Thought it would make sense to start a new thread for this information that CAMCO provided to me to post here.
** Camillus made the first run of the 5" Pilot Survival knife with the date stamped butt on 11-28-66. ( My addition; Tom cleared something up for me. Even though the first production run of the pommel marked JPSKs was on 11/28/66 those knives would have been marked 1-1967. That does show up in the image of the second S-Card pictured below.)
Camillus would regulalry bid on the military contracts and also supplied knives to other companies that received contracts. We used to sell the MC-1 Paratrooper's knife to companies that had been awarded contracts for survival kits. I recall one time getting a call from a customer wanting to buy the 5" knife for a contract for the Taiwan Military.
*** I have attached the manufacturing information for the first 5" knives made in 1961 and the butt date stamped knives made in 1966. The production figures are for the date stamped knives.
*** Camillus lost the contract for the 5" Pilot Survival knife to Ontario Knife Co. around 1984. I believe that after the date stamped butts were used up, the stampings were then done on the blade.
*
Tom Williams
image of Camilluss S-card for the 1961 production of their first 5 JPSKs;
S-card for the first pommel marked knives, card dated 1966
Heres some more from the old Camillus files:
Even as late as 1987 Camillus is still providing JPSKs to the ArmyAirforceExchange. This is after Camillus no longer had a government contract to provide these knives thru the normal procurement system.
I can now see how it would have been possible for a service member to have made a private purchase of a Camillus JPSK thru the Base Exchange after the government cancelation of the contract knives.
I guess I would need to consider that when someone shows me their family members knife that they believe was issued to them while serving that has the following marking on the blades ricasso.
** Camillus made the first run of the 5" Pilot Survival knife with the date stamped butt on 11-28-66. ( My addition; Tom cleared something up for me. Even though the first production run of the pommel marked JPSKs was on 11/28/66 those knives would have been marked 1-1967. That does show up in the image of the second S-Card pictured below.)
Camillus would regulalry bid on the military contracts and also supplied knives to other companies that received contracts. We used to sell the MC-1 Paratrooper's knife to companies that had been awarded contracts for survival kits. I recall one time getting a call from a customer wanting to buy the 5" knife for a contract for the Taiwan Military.
*** I have attached the manufacturing information for the first 5" knives made in 1961 and the butt date stamped knives made in 1966. The production figures are for the date stamped knives.
*** Camillus lost the contract for the 5" Pilot Survival knife to Ontario Knife Co. around 1984. I believe that after the date stamped butts were used up, the stampings were then done on the blade.
*
Tom Williams
image of Camilluss S-card for the 1961 production of their first 5 JPSKs;
S-card for the first pommel marked knives, card dated 1966
Heres some more from the old Camillus files:
Even as late as 1987 Camillus is still providing JPSKs to the ArmyAirforceExchange. This is after Camillus no longer had a government contract to provide these knives thru the normal procurement system.
I can now see how it would have been possible for a service member to have made a private purchase of a Camillus JPSK thru the Base Exchange after the government cancelation of the contract knives.
I guess I would need to consider that when someone shows me their family members knife that they believe was issued to them while serving that has the following marking on the blades ricasso.
