Chris Reeve Pachmayr knife history

Joined
Oct 13, 2002
Messages
314
I thought I would share some information that I found when I purchased this knife off of E-bay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chris-Reeve...ible_Knives&hash=item3f119b1af5#ht_500wt_1413

This knife was the personal knife of the co-designer Karl Lippard. As some of know the Project One began life as the Pachmayr Field Survivor and 27 were made in South Africa and a further 63 were made in the USA. The interesting part is that the 27 made in SA have the night index on the right hand side of the knife while the 63 made in the US have the index on the left side. This convention was carried over in the Project One. I am including SOME of the correspondence that I had with Karl and have quoted the conversation verbatim. Following Karl's comments are those of Anne Reeve. I hope you find it enlightening.

Dear karllippard,

I wanted to know what the serial number is on the knife and what kind of provenance is going to come with the knife. All of the information you could provide me as to the history of your involvement with the design and who carried it and when would be tremendously helpful. Thank you very much.

-rxgremlin

Dear rxgremlin,

Yes I will do that. To my knowledge this is the only Marine knife specifically designed for Hand to Hand Combat use. To me it remains the only real combat knife made today for offensive engagement. In my book The Warriors the United States Marines in the Drill Field section it speaks about the use of the knife and my instructions to Marines briefly. I was the only Marine ever to salute left handed on the Drill Field and bleed every day training men for combat. The serial number is "USMC" for Brig. Gen Joseph E. Hopkins, the finest Marine to ever wear the uniform. Our two knives were tested and remained with our old units for 10 years of service. There were periods when they were returned but requested again and again for combat use.

-karllippard


Dear karllippard,

Thank you for the reply and the details. There is much interest in the development of this knife, the involvement of Pachmayr and how it eventually became the Project I. Were the knives officially tested by the Marine Corps for consideration? Where were they stored when not in use and who requested them back and who got to carry them? Is the knife I am receiving a prototype? Does it have any markings on it besides USMC such as "Made in South Africa", "Pachmayr" the Chris Reeve logo or a number saying which of the 27 it was? I know that I asked alot of questions but it is interesting to me.

Thanks,

rxgremlin


Dear rxgremlin,

Yes, the knife has the Chris reeve logo, South Africa and knife number 16 marking. There were not prototyes. The reason for the number 27 is that was the number ordered. The knives were expensive. Most knives went to the military users. A few Generals but mostly to Delta terrorist specialists for which the guns were made. As noted the knives were is use by 1st Force recon and saw service in Samalia, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq and other areas. Judging the condition in which they were returned they were either used to cut meat or something along those lines fairly recent. As you will see the knive is used and could be sent to Chris to have the paint restored. We use these knives and so did the Marines carrying them. They were not made to look at and my people are not funny. These are serious blades and if the military ever get to the point of buying them as they are considering my pistol now, this knife as it will be issued to all Marines. Pachmayr becaise I was the Division Manager, a Marine they came to to design and make the weapons for a specific task. Wounded six times in combat and known for my expertise was why they came to Pachmayr, it was where I was having returned from Vietnam in 1987 by direction of the president removing American remains from there.

- karllippard


Dear karllippard,

I got the knife today and it is very nice. Thank you for the documentation
and the information that you provided. One last question if you don't mind:
who was the commanding officer that retired from 1st Force Recon that gave
the knife back to you?

Thanks,

-rxgremlin

Dear rxgremlin,

I don't recall his name and have not ran across his letter.
He was a Mustang came up from the enlisted ranks.
I'll see if I can locate it for you. Been meaning to try and contact him.
I have a Colonel from Second Force and I will see if we can find his name.
If I run across more information I will let you know.
General Garvey just called and I will check with General Kelly on his knife.
Let me check something...okay, I am sending you a picture big enough to blow up. [He sent me a enlarged promotional photo]
If you look at the knife you will see it is the one shown with all the military pistols archived by Pachmayr.

