I didn’t go to South East Asia. But I did spend some of my time with the 67th AMS servicing the camera’s on those birds. Would you know if the Major may have spent some of his time at Bergstrom AFB ?

 

My father-in-law and Gen. Robin Olds became friends when they shared quarters at an Air field in Pennsylvania back in the 50’s. Olds was dating his later to become wife in those days and Bill would ride with him down to the flight line when he would fly off on the weekends to go visit with her. Bill would drive the car back to their quarters and pick him up when he got back. Later they were both stationed at Biloxi Miss. where the families would get together at times.

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Charlie Flick

Great stuff, Rey. Thanks for the posting this. I have always thought that the Jet Pilot Knife never quite got the attention it deserved. Maybe that is changing a little bit now.

I have a few oddballs in my collection. Here is a very scarce one that I posted a while back on, the MMB Products blade dated 7-93.

MMBJPKnife0276.jpg

MMBJPKnife0278.jpg

Another oddball. Everyone has seen the 6 inch Marbles knives from the 1950s. How about a 5 inch plated Marbles JP? (I doubt that sewn in sheath is correct, but that is the way it came to me years ago so I'll keep them that way until I have a reason to do otherwise.)

CamJPPlated.jpg

Finally, here is a 12 year old pic of some of the JP blades in the collection at that time. Can you spot the MILPAR?

P5120087.jpg

Regards,
Charlie

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I'm gonna have to take the JPKs a lot more serious. Have never seen 5" or 6" bright Marbles. Did find an MMB after we talked about them a while back, finally just got a scabbard for it. Only have 4 now, but am concerned about all the good ones I've passed by in the last 45 years. Just gonna throw this out there. Does anyone have a used, loose leather scabbard for a 6" Camillus JPK floating around? Bought one in Raleigh, but need the correct scabbard. Found a couple of unused ones, but hate to pay more for the sheath than the knife ($50), plus the blade is used. THX SKIP

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Sactroop,

 

Thank you for the kind words. Not all of my JPK's are "pretty" :lol: Some are well-used, but I like them as much as the new ones. The important thing is that you feel good about your collection, and we both do. However, I will admit that I have upgraded a couple of them. Your 6" Camillus with the screw-on pommel would be a great addition to anyone's collection, and your "transitional 66-67" would be a very cool example to have. Maybe you can post pictures of it sometime; I'm sure all JPK fans here would love to see it. Same for your Ontario 1-1969 with the documented provenance. The T-nut on the sheath of the Milpar appeasr to be a field-expedient repair, which still works well.

 

Hey, that's very interesting about your MOS in the Air Force. Not sure about Major Polston at Bergstrom; I only know about him being stationed at Shaw AFB in SC before being deployed to SE Asia. He received a number of decorations over there, including a Silver Star. My Mother-in-Law worked with his daughter and I ran across his knife on *Bay after his state was liquidated. The guy that bought a number of things from the estate put it up for auction and I was lucky to find it.

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Charlie,

 

I'm glad you liked the post, and thank you for posting your outstanding 5" Marbles JPK and the MMB. Your collection of JPK's looks awesome! :thumbsup:

 

SKIPH said:
I'm gonna have to take the JPKs a lot more serious...

 

Oh-oh...now "I've done did it"! :lol:

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Charlie Flick

Here is another pretty scarce Jet Pilot knife. This one is the Nordac Manufacturing Co. example. Nordac was based in Fredericksburg, VA and supplied a variety of items for the US military. The Nordac JP knives are butt marked. I have only seen a handful over the years.

 

NordacJPKnife1.jpg

The butt marking with the characteristic NMC 7-80 marking.

 

Nordacbuttmarking.jpg

The sheath which is also Nordac marked.

NordacSheathmarkings.jpg

Regards,
Charlie

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GB, Here’s some pictures. Some details of the early 1967 Camillus JPSK

 

post-66-0-69654200-1406834916.jpg

 

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IMHO While Camillus used marked blades left over from their 1966 production on knives assembled in 1967. It appears to me that they ran out of those blades early in January of 67. I’ve seen quite a few 1-1967 pommel marked knives with sterile blades. Also I haven’t seen any blade marked knives with a marked pommel later than 1-1967.

