Camillus Easy Open critique

navihawk

navihawk

Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Messages
4,677
How does this one look to you guys? The knife itself is as stout as can be. Half stops and snaps open and shut with enthusiasm.four line tang stamp. There is no stamp on the pen blade.Steel bolsters, liners, bail and pins.
Is this another Government contract knife?
I edited this post after looking at the knife more closely.I can see why Camillus has it's following. the parts of the scale that was ground off a bit was probably done to get rid of charring. There is a burn on the edge of one side that remains. This gives it a story to tell. I thank the guy auctioning it and maybe Lady Luck. The blades look cleaned so what does that do to the collector value? It may end up in my pocket.

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a 4 line is pretty old if memory serves correct it would be from the 40's
'41-'46, somebody had a collection of stamps with pictures and round about dates, i'll see if i can search it up
nice knife! love the scales
probably cleaned but carry it a while it'll start looking like it should:D
cheers
ivan
 
Thanks Ivan. I'm also looking for info on who theses were issued to in the Army. Anyone know?
 
This is a WW2 knife, it should have all steel liners as brass was restricted for use in making shell cases. Camillus lists this as "Navy and Coast Guard General Utility Knife". Other companies made this pattern for the military also. For information on military pocket knives I recommend this book " Pocket Knives of the United States Military" by Michael W. Silvey ISBN 0-9655544-2-2
 
Thanks for the info Greyelm. I also have an Imperial with brass liners and nickel silver bolsters and bail
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According to 'Silvey', Imperial made amilitary issue easy opener like yours, the small blade is marked USA. Knives made early on in WW2 may have had some brass as it wasn't restricted at the beginning.

Malcolm
 
I've aleady got the bug, I have 20 or so WW2 US issue pocket knives. As far I can see the one that attracts the highest prices are the 10th Mountain Division (Ski Troops) pocket knife by Ulster. I managed to get a beat up one from a UK seller, it has seen better times and the bail is missing, still it didn't cost much so I'm happy. As I always source fron E-bay I limit myself to 38 US dollars as this is the limit for a single item that doesn't attract customs duty when it arrives in the UK. So I've managed to assemble a decent collection all for less than 40 bucks a piece.
 
Do you have any Camillus' like mine? I ask because I am wondering what the original blade finish was. Is it brushed like a Schrade or high polish?
Lets see your collection:thumbup:
 
I have recently acquired a Camillus easy opener like yours, it appears little used except for a small chip off the bone. The blade still has what looks like the original polished finish. I have others that have had some use and are now slightly patinated so you can't tell what the original finish was. I do have a mint WW2 Camillus engineer's knife and that is polished too. I'll try and scan up some pics of my knives, I can't do a direct attachment so will find a hosting site.
 
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