Unidentified knife or tool

[Mike Jackson]

I found this whilst on exercise in Cornwall two years ago. Extremely well made and clearly designed for some specific purpose. Perhaps a Forum member with British Army communications (?) or demolition (?) experience could identify it for me. The reverse of the blade has a section serrated as if to use as a non-safety match (fusee?) striker. Thanks. Mike
20130126_Knife.02.jpg 20130126_Knife.01.jpg

[ianh67military]

With the Chicken Foot it is a UK service item. The 7 digit number can therefore be prefaced with a 99-, giving the last 9 digits of the NATO Stock Number as 99-910-5285.
Come Monday some nice storeman should be able to look it up on ISIS (or OLIVER or whatever the damm system's called this year).

Over to the Commodity Managers or Storemen then

Ian H

[seebee1]

I believe it is an Electricians Pocket Knife, used for Flex stripping etc. Regards, Clive.

[Mike Jackson]

Many thanks both. And I wonder why it has UTD etched on the blade?
Mike

[Mike]

http://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/brand...ans-knife.html

[ianh67military]

Well done that man. You've saved a storeman another task. Irrefutable proof that the item is correctly ID'ed.

Ian H

[Mike Jackson]

Originally Posted by Mike

http://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/brand...ans-knife.html

Very many thanks. Positive ID, but the UTD remains a mystery. It is, as described, a most beautifully made item and must have cost us tax payers a fortune!

[Charlie585]

Hi Gents,

As a former RE Signaller I was a member of the SHQ Troop, Sig's section and remember having one of these tools in our kit. to be honest we regarded it as totally useless and there was nothing that it could do that could not be achieved with your trusty RE issue Jack Knife which was also a lot easier to keep sharp.
We used to carry out first line telecomm's repair referred to as UTR 'Unit Telecomm's Repair'. Could UTD be a more generic term standing for 'Unit Telecomm's Detachment'.

Further to the above, the possibility remains that it could have been a dem's tool but I don't remember ever using or seeing one used for this purpose, again the Jack Knife that was issued to all fitted the bill for this and I should imagine it was also a lot cheaper to produce and issue in large numbers.

Ry

[Mike Jackson]

Ry,
Very many thanks. The things one learns here. On balance it seems to have been an over-engineered, excessively sophisticated and expensive piece of kit - I'd love to know what the unit cost was compared to the standard jacknife.
Mike

[matti467]

Following Ry's comment I may add this. I was, admittedly a Territorial, Combat Lineman, Combat powerman and trained at one point as a Tele Mech. I can therefore say with authority that I never saw one of these Mike! We all used to carry a socket testing screwdriver and had a pair of Lineman pliers in combat jacket pocket. We also had a variety of tool kits for various uses, most generally left unused in a variety of webbing pouches mostly of the 37 pattern type and, doubtless war stock.

[Mike Jackson]

Originally Posted by matti467

Following Ry's comment I may add this. I was, admittedly a Territorial, Combat Lineman, Combat powerman and trained at one point as a Tele Mech. I can therefore say with authority that I never saw one of these Mike! We all used to carry a socket testing screwdriver and had a pair of Lineman pliers in combat jacket pocket. We also had a variety of tool kits for various uses, most generally left unused in a variety of webbing pouches mostly of the 37 pattern type and, doubtless war stock.

The mystery deepens! Perhaps they were deemed to be too precious and beautifully made to be issued. I recall that in the days before such things as Leatherman tools, the most valuable piece of kit in a Gunner unit in Sarawak was a pair of Pliers, Sidecutting, 6 inch - available freely on airdrop - hence every Gunner carried a pair.

[matti467]

In my youth I regularly stripped don 10 with my teeth despite admonishments from my Troop Sgt Phil Rawson. I tried it recently at home, teeth ached and lip cut. Now, if I ever see my lad stripping wire with his teeth....

[Charlie585]

Originally Posted by Mike Jackson

The mystery deepens! Perhaps they were deemed to be too precious and beautifully made to be issued. I recall that in the days before such things as Leatherman tools, the most valuable piece of kit in a Gunner unit in Sarawak was a pair of Pliers, Sidecutting, 6 inch - available freely on airdrop - hence every Gunner carried a pair.

Our tool of necessity in the REs was the good old 8 inch adjustable spanner.
No matter how many tool boxes you cared to look through you would never find one as they'd been 'borrowed' by anyone who could get their hands on one.
There were regular Regimental amnesties for this item of kit and woe betide anyone caught with one that wasn't in possession of a 1033 to justify his having it. It would we all agreed, have been a lot less bother and less expensive just to issue every man his own 8" adj'. It seems that this trend was nothing new as I still have the 6" version of this tool that my Grandfather nabbed for himself whilst in the RB in the 1930s

Personally, like you Mike, my tool of choice and necessity in addition to the spanner was the 'Pliers, Sidecutting, 6inch'. I would have been lost without them, though unlike you guys I had to supply my own most of the time, I always wondered who had them all 'The things you learn on here', indeed

[Mike Jackson]

Originally Posted by Mike Jackson

The mystery deepens! Perhaps they were deemed to be too precious and beautifully made to be issued. I recall that in the days before such things as Leatherman tools, the most valuable piece of kit in a Gunner unit in Sarawak was a pair of Pliers, Sidecutting, 6 inch - available freely on airdrop - hence every Gunner carried a pair.

Perhaps I should amplify this - we were caught out by BOWO (99 Gurkha Bde Ordnance Warrant Officer). He checked the airdrop requests submitted by a Cdo Lt Bty RA (strength 75 all ranks) and found that 83 pairs of pliers had been demanded and the parachuted into the Fire Bases! He was also very vexed about excessive demands for that amazing black tape beloved of every soldier and used for everything. We demonstrated many of the uses it was put to when he visited. And he was astonished to see that some soldiers (1 DLI I think) managed to make "grout" mugs out of plastic 81mm mortar bomb containers suitably cut down.