Knife of the Week Model 18

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On 8 January 1963, Bo received a nicely typed letter from Capt. George W. Ingraham, Medical Corps, United States Army. He was then with the 94th Medical Detachment and flew about Vietnam in old CH-21C helicopters. We'll let him tell his story by quoting from the letter than Bo received and kept filed away.

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I recently found a copy of your catalog here and began to cogitate on a knife especially designed for helicopter pilots and crew members here in Vietnam. Our problem is, in case of going down in the jungle, quite a large one as far as survival is concerned. Most of the men carry issue survival knives, various types of commercial knives, etc.

An airman going down in the jungle here has the problem first of getting out of the aircraft, then of constructing shelter and finding water, possibly hand-to-hand combat..., and finally of signaling rescue aircraft which come to search for him.

I believe that the knife best suited to this task would be a somewhat radical modification of you Model 14 "Attack" Knife as follows:

1. Into the top of the blade, saw teeth should be cut or filed, to cut aluminum, Plexiglass, etc., in freeing personnel from aircraft wreckage. I have seen one knife with this feature in the possession of an air force pilot here.
2. The 1/4" brass guard could be extended to form a full half-circle to serve as a "knuckle duster" for close combat.
3. The trickiest part of the modification would be the handle. I have illustrated the handle in the enclosure, and you will note that it features a screw-on butt plate, hollow handle of brass or copper pipe, silver-soldered or brazed to the tang of the knife blade. The compartments in the handle would be used for matches, water purification tablets, Dexedrine pills..., and possibly Demerol tablets for severe burns, etc. Leather rings could be sandwiched in the usual manner for the grip.
4. A sheath similar to the model C -- or the model C as illustrated -- should be used.

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...After thinking about Ingraham's ideas for a week, Bo wasn't happy with what he had to tell the serviceman. His 15 January letter opened with: "Your idea for the Survival knife looks good. It almost makes me cry to have to answer and tell you I (we) can't make even one for you." Bo went on to explain, "We've not been able to learn a way to put those sawteeth in, but I do agree that they should be there. I shall hope that sometime we can figure out how this is done."

...But the negative answer just wasn't god enough for Bo, and he couldn't get Captain Ingraham's ideas out of his mind. On Friday afternoon, he and Gary left for the Randall ranch, near the northern end of Lake Okeechobee. While driving south, they began to discuss this survival knife concept, and by the time they returned to Orlando the following night, they had formulated a design and fabrication plan....

Bo and Gary arrived home on Saturday night, and the next day, Gary went to the empty shop and began working on the prototype blade, starting with a Solingen Model 14 blank. He was successful, and the first thing Monday morning Gary put the finished blade on his father's desk. The new Survival Knife was off to a flying start!

...The next morning Bo wrote a new letter to Captain Ingraham and included it in the box with the two knives being sent to Vietnam. This time he was able to to begin on a positive note.

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"Well! I just couldn't resist the challenge you threw at me--especially since it got to keeping me awake nights. So!! I got my son on it too--and we worked Sunday bringing the #1 prototype of the "Ingraham-Randall Attack-Survival" knife into being--and here's yours, at no charge, the 1st of what may be quite a number of these knives--for I am now kind of enthusiastic over it and like the way it came out. Hope you do too.

I was particularly glad to discover we could cut the sawteeth in once we set our minds to it. These aren't bad either--we took a garbage can lid and cut it out of it without phasing the teeth at all.

...Brass pipe, of course, too heavy for the "compartment handle" -- So we finally dreamed up the stainless tubing. Then the problem of capping the end cropped up--since we were unable to thread said tubing and besides threading and making special threaded (watertight) cap too expensive....So! the crutch tip had to do it.

It is now our idea that the user will wrap whatever material he desires around the metal part of the handle, to attain a desired slip-proof grip; I'd think it could be either cotton or nylon cord glued into place; leather strips; or easiest of all--just adhesive tape of one kind or another.

...Anyway! here's hoping you like the way "she" came out. I am sending you a 2nd one also--for you to see how they will sell at $28.50, which is what we'll have to get for them."

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..."There is a lot of interest here for the knife,' Ingraham noted, "but most of the pilots are 'getting short' on their tours and don't want to spend the money this late in the game. I would certainly think that the knife would sell as a catalogue item, if the enthusiasm of the small detachment here is any indication." Within a couple of years, these words proved to be prophetic.

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