Colonial 2205 thoughts?

MerryMadMonk said:
Another utility knife that was issued to both Army and Marines during World War II is this one:
CamillusArmyEngineer001_zpsvxsgkqhd.jpg
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That one is great! I love the U.S.A. shield! :thumbup:
 
MMM, was the Colonial 2205 that you owned the same size as the mil-k 818, or a shortened version like the Marbles branded copy? Thanks.
 
I hope I'm not inferring too much here. But from what I've read in this thread I'd say go for the new Camillus knife. I don't believe the Marble's are dated, and if I'm reading this correctly that's a big consideration in what your going for.
You said you have his knife, which must be very dear to you. I'd just go extra steps to insure the example your getting is 2016 dated.
Thanks for sharing this story, happy hunting.
 
Bartleby said:
He died in 1944 at the age of 33. Part of the 30th infantry "Old Hickory."
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He's one of the many that came and helped us to get free. We don't forget and respect and thank them white crosses on our grounds.
 
Jolipapa said:
He's one of the many that came and helped us to get free. We don't forget and respect and thank them white crosses on our grounds.
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Merci! I would not have located the grave without the help of one of your countrymen, who was very kind indeed! I was able to locate my great uncle's daughter after 71 years (she was four when he died), and put her in touch with my aunt (first cousins). After years of feeling abandoned at his death (her mother moved away with her), she was found and reunited with our family at last.
 
sac troop said:
I hope I'm not inferring too much here. But from what I've read in this thread I'd say go for the new Camillus knife. I don't believe the Marble's are dated, and if I'm reading this correctly that's a big consideration in what your going for.
You said you have his knife, which must be very dear to you. I'd just go extra steps to insure the example your getting is 2016 dated.
Thanks for sharing this story, happy hunting.
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I have the Colonial on order, as the ones I have seen online are date marked. I plan to display them together, if the date marking works out.
 
I was lucky and the Colonial 2205 that came in today was etched 2016. I did notice, as was mentioned by several of you, that there is no real statement of country of origin to be found. The one I received was something of a hybrid, the blade shapes (especially the short screwdriver/cap lifter and punch) were more like the Colonial Forest Master, but a bit more substantial. The handle was nicely rounded, and the springs were nicely adjusted (something that the Camillus 19184 that I handled recently was lacking). It will make a pretty good little knock about user, as well as a nice souvenir of my journey to Normandy. Thanks to all for the input.
 
I have been carrying and using the 2205 for a couple of months now, and have had the chance to compare it with a few knives that friends own. I am starting to suspect that the blades on Colonial 2205 may have a close kinship to the now discontinued Bear and Son scout knife, which was derived from the last version of the Camillus boy scout knife (I have read that Bear bought up some of the tooling for the scout knife when Camillus went under). If this is the case, it would support the claim that the 2205 is made in America, although Colonial's old factory is gone.
 
I read the article by Ken Cook on the "Demo" knife and the story that it was non-magnetic, which of course it was not, but do not think that is why it was called a "Demo" knife. In the Army Special Forces it was a "Demo" knife as it came in the Demo kit. On my first tour in Vietnam in 1965 I did not have one, but was carrying a TL-29, which rusted if you looked at it wrong and did not have a can opener. I was walking down the Street of Flowers in Saigon, and looked down at a street vendors display and there were brand new Demo knives, still in the paper wrappers. Ironic that we could not get them issued but they were available on the Black Market. I bought one, carried it for the rest of the tour, and it was the only knife I carried in Ranger School , and back to Vietnam in Aug 1967. I "Loaned" it to a friend to cut leaflet packages to be dropped from a plane and never saw that Demo knife again. The next two or three Demo knives had the blade springs break, went to a Victorinox SAK and never looked back. John
 
