Pilot Survival Knife

Pricewise...eggcellennntttt.

I believe both Camillus & Ontario have been contractors for the military. My dad, while @ Ft. Drum, NY in 1984 obtained an issue speciment for me and it's marked 'Camillus, 5-1984' on the pommel.

Mil-specs must be pretty sloppy on these as there are numerous differences in details (models I have bought commercially include both Ont. & Cam). There are slight differences in the blade profiles, with Cam. having a choil that begins 5/16" - 3/8" out from the guard. The Ont. has a much wider radius and starts 1/8" from the guard. The Ont. also has almost a flat grind on the false edge where the Cam.s have a sweeping Bowie-type clip.

Loose guards are typical on these, either brand.

The Ont. has a steel compression washer on either end of the grip, whereas the Cam. commerical does not...typical of Camillus' crappy quality.

Overall, these knives have long been outdated...I keep 'em around for sentimental reasons. Almost anything else you could buy would be far better.
 
I did up the rubber cover myself with a very thin section of rubber inner tube. If you do this, be sure to cover the blade with cardboard and tape it down securely. You will cut your hand off if you slip. :eek: The tube that worked the best for me is a Specialized 700x 20/28C. It is easier to work down over the handle to the guard. It is tight enough that it sealed out water when I had to do a wade in a narrow cayon that turned into a slot. The sheath was full of water but it did not get under the handle cover. The sheath must be water proofed leather as it did not seem to soak up any of the water.

I don't know what to tell you on the steel. A2 is a tool steel and it takes a very sharp edge that bites into your cutting jobs very aggressively. How it ultimately compares to anything else out there doesn't bother me too much as the A2 seems to work very well for this piece. It is coated with a very durable Kalguard that stops rust. Sharpening this blade was not hard to do.

Overall this knife sort of reminds me of an overbuilt American version of the Finnish puukko with some Japanese influence. For a dedicated survial FB when you don't have a hatchet or axe, this one seems to be a very good choice.
 
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