I picked this knife up at the same sale where I got the floral carved rifle case. It was priced at $60 and hadn’t sold 2 hours into the sale. I don’t really collect these and wouldn’t normally pay that much for a run of the mill example, but I recognized this as an early Camillus Jet Pilot Knife with a 6” blade (1958-1961). Most of these USAF Survival Knives have a nominal 5” blade.

This is a type II knife with a peened on pommel. Type I knives have a screw on pommel. The sheath is a type III, with the high retaining strap. The kinfe likely dates to 1960-61 and appears unused.







When I got home, I dug through my footlocker with military knives and bayonets that I’ve accumulated over the years and found these two (on the right). The middle one is a Vietnam era undated 5” Camillus (1962-1966). The one on the far right is a 5” Ontario dated 5-‘94.





I never intended to collect these, but it seems I now have a decent representative collection showing the basic changes made over the years. Maybe some day I’ll get real lucky and find an early 6” Marble’s Jet Pilot Knife (Gladstone, MI)! They design the knife, but lost the government contract to Camillus because of cost.

If you have any Jet Pilot/USAF Survival knives, please post them. It’s an interesting knife with a number of manufacturers and variations.

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"I also cook."

Nice find.
The original 6 inch blade was a Navy Knife.
Later the blade was shortened to 5”, the AF and others got them.
I carried mine in a Nylon Bag sewn to the thigh on my G Suit.
This well known F-4 Pilot is carrying his on his Parachute Harness.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

There is a current thread on Bladeforums entitled “Ka-Bar’s unpopular MK I”. Interesting differences between the current Ka-Bar and the older knives pictured here. Maybe it would be more popular if it had kept the cool hex pommel.

Ka-Bar's unpopular MK1 | BladeForums.com

It is also interesting to note that the Kabar version with a stacked leather handle currently goes for $79 on Amazon. A Kraton handle is $64. Whoever priced your knife at that estate sale obviously had some idea of what it was worth.

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Not in jail.

I had a NOS post Vietnam one and a used Vietnam era one as a kid. Patrick Swayze had one tied upside down onto his pack strap on the box for Red Dawn, which was enough to get my interest. Neither of them were particularly sharp, held an edge well, or were great as knives generally so I sold them off, they look damn cool though and every time I see one I want to love it.

The one I have is marked Camillus,NY 3/1966
Dick

Only one I have had is the Randall A/F knife I bought for my son in law who flies for the pararescue jumpers.

They may have known what a currently manufactured knife goes for, but they obviously didn’t know about vintage JPK’s.

This sold on ebay several months ago. Others have brought more.

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"I also cook."

I have seen many of those pilot's knives, but have never owned one. The closest thing to that which I have owned is this Navy Seal knife, which I did not like, for several reasons (the blade grind was horrible, the steel was lame). I later sold it. (This one is not mine).



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So very Politically Incorrect

In 1966, on a deer hunting trip to the UP, we stopped at Marble Arms, several of us bought the survival knives for $6 each. They were either overruns or seconds, I'm not sure which. Sold them a few years ago for well over a hundred apiece.

Marble designed and built the original 6” blade version for the Navy.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Okey doke. Here is a very old pic of a few of the blades in my JPSK collection.



They are indeed very interesting blades with a long service history. Be aware that these were not just USAF issue but instead came to be used by all branches of the US military including the Coast Guard.

Heck, it was such a good design that it was also used by our Allies. See the image below from 1971 taken in the Mekong Delta. It shows Naval Airman Michael Aves of Queensland in front of a UH-1 helicopter. At the time the Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight Viet Nam was attached to the US Army's 135th Assault Helicopter Co. Airman Aves is wearing a JPSK. He is also wearing a locally made buscadero/cowboy rig to carry his S&W Model 10 .38 Special. (Am I touching all bases here with this image or what?!?) Those rigs were popular with US and allied airmen throughout the war.



Regards,
Charlie

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Charlie Flick
SWCA 729 HF 215

Our Flight Equipment shop had those in a box in the shop. The aircrews seemed to prefer Ka-Bars.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I have had a few dozen Vietnam issue JPSK's in various condition. I don't care for the new in box items. I like the used look. My favorite was a well used knife I got from the Vietnam vet that carried it. He said if I bought it he would tell me the true tales of the 3 times it drew blood in Nam. Could not resist, so I forked over the money and got the stories. Thinking him to be a front line grunt to have drawn blood with it, I found out he was a mechanic and the 3 times it drew blood was when he cut himself with it when he was using it to scrape gaskets. A kid I watched grow up, went to Afghanistan as a Marine and came back wounded and suffering from severe PTSD. Looking through my military knife collection I offered him any knife he wanted and of course he took the JPSK with the Nam story.

