Identifying Commando Knife

T

TGarwood

Joined
Mar 1, 2019
Messages
5
Hi everyone, glad to be here!

I've had this knife for many years now after receiving it from my brother in law so I assume it's around 25 years old now.

Does anyone happen to have more info on it or could tell me the brand etc just from these pictures?
I can't see any discernible markings on it anywhere and I've always just referred to it as my commando knife!

GCD5eVk


I don't intend on selling or anything, I'm just interested in the history of it (if there is any)

Thanks very much
Tom
 
Try a free hosting site, such as Imgur. You can show your knife that way.
 
Thanks for the photos. Never seen that before. The saw teeth running over into what would be the swedge is a Rambo First Blood Lile knife style. At first I thought maybe it was one of the many such knives imported from Japan in the 1980s by companies like Guttman/Exploer, Parker, Compass Industries, etc but they all have saw teeth that do not run over the swedge. I think only Herbertz imported one with a similar saw pattern and they called it the "Rambo First Blood Knife".
I am surprised that not even the sheath or compass gives a clue to it's origin. Maybe it really is a sterile "commando" knife? lol
Sorry can't be much help.
 
Oh very interesting.
I'll try and find more info from my brother in law also. I'm in the UK but I imagine this must have come over from the US at some point.

No problem at all mate, that's very helpful and I see what you mean with regards to the Rambo First Blood knife.

I'll do some googling and see if I can find any others that are similar!
 
Frost marketed a lot of sawback survival knives, with at least two models based on Rambo First Blood. Haven't found a match though.
And nothing they imported was unmarked.
 
Tom, your knife is one of the countless unmarked, cheap First Blood knock-offs manufactured in the 1980s. For those who didn't live through that period as knife fans, you can't imagine the quantity of knives of that style flooding the market from every manufacturer (name and no-name) under the sun. They were everywhere: flea markets, knife shops, gift shops, gas stations, gun and knife shows, cutlery catalogs, comic book and magazine ads. And the quality ranged from custom-level to junk.

Yours, I'm afraid, is at the lower end of that spectrum. It was probably made in Pakistan (China wasn't a player in the cutlery market back then) out of low-grade materials for the discount market. I had a similar model that I bought at a flea market back when they were new and everybody wanted one.

Here's another variation of yours from the same time period.

IMG-5244.jpg



Enjoy your knife for its sentimental value. But don't expect any history other than what your brother-in-law supplied it.

-Steve
 
Now that's an answer!
I didn't expect it to be anything special to be fair but it's interesting to hear a bit about it.

Thanks for all the help, guys
 
It does have a place in the history of knife culture. The Buck knife company created a piece that was influenced in this time that eventually became the U.S.'s M9 bayonet. Some also say that these knives were influenced by a survival knife produced by the Hackman knife Co. in the 60's-70's.
 
sac troop said:
It does have a place in the history of knife culture. The Buck knife company created a piece that was influenced in this time that eventually became the U.S.'s M9 bayonet. Some also say that these knives were influenced by a survival knife produced by the Hackman knife Co. in the 60's-70's.
Click to expand...

Yes the Buck 184 was the survival knife. Had mine for 28 years before I sold it.
Ridiculously heavy, it is on display among other knives at the USN Seal Museum.

I have always assumed the Randall Model 18 which was introduced in 1963 preceded the Hackman survival knife. Both knives feature the hollow tube handle.
Dx3CY1.jpg

"Designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey; the Hackman survival knife was made during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Only a few thousand were made by Hackman with a 1/4 inch blade in Finland, with the majority produced by Garcia in Brazil with a 3/16 inch blade. The Hackman survival knife was intended for private sale to military personnel bound for Vietnam. The Randall Model 18 had made the hollow handle sawback popular with the troops, but Randall could not keep up with demand. Like the Randall this knife featured a watertight hollow handle and a massive 1/4" thick stainless steel blade. "
https://www.panjo.com/buy/hackman-survival-knife-made-in-finland-late-60s-373132
h9MOB6.jpg
 
KenHash said:
Yes the Buck 184 was the survival knife. Had mine for 28 years before I sold it.

Ridiculously heavy, it is on display among other knives at the USN Seal Museum.

I have always assumed the Randall Model 18 which was introduced in 1963 preceded the Hackman survival knife. Both knives feature the hollow tube handle.

"Designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey; the Hackman survival knife was made during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Only a few thousand were made by Hackman with a 1/4 inch blade in Finland, with the majority produced by Garcia in Brazil with a 3/16 inch blade. The Hackman survival knife was intended for private sale to military personnel bound for Vietnam. The Randall Model 18 had made the hollow handle sawback popular with the troops, but Randall could not keep up with demand. Like the Randall this knife featured a watertight hollow handle and a massive 1/4" thick stainless steel blade. "

https://www.panjo.com/buy/hackman-survival-knife-made-in-finland-late-60s-373132
Click to expand...

Great information, Ken! I wasn't aware of the distinctions between the Hackman and the Garcia. I've never handled an example of either, but I always thought they were fine-looking knives that impressed me as being comfortable to hold. I think that if I'd been considering an air crew knife in that era, I might have chosen a Hackman or Garcia over a Randall Model 18, mostly because I never liked the Randall's smooth, round handle.

Your timeline for the Randall versus the Hackman is also informative. I knew the Randall was first, but I didn't realize it was by that big a gap. However, before anyone gets too smug about assuming that Bo Randall started the hollow-handle knife concept that Jimmy Lile turned into a craze, I submit this ad from 1945.

IMG-3105.jpg



There's nothing new in the knife industry, folks. It's all been tried before.

-Steve
 
I dislike that Model 18 smooth tube handle as well. I think the knurled are better. And those that are wrapped better still.
Thanks for that 1945 Ad. Like the price too...lol. Of course $9.95 in 1945 equates to about $135 today.
LLHtJZ.jpg

t2JWRZ.jpg
 
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