military scout knife history

I am intentionally being specific about the Army's first version as being unmarked. These were the finalized form of the General-Purpose knife, as approved for use by all branches of service. Kingston also made a prototype version (screwdriver/cap lifter and can opener blades be reversed, which did not work out) for the United States Marine Corps that was marked "US Marine Corps," which was produced a little earlier, starting in late 1943. The Marines had a bunch of these, so did not switch over to the standardized version right away

The handles start getting stamped US around 1948-49. Blades start to get year stamped at about the same time. The blades, liners and springs went all stainless a bit later.