foxbasher Posted December 20, 2019 Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) RAF pilots escape knife with sheath insert. condition as per photos. £65 posted or £60 collected from fareham hants. all legal age restrictions etc apply Edited December 20, 2019 by foxbasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted December 20, 2019 Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 thats interesting what era is that from ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbasher Posted December 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 fairly recent i think, within the last 20-30 years i would guess. the last two seperate digits on the sheath are 81 so maybe 1981. just a stab i the dark tho, please excuse the punn😋 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centrepin Posted December 20, 2019 Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) They where used by pilots and aircrew in the cold war era. We always refered to them as "Harness release knife" They used to slide into a special pocket on the leg of air crew suit. The idea being, insert into rigging lines or webbing if trapped after a forced parachute descent and cut your way free. You press the metal sides and that releases the knife from the press stud at the top. I've never seen one in new condition. My company 2ic used to have one stitched into his began. Probably pinched it from some aircrew. I would have pinched the pilots gloves, they where worth having. Edited December 20, 2019 by Centrepin Addition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbasher Posted December 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 that sounds anout right, i sold the flight suit a few months ago but kept the knife and "disposed" of the flight paperwork that was in the clear leg pocket. 🤔🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted December 20, 2019 Report Share Posted December 20, 2019 1 hour ago, foxbasher said: fairly recent i think, within the last 20-30 years i would guess. the last two seperate digits on the sheath are 81 so maybe 1981. just a stab i the dark tho, please excuse the punn😋 Close enough. The Section and Reference numbers are stamped. Much later and they would have been replaced by a Nato Stock Number. It wasn't all that often that aircrew had to step out so the main use was on cargo lashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abufatila Posted December 21, 2019 Report Share Posted December 21, 2019 This is the post cold war version. I flew Hunters in the early 60's, and the version in use then had a full blade, rather like a conventional sheath knife. There was once a recorded incident of it being used to cut off a trapped hand, in a middle east airforce when pilot was trapped in burning plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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