Camillus Camp Knife

[pluto]

Please give me your comments on the Camillus USMC Camp Knife. How would you rate it compared to a similar Vic (Vic Soldier or Spartan)?

 

[Bartleby]

The Camillus 1760 is not as user friendly as the SAK soldier because of its greater weight and unsunk joint design. The knife blade doesn't seem as easy to sharpen. The awl/punch is not as efficient. The can opener is harder to use. That being said, I still like the 1760 because it has connection with so much American history. Design goes straight back to WWII. Besides, I have an old Imperial version stamped with the year of my birth that has held up at least as well as I have.

 

[znapschatz]

The Camillus 1760 is not as user friendly as the SAK soldier because of its greater weight and unsunk joint design. The knife blade doesn't seem as easy to sharpen. The awl/punch is not as efficient. The can opener is harder to use. That being said, I still like the 1760 because it has connection with so much American history. Design goes straight back to WWII. Besides, I have an old Imperial version stamped with the year of my birth that has held up at least as well as I have.

Would by any chance the Imperial version be named "Kamp King?" Or is that a different item altogether?

 

[Bartleby]

The Mil-k 818 made by Imperial and Camillus (and others) are all stainless versions of a scout type utility knife. They are the result of an attempt by the military to rationalize knife design toward the end of WWII with a single general purpose pocket knife for all branches. Until that point, there were many bone handled commercial type knives purchased by the different branches for issue. The Kamp King, which used high tech (for its day) sheet metal stampings wrapped around a plastic handle, was probably the starting point for the military version, which is similar in layout to Kamp King but with strengthened parts. Both feature the Mirando designed can opener, which appeared on the SAK soldier after the war (and has since been replaced with the improved, easier to use opener).