Camillus Camp Knives

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Oldtools

Joined
Aug 3, 2006
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Ok, I want to start a thread about Camillus camp knives. These are the U.S. and U.S.M.C. knives made of all metal.

I own one that I sent in to be repaired for a broken spring, and I just received another as part of a group of knives that need repair so that I can learn to work on pocket knives. This isn't the type I was hoping to work on, but it was part of the group.

The interesting thing is that this is a 1979 and the exact same spring is broken. Do any of you have the camp knives? Have you noticed reports of the can and bottle opener spring being a weak point on these knives? This is just one style of knife that seems to have a weakness built into the design or at least the materials from quite a few knives has been inferior. If I remember correctly the knife I had carried for several years and sent in for repair was 1980s vintage.

Has anyone written a history about these particular knives? Maybe was an article about them in some magazine or newsletter?

Al
 
I think the knife you are describing is a Mil-K818 utility knife. There is quite a bit of info on them on the web. Search the camillus forum for it first. Then Frank's site for military collector's knives. I have three of those, two are Camillus, one Imperial. They were made by several other companies as well, including Schrade, Ulster, and Kingston. 1944-45 is what I am remembering as the beginning, but I may be wrong on that.


Codger
 
The US camp knife is the 1760 and the USMC is the 1763

Sorry I dont have any spring information for you though.
 
The all metal camp knife (model #S1760) is the top selling knife for Camillus. More than 10,000,000 have been made since 1949. Dennis Ellingsen wrote a very informative article about this knife back in 1987 or 1988 for KNIFE WORLD.
In addition to the "U.S." handle stamping, models with "U.S.A.F.", "U.S.N." and "U.S.M.C." were offered. A plain version without a handle stamping was made for export to Canada.
The springs do break on this model. I suggest that you fully open the blades/tools when using or displaying the knife and do not put any excess stress on the springs. Never partially open two blades/tools on the same spring.
If you need repairs Mr. Eugene Blankenship, "The Knife Doctor" can repair these knives. I can supply you with his e-mail address.

Tom Williams
 
Thanks everyone, it is the 1760 that I'm talking about.

Tom, thank you for the information. I consider these knives working knives and I would never baby one.:) I am going to try to replace the spring on this one myself, but my next question is how? Where would I get the new spring, or a diagram for making one?

It's really interesting that these have a spring problem seeing as though they were made for military use. The one I just received to do repairs on doesn't even look used, but half of that spring is gone. Believe me, my personal user didn't look as good when I sent it to Camillus.

I have e-mailed The Knife Doctor about possibly repairing my personal knife, but the people at Camillus assured me they would do the work and get it back to me as soon as they possibly could. The knife I now have at hand I want to take a swipe at fixing myself, when, and if I can get a spring.
 
Replacing the spring is not very difficult. Remove only the center pin and the broken spring will come right out.
I spoke with Maureen at Camillus today and she will send you a new spring and pin without charge. Send her an e-mail at mdrake@camillusknives.com with your mailing address.
If you need any help installing the new spring let me know and I will be glad to assist you. Contact me at wwillia3@twcny.rr.com.

Tom Williams
 
Tom, a personal thank you for the assistance.

Just as a point of discussion I was wondering if mechanincal drawings of the knives from companies like Camillus ever get put into books, or copies made available for sale? Basically, I wonder if knife repair ever goes farther then a quick fix after the knife has been out of production, or can parts be turned out by others (third parties) for those knives?

Those aren't necessarily the conditions in the case of the model 1760, so I base this as a broader question of cutlery companies and their products in general. However we all may ask where can we get parts if Camillus doesn't revive, or rebound as we hope.
 
Something I didn't cover in the previous questions about the Camp Knife. Model 1760 or 1763 is what the current collector view is of these knives. I've noticed that the knives with dates from the Vietnam War era bring higher prices on eBay. Some other dates seem to bring in higher prices as well and this is an interesting phenomenon.

Has anyone shown certain production runs to be better, or worse, or is it just the "romantic" idea that these knives are somehow linked with a war?

Personally, I was thinking about buying one from each of the years my children were born to give to them.

I'm still curious about specs or blueprints.

Al
 
I had a camp knife with U.S. stampted on it. The spring broke so I sent it back and I guess it is still lying around somewhere at Camillus because the strike stopped any repairs.
 
The model #S1760 that was made in 1949 is the rarest and most valuable. I saw one example sell for $300.00.

As for parts-Mr. Eugene Blankenship, The Knife Doctor, has parts to repair Camillus knives. You can also buy broken knives on Ebay for a reasonable amount. I have seen broken #S1760 knives sell for just a few dollars.

Tom Williams
 
To all that are concern with the 1760 broken springs, here is a brief explanation of the problem. The spring, as well as the whole knife, is made of stainless steal. Stainless is not a very good spring material. Most springs are made of carbon. The 1760 is made to a government spec that calls for 410 stainless steel. The government spec also called for a life cycle test of opening and closing the blades 3000 times. When tested for the Gov. most spring lasted anywhere from 3500 to 9000 cycles. Maybe about 10 years ago the spring was changed and life cycles were increased to 20000 cycles or so.
This is still not as good as a carbon spring, which will hold up over 90000+
Camillus has repaired or replaced thousand of these knives over the years.
 
cookie9 said:
To all that are concern with the 1760 broken springs, here is a brief explanation of the problem. The spring, as well as the whole knife, is made of stainless steal. Stainless is not a very good spring material. Most springs are made of carbon. The 1760 is made to a government spec that calls for 410 stainless steel. The government spec also called for a life cycle test of opening and closing the blades 3000 times. When tested for the Gov. most spring lasted anywhere from 3500 to 9000 cycles. Maybe about 10 years ago the spring was changed and life cycles were increased to 20000 cycles or so.
This is still not as good as a carbon spring, which will hold up over 90000+
Camillus has repaired or replaced thousand of these knives over the years.
Click to expand...

Listen to the COOKIE!
This guy knows more about making knives that anyone I know.
He certainly taught me alot.

Hang in there DC, I love you man!!!
 
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