Knives that make you go "hmmmm?"...

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

After purchasing this Camilus USMC WW2 commemorative, (based on the Marine Corps "Kabar" knife), I looked up for some info about it.
It seems Camillus offered a 50th year of WW2 commemorative like this just before or during 1991, but... it was offered having no sharpened edges, and a pommel & guard that were gold plated. This one has the same blued blade, but the false edge and main edge are both sharpened. Also, the pommel and guard are not plated in gold. Some have guessed it to not be a factory assembled specimen. Others have guessed it as a factory specimen that later got sharpened after leaving the factory (but leaving the non gold plated parts out of the guessing). Then there are those that believe it was assembled and sharpened at the factory, using left over blades from the series, and sold off as just that. I myself have wondered if it was a lunchbox special. In any case, I have run into a few other specimens online that were from the same commemorative series, but being marked with Navy, rather than Marines. They too have had their top false & main edge sharpened, and lack the gold plated parts. I'm sure that small numbers of knives were assembled at Camillus that left the factory as non cataloged items, and simply sold to dealers that could move the products forward. Anyhow, nothing about this knife, or the other similar ones I've seen online, have anything about them that seem non factory, but their non catalogued quirks does place them in the "hmmm?" category. Like I said, the handle and sharpening all have the look of factory done, but it's not standard with their normal WW2 commemorative series that they had offered, making it a knife with questions about it's manufacturing history.

 

[Buzzbait]

After purchasing this Camilus USMC WW2 commemorative, (based on the Marine Corps "Kabar" knife), I looked up for some info on it.
It seems Camillus offered a 50th year of WW2 commemorative like this before/during 1991, but... It was offered having no sharpened edges, and a pommel & guard that were gold plated. This one has the same blued blade, but the false edge and main edge are both sharpened. Also, the pommel and guard are not plated in gold. Some have guessed it to not be a factory assembled specimen. Others have guessed it as a factory specimen that later got sharpened after leaving the factory (but leaving the non gold plated parts out of their guessing). Then there those that believe it was assembled and sharpened at the factory using left over blades from the series, and sold off as just that. I myself have wondered if it was a lunchbox special. In any case, I have run into a few other specimens online that were from the same commemorative series, but being marked with Navy, rather than Marines. They too have had their top false edge sharpened and lacked the gold plated parts. I'm sure that small numbers of knives were assembled at Camillus that left the factory as non cataloged items, and simply sold to dealers that could move the products forward. Anyhow, nothing about this knife, or the other similar ones I've seen online, have anything about them that seem non factory, but their non catalogued quirks does place them in the "hmmm?" category. Like I said, the handle and sharpening all have the look of factory done, but it not being standard with their normal WW2 commemorative series that they had offered, makes it a knife with questions about it's manufacturing history.

Welcome to Camillus collecting!!!! LOL

You definitely have a handle on the possibilities. Camillus loved to use up batches of old parts, and sell them off to stores that could move them. They also had their fair share of lunchbox specials. Then there's all of the parts that were auctioned off when Camillus closed down, that have been haphazardly assembled and sold on the big auction site. You find some of the strangest combinations these days.

I just saw a Camillus scout on auction a couple days ago, with an odd tang stamp, unusual wooden covers, and covers with shields on both sides. Camillus frankensteins abound!!!

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

Yeah, it's likely that I will never know definitively the complete manufacturing history of this knife. But, I purchased it for one major reason, which is the same reason I buy all of my knives and other do-dads... That reason being that I really liked it. It is in totally mint condition, and I even like the fact that it differs from the standard commemorative series specimens (having that unique factor about it).