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    When the United States suddenly entered World War II, there was an urgent need to equip thousands of recruits with the best gear in the shortest time possible. During 1942 many civilian sources and supplies of cutlery were quickly requisitioned. Thousands of four blade scout knives and civilian fixed blade hunters were taken into service. By late 1943, the United States was producing purpose built edge tools for the war effort, as the nation geared up to go on the offensive. Experience, mostly in fighting in the tropics and the desert, had shown that manufacturers needed to focus on two priorities: speed of production, and where possible resistance to extremes in weather.    In order to produce a...

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 were 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...

Double action out the front automatic, New for 2017-rugged construction, solid durability and a force multiplier make this O.T.F. automatic pure awesomeness that one can only experience when owning one.

The specification for the Mark 1 was very similar to the traditional hunting knife with 5.25-inch blade made during the 1930's .It is a handsome, hefty knife, mirror finished blade and a nickel silver guard. The handle is composed of stacked , smooth leather washers with colored disc called "Karolith". The spacers are blue, red and black with thin brass dividers. The large, asymmetric pommel is made of polished aluminium. Introduction into World War II Mark 1 knives manufactured for the U.S.Navy have a blade length of 5.24-inches but most other features vary considerably. The blades may be blued, polished bright, chromed or parkerized. They usually have flat grind (i.e. the blade tapers evenly all the way from the spine to the cutting...

certificate stating the Colonial Knife Corporation flag was flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, launching from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on February 7, 2001, Atlantis and her crew docked with the International Space Station Alpha and installed the U.S. Laboratory Module, Destiny. After completing 203 orbits of the Earth and traveling 5.3 million miles, Atlantis and her crew landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California on February 20, 2001.