TL-29-ish knife.

[ironraven]

Found this at the state surplus store this morning. Wasn't planning of finding it, but I know better than to go in there when I don't have money I can spare. I found an odd PST that I posted elsewhere, but this one was too classy to pass up.

WHat I know for certain. It is made by Camillus. It does not have any government stamps or ID numbers. The liners are brass, the blades and backspring are carbon steel with good patina (I know that Camillus used a 1095 varient in these, which a generation ago was sold to and marketed by Cold Steel as their "Carbon V"). Very black composite handles that lack the sheild I normally expect to see on a TL-29. The bolster appears to be brass with a very light or heavily worn nickle plate, as it isn't as golden as most brass but rather is kinda silvery-gold. (Wow, doesn't that sound semi-literate.) Brass lanyard shackle. The only thing that keeps me from saying "Yes, this is a TL-29" is the tip of the main blade is not a spear point but a sheepsfoot. I think it might have been ground down, and it was done well, but it is so well done I'm wondering it was made this way.

Mod or variant? Either way, I like it. It has history in it. This is a nice knife and it will be part of my collection for some time.

I did look in the misc tools bin at the surplus store. Screw drivers, punches, saws, hammers, and even pliers, but none of the pliers looked like they were part of the linesman set that military TL-29s were usually issued with. I say that becuase all that was there was cheap junk made in China, not out of great expertise. 

[thatotherguy]

I'm far from an expert but I believe that's a genuine military (or civilian equivalent) model TL-29, particularly post World War Two. The bolster should be nickel silver and the blade isn't sheepsfoot, but actually a somewhat strange drop point Camillus seemed to favor for their military knives (as also seen on the infamous all steel Demo Knife). The lack of a shield is not something to be concerned about. To my knowledge no military issue 29s from ww2 or later were shielded, nor did they have the ebony scales that were popular in prewar civilian knives. The military knives were plastic handled.

As I said, I'm no expert by any means. However, for my nickel, I'd say you have a possibly Vietnam era military or workaday civilian (very little practical difference if any) TL29, and one in remarkably good shape at that. The blade looks to be mostly intact and the driver doesn't seem to be in all that bad a nick all told. Whether military or not, it's a fine knife. Enjoy it.

[ironraven]

It isn't the spear point that I normally see on TL-29s or on the Camillus "demo" GI pocket knife. I'll try to get some better pictures tommorrow when I have better light.

After looking at this, I got to thinking, this might not be a bad woods knife so I looked. Klein still makes them in carbon steel! http://www.kleintools.com/catalog/multi-tools/2-blade-pocket-knife-steel-2-12

I'm thinking that a current production carbon steel model might get a lovely spray from the scraper blade when run down a fat ferro rod. And it is classy.

[thatotherguy]

What probably happened with the blade is a bit of heavy handed sharpening with a coarse carborundum stone. It looks like it started life as a drop point to me.
The Klein models are fairly nice for cheaper US made working knives. I've had 2 of them and I'm happy with them. Steel bolsters and plastic handles, carbon steel is decent, but the driver blade is an absolute nailbreaker on both of mine. My user I used a dremel sanding wheel to put in a little easy open notch kind of thing to make it easier to get my thumbnail in that nail nick. Can't complain though!