This is a picture of the knife with other military NCO guns. If you look close your serial number matches #16. It was the only one marked for USMC. Therefore it can be identified as the Prototype knife for Service consideration as photographed. The guns were only sold to the military. The knife could be sold to civilians at that time.Except for the original number made for Pachmayr and that were made to my specification were from the run. Chris made his with a smaller hilt to save labor in machining a 145 pound bar to a 8- 10 pound bar. It is the difference from a professional knife and one made to look like one. As you may have noticed I don't care about the money it cost, it's the purpose of the blade. I doubt Jim Bowie was concerned about the cost of his blade being too big. He too knew his business and what his knife had to be.

No Marine argues with me about a knife and how to use it.

He is Anne's response to the listing:

· The knife you have was just called a Pachmayr at the time it was made. Chris and I moved to the USA in March 1989 and it was intended that the knife continue to be sold through Pachmayr. It became known as the Pachmayr Field Survivor but, when Pachmayr dropped the project, we called it the Project I.
· For the Project I, only the width of the cross guard was reduced (to 2 inches) and Pachmayr logo was left off. Several years later, we changed the sheath to a more conventional snap-and-strap style. We continued to make the Project I until a little over a year ago.
· The knife was designed by Chris Reeve around the basic design features of the One Piece Knives for which he is very well known. Essentially these knives are machined from solid round bar, hollow handled with an aluminum butt cap. The family of One Piece Knives comprised several different blade styles and lengths. Karl Lippard was working at Pachmayr at the time and he requested some specifics to be designed into the model – the blade length, the wide cross guard, the Night index and a quick silent draw sheath that could be mounted upside down on a harness. The blade style is a classic spearpoint.
·“Farm implements” is a stretch. Although South Africa was under sanctions at the time, our knives were not among the sanction items.
· As far as who owned the knife, and where it went, I can’t comment.
· It is a rare Chris Reeve knife certainly but not the ‘rarest’.

I hope you find this information helpful – be sure to let me know if you have any questions. You do have a good collectible knife!

With best wishes
Anne

I have photos of the knife but have had problems posting them. If someone wants to help I will be more than happy to send the photos.

Thanks,

Rxgremlin
 
Last edited:
I thought I would share some information that I found when I purchased this knife off of E-bay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chris-Reeve...ible_Knives&hash=item3f119b1af5#ht_500wt_1413

This knife was the personal knife of the co-designer Karl Lippard. As some of know the Project One began life as the Pachmayr Field Survivor and 27 were made in South Africa and a further 63 were made in the USA. The interesting part is that the 27 made in SA have the night index on the right hand side of the knife while the 63 made in the US have the index on the left side. This convention was carried over in the Project One. I am including SOME of the correspondence that I had with Karl and have quoted the conversation verbatim. Following Karl's comments are those of Anne Reeve. I hope you find it enlightening.

Dear karllippard,

I wanted to know what the serial number is on the knife and what kind of provenance is going to come with the knife. All of the information you could provide me as to the history of your involvement with the design and who carried it and when would be tremendously helpful. Thank you very much.

-rxgremlin

Dear rxgremlin,

Yes I will do that. To my knowledge this is the only Marine knife specifically designed for Hand to Hand Combat use. To me it remains the only real combat knife made today for offensive engagement. In my book The Warriors the United States Marines in the Drill Field section it speaks about the use of the knife and my instructions to Marines briefly. I was the only Marine ever to salute left handed on the Drill Field and bleed every day training men for combat. The serial number is "USMC" for Brig. Gen Joseph E. Hopkins, the finest Marine to ever wear the uniform. Our two knives were tested and remained with our old units for 10 years of service. There were periods when they were returned but requested again and again for combat use.

-karllippard


Dear karllippard,

Thank you for the reply and the details. There is much interest in the development of this knife, the involvement of Pachmayr and how it eventually became the Project I. Were the knives officially tested by the Marine Corps for consideration? Where were they stored when not in use and who requested them back and who got to carry them? Is the knife I am receiving a prototype? Does it have any markings on it besides USMC such as "Made in South Africa", "Pachmayr" the Chris Reeve logo or a number saying which of the 27 it was? I know that I asked alot of questions but it is interesting to me.

