USMC Corpsman's Knife

[Aragorn243]

Wanted one of these for a few years but put them on the back burner and forgot about them until recently. Picked this one up buy it now on ebay for what I figured was a good price considering it was a lot less than the average start price. It is amazing how large these things actually are and frankly, I think it's the scariest knife I now own. I have vividly imagined dropping this thing on my stocking feet LOL. Someone had wrapped tape around the handle that left a goo residue that I cleaned off but other than that, this is pretty much how it arrived.









Blade has some staining and shows some signs of minor use. I don't think it has ever been sharpened beyond the factory edge. Wood has a couple of scratches and one small chunk missing. Scabbard had some paint splattered on it that I cleaned off. It's whole with two very small gouges in the leather. Scabbard is marked USMC Boyt 1945.

I haven't been able to find a lot of information on them other than usual discussions. Village Blacksmith is one of the less common ones I believe but not sure on numbers made. Four rivets rather than three.

No one really seems to know exactly what they were used for. Making splints, cutting brush etc seem to be most common theories but I can see busting skulls also. Apparently issued to more than corpsmen.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I had to make a handle for one a while back for a local curio shop. I think the most use they saw was after they were surplussed off and went gardening or whacking brush...

[Aragorn243]

That's how I got my 1917 bolo, guy at my church was using it to cut corn stalks in his garden.

[browningautorifle]

using it to cut corn stalks

That's my distinct impression of the majority of work they've done in the 90+ years since they were first made...unfortunately.