A bit of Military and Survival Schrade and others.

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Jul 28, 2005
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I'm on holidays so these got a wipe and inspection as well so another opportunity for photoshoot.
The Walden Jigged Orange Auto Parachute with shroud cutter remained in Vietnam after the war and still works perfect. Hoo Roo
 
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Larry, i have an MC-1 "Hook Blade Knife" ( '57-'93 ) identical to yours but marked: Camillus/New York/USA.
moot point i suppose, but i think these were actually made by Camillus or Schrade, not both.
anyone know ?
roland
 
G'Day Roland, The orange handle shroud cutter without a blade is Tang Stamped simply 'Schrade Walden'... a lot of the British military survivals I've seen dont have any 'country origin' markings apart from Military acceptance marks... I guess not to identify country of origin of the bearer?
The black Life Raft knives shown, so shaped as they float and also so you cant accidentally cut/puncture your inflated life raft <I believe Vietnam era> are Tang Stamped 'Schrade Walden N.Y. USA.'The orange jigged handle parachute knife is Tang Stamped Schrade Walden.<definately Vietnam era as it was found in Vietnam>
The three Whittingslowe <made in my Home State South Australia in WW11> "Commando" Australian fighting knives were issued to Marines in the Pacific Theatre fighting and are quite often found in Schrade Sheaths where some of their Schrade knives were swapped with Aussies.I find the history as interesting as the knives. Hoo Roo
 
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right, the orange handled knife with spring loaded clip blade and shroud cutter.
aka: MIL-K-25549, but common name: MC-1, designed so shroud cutter (which is the primary blade)could be used safely to cut parachute lines behind your head, and auto clip, for gloved or 1 hand opening to puncture accidently inflating life raft in pilots survival pack upon which he was sitting (ref. F. Trzaska).
first used by US Air Force 1957 and d/c'd in 1993.
made by: Schrade-Walden; Camillus; and Logan/Smythe; this last is v. poor quality. the earliest S-W has "Stainless" on the pile side, later versions had it on mark side under U.S.A.
so, back to my original statement: i bet the S-W and Camillus marked MC-! knives were all made in the same factory. but which one ?
roland
 
The one that Uncle Albert Baer had an interest in!
I didnt know the auto clip blade of the MC-1 was to be used in that fashion thanks for sharing. They must have had it in very accessable location ..top pocket of flying suit?There wouldnt have been a lot of room for an inflating life raft and the pilot in one of those small cockpits...its a bit like when my ample mother in law hops in the front seat of my auto & my head and lips are immediately suckered onto the front windscreen...not so squezzy! Perhaps I could deflate her with one jab....No?.......The tang reads Schrade Walden NY USA Stainless on my MC-1 so you can tie that date in to US involvement in Vietnam period. <I reckon the knife 'feels' more Camillus than Schrade so you may well be right> Hoo Roo
 
yep, flight suits redesigned in 1957 with addition of an inner thigh pocket, MC-1 inserted with hook blade open and facing down, with attached lanyard coiled in pocket and a snap cover over the pocket to prevent loss if flight inverted.
i find this interesting as it shows how much thought went into every detail of this knife.
a U.S. military report of 1968 focused on the utilization and effectiveness of the protective gear in 60 instances of crash landings in combat over S/E Asia. the MC-1 was intact every time and frequently was used to save the man's life. the FB jet pilot survival knife also was carried, but usually became lost in the crash. i.e. the MC-1 passed these real life tests with "flying colors".
o.k. troops, head to "the 'bay" and search for one, 'cause it's a cool knife with real history and you "need" one !
roland
 
Interesting!
The MC-1 rarely see the end of an Ebay auction before being removed. I have a theory that someone reports the item to Ebay when they see it listed...Ebay remove it..and then that person offers to buy it privately for a song as against the price that may be achieved with an active auction....I'm not generally into conspiracy theories however I have archived many that have appeared over a period and the same scenario is played out 'most' times. Ebay dont remove auto openers as such but always the MC-1.........so good luck..you get to bid on it and then it gets removed....mine was from Vietnam and you had to speak broken English/ Vietnamese to get it....so mine went thru...funny about that! Hoo Roo
 
...to support my theory above..one of the very rare ones to actually survive to auction end..Ebay # 270321225207.....sold for $88. This knife had a name inscribed on back liner so as a 'collectable' had less attraction to the person/persons who always report the item to Ebay...hey.....nothing wrong with a good conspiracy theory...just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you!....Hoo Roo
 
Is there any way to find out when a MC-1 was made.
I've seen one marked:
Schrade Walden
NY USA
Stainless

What might this knife be worth in good working condition, does not appear to have been used or sharpened?
 
rprocter,
The Camillus MC-1's were made at the Camillus factory beginning in the early 1960's. Schrade made their own MC-1's. I have never seen any records showing that Camillus made MC-1's for Schrade.
Camillus continued making the MC-1's long after 1993. There were many MC-1's at the Camillus auction in September, 2007.
The MC-1 was being replaced by the 18 X-Ray.
Tom Williams
 
Re-birthed for the MC-1 Parachute knife question.....history/date/usage id described, however like so many of my posts photos have been removed by BF....Hoo Roo
 
Colonial M724. On the surface it looks like an MC-1, but the internal construction is much more robust. IMHO, it's a pretty good knife, more like the M2's issued to U.S. paratroopers during WW2.
Jumping back to the thigh pocket. From an early U.S.A.F. document, the knife was intended to be placed in the pocket with the hooked blade open and facing in the bottom of the pocket. The clevis of the knife was attached to a strong thin cord wrapped in such a way as to automatically unwrap itself when the knife was pulled by the operator, with the other end of the cord secured to the flight suit. The wrapped cord was stowed inside a small flap within the thigh pocket.
 
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