 

My black Ontario JPSK

 

post-66-0-98039300-1406835020.jpg

 

Heres a comparison of the blade of the Ontario (pointing up from the bottom) next to my Milpar

 

post-66-0-80699700-1406835042.jpg

 

These (IMHO) are two different examples of crewman taking the initiative of modifying their equipment to improve the function before such mods were adapted. The sheath for the Ontario was sewn into the pilots vest though it wasn’t a designed sew in variety. The sheath with the Milpar is what I call a theater modification to add a tip protector to the sheath. I’ve come to believe that the sheath for the Ontario is a replacement. I believe that the correct sheath for a 1-1969 would have had the short tip protector with what I call a greenish/yellow anodizing.

 

post-66-0-98354800-1406835064.jpg

 

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On the Ontario I’m trying to show that in the case of this particular knife the pilot went out of his way to cover everything in black. The picture may not show it well but the pommel has the original grey paint under the black coating. As well as black over the original Parkerizing of the blade and the other steel parts. The sheath and I assume the leather handle look to have been dyed. This is the stuff we commonly bought at the BX to retreat our boots and such.

 

post-66-0-59894200-1406835115.jpg

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Charlie Flick

I had a little time today to take some pics of several JP knives in the collection. Here is one that I think is fairly unusual: a 6 inch plated Camillus with the screw on butt. I have never seen another one.

 

Camillus 6 inch JP knife plated screwon butt left side ed.jpg

 

Camillus 6 inch JP knife plated screwon butt right side ed.jpg

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

Here is another plated blade which is a slightly younger version of the one above but in a 5 inch length. It bears the butt markings Camillus NY 8-81.

 

Camillus 5 inch plated JP knife 8-81 ed.jpg

 

This is undoubtedly one of the JP knives sold by Camillus on the commercial market. Camillus gave this knife the Model Number 1010 and called it the "Astronaut-Jet Space Knife". See the page below taken from a Camillus Cutlery Company Catalog. The Catalog is undated but I would estimate that it dates to the late 1960s-70s.

 

Camillus Catalog JP Astronaut Knife Model 1010.jpg

 

Regards,

Charlie

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Charlie Flick
sactroop said:
IMHO

While Camillus used marked blades left over from their 1966 production on knives assembled in 1967. It appears to me that they ran out of those blades early in January of 67. I’ve seen quite a few 1-1967 pommel marked knives with sterile blades. Also I haven’t seen any blade marked knives with a marked pommel later than 1-1967.

 

Sactroop:

 

You have a very nice example there of the dual marked Camillus 5 inch JP knife. At that time things were really ramping up for Viet Nam. I suspect that Camillus was cranking out the JP knives as fast as they could make them, and I expect that the factory did not worry much about the inconsistency of having dual marked blades. These dual marked blades are rarely seen today and many were no doubt expended in SEA.

 

Here is a pic of the example in my collection, also dated 1-67. Like you, I have never encountered a dual marked Camillus with a butt date of anything other than 1-67.

 

Camillus 5 inch JP knife dual marked ed.jpg

 

Regards,

Charlie

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Charlie, the knives your showing us has my head spinning! A 5" Marble's, a plated, or polished 6 in Camillus with screw pommel. I have to go now and find a paper bag. I'm starting to hyperventilate again. ;):rolleyes::blink: :w00t:

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Frank Trzaska
Great stuff, Rey. Thanks for the posting this. I have always thought that the Jet Pilot Knife never quite got the attention it deserved. Maybe that is changing a little bit now.

 

Finally, here is a 12 year old pic of some of the JP blades in the collection at that time. Can you spot the MILPAR?

 

P5120087.jpg

 

Regards,

Charlie

 

Left side second one down from the top.

 

Excellent collection Charlie!

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

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Frank Trzaska

Nice Job GB, a long overdue thread.

 

A greatly under appreciated knife with all the best attributes in collecting. Several manufacturers, several makings, several lengths, several sheaths, etc. A wonderful collection can be had in the Pilots knives and if you do get to the end concentrate on the pre and post editions.

 

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

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