Thanks,

rxgremlin


Dear rxgremlin,

Yes, the knife has the Chris reeve logo, South Africa and knife number 16 marking. There were not prototyes. The reason for the number 27 is that was the number ordered. The knives were expensive. Most knives went to the military users. A few Generals but mostly to Delta terrorist specialists for which the guns were made. As noted the knives were is use by 1st Force recon and saw service in Samalia, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq and other areas. Judging the condition in which they were returned they were either used to cut meat or something along those lines fairly recent. As you will see the knive is used and could be sent to Chris to have the paint restored. We use these knives and so did the Marines carrying them. They were not made to look at and my people are not funny. These are serious blades and if the military ever get to the point of buying them as they are considering my pistol now, this knife as it will be issued to all Marines. Pachmayr becaise I was the Division Manager, a Marine they came to to design and make the weapons for a specific task. Wounded six times in combat and known for my expertise was why they came to Pachmayr, it was where I was having returned from Vietnam in 1987 by direction of the president removing American remains from there.

- karllippard


Dear karllippard,

I got the knife today and it is very nice. Thank you for the documentation
and the information that you provided. One last question if you don't mind:
who was the commanding officer that retired from 1st Force Recon that gave
the knife back to you?

Thanks,

-rxgremlin

Dear rxgremlin,

I don't recall his name and have not ran across his letter.
He was a Mustang came up from the enlisted ranks.
I'll see if I can locate it for you. Been meaning to try and contact him.
I have a Colonel from Second Force and I will see if we can find his name.
If I run across more information I will let you know.
General Garvey just called and I will check with General Kelly on his knife.
Let me check something...okay, I am sending you a picture big enough to blow up. [He sent me a enlarged promotional photo]
If you look at the knife you will see it is the one shown with all the military pistols archived by Pachmayr.

This is a picture of the knife with other military NCO guns. If you look close your serial number matches #16. It was the only one marked for USMC. Therefore it can be identified as the Prototype knife for Service consideration as photographed. The guns were only sold to the military. The knife could be sold to civilians at that time.Except for the original number made for Pachmayr and that were made to my specification were from the run. Chris made his with a smaller hilt to save labor in machining a 145 pound bar to a 8- 10 pound bar. It is the difference from a professional knife and one made to look like one. As you may have noticed I don't care about the money it cost, it's the purpose of the blade. I doubt Jim Bowie was concerned about the cost of his blade being too big. He too knew his business and what his knife had to be.

No Marine argues with me about a knife and how to use it.

He is Anne's response to the listing:

· The knife you have was just called a Pachmayr at the time it was made. Chris and I moved to the USA in March 1989 and it was intended that the knife continue to be sold through Pachmayr. It became known as the Pachmayr Field Survivor but, when Pachmayr dropped the project, we called it the Project I.
· For the Project I, only the width of the cross guard was reduced (to 2 inches) and Pachmayr logo was left off. Several years later, we changed the sheath to a more conventional snap-and-strap style. We continued to make the Project I until a little over a year ago.
· The knife was designed by Chris Reeve around the basic design features of the One Piece Knives for which he is very well known. Essentially these knives are machined from solid round bar, hollow handled with an aluminum butt cap. The family of One Piece Knives comprised several different blade styles and lengths. Karl Lippard was working at Pachmayr at the time and he requested some specifics to be designed into the model – the blade length, the wide cross guard, the Night index and a quick silent draw sheath that could be mounted upside down on a harness. The blade style is a classic spearpoint.
·“Farm implements” is a stretch. Although South Africa was under sanctions at the time, our knives were not among the sanction items.
· As far as who owned the knife, and where it went, I can’t comment.
· It is a rare Chris Reeve knife certainly but not the ‘rarest’.

I hope you find this information helpful – be sure to let me know if you have any questions. You do have a good collectible knife!

With best wishes
Anne

I have photos of the knife but have had problems posting them. If someone wants to help I will be more than happy to send the photos.

Thanks,

Rxgremlin
Buddy of mine gave me one of these a couple years ago it was new sent it in for authentication and new birth certificate #61. Thanks for the history of it.
 
Back
Top