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- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 7,021
Excellent job on the sheath, mrostov.
Doc
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Made a new sheath for USAF survival knife
- Thread starter mrostov
- Start date
One currently sits under my front seat, and the other is in the back of my wife's truck. Very nice sheath though.
This knife was also part of the U.S. Army Aviators survival vest. I carried one off and on for my 23 years of Army service (not an aviator but "owned" a few from time to time aviators, not survival knives).
Mine was a Camillus from about 1965 (5" blade but blade marked, before the pommel markings were used). Now that Camillus is dead, they should be harder to get but the Ontario model is almost as good.
mrostov, your sheath only needs a tab at the tip for lashing holes, and some at the back of the wrap around.
Mine was a Camillus from about 1965 (5" blade but blade marked, before the pommel markings were used). Now that Camillus is dead, they should be harder to get but the Ontario model is almost as good.
mrostov, your sheath only needs a tab at the tip for lashing holes, and some at the back of the wrap around.
glennbad
Knife Moddin' Fool
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2003
- Messages
- 6,581
Nice Sheath, Mrostov! And thanks for sharing the info...
I have always loved this knife. Years ago, when I was a wee lad, I used to sneak into my dad's workshop. In there, he had a kit that he used to use from his EOD days in the USAF. It was PSK knife and sheath, and he had customized the kit by adding a sheath with some pliers for blasting caps, etc. I would take out the knife and play around with it. It was well used and well cared for.
About 5 years ago, he gave it to me for safe keeping. I was giddy with delight after having drooled over this thing for years. I took the kit all apart, made a new pocket for the stone and stamped his initials into it. Then I treated the sheath.
Here's a pic of it, not a very good pic, but you get the idea.
It is one of my most prized possessions...
Thanks for bringing a good memory back into my head.
Glenn
I have always loved this knife. Years ago, when I was a wee lad, I used to sneak into my dad's workshop. In there, he had a kit that he used to use from his EOD days in the USAF. It was PSK knife and sheath, and he had customized the kit by adding a sheath with some pliers for blasting caps, etc. I would take out the knife and play around with it. It was well used and well cared for.
About 5 years ago, he gave it to me for safe keeping. I was giddy with delight after having drooled over this thing for years. I took the kit all apart, made a new pocket for the stone and stamped his initials into it. Then I treated the sheath.
Here's a pic of it, not a very good pic, but you get the idea.
It is one of my most prized possessions...
Thanks for bringing a good memory back into my head.
Glenn
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
- Messages
- 887
You know, MRostov, I share your appreciation for that saw on the back of these knives. Yes, as everyone knows, you have to knock the sawdust out of them once in a while.
But say you've got just your knife, and you happen across a tree with a branch a few yards up that is just the right shape and size for some survival use you have in mind--say, a stave from which to make a bow. Your branch is about an inch and a half or two inches thick. You've got to climb the tree and stay there while you harvest that branch.
If the knife you have is, say, a Mora, and you have thus committed yourself to batonning as your sole available means of cutting branches of that thickness, you are going to have trouble getting a workable bowstave. You climb the tree, hold on with one hand, bend the branch with your other hand, hold the knife with your THIRD hand, and pound the blade with your FOURTH hand--maybe it'll work if your survival scenario involved enough radiation to sprout you the extra limbs, but not easy. Also, the "bend-the-branch-and-rock-the-knife-through-it" method tends to leave many splits in the ends of the wood piece--not good for a bowstave. And it doesn't just have to be a bowstave--any piece of wood you might like of that general diameter is going to be doable with the pilot's knife sawback and a couple minutes' patient sawing, but a bit harder with some other small-to-medium-sized knives without the saw feature. And, sure, the saw teeth will chew up your baton--but have you ever met anyone who cared what his baton looked like after chopping wood?
I like these knives--got a cheap knockoff decades ago and wore it over hundreds of miles of Scout trips, back when $20 was a bit steep for one of the originals. Now, you can usually get the real thing used on eBay for $20 shipped, if you kind of look around for a week or so. I've kind of made the real thing (Camillus or Ontario) issue equipment for my family's survival kits.
But say you've got just your knife, and you happen across a tree with a branch a few yards up that is just the right shape and size for some survival use you have in mind--say, a stave from which to make a bow. Your branch is about an inch and a half or two inches thick. You've got to climb the tree and stay there while you harvest that branch.
If the knife you have is, say, a Mora, and you have thus committed yourself to batonning as your sole available means of cutting branches of that thickness, you are going to have trouble getting a workable bowstave. You climb the tree, hold on with one hand, bend the branch with your other hand, hold the knife with your THIRD hand, and pound the blade with your FOURTH hand--maybe it'll work if your survival scenario involved enough radiation to sprout you the extra limbs, but not easy. Also, the "bend-the-branch-and-rock-the-knife-through-it" method tends to leave many splits in the ends of the wood piece--not good for a bowstave. And it doesn't just have to be a bowstave--any piece of wood you might like of that general diameter is going to be doable with the pilot's knife sawback and a couple minutes' patient sawing, but a bit harder with some other small-to-medium-sized knives without the saw feature. And, sure, the saw teeth will chew up your baton--but have you ever met anyone who cared what his baton looked like after chopping wood?
I like these knives--got a cheap knockoff decades ago and wore it over hundreds of miles of Scout trips, back when $20 was a bit steep for one of the originals. Now, you can usually get the real thing used on eBay for $20 shipped, if you kind of look around for a week or so. I've kind of made the real thing (Camillus or Ontario) issue equipment for my family's survival kits.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2006
- Messages
- 1,067
Alright Now I have to get one again since the police took mine when I was 16 or so (by the way its a very effective B&E tool) I have found a few on ebay but wach out for crappy nock offs floating around.
mrostov Great info :thumbup: You could have a real cottage industry Resheathing and reprofiling them for those of us without tools to do so ourselves.
mrostov Great info :thumbup: You could have a real cottage industry Resheathing and reprofiling them for those of us without tools to do so ourselves.
Like some others here I carried one of these USAF surival knives during my many years in the Army. It was used for everything from a tent peg to opening crates and has been beaten up more than any other knife I have ever owned. It has been sharpened probably hundreds of times with everything from high end diamond hones to 12" bastard files, and the "profile" isn't much different from the original 60's factory specs.
They aren't pretty, and they aren't the best knife ever made, but they damn sure do the hard yards and will last forever in the toughest environment.
I now have some real pretty outdoor knives, and I use them all, but the old USAF knife is always lying around somewhere nearby if needed.
Great leatherwork, mrostov, you have given me a bit of incentive to go out to the workshop and create something similar. Guarantee it will be a lot rougher than yours however, my leather skills are on a level with Neanderthal Man.
They aren't pretty, and they aren't the best knife ever made, but they damn sure do the hard yards and will last forever in the toughest environment.
I now have some real pretty outdoor knives, and I use them all, but the old USAF knife is always lying around somewhere nearby if needed.
Great leatherwork, mrostov, you have given me a bit of incentive to go out to the workshop and create something similar. Guarantee it will be a lot rougher than yours however, my leather skills are on a level with Neanderthal Man.