Trying to identify camillus knife

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Jul 18, 2016
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Hi...I'm new to the site and am trying to identify a knife my daughter found yesterday. I hope this is the right place to make this post....sorry if not. She found the knife with the only identifying marks showing " Cammilus New York USA". We made no attempt to do any cleaning in case the knife is old. Thanks for your help.




http://http://s1146.photobucket.com/user/memiller6589/media/image.jpg1_zpsny0xql9n.jpg.html

http://http://s1146.photobucket.com/user/memiller6589/media/image.jpg3_zpsqqhxmzdp.jpg.html

http://http://s1146.photobucket.com/user/memiller6589/media/image.jpg4_zps8sys767a.jpg.html

http://s1146.photobucket.com/user/memiller6589/media/image.jpg2_zpsgpr5rjhm.jpg.html
 
I can't give you a model number but it is a USAF survival knife AKA a jet pilot knife or bolt knife.
Hope this helps.
 


Thanks to everyone for the quick and detailed replies. It looks like it is a mid 60's to 8's model base on the markings on the blade. She is planning to clean it up and use it for camping trips. Any advise on the best way to clean the knife. I'm guessing just oil and elbow grease?
 
Great knife for camping or scouting I carried mine on walks in the woods. In New York City. )

Soak it in food grade mineral oil. Rub it down afterwards. Patina is good. As long as there's no corrosive red rust, you're OK.
 
There won't be any pommel markings on this one. the knife is a Camillus model number 5733. Made after march 1985 to 2006. The tang stamp on this knife is post Government contract era.
 
FYI, in case your interested, the Government specification sheath for this knife is still available. Knife Center.com has them in stock. Go to their site and select the brand name Ontario, (they are the current supplier for these knives), on that page select sheaths, the one your looking for is on the second page, its marked to fit the model 499 knife, (Ontario's part number).
 
There won't be any pommel markings on this one. the knife is a Camillus model number 5733. Made after march 1985 to 2006. The tang stamp on this knife is post Government contract era.

Made after 1989 to 2006 (I think)
 
Ok...I'll ask! Where did she find it??


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My daughter went camping in the Shenandoah Valley near western Virginia and hiked about 9 miles to view several water falls. She found the knife in the shallow water near one of the falls. She seems to have a nack for finding things when camping as she found WW2 dog tags about three months ago. We have searched and found out they are real but we haven't found a living relative yet.
 
Made after 1989 to 2006 (I think)
No Vit, the 1985 change to the marking for the 5733 knife is a solid date I got from Tom years ago. 1989 would be a good change over date for Camillus's model number 5684, also known as the Marine Corps knife,fighting, or commonly referred to as the KA-BAR, regardless of who made it. Frank Trzaska published that a few years ago, and I'm almost positive he also got that information from Tom Williams too. Two different knives, two different contract histories. Both knives started wearing the same tang stamp after their Government contracts were cancelled.

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DCP_1358.jpg


Please don't take this the wrong way. I know a lot more about Camillus knives than I ever would have, thanks to the information and images you provide. :)
 
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OK, but I did not see any knife with this tang stamp before 1989 :cool:.

P.S. My #5733
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In the photo it is difficult to see, but it has the same tang stamp.
 
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The latest dated pommel stamped Camillus 5733 is 3-1985. Tom said that the Government contract was cancelled in 1984. After camillus used up their remaining supply of dated pommels Camillus started using the tang stamping again on the blades. That stamp is different than the one used earlier.

JPK_3.jpg


I'm not sure that while the official cancelation was in 1984 if the Government continued to except knives for a limited time afterwards. This is something that is known to have happened in other instances.
I do have good information regarding Camillus made JPSK's in Australian Military stores with dates as late as 3-1985. Wether they received them from the U.S. Government or from direct purchase from Camillus is unknown to me.
 
Sorry, but my English is still very bad.
So you're saying that 5733 knives dated 3-1985 has tang stamp as shown in the photo?
 
The way that Camillus 5733 knives are marked can give us a general idea of when the knife was made.
The knife pattern was developed by the U.S. Navy working with the Marble's knife Company. The original design had a 6 inch blade. The knife comes into existence in 1957. Camillus was chosen by the Government to compete with Marble's to make the first knives. The short answer is that Camillus won the competition and was awarded the contract to make these knives.
The first knives were made with a pommel that screwed onto the tang of the knife. This was discovered to be an added expense and some also believed it to be a weak point, so the design was changed to peening the tang to the pommel.
From 1957 to 1961 the knives were made with 6 inch blades.
The specification, (coming from the Government), was changed and the blade length was changed to 5 inches in 1961.

From the start of production thru 1966, per Government specification, Camillus marked the knives on the blade with this tang stamp for both the 6 and 5 inch blade knives.

c0d94956.jpg


The Government made many changes to the specification for these knives over the years. MIL-K-8662 is the specification number. As the specification changes that number is followed by different letters, such as B,C,D,E.
The marking specification was changed from marking the knife on the blade to marking the knife on the pommel. Besides the name of the Company who made the knife, a date was also added to the text of the stamp.

IMG_0127.jpg


This is the way the MIL-K-8662 knives are marked from 1967 to present.
In reflection, I shouldn't have posted the picture of the knife on the left side in the post yesterday. It's an anomaly knife. A blade left over from the 1966 production was used to make that 1-1967 5733 knife. Most examples of even the 1-1967 marked knives are made with a sterile blade. Camillus did use up the rather small quantity of 1966 blades when the change was made. Still the image of that knife can be confusing.

From 1967 to 3-1985 the Camillus made 5733 knives are only marked on the pommel. This doesn't include special runs of commemorative knives made for the commercial market that were often blade etched.

Sorry that I took so long to get to that point. Hopefully this will help clear up the chronology of these knives.

Camillus made their 5733 knife from 1957 to 2006. For almost 30 years they made them to Government contract specifications. For the last 22 years they still made the knife, but military personal who had those got them thru other means than being issued them from a normal Government contract.

This tang stamp does signify a Camillus 5733 made after the cancelation of the Government contracts. Camillus 5733 knives made after 3-1985 have pommels with no information stamped on them.
JPK_3.jpg


I hope at least some of this may be of help.
 
S sac troop thanks for this information. I'm bringing a very old thread back to life. A google search brought me here. I was trying to find accurate information about my knife that is marked 1-1967 on the pummel and Camillus NY on the blade. It appears from what you're saying that is rare, as it is a pre-1967 blade. Great information, Thanks !
 
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