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1944 Marine Corp MIL-K knife From Mike's Box-o-knives.

Marine Corp MIL-K knife.

(One of the knives from Mike's Box of Knives.)

The Stainless Steel Utility knives used by the U.S. Military are known as Milk knives because they were designated (MIL-K-818-D) The MIL stands for Military, the K for Knife. The rest was military jargon for utility knives and year of make and such. (actually when the first came out the were Mil-J Knives, The J stood for Jack as in Jack knives - It was a navy thing)

When I first got the knife, the only blade that would open was the spear master. As you can see the blades is at about 75-80% full. There was no tang stamp on the knife. All I could really tell was it was old. The handle was stamped “U. S. Marine Corps” and not USMC.

Rust was all over the knife, with the exception of the slab sided handles. It took a day of soaking in oil to get the other blades to eventually open. I slowly began the clean up work. Some buffing along the spine revealed some pretty brass liners being used on the knife.

After cleaning, the knife began functioning quite well. All of the blades were tight and when closed and opened one at a time they worked smoothly. Only the can opener has a slightly weakened closing snap. The knife had some interesting features. First, the funny screwdriver/caplifter with the thumb stud. I had never seen one of these on a Milk before. At the same time it had a modern era can opener, so I figured it couldn’t be that old. And then there was all that brass. I had never seen this on this type of knife before.

It was time to hit the books.

After going through three or four books I found the answer in Military Knives, A Reference Book, Published by Knife World.

They nailed it, describing my knife to the tee. The blades at the top of the knife (the spear master and screwdriver caplifter fall into the middle channel of the knife while the blades on the end drop to the outside of the blades. I hadn’t even noticed this until I read the entry. The knife has stainless steel slab sides brass liners along with carbon steel blades, pins, and springs! No tang stamp as the maker put its name on the bail! (this has since rubbed off) These were the first knives to feature the new “Safety Can Opener” that would eventually be patented by Imperial. The knives were made by Kingston; a war expedient company that was formed by a partnership between Imperial and Ulster in order to meet the Military contract demands. It only existed from 1943-1947.

According to the book, the original Milk knives were made by Kingston and the first ones produced for the Marine Corps were stamped U.S. Marine Corps and not USMC. Very few of them survive and it is rare to find one in good to excellent condition because all production went to active duty personnel and none were made for the civilian or even the PX market. They were issued to Marines.

First production was made in 1944 and these were the ones that were stamped U. S. Marine Corps. So basically what I’ve got is a first production run of a new style combat utility pocket knife! And the blade wear is because it wasn’t made to collect it was made so that a Marine could do his job! For All I know this knife could have been on Peleliu , Iwo Jima or Okinawa. It may have been there when the Philippines were liberated. Or maybe some homesick Marine busily sharpened this knife with a piece of coral or volcanic rock while he prepared for the invasion of the Japanese Homeland?

What once was a poorly sharpened blade is now a well-worn blade that is a monument to a job well done. The knife was moved from the EDC junk drawer to the wall of honor where it now hangs with my other war vets. Thanks, Mike! You may not have known it, but you rescued a good one!

My buddy, Mike (Michael R. Garcia, 1958-2012.) Love you, man.

2 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 28, 2013 at 18:35

Incredible, really that's all I can say. The history of the knife, Mike's ownership of it..it is just incredible that it survived and now sits in a place of honor.

Permalink Reply by Ron Cooper on February 28, 2013 at 20:50

Wow, Mike was a very young man. I'm sure he's smiling down and thinking that all those knives sure went to the right guy. You're doing Mike proud, Toby!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on February 28, 2013 at 21:09

Mike was more than a friend. He was my truly my "brother from another mother!" Not a day goes by when I don't think about him and miss him and at the same time laugh about all the stupid things we did!

Permalink Reply by Billy Oneale on February 28, 2013 at 22:01

Wow, what a neat way to remember someone special. You won't come across something like that very often.

Permalink Reply by Björn Grundemark on February 2, 2015 at 4:31

I think this knife found in northern Sweden is of the same year !

Permalink Reply by Björn Grundemark on February 2, 2015 at 4:38

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on February 2, 2015 at 6:35

That's a great looking example, Björn. I'm seeing more and more and more of these show up in really good condition. My description was based on what i read in a book written some 15 years ago. I don't think the full impact of Ebay was being felt yet in the world of knife collecting. It would seem that a lot of rare knives are suddenly coming up as not as rare as once thought, especially as our WWII vets pass away and grand children start selling off all their old stuff.

That siad, this knives, especially the ones with brass liners, are still some of the rarest of the Mil-K knives and are a joy to own, especially if it is in as good a shape as the one you have. A truly fantastic find!

Permalink Reply by Björn Grundemark on February 2, 2015 at 12:12

Thank´s Tobias. The discussion here made me see the light about this knife. Thank´s for that and your comment on the find Tobias.If you stumble across a price on e-bay please let me know. This was bought on the swedisch variant of e-bay ....tradera.se. 20 dollars

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on February 2, 2015 at 13:48

Do you mean for around $20 US or 20 Kroner (about $2,.50 US)? Even at $20 it was a great deal! They normally go for around three times that much! (around $60 US)

Permalink Reply by Björn Grundemark on February 2, 2015 at 16:14

Tobias Gibson said:

Do you mean for around $20 US or 20 Kroner (about $2,.50 US)? Even at $20 it was a great deal! They normally go for around three times that much! (around $60 US)

björn said:

200 kronor and that made my day :-)

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on February 2, 2015 at 18:41

Tobias,

As you go through this box, I learn so much. Bjorn, thank you for adding yours to the discussion. Nice to know they are being used around the world

this knives, especially the ones with brass liners, are still some of the rarest of the Mil-K knives and are a joy to own, especially if it is in as good a shape as the one you have. A truly fantastic find!

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on February 2, 2015 at 20:46

Bjorn, yours appears to be in in excellent condition. If all the parts are original and the blade is full I'd put it at 600-1000 Kroner (around $65-$100). Others might put the price higher or lower but I think that would be fair and that's about how much I see them going for on Ebay in that shape.