This topic made me go looking for this 5-inch knife I’ve had so long I forgot where it came from. I never paid much attention to it because it didn’t have a maker’s name on it. For some reason the end of the pommel is painted gray. Any ideas on who the maker was?

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The MkI Ka-bar reproduction is my fixed blade utility knife in the mountains of Pa. Not to big... not to small!

Look closely at the 6 squares on the nut. Camillus should be written along with a date. I have had several that were painted as yours and I have never heard a logical explanation.

Thank you! Yes, it says Camillus N.Y. 5-1973 on one of the flats. It looks like the lettering was stamped then parkerized(?) making it hard to see.

DO NOT remove the grey paint! It was applied at the factory per government specification, starting in 1966.

I’ve heard that the paint was applied to make the knife easier to find in the dark, but I believe it was intended to prevent salt water from getting into the tang. The paint was later changed to black.

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"I also cook."

Here's a pic of my high school ROTC buddy 1/LT Ed Cribb preparing to fly an Amy Mohawk observation plane mission in Vietnam. As you can see, he has a Pilot Survival Knife attached to his right suspender.

Ed was killed in action in 1963.

I have a PSK in my collection of military knives, but it's buried in the vault somewhere - don't know its variation, but it has the shorter knife blade.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I still have the one I brought back from Vietnam, It's dated 1967, Doesn't look as nice as yours. I also brought back a M1 carbine bayonet dated '67 that I picked up over there. Phu-Cat 1968-1969. Never saw a bayonet for my M-16.
SWCA 892

I have one, a Camillus date 5-1967. It also has a grey pommel. I was told gray means navy. I was told this by the collector former navy guy I bought it from.

My knife has is well worn and has pitting along with a water damaged sheath.

For some reason, I can't get picts off my camera.

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Thread Killer.

very nice..

Here is pages from Coles book.9F4916A8-37D2-44EC-B3B4-B7D44D8A3535.jpg

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I managed to get them.

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Thread Killer.

I've had several of these knives relieved from my possession at Phan Rang AB RVN by my 1 Sgt during several barracks shake down's I know some of you AF Type's can recall. we didn't have immediate access to our M-16's so we scrounged what we could. Our knives were from Ontario knife company in the 70-71 time frame. ours did not have the metal tab on the bottom of the sheath. They & yours were/are pretty nice examples. Tom

I brought one home from Vietnam, but it is kind of quirky...
I worked on EC-47s at TSN
It looks exactly like these Camillus brand.
No finish on blade,
stacked leather grip,
Hexagon pommel with open thread showing about 1/8 inch
The only thing is that it is stamped JAPAN. No date.
Looks of high quality and service duty, not cheap looking.
There was no sheath with it.

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Just glad to be here

I don't own one, but I've seen hundreds of them over the years.
That's a copy, of course, but, I've seen worse copies. I've seen some that look like 10-year-olds made them.


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So very Politically Incorrect

I posted this on the JPK several years ago on the USMF. You may find it interesting.

The Jet Pilots Survival Knife - EDGED WEAPONS - U.S. Militaria Forum

When I was a teen in the 1970s they caught my attention. I always wanted one but never got one. When I became an Army pilot in the 1980s I was issued one. It was heavy for something that I would never use in a peace time military. My flying area was just desert not much to cut or pry. If we went missing we would be found in a short period of time. I removed mine from my vest. I never saw anyone ever use their issued knife. When we went to Desert Storm everyone wanted to get a knife for war. Fixed blades were popular. I got a cold steel SRK and carried it on my gas mask case strap. Many people I served with did not even carry folding knives on a daily basis. I would guess half did not own a handgun. The most useful tools I carried were my Leatherman tool for the pliers and wire cutter and my Spyderco folder.

I have a couple unissued still in the wrap that I bought for five bucks at a Army/Navy surplus store in West Memphis, Arkansas back in the '90's. I recall they had a cardboard box full of them at the time.

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Live long and prosper

Hi Tony, The knives I had were etched with the maker (Ontario) on the end of the knife. it also had the "year" etched in there also. I was surprised to see there were several makers of this knife around. I wouldn't mind finding one in the year time frame that I served at Phan Rang. Tom

Thanks for the response guys.
Here I thought I had an original all these years, LOL.
I would like to have an original too, but prices are high.
Thanks again fellas!

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Just glad to be here

Randall got you to huh? My son flies ISR and I gave him a Model 15 Airman.

