How to Identify Camillus Knives

Camillus Knives were first made in 1901 by a company named Camillus Cutlery, located in Camullus, New York. It was founded by immigrant Adolph Kastor. The company has produced many collectible sets of knives honoring various celebrities and presidents. It also produced knives to be used in World War I and World War II. It shipped millions of knives for use by soldiers and allies. These included knives used in demolition kits, medical kits, aviators' kits as well as electrician's kits. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and finally closed for good in February of 2007.

Open your knife and determine how many blades it contains. You should be able to pull out each blade from its compartment. Camillus knives may contain one to six individual blades, so use caution when opening them.

Examine your knife for identifying marks on one of the blades. One Side of the blade should have the Camillus Knife brand and the other should have the blade number. These should be located at the base of the blade, where it is connected to the handle. There may also be an imprint of the company logo on the main part of the blade, as well. You may need a magnifying class to read the brand on the knife if it is old or worn.

Determining your knife type. Blade numbers one through nine mean your knife is a one blade jack knife. Numbers 10 to 39 mean your knife is a two blade jack knife. Numbers 40 to 59 represent the two blade pen knives. Numbers 60 to 89 represent 3 blade knives and numbers 90 to 99 are for four to six blade knives.

Each number represents a specific kind of knife with that number of blades. Once this number is identified, the exact kind of blade can be determined. For example, blade number one corresponds with a pruning and utility knife Blade number four means your knife is a switchback knife. Though they are both one-blade knives they serve different purposes. There are also a variety of blade types and knife patterns produced by the company.