Question on Ontario survival blade

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Apr 4, 2011
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I have a Ontario Pilot Survival Knife (like everbody else!), but mine has a blued blade and crossguard. On the butt its marked Ontario 2 - 80. I thought these were parked..Does anyone know if this is standard issue?
 
JohnnyB,

Please post pictures and we can all try and sort this out. Also a bit of the history of your knife would help.
Did you buy it new-in-box or used?

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
Sure thing.....It came with a very used Army (?) flight vest I got at an estate sale years ago. I put it away and recently read an article that spurred my interest in its history. Most all I've see are parkerized or some flat rough finish.
Your interest is appreciated!
JohnZviEMDiFRE6cD4EW2EccBg.jpgh3X5lr2HSj6%wued5GMISA.jpg1wG48hB+QyWp+epZNHxBhw.jpgxLl8GvgCQzylO3CDSHhi3A.jpgaSZuZzoHR72Uy1Gi0S+djg.jpgEsTDjkOZS%2vrp4h0LRgQQ.jpg
 

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I once owned a camillus afsk, dated 83 I think. It appeared to have a smooth blued finish, but that's all I can add. Hopefully an expert can help you out.
 
JohnnyB,

The Bluing on the metal parts of the knife is most likely an aftermarket job as Parkerizing was the standard surface finish on the 8662 since the early 1960s,
The leather handle seems to also be dyed/waxed. (The darker color could just be from dirt/oil but it looks dyed)
The cruddy coating on the end of the pommel is a chromate primer with a black paint to cover the exposed peened metal of the tang.
The sheath backing plate finish was never really specified except that it had to be colored black so it could have been blued but most likely Black Oxided, or Black e-coated.
In any event, you have a nice find with possibly some interesting history.
Maybe some others better versed in Militaria will chime in.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of Engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
Thanks for the insight Paul. If the blueing was indeed aftermarket, there must have been some of these sent to private entities or non-military agencies? A closer look at the handle indicates some type of preservative was used. This is going to the safe for now!
 
I have a similar knife, but it is stamped 10-76. I purchased it at an army/navy surplus store back in 1976. The blade was parkerized and the leather handle was unstained. I used that knife a lot for many years. The handle darkened much like your just from use. The parkerizing on the blade wore down to just smooth bare metal an developed natural patina on it on. The previous owner may have decide to blue a well used blade.
 
Nice thread gents!
Its anyone's guess if the knife was blued
privately or otherwise.
But it stands to reason that bluing of the
blade is there to offer some level of rust
protection and to cut any exposed bright
spots in knives with worn out factory
finished mil spec. zinc phosphate coatings.
Besides, it would have been uneconomical
to re-phosphate coat the entire blade
without discarding the leather handle and
to undo the pommel assembly for the
insertion of a new stack leather washer
handle... just my 2 cents.
 
IMHO, I don't think your knife is blued, or re-blued. I believe we are looking at the remains of the original finish. Your knife looks very close in finish to my first JPSK which I got new in 1974, (its an Ontario 1-1973).
Even though it's older my knife most likely saw less use than yours over the last 40+ years. Still the finish tends to smooth out even with mostly sheath wear and contact.
It's also possible that in the past a PO may have wiped the metal with a cold blueing treatment to reduce the shine on any bare metal. If that happened, obviously the knife has continued to be used and sharped since then. Cold bluing over parkerizing can confuse the impression one gets of the original finish. Still I don't think it would have to have been cold blued at all to look like it does in the photo.
 
sac troop,

You might be correct about the phosphate. LAst week, I just picked up two 1973 vintage 499s at an estate sale.
They had the exact same metal surface finish as JohnnyB's knife. There are several types of phosphates (zinc, manganese) that are/were specified by the government. I really haven't studied the long term wear look of either. However, the smoother the phosphate surface becomes, the less corrosion resistance is present. So while it may look nicer, it will be more prone to rusting.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
V.P. of engineering
Ontario Knife Company
 
I think Toooj sort of answered the question the best he could. And since he‘s long retired I doubt there will be anything further.
 
Small world. Mine is also marked 2-80, and it was issued to me, by the Navy, new, in 1982. It is parkerized, and so was everyone else's, in my class. So I'm guessing yours has been gone over, with some type of bluing compound.
 
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