USAF Pilot's knife

F

Foilist

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Dec 20, 2004
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I've had this Ontario Pilot's survival knife since I was about 18. It was my first ever fixed blade, which I got becasue it was "cool" rather than because I was thinking about what I really would find useful. Mostly, it just languishes in the spare tire well of the car.

Last night I got it out and used it to cut landscape fabric and dig small holes for some plants (couldn't find the proper tool). I would never use a "good" knife for this. It worked, but my God this knife is dull and always has been. Is there any advice on getting a USAF knife sharp enough to actually be useful as a knife?
 
I have my dads survival knife from his days on a carrier, and same deal. I've had the thing for a zillion years, it's a Cammilus, but it gets sharp. The stone in the sheath is fairly coarse, use that first to get close, then hone her up. You'll be suprised if it's anything like the one I have. If it's really really dull, try to use a carbide sharpener to get some decent angles back, then switch to stones. Good Luck.
 
The 1095 steel used in your knife is easily sharpened on an ordinary carborundum hone. It should take an excellent edge with a little effort -- a knife is not the best tool for digging. Sharpening is a skill every knife user ought to learn, and it is not difficult. Do a search here for 'sharpening', Buck's website has a useful section on sharpening, and there are several excellent books on sharpening.
 
I got one from Cabela's for $20 awhile back. Was ok sharp, but not blade forum sharp. I recently bought a Sharp Maker. This weekend I put an awesome edge on mine. I know they get knocked, but I really like mine. Not my first choice as a cutter in the woods, but a welcome addition to a kit.

tjg
 
I've had a USAF survival knife forever too, which I can't get an edge on. And I consider myself fairly adept at sharpening. The only thing I can think of is it comes with a thick-as-hell edge bevel on it. A reprofile on a belt sander could give it a chance.
 
I had one when I was younger, but it since was MIA from all the moving our family did. I got one from ontario about a year ago and I have it down to scraping sharp so far.
 
tknife said:
I've had a USAF survival knife forever too, which I can't get an edge on. And I consider myself fairly adept at sharpening. The only thing I can think of is it comes with a thick-as-hell edge bevel on it. A reprofile on a belt sander could give it a chance.
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Same exact experience as me, I sold mine on ebay, never could get it to cut worth a crap. Chris
 
I don't have one, but if it's 1095 then it should sharpen up just fine with a little profiling. I have cheap hardware store axes that will shave after a few minutes on the belt sander. What kind of grind does this knife have?
 
The USAF knife has a saber grind, and is not an especially acute bevel. My understanding is that its primary function is to help air crew hack their way out of a downed aircraft, with normal knife use being secondary. I'm okay at maintaining the edges on knives that have decent ones to begin with, but reprofiling an edge is beyond me - especially since I don't have a belt sander.
 
Wish I could help you. The pilots knife is the only knife that I have that I can't put an edge on. I have used every sharpener and technique know to man. The bad news is that I have two pilots knives. I guess they could be helpful if I decide to plant some shrubs.
 
I'm with Foilist. The saber grind isn't terribly acute, and it stops at a fairly thick stock blade. In addition, my Camillus USAF even has a secondary bevel, making it even more obtuse.

That said, I can get it pretty sharp. However, the thickness of the blade means it'll never cut like a Opinel, even if it were reprofiled to a full flat grind. The thickness of the blade limits the ease of cutting some materials even if the edge is shaving sharp. The USAF is more of the "sharpened pry bar" school of thought.
 
I used one for close to two decades for almost everything. My son has it now and it is sharp.

Send them all to me and I will whip them into shape. If I can't get them sharp I can throw them away as good as you can.

I have seen a few that did need re profiling just like many axe heads do.

You have to remember that they were never ment to be razors. They are survival knives.

:rolleyes:
 
Foilist said:
The USAF knife has a saber grind, and is not an especially acute bevel. My understanding is that its primary function is to help air crew hack their way out of a downed aircraft, with normal knife use being secondary. I'm okay at maintaining the edges on knives that have decent ones to begin with, but reprofiling an edge is beyond me - especially since I don't have a belt sander.
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An ordinary file will do fine for reprofiling an edge. Just clamp the blade on a table or in a vise and file the edge back. I did that for my SRK and turned it from a sharpened prybar into an impressive cutter. (Just don't slip... a file guard such as a tin can lid with a hole punched in it for the tang works fine to protect your knuckles.)
 
Alberta Ed said:
An ordinary file will do fine for reprofiling an edge. Just clamp the blade on a table or in a vise and file the edge back. I did that for my SRK and turned it from a sharpened prybar into an impressive cutter. (Just don't slip... a file guard such as a tin can lid with a hole punched in it for the tang works fine to protect your knuckles.)
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That's a good suggestion. Just watch your angles and you should do fine. I've never profiled a knife with a file, but I have numerous machetes and I've found that I prefer a round file over the more commonly used flat.
 
I did mine first with a belt sander and then perfected the shape with a draw file. Once that was done, I worked my way up the 3M Wet/Dry paper scale to 1200 grit put a microbevel on it. Essentially turned it into a scandi grind. It'll pop hairs off your arm and shave newsprint just fine. Still not anything compared to a decent full flat grind that was actually profiled with cutting in mind, but now sharp enough to actually legitimately be called a knife.
 
I got a few Air Force survival knives for my kids and wife. Some of the new ones, if I remember correctly, were dull at first. I used a set of diamond-dust-covered honing blocks bought on sale at Harbor Freight and sharpened them all to shaving sharp quite quickly. Nice thing about diamond hones: you KNOW they'll cut through whatever the steel is, quickly.
 
I reprofiled mine (1966 Camillus model) by flat grinding each side on a Norton stone. With the secondary bevel gone, it was easy to hone the edge with a ceramic stick and a plain chrome butchers steel. I don't have any trouble keeping it sharp! I carried it through 23 years of Army service and it worked perfectly. I've carried other knives too – Camillus fighting/utilities, Randalls, CRK GB, and a Mad Dog hunter. I kept the Pilot Survival Knive as a backup for the previous, but it seemed to be on my LBE often.
 
Well, I'm glad that I wasn't issued one when I was in the USAF, but the ones that were issued during the Vietnam War were just as useless. I wound up carrying a WWII Marine bolo knife inside my g-suit so that I could chop my way to a place to get picked up - thank goodness that never happened. We had an orange automatic with a hook blade to cut parachute risers. I attempted to use it once to cut a cord and the hook just broke off, so I carried my own folder in the g-suit knife pocket.
There are more important issues that survival when it comes time to specify and buy survival gear for the armed forces.
 
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