Camillus Pilot's Knife

baldtaco-II said:
The fact the original poster quoted $35 for the Camillus and my link shows you can get two Grunts for $39.90 kinda smacks it clean out the park.
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I guess the OP need to do some more shopping. I've seen Pilot Knives for as low as $10 on line. Still, that Grunt is a nice looking knife and its hard to go wrong for only $20.
 
I am a big fan of the Pilots survival knife. I think people make way to much of the guard ,they are well designed and if you don't like them they are easy to remove. I really think the design is under rated. It is 1095 which is easy to keep sharp in a SHTF situation with the little pocket stone in the sheath ,the pommel can be hammered on and with.
The one I got from fellow member HornDog has a fantastically sharp convex edge.

I actually got a little heat for comparing it to the Skookum on this forum.
 
The AFSK gets grief because it's thick and has those weird sawteeth on the spine.

But it is an original military-issue pattern, has decent steel, and it's cheap. And there's plenty of them floating around at gunshows and yardsales. When I was a kid, it was that, the Marine Fighter, or a Buck knife. A thick blade may be tough to sharpen, but it won't break. Those teeth would be useful in sawing your way out of an aluminum aircraft; maybe not so great for other stuff. At least you won't hurt yourself on them - the guard keeps your fingers away. So if you're thinking prybar-can opener-hammer-fighting tool, then it's a great choice. I'd still have a Mora or a SAK along for slicing, though.
 
if SHTF you will be using them for hiking,camping,general use and then some.

are they good for all this i dont know since i've never used one.i know they where specifically designed for helicopter egress.

there might be other general purpose blades with more rounded capabilities in the same price range.
 
A CS Bushman with a small sharpening stone and SAK stuffed in the handle is the way I go.
 
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To add to what I previously wrote in reply to this question, I spent a fair amount of time in the field with just a Pilot's Survival Knife and a SAK as my only cutlery. They did whatever I asked of them to do, and I got along just fine. You won't go wrong getting a couple for your wife's and son's Bug-Out Bags. I'm not talking "this one compared to that one" here, I'm talking actual in-the-field practical experience.

Regards,
Ron
 
I have one and really like it but, mine has been relegated to mostly batoning firewood for the fire pit and often rides in my truck box. I got mine for $19 from Cabelas a few years back. My PSK that I kept stowed in my truck has a Mora Clipper and a C.S. Bushman.

Mora Clipper Sportman's Guide $9 in carbon steel.
CS Bushman <$20
 
Has anyone gotten a CAMILLUS "pilots knife" recently?
Most of the links I found said discontinued
 
Camillus filed for bankruptcy in 2006.

The official closing of the doors was 28/02/07

18/09/07 Acme bought the name for $200,000 USD
 
Thank you everyone for the replies and information. Between posting here, and wildsurvive, I got a lot of great opinions and background.

I wanted to also post that, these aren't the ONLY tools the bug out bags have or will have. Each of them already has a SAK Trekker, and a Scribeer SAK Woodsman. We already have serveral servicable knifes we use all the time. My wife has a Scharade Old-Timer fixed blade with the "Safe-T" scales on it she loves and won't part with, no matter how many Gossman's or RAT's I bring into the house. My oldest boy has a nice Buck I got him on his birthday last year that he carries whenever we venture off the beaten path.

I like the pro's people have been bringing up about the pilot's knife, and I am not so worried about the cons, I haven't heard anything that would really keep me from getting them, thou I am going to order a couple of Brute's because they look great. :) But they are a completely unknown to me, and that makes me nervous when it comes to Bail out gear. I have used the pilot's knife on two different trek's into the VT mountains, both times supplied by a friend, so it isnt a complete unknown. I do realize that there are a lot of "better" knives out there for more money, but I am hard press to find a better "beater" knife. And honestly, when you think about how rough a 12 year old can be.... well you get the idea.

I am really thinking along the lines that if we have fallen back to the point of using our bug out gear, then these aren't going to be used "Properly". All the abuses people have listed come to mind, and I shutter at the idea of using my other knives that way. I would of course, if it came down to it.

Anyways, thank you everyone. I am going to pick up a couple of themfor the BOB's and possibly one more for my boy to carry and get a feel for and to use (abuse).

Cheers!
 
Neat conclusion, a bit of everything.

I'd love to see some feedback on what you get out of those Grunts when you've had chance to swing them round a bit. I'm expecting great things. You may not have discovered that Ken Warner, editor of Knives and Gun Digest fame, was instrumental in their being. Although now made elsewhere it's not hard to envisage the old Effingham influence coming through. In fact, to my eye at least, if they were 12C27 rather than 10cr17 and were fitted with micarta handles they could easily be a BRKT design.
 
The Camillus pilots knife is a great blade. Mine hasd served me for several years. However I did make the following modifications. First I cut off most of the upper guard, and shortened the lower guard. Then I applied a ton of elbow grease and many hours of effort and using a diamond hone on the bevels took the edge thickness down to a scandi edge. This took a long time but the effort waqs worth it.

I( have used this blade in ways it was probably never intended to be used. For example I sedit as a chisel to cut a hole through the door of my log cabin to install an improvised lock. It has made it through it all. Tough knife.

More important than the knife is the skills to go with it.
 
A couple things...

The blade pattern is based on one of the early Marbles patterns (just like the Marine Corp Combat Knife pattern was and many other 'Military' knives that really weren't 'Military' knife patterns...). It is a VERY utilitarian blade pattern that has a fine pedigree to draw from.

They are very easy to put a convex edge on. I have a 1969 Camillus that I did it to. Once I got it re-ground it cuts as well as any knife in my kit. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the earliest versions of the Survival Knife (back when they still had the 6" blades) *were* convex ground as the early Marbles originally were. (Another little tidbit-those 'blood grooves' aren't. They were ground out so that you could more easily sharpen what amounted to a fairly thick spined blade).

Although you can modify the guard by cutting it down or removing it-excercise care. If you muck it up too bad you will loosen the stacked leather handle up. With the other choices you already have in the bag, I'd just leave it 'as is' for your stated purpose. Who knows when it might be advantageous to have the full guard in place?

Lastly-although the older ones are going up in price, you can still get a 'real deal' made in the good ole USA one for less than $20 with a little patience and searching.
 
I totally agree with Ron53. I putchased a 1966 model Camillus PSK out of the back of Boys Life when I was a teenager. Later, I carried it through 23 years of Comissioned Army service. I think the older ones are better than the newer ones, at least when I bought two additional knives at the PX, for my sons during their Boy Scouting years, I liked my older one better.

Oh sure, I've carried about five other fixed blades during my Army days, but I never felt under-armed with the PSK. I carried a Victorinox Fieldmaster also and occasionally, a Gerber or SOG plier tool.
 
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