This is a beautiful example of a super rare Vietnam-Era experimental Non-Magnetic/Non-Sparking demolition knife that was manufactured by the Camillus company in the 1967/1968 time frame. This exact knife is pictured and described in Mike Silvey's book, "Military Pocket Knives" on page 129. There were a total of 180 produced with approximately 150 of them actually sent to Vietnam for use and evaluation, most probably never returned making any surviving examples extremely rare today. During this timeframe the regular tool issued to demolition/EOD and Engineers was the standard combination demolition pliers. This knife was probably the culmination of input from both the EOD and Engineers school during this time with the intent of fielding a single multi-purpose tool that incorporated numerous features and functions in a single knife. This knife was made from totally non-magnetic type of material. The knife has aluminum slab sides, with a darkened or blackened copper knife blade, pike tool, and spring plates between the handles that lock the blade in place. There is a small folding square end tool similar to the screwdriver tip that appears to be made from hardened aluminum. The blade itself is approximately 5 inches in length with a 5 1/2 inch length, slightly curved handle. The knife blade is marked on the right side with a 10 CM scale, in one CM increments, for making quick measurements for fuse, deck-cord or blocks of C-4? Towards the rear of the blade there is a small "U" shaped cutout that is beveled on one side that has a corresponding "U" shaped cutout in the actual handle of the knife. It appears this would be used to strip off the outer cover of electrical wire and or to crimp the ends of blasting caps when they were being attached to fuse cord. Directly behind the first cut out is another small "U" shape that was probably intended to actual cut fuse or deck cord, in a flat straight manner. There is no maker's mark anywhere on the knife, however based on the noted reference we have listed it as being made by the Camillus company. The handle has bluish anodized type finish and as note the copper blades and pike all have a blackened color.

Excellent overall with the blackened or darkened finish on the copper blade and pike just starting to thin or fade on the actual sides of the sharpened edge. The handles retain 98% of their anodized finish with wear on the edges and high spots only. Overall the knife shows some use with resharpening of the blade or misuse, anywhere. With the extremely low total number of knives actually produced, (180) then combined with over 85-90% of them sent to Vietnam, this has to be one of the only a few surviving examples remaining in existence, which would certainly make a center piece for any advance military or Vietnam era knife collection.