Any info on this knife?

[batex]

My father recently gave me a knife that my uncle aquired while in the Air Force in the late 50's. The knife doesn't have any identification marks and appears that it may have been "homemade". My first thought was it had been made from a bayonet blade given it's shape and thickness, but there aren't any "blood grooves" on the blade. I know my asking is a long shot and this knife may be one of a kind, but I thought I'd ask. Has anyone ever seen a knife like this? I suppose it was common for guys in the service to aquire all sorts of souviners while oversees so this may be one of those. Oh, the knife also has 5 notches cut into the belt loop of the sheath. Don't know why those are there.
Thanks

 

[TimboKhan]

I am sure my opinion will get destroyed by some of the more knowledgeable knife guys here, but that looks an awful lot like a standard issue AF survival knife from that same period. Matter of fact, it is either Blade or Knives Illustrated that has an article on this very topic in the newest issue. That it looks like that doesn't in any way mean that it is, by the way.

I don't have a clue if your knife was made by the H Boker company, as those original survival knives apparently were, but Boker (the German company, whose affiliation to H Boker, if any, is fuzzy to me) just released new remakes of that very knife.

Anyhoo, I stand by to be corrected, but that's what it looks like to me. If it is homemade, I would take a guess that it is at least based on that survival knife pattern.

 

[hso]

Not a USAF Pilot's Survival Knife as seen in this image.

My guess is that it is actually a "Theater Knife" made by a skilled GI. It could be from the blade of a Japanes knife or wakazashi that some skilled GI mounted a nice stack washer handle onto or it could be the "tip" of an NCO or officer's sword or it could just be a crafted blade. The hints that it might have come from a Japanes knife/sword is the blade shape and the habaki or Japanese style throat guard. The problem is that you'll also see this shape on the tip of US late 20th century swords (I have my father's officers saber from just before WWII). Looking at the blade and the last foot or so of the standard US Army Officer's Saber and the knife I could guess either way on blade shape, but the throat guard/habaki pushes me towards Japan.

 

[TimboKhan]

No, but it looks awfully similar to the USAF survival knife that I am talking about, seen here:

Boker Reissue

Edit to add: Similar meaning inspired by, not similar meaning "probably thats what it is"

 

[batex]

THanks for the replys. HSO, I'm inclined to also believe it's a "theater made" knife either made by a GI, or made locally and purchased. No matter, it's a piece of my family's history and I'll never get rid of it. In fact, I might have to pull it out for my friends the next time I'm cooking BBQ and to see how it cuts!

 

[hso]

Timbo, that knife was never a general issue piece to all the USAF. It was a pretty limited piece for a limited group (SAC) and was based on a standard "hunting" knife of the time.

 

[TimboKhan]

I think the article said it was based on a Randall?

 

[HoosierQ]

Regardless...not a pilots survival knife. Look at how they ones cites are constructed...they are "bolt knives"...the tang extends down the center of the handle and is secured at the butt end in some way...the bolt.

Look at how the OPs knife is constucted. I vote +1 on the use of a Japaneses sword blade, spliced into a leather washer handle by some sort of sandwich method...you can see the construction in the picture.

Most definitely not an pilots survival knife. Hand crafted knife.

 

[MICHAEL T]

The hints that it might have come from a Japanes knife/sword is the blade shape and the habaki or Japanese style throat guard.

I vote with this It has way to much Japanese in it To be American made for military Also size Larger than a K bar.

 

[hso]

TK,

No, the ad copy said the Randall 14 was in the running for the SAC flight crew survival knife, but the smaller hunter was chosen.

This is the first I've ever heard of an alternate knife to the standard issue Pilot Survival Knife made by Camillus for the USAAC/USAF. The Boker reproduction knife looks like a common small hunter made by Western of the era.

My buddy that seriously collects and sells old military knives said it was the first he'd seen/heard about it also and that the grip bore a remarkable resemblance to the highly sought after Western L-76 while the knife itself looks like a standard hunter from the 40's-50's. The one below was for the Boy Scouts of America.