G.I. Survival Pilot Knife
Ontario 499 vers.
Have you ever found
yourself in a plane flying overseas and headed to a dense jungle? Suddenly your
engine fails and the next thing you know, you have to cut your way out of the side
of the metal fuselage for whatever reason then eject with a raft only to paddle to
shore and fight off wild boars. Nope? Well somebody out there thought it could happen and made this
knife for the U.S. Air Force.
A quick overview of this knife if you have never
seen or used it:
- v This knife fixed blade knife is made of 1098 carbon steel, clip point design
- v Rat trail tang
- v Coated in a Parkerized finish 9.5 inches with a 5 inch blade/ serrated on the spine
- v Leather wrapped handle and leather sheath
- v Hexagon steel butt cap (originally for use on the raft to close off air values and assemble in the end of an oar)
- v Three small holes in the hand guard to lash as a spear.
Most of us would never find any use for the military’s intended features of this knife but for some reason many of us are dawn to its nostalgic appearance and make use of it today. I happen to be one of these people so this will be bias as I absolutely love this knife. This Ontario 499 has a solid feel and as a former combat engineer I take great pride in the “adapt, improvise, and overcome” thinking. What a knife needs to do for anyone into survival/bushcraft will vary from person to person and what their kit already contains. My kit already contains a Gerber folding saw so what this knife needs to do is help make traps, clean game, and assist in fire making and shelter building. The saw back was made to cut aircraft metal but also works well for making notches into wood for traps and shelters. I have used this knife to clean game already and the blade on the top works like a gut hook. For the all-important fire making tasks, this knife will baton wood, and do some light chopping and the saw back again will throw some incredible sparks with a feral rod. The heavy butt cap works great from driving stakes in the ground for traps too! Another note as to a frequently brought up debate is the density of knifes. This is a softer metal (1098 carbon) than many of the newer knives out there on the market. This means that I and anyone else can sharpen this blade without fancy expensive diamond tools and expert training. I may have to sharpen my knife more often but this gives me better practice and the ability to do this anywhere.
What makes a regular knife into a survival knife? How you
use it from what you know! The greatest weapon is the human mind. For my knife I
have modified the leather sheath to make this more of a “Kit” for survival and
outdoor tasks. To start I have three ranger bands (bicycle tires cut to needed length)
and two slipped on the bottom to create a pocket and another towards the top to
hold more items in place.
Items
v Six
different size fish hooks and thirty feet of fishing line are held in the ranger
band pockets.
v A
fire starter is held in place with the top ranger band
v 550
para-cord is held on the opposite side of the metal match.
v Two
safety pins are secured to the back.
v Sharpening
stone is held in the center pocket of the leather sheath.
v M-9
Suunto watch compass is wrapped around everything and this gives me a second
opinion to a compass bearing.
In
all this one kit has now provided me a cutting tool, combustion means, cordage,
compass, needle for a number of tasks, food procurement, the ranger bands
themselves will burn black for signaling, and I have a way to keep my edge
sharp. I plan to use a leather treatment
to prevent the handle and sheath from becoming damaged from the elements.
I find myself using this knife more and more as I get out
on my treks and other outings. I think
if I can find a way to add a lanyard to the butt cap would be helpful as well
as another mod that will help me determine distance and angle heights. Another
blog for another time on that project.
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