E & E: Circa: 1964 Look how good we have it now...

Don Rearic

Don Rearic

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Oct 8, 1998
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Back in 1964 and for quite a few years afterwards, if you were buzzing around North and South Vietnam as well as Laos and Cambodia, these were two of your prime survival, evasion and escape tools that would be issued to you. Along with a "USAF" Survival Knife and a Smith & Wesson .38 Special Revolver, this was your "hard gear" for survival. Not counting mirrors, strobes, compasses, etc.

That would be the Camillus "Demo" Knife (not the original, experimental one...) and a small pair of pliers with wirecutters.



Those pliers were supplied with a circa-1964 SEEK Kit, for: "Survival Evasion Escape Kit." The Camillus pocketknife was not although it was issue in survival vests and ejection seat kits, etc.



Terry (TJT) will love this picture. Apparently Boker had a contract with the U.S. Government to manufacture these little pliers. Unless there was another company named "BOKER USA" back in the mid-60s.



Now, look at how spoiled we are! Look how good we have it nowadays!

 
There are a few of them out there, precious few of them. Along with the "ration knife" issued during the Vietnam War which was another version of the P-38 Can Opener and the original Schrade OSS Lockpick Knife, they are quite rare.
 
I was issued one of those in a small Unit I was part of when I was stationed in Hawaii, I never used it because it was so old and rusted you could not get it open so I carried a Buck 110 and the Original Leatherman survival tool.

RickJ
 
the Knife! not the pliers! I guess thats why back in Vietnam that alot of guys had Swiss Army Knives and Randall Fix Blades.

RickJ
 
Hmmm, 1964, Boker USA, made by the Wiss Tool Company, or possibly
the Cooper Tool Group. I'll look it up tomorrow, I have a few catalogs from that era, enough to pin down which company produced them.

Looks like things my Grandfather always kept in his coat pocket, along with other things.

Cool pics Don, thanks.
 
Hey! Hey!

The pliers were sealed in a plastic bag that looked like cellophane from a pack of cigarettes but it felt like the clear plastic wrapping from around ordinary suckers, brittle, you know what I mean?

I had to take a nickel to get rid of some rust, apparently the seal on the bag wasn't all that great. Lubricated them a bit and they're great.

That was from a two-part kit, SEEK-1 and SEEK-2. Way back then, they actually gave you methamphetamine and codeine + aspirin in them. I chunked that other stuff in the trash can when I got the kits off of E-Bay years ago.
 
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