The term Demo Knife is an affectionate but completely inappropriate and dangerously inaccurate nickname bestowed on a knife manufactured for the US Military by Camillus Knives and made entirely of stainless steel. The term “Demo” is short for Demolitions. Decades ago, the rumor got started that because the knife in question was stainless steel, it was non-magnetic and therefore could be used to de-activate mines without setting them off. Regardless of the persistence of this rumor, the steel used to make the knives is indeed magnetic. Still, the rumor persists and like it or not, the name is stuck like glue and I continue to refer to the knife by it’s incorrect name only because I know that my insistence on accuracy would fall on deaf ears. (There is at least one non-magnetic stainless steel that I am aware of, and this knife is not constructed with that particular stainless steel.) For the troops, it will always be “The Demo Knife."

Regardless of what the user chooses to call them, Camillus simply calls these knives “Model Number 1760” for the “U.S.” marked model and “Model 1763” for the “USMC” version. The US Military, in its own unique and even less prosy style officially refers to this little gem as the “U.S. Military Knife (United States Government Spec MIL-K-818D” or less musically, the “Knife, Pocket NSN: 5110-00-162-2205.” Whether the term “Demo Knife” is accurate or not, I think it’s safe to say this was a knife desperately in need of a good nickname!

The knife is seen here with a repro case made of parachute webbing, this is absed on a description and sketches in Harve Saal's books. This was made up for me by Alex Broumand to his usual high standard. You can find him on eBay with the username "princaldune"