Airborne switchblade

[39mto39g]

MC-1 Paratrooper Switchblade

The orange handled MC-1 paratrooper switchblade was popular with Airborne and Special Forces troopers in Vietnam. The knife featured a 3-? inch snap blade and a shorter hook blade that was designed for quick cutting of parachute shroud lines in the event of an emergency.

Somehow the millions of these switchblades went somewhere, I never seen one. Tom lets see your blade.
Ron

[colmurph]

It wasn't an MC-1 (That was the name given to a T-10 Parachute modified with a "Tojo" cut and slip risers for turning) That knife was an Air Force item that was attached in a pocket to the right riser of C-11 Canopies (The orange, green and white parachute) and all ejection seat parachutes like the 26' conical Martin-Baker Parachute. SF somehow got wind of them and they found their way into our hands however not through the Army Supply System.
A few bottles of good booze or captured weapons were a great bartering tool with the Airforce Supply guys. I picked up a 32' flat circular, all white, parachute from some Navy guys in Da Nang (P2V Orion Unit) that I modified with a double L cut and used for some Sky Diving (sport jumping)with some guys out of Marble Mountain. Rate of descent was much slower than the standard AF C-11 (28') because of 4 more feet of canopy and about 6' longer suspension lines (Canopy opened flatter and wider) This was the first canopy I jumped where I made a "Stand-up" landing, even though it was unintentional.

The SF guys down at Na Trang had a thriving business going, selling "Genuiine NVA flags" and "Montagnard Cross-Bows". The flags were locally made, shot full of holes and stained with chicken blood then sold to AF and Navy types who could take them home and use them to tell war stories. The cross-bows were sold up and down the length of Vietnam in just about every "Gift Shop" attached to a PX.

[39mto39g]

CM
That 1st paragraph is a Cut-N-Paste from a web site,

I thought I would have seen one of these if they were an issue item.

[frisco-kid]

Never had or saw one of these either. Not surprised that the SF guys had them. What do you expect of guys that had refridgerators out in the middle of no damned where.......And stuff besides Black Label to keep in it. :ek:

[Jerry D]

A friend of mine with the AWACS had one of those orange USAF issued Switchblades seems the contractor got them wrong the USAF wanted the hook blade for cutting lines to be the switch-blade but the contractor assumed differently and made it a regular switchblade cutting knife