I just looked and found I have a kind of Demo knife. It has smooth outside scales, carbon steel blade like the Stevenson that MerryMadMonk, posted, but the position of the screw driver and can opener are reversed, the awl is in the same place as the Demo knives. Inside scales are brass, and the bail is not as long as the military ones. I seem to remember that it may have been something put together for civilian sales after WWII. The blade is marked "Made in USA" and and the can opener is also marked "CanOpener". I also have one of the Queen made ones from 1986. That blade and awl opener fairly easily but I need a screwdriver to use as a pry bar to get the can opener and screwdriver open and it is not easy even then. John
 
John A. Larsen said:
I just looked and found I have a kind of Demo knife. It has smooth outside scales, carbon steel blade like the Stevenson that MerryMadMonk, posted, but the position of the screw driver and can opener are reversed, the awl is in the same place as the Demo knives. Inside scales are brass, and the bail is not as long as the military ones. I seem to remember that it may have been something put together for civilian sales after WWII. The blade is marked "Made in USA" and and the can opener is also marked "CanOpener". I also have one of the Queen made ones from 1986. That blade and awl opener fairly easily but I need a screwdriver to use as a pry bar to get the can opener and screwdriver open and it is not easy even then. John
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The Queen 1986 version is pretty odd. It was made on different tooling than the Camillus (unlike the ones Schrade sub contracted Camillus to make in the 80's), so production costs per knife would have been relatively high, yet fit and finish are often almost non existent. It is small wonder they were only made for the one year. Interestingly, the same tooling was used to produce the version sold by Ontario, although with better fit and finish, after the demise of Camillus. This was the pattern copied by Marbles for the Chinese made version, and the source of its hit or miss cap lifter geometry.
 
John A. Larsen said:
I read the article by Ken Cook on the "Demo" knife and the story that it was non-magnetic, which of course it was not, but do not think that is why it was called a "Demo" knife. In the Army Special Forces it was a "Demo" knife as it came in the Demo kit. On my first tour in Vietnam in 1965 I did not have one, but was carrying a TL-29, which rusted if you looked at it wrong and did not have a can opener. I was walking down the Street of Flowers in Saigon, and looked down at a street vendors display and there were brand new Demo knives, still in the paper wrappers. Ironic that we could not get them issued but they were available on the Black Market. I bought one, carried it for the rest of the tour, and it was the only knife I carried in Ranger School , and back to Vietnam in Aug 1967. I "Loaned" it to a friend to cut leaflet packages to be dropped from a plane and never saw that Demo knife again. The next two or three Demo knives had the blade springs break, went to a Victorinox SAK and never looked back. John
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Broken springs do seem to have occurred fairly frequently back in the day. The Camillus I have carried marked 2000 never had any issues with it. I did alternate it for EDC with the Vic soldier. It will be interesting to see how the Colonial 2205 holds up over time, it is nice to have an all stainless scout type knife made in the USA again.
 
Here it is nearly a year later, and the Colonial is still going strong! Figured I would dig this up for Veteran's day, in memory on my Uncle's service. Happy Veteran's Day, and gratitude to all those who have served!
 
Bartleby said:
Here it is nearly a year later, and the Colonial is still going strong! Figured I would dig this up for Veteran's day, in memory on my Uncle's service. Happy Veteran's Day, and gratitude to all those who have served!
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Got a picture ?
 
Hickory n steel said:
Got a picture ?
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Unfortunately, I do not. When he passed, all of his belongings went with his wife and she moved away without further contact. It appears that she was very hurt at his death and did not want to look back on his memory. She did not have his body transferred back home, and also did not keep photos of him. We do have contact with his daughter now, and my sister is trying to get a photo to scan in (she has only seen one of him in uniform). I sure wish I did though....
 
Bartleby said:
Unfortunately, I do not. When he passed, all of his belongings went with his wife and she moved away without further contact. It appears that she was very hurt at his death and did not want to look back on his memory. She did not have his body transferred back home, and also did not keep photos of him. We do have contact with his daughter now, and my sister is trying to get a photo to scan in (she has only seen one of him in uniform). I sure wish I did though....
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Sorry to hear that.

Btw I was talking about the knife, got a picture of the knife ?
 
OK. Now that this thread is open, who actually manufactured the knife in question? Not Colonial. It has not had a factory since 1999.
 
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