USAF survival knife photo thread

I prefer wax-based treatments for leather over oils. Sno-seal will work well, warm things up with a hair dryer or heat gun etc. and it will soak in nicely. I also have some paste waxes (think Minwax-types) that I use regularly. Be aware, it will darken the color if that matters to you.
 
I am assuming that either way, I would rub either the oil or wax into the handle and sheath, like breaking in a baseball glove, right?
 
I used neetsfoot oil on at least one of mine, and of course it darkened the leather—which was very light and dry from the factory. After a few years I applied snoseal to the handle and sheath. The Ontario version of the USMC Kabar fighting knife—I believe the 498– comes with a thick black paint over the leather. Both it and the 499( the subject of this thread) have parkerized—rather than painted—steel blades. I may have mixed up the numbers though.
 
That black stuff comes off the 498 btw, and there is some nice leather underneath...

 
Blue Sky said:
That black stuff comes off the 498 btw, and there is some nice leather underneath...

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That black paint does a pretty good job at protecting the leather(ugly as it is) from mold and dry rot); this and the parkerized handle are what allows the 498 to adhere to mil-spec—but I don’t know if these are issued to anyone in the service anymore though. The parkerized steel on the 499 (and 498)seems to absorb some of the oil which is required to protect the leather, and I believe contributes to rust prevention.
 
Camillus N.Y. 5-1984 untouched as far as I can tell - maybe someone swiped a stone across one side. Guess I better treat the leather before time treats it, huh?

I have to admit, it is not a user, I got it many years ago for the cool historical factor.

sheath front 4MP.jpg
 
sac troop said:
Regarding the other knife.
The black stuff isn't paint. It's a fungicide that the Government made part of the specifications of the knife handle and sheath starting in 1962.
Click to expand...

There is a fungicide on the leather, but the majority of the coating is black paint. The pilots survival knife has a fungicide applied as well, yet there is no black paint visible on the leather.
 
I need to take my bolt knife out & do some work, weather is cooling off a bit.
 
sac troop said:
The black stuff isn't paint. It's a fungicide that the Government made part of the specifications of the knife handle and sheath starting in 1962.
Click to expand...
Yonose said:
There is a fungicide on the leather, but the majority of the coating is black paint. The pilots survival knife has a fungicide applied as well, yet there is no black paint visible on the leather.
Click to expand...

Sac troop,
Yonose is correct. The black coating on the Leather handle is just that...a coating.
The fungicide (it can be one of several types) is applied to the leather washers prior to assembly.
The knife is assembled, the handle turned and trimmed to size and then the handle is painted black.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
Well well what a juicy find! I enjoyed reading the whole thread and learned so much. I posted a more recent thread on this 499 model and have enjoyed the comments and knowledge from that as well.
 
Currently i have 5 of the Walmart OKC 499 USAF Survival knives of which 4 are still in the blister pack. Also gave 2 others to my 2 sons. To say i love this knife would be an understatement. Probably don’t have enough neats foot oil to do them all. Think i will try a couple other ways to protect the leather as described in this thread. Thanks
DN
 
Did any other companies make a similar knife to the Ontario 499? I am new to knife collecting and just love this type of knife
 
I watched a Ontario SHOT show video.
I was hoping this would be the year for the bush pilot.
A tanto, really?
 
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