Ontario 499 Pilot Survival Knife Review
February 4, 2019
The Ontario Knife Company has roots in Naples, New York in 1889. The name of the derived from Ontario County where Naples was situated. At the time the company was headed by William B. Ensworth, Charles Albert Brace and William Maudsley. The early knives were completely manufactured by hand on a waterpower-run grindstone and sold by salesmen by pushcart through the neighbouring countryside. In August 12, 1902 the company was incorporated as the Ontario Knife Company.
In 1958, the Ontario Knife Corporation designed one of the most classic and iconic knives in the world, other than the Ka-Bar. The knife is still in use today by the airforce and with a few modifications has now been renamed “Aircrew Survival Egress Knife” or ASEK. These knives have flown with aircrew on some of the most top secret and dangerous missions in the world. Almost every single aircrew member of the United States Air Force for almost 7 decades has carried one of these blades. The blade has a rich history, and reputation for reliability and toughness.
The Ontario 499 boasts the following features as per the demands of the United States Government:
- Capable of sawing through thin aircraft skin and acrylic glass windows
- cutting
- hammering
- a point used to stab
- a hand guard
- Good durability
- light weight
- holes for tying the knife to a stick to act as a spear
As with all knives, each knife style is created to fulfill an intended purpose. The Ontario 499 was designed to be small, light, and packed away in survival kits until it is needed. No different than most peoples “Bug Out Bags” or “Get Out Of Dodge” bags many people in the survival / prepper community create for themselves. Once deployed, the knife is required to assist the downed airman in all tasks from escaping a crumpled aircraft, building a fire, gathering food, self defence, and anything else that may be needed for survival and keeping out of the way of the enemy.
The USAF Survival Knife comes with a 1095 carbon steel blade with a Rockwell Hardness of 50-55 according to http://www.ontarioknife.com/catalog/item/11. The blade is treated with a rugged zinc phosphate finish on it to keep it from rusting during storage. The stacked leather ring handle, which is very comfortable and easy to grip even while wearing gloves and wet is also relatively maintenance free. Although it is considered a “softer steel” the blade has kept tens of thousands of downed pilots alive for decades. With normal use the blade will last indefinitely as it was designed to do. If you jab the knife into a tree and start prying it left and right for some reason, the knife will bend instead of break. This is important because a bent knife is still a knife. A broken knife is not a useful tool.
Most normal bushcraft and outdoor people have similar demands on a knife. It has to feel good in the hand, be able to cut, slice, and stab. Some people like to use knives to split wood in a process called “batoning”.
The first thing you will notice about the knife is that it is fairly small. The handgrip is not good for someone with larger hands. The handle itself is only 11cm (4.5in) in length. The blade is 13cm (5inch) long. The overall blade length is about 24cm (9.5inch). If it fits in your hand comfortably, then it makes for a great knife to wear on your belt, and is great around camp because it’s small and easy to handle.
The blade is quite capable of “batoning” large pieces of wood. It does a good job. You’ll just need to ensure you have a very sturdy baton. The serrated back of the blade may ding up your impact baton.
The softer high carbon steel and serrated back of the blade make for an excellent ferrocerium rod striker. It will rip the ferro rod to pieces but you will get great spark. The saw tooth back of the blade was originally designed to cut through plexiglass and thin aluminum walls of older aircraft. It can saw through wood, but is by far not the most efficient saw
The blade is considered a partial tang or “rat tang” in that the blade narrows to a long tail. A crossguard or hilt is attached then Leather rings make up the handle. The end of the handle is affixed with a hexagon butt or “bolt”. This is an attractive feature on the knife but many people who have older versions of the blade will notice the leather dries and contracts leaving the hilt and butt loose. This causes some jiggle and can be very annoying when using the knife. There are various ways to fix this including soaking the handle in neetsfoot oil overnight to cause the leather to expand. Another option is to get heavy wax thread and wedge it into the gaps and wrap it around several times. Both methods work very well in keeping the handle in place. Other methods include disassembling the blade pinning or re-peening (hitting it with a hammer to spread the metal out) the hexagonal butt cap. This is not something the average knife use can do easily.
1095 carbon steel can be a bugger to sharpen. It takes a while to get the edge shaving sharp. The thicker blade also makes things more challenging. Many people put a scandi-grind edge using a slow turning belt sander on the blade as the way it’s designed its best suited to this style of edge. A scandi-grind also assists in the edge retention.
The leather handle can be soaked in linseed oil, neetsfoot oil, or beeswax depending on the desires of the user. This always gives the blade a great vintage feel to those who like the look and feel of leather.
You can buy new versions of them at Walmart as well as vintage versions on websites like eBay and at military collector shows. The manufacture year and date is stamped on the butt-cap. In the photograph above, you can see blade on the left was manufactured in January 1986, the blade on the right November 1976. The author happened to find one from 1976, the year of his birth. This gives the blade a greater intimate connection to its user. Current issue blades are still stamped with the month and year of manufacture. The blade is issued with a leather case but you can find kydex plastic ones that are either handmade or that fit from other knives.
Overall this is an excellent blade and is low cost. It’s a great blade for beginners and the appealing cost means if you damage, lose, or break the blade you are not out hundreds of dollars. There are a lot of customisations that can be done to the blade to those with the skills to do so. For those who feel the blade may not be tough enough for them, the United States Airforce has one set of these knives from the 1970’s that every aircrew on the survival training courses uses. Thats well over 800,000 students beating these blades mercilessly and they have still managed to survive over 40 years. With the blades reliability and history, an Ontario 499 Pilot Survival knife of any age would make a great addition to your knife collection. It might even save your life someday.
References: