You've got it wrong...

[cody6268]

I found a little problem reading Colonial's page for their edition of the "Demo" knife They claim that the Swiss copied the Scout pattern, and they obviously have their facts wrong. I disagree, given the  Soldatenmesser came out in 1891, the Remington Boy Scout in the 1920s (the origin of the pattern), the Ulster Mountain Knife and the "Made in USA" Engineer's knives of the WWII era, and the Demo Knife(bearing "US Marine Corps" on handle and carbon steel blades) in 1945, and its current, all stainless form with "US" on the handle since the '50s.   And not to mention that the US military now has a black oxide M2008, and more militaries seem to use SAKs than any other knife.  While the Demo knife is a somewhat decent knife, and I have a few (including the early USMC version), they don't hold a candle to any SAK.

https://www.colonialknifecorp.com/products/military-scout-knife-2205

[El Corkscrew]

   Maybe there's confusion b/c they're think the Swiss alox handles didn't begin until 1957 

[Lynn LeFey]

The first Boy Scout knife was made in 1911, a year after the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. The New York Knife Company produced a knife with the same set of tools as the Swiss Soldier Knife, with metal bolsters, jigged bone scales, and a shield stamped with 'Be Prepared'. In 1917, the same knife was made but with 'Army Knife' stamped on the shield. This matches the time of entry of the U.S. into WWI. I can't find earlier reference to U.S. made Soldier/scout/Camp knives. And they certainly weren't ISSUED gear.
(Reference: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/282848-development-of-the-engineer-knife-pre-ww1-to-1940/)

I can't tell if The Victorinox Soldier Knife was the FIRST of the Soldier/Scout/Camp knife (meaning flathead screwdriver, awl, can opener, and knife blade toolset), but it certainly seems to be the first put into mass production/distro=ibution.

I suspect the design is older even that the first Vic Soldier knife, but have yet to verify. In any case, The Mil-K is absolutely NOT the first of this type. In fact, the Boyscout knife came before any official U.S. knife of this style, as far as I can tell, and is why the style is sometimes called a 'scout knife', from unlicensed versions of the Boyscout knives simply called 'scouts'.
(Reference: http://Ref. http://www.scoutknives.net/index.php/unofficial-scout-knives)

I have requested to borrow a book from our library system entitled "The Complete Book of U.S. Military Pocket Knives: From Revolutionary War to the Present" by Michael W. Silvey. It's on it's way, but it probably won't get here till the end of the month. Inter-library book loans are very slow moving.

I hope to get some more info there.

[McStitchy]

The first Boy Scout knife was made in 1911, a year after the founding of the Boy Scouts of America. The New York Knife Company produced a knife with the same set of tools as the Swiss Soldier Knife, with metal bolsters, jigged bone scales, and a shield stamped with 'Be Prepared'. In 1917, the same knife was made but with 'Army Knife' stamped on the shield. This matches the time of entry of the U.S. into WWI. I can't find earlier reference to U.S. made Soldier/scout/Camp knives. And they certainly weren't ISSUED gear.
(Reference: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/282848-development-of-the-engineer-knife-pre-ww1-to-1940/)

I can't tell if The Victorinox Soldier Knife was the FIRST of the Soldier/Scout/Camp knife (meaning flathead screwdriver, awl, can opener, and knife blade toolset), but it certainly seems to be the first put into mass production/distro=ibution.

I suspect the design is older even that the first Vic Soldier knife, but have yet to verify. In any case, The Mil-K is absolutely NOT the first of this type. In fact, the Boyscout knife came before any official U.S. knife of this style, as far as I can tell, and is why the style is sometimes called a 'scout knife', from unlicensed versions of the Boyscout knives simply called 'scouts'.
(Reference: http://Ref. http://www.scoutknives.net/index.php/unofficial-scout-knives)

I have requested to borrow a book from our library system entitled "The Complete Book of U.S. Military Pocket Knives: From Revolutionary War to the Present" by Michael W. Silvey. It's on it's way, but it probably won't get here till the end of the month. Inter-library book loans are very slow moving.

I hope to get some more info there.

Now that's some interesting facts about something I don't know anything about.

I'd be very interested in your follow-up on that Lynn 

[Lynn LeFey]

I fell down the pocket knife rabbit hole while doing some research on the history of the Mil-K Camillus knife I got for the $10 MT Challenge. Link to that tool review...
https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,75741.0.html