Help Navy pilot knife?
- galvanic1882
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Help Navy pilot knife?
I have what I think is a rare Navy Pilot knife. I have seen them marked Camillus and Colonial. This one is marked Cattaraugus and I’ve never seen another one marked that way, I got the knife in a batch of knives I’m selling for the grandson of the last President of Cattaraugus Cutlery. No brass on the knife I believe the liners are nickel silver. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Mike
- treefarmer
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Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
I can't help you other than to say, that one is a prize!
Like you, the Colonial and Camillus are the ones I've seen and they all had some sort of black handle material.
That is way out of my league, but it would be great to see how that one ends up.
Treefarmer
Like you, the Colonial and Camillus are the ones I've seen and they all had some sort of black handle material.
That is way out of my league, but it would be great to see how that one ends up.
Treefarmer
A GUN IN THE HAND IS BETTER THAN A COP ON THE PHONE.
Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
Very interesting knife Mike! I am certainly no expert on these, but I have worked on quite a few of the Colonials and at least one or more of the United WW2 pilot's survival knives, and all of them have had the black composite textured handle scales, and all of them had the maker's stamp in the center of the mark side of the blade. I've never seen one like yours with a Cattaraugus tang stamp or wood scales. So it is likely a rare bird. Just one observation though, from you pictures, to me the blades appear to be in much better condition than the steel bolsters (which look quite normal for the age of this knife).
"Better to do something imperfectly, than to do nothing flawlessly." ~ Robert H. Schuller
Herb
Herb
- galvanic1882
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Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
Thanks for the input, the bolsters are that way because they had rust from a knife in the roll that was gassing out. I put oil on them to stop the rust but the result is what you see, the knife is unused.herbva wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 11:01 pm Very interesting knife Mike! I am certainly no expert on these, but I have worked on quite a few of the Colonials and at least one or more of the United WW2 pilot's survival knives, and all of them have had the black composite textured handle scales, and all of them had the maker's stamp in the center of the mark side of the blade. I've never seen one like yours with a Cattaraugus tang stamp or wood scales. So it is likely a rare bird. Just one observation though, from you pictures, to me the blades appear to be in much better condition than the steel bolsters (which look quite normal for the age of this knife).
Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
I’ve never seen one like it either. Very interesting indeed.
- 1967redrider
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Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
Very cool, Mike. Any chance this could have been a "salesman's sample" contract knife that Cattaraugus didn't win?
Pocket, fixed, machete, axe, it's all good!
You're going to look awfully silly with that knife sticking out of your @#$. -Clint Eastwood, High Plains Drifter
You're going to look awfully silly with that knife sticking out of your @#$. -Clint Eastwood, High Plains Drifter
- galvanic1882
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Re: Help Navy pilot knife?
Ok that is what I am thinking also but wanted to see if there are any more out there. I am selling a collection of knives that were owned by the last President of Cattaraugus and this was in the batch.1967redrider wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:14 pm Very cool, Mike. Any chance this could have been a "salesman's sample" contract knife that Cattaraugus didn't win?
Check out the Cattaraugus thread, I'll be listing some pictures there.
Mike