Vintage Vulcan Knives

[Turtleguy9]

I have purchased two US Divers Vulcan Knives, but I noticed some differences between the two.
The Scabbards are Identical, but the blades are marked differently.
One is marked US Divers "Vulcan", and has a sawblade on the top. The handguard is stamped Japan, and a Patent number.
Second is marked US Divers, and has no sawblade, and is stamped Japan on the backside of the blade.
Are these both Vulcan Knives? Perhaps different production years?
Thanks for the help.
Turtleguy

 

[seahunter]

They're both Vulcan knives just as were used by Mike Nelson. As is very common today, these items were NOT made by USD but were purchased from a supplier and assembled & boxed by USD. Undoubtably, the supplier of the knife changed during the time this model was sold by USD and there would be very slight differences between the 2 models. The differences may well have been intentional since contracts to supply items often included a clause to prohibit exact copies. The one with the Vulcan name is the original or first one sold.
The sheath was made locally for USD and was obviously used for both knife models. In fact, that sheath was also used for other USD knives that I have in my vintage collection.

www.vintagescuba.com

 

[Turtleguy9]

I had also posted this question on vintagescubasupply.com and the very knowledgeable Dr. Samuel Miller gave me even more information. Together with the information from Seahunter it is more than I could have hoped for.
Thank you both for taking the time to find and post this information.

I thought I would share it with you:

Good gosh!

Is there no one who has the answers for dear ole Turtleman?

The first issue of the Vulcan knife was in the 1958 US Divers catalog, page 18, part number 4221 sold for $8.95. It did not have serrations on the blade and had a thinner handle.

The second issue was in the 1959 US Divers catalog page 18, part number 4221, sold for $7.95 ( a reduction of $1.00!) It had a more rounded handle and serrations (Saw Blade) on the blade.

The knives were subject to rusting and the scaboards were prone to spliting at the seams.

To combat this in the event you plan on using them, oil the blades--Silcone is the modern application, (we used bacon grease--stab or clean a fish and it tasted like smoke pork from Tennesseeala the other Miller)

The scaboard could be repaired or prohibited from splitting by wrapping it with electricians tape. Still they seem to split after several dives.

They were a horrible knife but the best at the time of introduction--in fact the very first decent Scuba diving knife--all knives previouly were for spearfishing knives which had thin long blades.

The Vulcans were replaced as the knife of choice by the "Swimaster" knife made by Newport Divers AKA Joe Lamonica, aka JBL. It was designed after the M1 bayonet and had better steel and would not rust.

Does this do it for you??

SDM
30

a

 

[seahunter]

Boy Turtleman!
You'll not likely ever get a more detailed and accurate answer to your vintage questions than that!!
I see the answer to your question is signed with the initials SDM which explains to me why it's so complete.

You see, SDM is none other than my good friend Dr. Samuel Miller of Pismo Beach, California (earthquake and shark country I've heard!). Sam is one of the few remaining true pioneers of scuba and dove with all the big names when this sport was just starting in SoCal (when sex was safe and scuba was dangerous!). In fact, the word scuba had not even been introduced yet. We were 'frogmen' or 'lung divers'.
Sam Miller is featured in the book called "The Who's Who of Scuba Diving" which itself is a vintage item.

How does he know so much? Not only is Sam's own collection of scuba gear impressive but his collection of scuba literature (magazines, books, texts, manuals, etc) is second to none in the world. Of course the fact that he was personally working with the engineers at U.S.Divers in the 50's doesn't hurt.

Simply put for all you vintage lovers, if Dr. Miller says it's so - write in down! The discussion is over!

Sam is too modest but may I respectfully suugest Turtleguy, that you are honored to have received this reply to your question from him. I'm almost embarrassed by my own feeble effort in comparison.

 

[Turtleguy9]

I'm almost embarrassed by my own feeble effort in comparison.

No, no, not feeble at all. Great information. Thanks for taking the time and posting!

 

[jetfixer]

Does anyone know where I could find a sheath for my Vulcan knife? I have one like turtleguy's pictured on the left with the serrated blade. Thanks!