Here’s my Knife that I carried in SEA.
The top knife is an older 6 inch.
You’ll notice the aluminum plated riveted on the bottom of my Sheath.
There were problems with the blade cutting through the Sheath.
The fix was to locally rivet aluminum plates on the Sheath.
I have a copy of the Mil Spec for this knife.
The actual official name is -
KNIFE, HUNTING, SHEATHED, SURVIVAL, PILOT’S.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

A college buddy of mine had one. His dad, a Naval Academy grad/naval aviator, gave it to him. Can't remember if his dad carried in combat or not, as he was on active duty during the Korean War and Viet Nam as well.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I did some digging and found this that has a lot of history about the JPSK.
There were quite a few copies made in Japan and sold in the BXs overseas and a lot of those saw tours in Vietnam (where I picked up mine) used by personnel that could not qualify for a government issue one
I would be interested in finding a sheath for mine if anyone has a heads up on one.
Here is a link to a site that has a lot of information and pictures.
The Jet Pilots Survival Knife - EDGED WEAPONS - U.S. Militaria Forum

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Just glad to be here

I had one issued during flight training in Pensacola, 1965. It was fairly good for its intended purpose, and generally popular with aviation as well as non-aviation personnel. Some believed that the tip was a bit fragile and tended to break off, but I never observed that to occur. I'm not sure if the one I have now is the "original" '65 issue or a replacement, but I use a Fallknieven now for most purposes. One of my grandsons saw the pilot's knife and lusted after it, so I bought him a new one and he has been very pleased with it.

Nice find! FWIW, when it is discussed on fighting or survival knives, this is always the thought I refer to.

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Rather be outdoors

Great news! I just found an exact replacement correct sheath W/STONE for $25 directly from OKC.
Oh and I bought a new JPSK also.
Need to have an original me thinks...

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Just glad to be here

Okay, I went to my "knife drawer" and found the two I mentioned above that I bought still in the wrap at a Army-Navy surplus store back in the 1990's.

As I recollect I actually bought several, four or five, for 5 bucks each. It's been a couple of decades but I recall I gave one away, put one in my fishing tackle box, and one is hanging on the peg board above my work bench that I use from time to time.

But these two, for whatever reason, I put back for safe keeping and never took out of the wrap they came in. I suppose I could probably get my 5 buck investment back on them these days.

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Live long and prosper

I never really liked the look of the 5" pilot's knife. Purely aesthetics to me. Now those 6" one look far more "balanced"

Same reason I like the Cattaraugus Quartermaster knife over the shortie KaBar they make today.

No doubt Puller, I'm sure you'll get your money back in spades.
I think I'm going to start looking for one in the KC Metro. Tom

That's GREAT Tony glad you found one. I'm going to start looking around here in the KC MO area & se what I can find. enjoy your knife. Tom

P.S.- There's absolutely nothing wrong with the knife you brought home either.

Would have to agree with you. Had plenty of chances to have a survival knife (that is what we called them) on Uncle's dime when on active duty. Always opted for a Ka-Bar.

I do own a Cattaraugus 225Q and like it, much more than the survival knife.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Looking at my pics, I apparently did have another a couple years ago. I guess I used it as a stand for handgun pictures, no idea of what became of that one. Might still be in a moving box.

Those are all cool knives, but, unless I missed it somewhere up above, what's the reason for the hex head? I've never seen that. Was it screwed onto the shaft then pinned into place? (Please be gentle on me!)

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There's a Monster on the loose

In the WWII era, the average soldier was 5'9". My dad, who was a Marine, was 5'8". He said that the KBAR knife was too big. I agree. It was too big. The new, short KBAR would have been better from a universal standpoint.




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So very Politically Incorrect

I was issued one with all of my flight gear in Pensacola. When we switched out our PRC-90 radios for CSELs (emergency radios with GPS) the Parachute Riggers pulled all the survival knives out of our gear as they didn't fit with new, larger radios. I've always wandered if they went to DRMO or just "disappeared."

I really need to buy one for myself.

The original Marble’s design had a round pommel with opposing flats that was screwed on. The design was changed to the hex pattern, probably for ease of namufacturing.

After a short time, the construction was changed to a peened on pommel. They kept the hex pattern, because it was useful for hammering purposes.

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"I also cook."

When I was in RVn our supply only had two knives. Those tread plate SS folders and the survival knife in sheath with stone. The ones we had were junk. I forget the name on blade but was not one of the well known knife makers. I may have missed out because at the time I thought they were all junk and paid no attention to them. We got Kbars by trading to other outfits and USMC.