Ontario Air Force Survival knife

[silenthunterstudios]

I've tried several times to do a search for this knife in the Wilderness and Survival forums, but to no avail. I had the Camillus Air Force model, but traded that. Now, I'm looking at the design again, and would like to get the Ontario model. Higher quality carbon steel than the Camillus model, 1095. Same type sheath. I've been seeing a lot of old ones on eBay, pretty much nothing on here. I really have no use for one, but with the low prices I've seen, and Ontarios good track record, I figure I couldn't pass this one up. What are your thoughts?

 

[hicomp2]

I bought a used Ontario AF Survival knife on E-bay in Jan. It was marked 2-80(1980). Great knife for $15.00. Good cheap knife for car or camp. For some reason, the Camillus version has a higher resale value on E-bay, at least from what I have seen. My Ontario is a solid little tool. The leather on the handle and sheath was dry, but it buffed up nice when I rubbed in saddle soap. If the handle gets too dry, it can loosen when the leather washers shrink and cause a little bit of play. After the saddle soap and a drop of super glue (no, I'm not a knife smith...LOL!) in the hairline gap, it is solid as hell, and good as new. In my humble opinion, you could easily spend $75.00 or more and not end up with half the knife this one is.

 

[perksy]

It is not a bad little knife. My mate carries one on his webbing and has used it quite heavily, in all conditions and it has performed well. It does look a little weather beaten, but is still going strong..

 

[pict]

We had a big "go round" about this knife a while back here on wilderness survival. Do a search, I think everyone had an opinion.

Keep in mind that part of it's design logic was to enable downed airmen to cut and pry wreckage. A typical wilderness knife doesn't have to do this.

I had done some experiments on a steel can to illustrate this but didn't know how to post photos at the time.

Not a bad combo...

Cro-mag Tech...

 

[Thomas Linton]

would like to get the Ontario model. Higher quality carbon steel than the Camillus model, 1095.

I thought the Camillus was 1095.

 

[longbow50]

I thought so too. Until recently I had the Camillus model. I liked it, but never used it.

 

[V_Shrake]

Since both makers are putting out mil-spec knives, and psrt of the spec sheet was for 1095, both makers knives ARE made of 1095. Of course, the tempering proccess is what makes or breaks a knife (literally as well as figuratively), so the heat treat might be slightly different between the 2.

If you want an Ontario version, I'm pretty sure that Brigade Quartermaster sells both the Camillus and Ontario versions. There is also the "Mil Spec" line from Ontario where they revamp some of their older knives (and come out with new designs) with rubber handles and different options. The Mil Spec line of PSK's has around 2 or 3, maybe even 4 variants of their PSK. You should be able to find dealers that carry the Mil Spec line by doing a web search.