Electrician's knives

M

MG_Saldivar

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Feb 5, 2005
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I recently had a chance to pick up two vintage but NIB electrician's knives. I'm in my mid-30's and I vaguely recall seeing knives like these in the hands of actual electricians and technicians pre-Leatherman era but I don't know much about them. Can anybody offer any historical info? Origins, major manufacturer(s), etc.?

I'd especially like to know (1) do they all have a locking screwdriver blade as a matter of course? and (2) Are they supposed to be insulated in some way? Mine don't seem to be insulated and I'm not going to find out for myself. :eek:


Schrade Imperial electrician's knife - grip seems to be Zytel-ish, and the screwdriver blade locks with a kind of linerlock (even though it also has a backspring)
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Colonial electrician's knife - scales are solid Delrin (?) and bolsters also appear solid. As with the Schrade Imperial, this knife's screwdriver has a liner lock with backspring. Partially-serrated blade.
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The local hardware stores in my area still carry electricans knives, and they seem to sell...

I have noticed that it is almost a tradition for them to have have a locking/backspring screw blade. The pattern seems to be the same for basically every maker and vintage that I've seen.
That Schrade looks like the biggest deviation overall, though the partially serrated blade is different as well.
 
I can't tell you who made it, but one of these electrician's knives was USMC issue to a man I used to work with who had been a helicopter crew chief at the time he received his. I believe they were commonly issued to many US military personnel. I wonder if Camillus made them. All the ones I've seen had the same two blades, a spear point main blade with a locking screwdriver blade.
 
This is my vintage Camillus Electricians knife. It was my grandfathers. I know that he was a WW2 vet, but don't know for sure what he used the knife for. I like and have been meaning to clean it up so I could put it back to use.
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My father in law was quite fond of these, though he used to wear them down very fast, he worked in auto mechanics and in tractors and such, In the old days when I often traveled to the USA I would get them for him at Sears, I have one of his old Colonials.

I have always seen them with the locking screwdriver, that type of liner lock is very old, much older I believe than the type used in modern knives, I have also seen them with a hawkbill blade and with three blades (screwdriver, hawkbill and spear).

Luis
 
I have one older Camillus one, that belonged to my Dad. He was in teletype communications in the Air Force in the early-mid 1950's. They were issued then to men that worked in his field, but he worked 20 years at General Telephone & Electric from 1957-1977 when he passed away.

I have never been able to verify if this was one he was issued in the service or picked up working at GTE.

Family-Camillus-TL-29-Dad.jpg


Just to have one like it to occasionally carry, I got another Camillus one off Ebay.

Camillus-27-Electricians.jpg
 
I still have mine with Ebony scales from the fifties or sixties. I wore out or lost a couple, at least. Carried and used religiously for many years in electrical/handi-work. Then the Super Tool came out with the pliers and Electrical began to use different screw heads in their devices. I retired the Electricians knife.... It's pretty beat up but still very tough and I've gotten used to the new technology, As in Wave II.
 
First, thanks to everyone for contributing some information. The site jimmyjones mentions contains MANY firsthand accounts of the Camillus electrician's knife -- an interesting read.

So, it seems Camillus, whether it invented this style or not, was the "Buck" or "Gerber" of its day in terms of producing THE electrician's knife to have.

Also -- Esav B or others, do you know if Klein Tools makes its own products or is it an importer? I'm thinking of keeping my two electrician's knives NIB and buying a Klein as a beater to see what it's like to carry an electrician's knife, but, even though they're <$20, I don't want to get a Klein if they're not at least decent quality.
 
The further information you've given here has jogged my memory of the TL-29 knife my ex-USMC coworker carried in the mid-'80s. That's the designation he said it was, and he, too, carried his in an open top pouch on his belt that a parachute rigger had stitched up for him out of OD green nylon webbing. It's still a darned useful design for people who know how to use tools and need a tough, all-purpose knife. And don't think it won't open a can just because it doesn't have a dedicated can opener on it! Backwoodsman Magazine ran an article on the TL-29 electrician's knife maybe a couple of years ago.
 
MG_Saldivar said:
... do you know if Klein Tools makes its own products or is it an importer? I'm thinking of keeping my two electrician's knives NIB and buying a Klein as a beater to see what it's like to carry an electrician's knife, but, even though they're <$20, I don't want to get a Klein if they're not at least decent quality.
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I have no personal experience with them and don't know their origin. But I first found the Klein website through recommendations that Klein made reliable tools. So the knives are likely to be decent quality.
 
I have a Klein Electricians knife and it is quality. I am pretty sure they make their own knives.
 
that type of liner lock is very old, much older I believe than the type used in modern knives,
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Correct! The lock is intended to be a back-up to the backspring, as was the case with the Case Russlocks, for example.
 
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