Pal RH-36 Army Air Force Knife

At the beginning of World War II, US military was caught with its pants down and scrambled as it tired to meet the supply demands of its rapidly expanding armed forces. As the war began, the Army was still using knives and bayonets that were first used in World War I. The need for an adequate knife for emergency kits for air crews in the expanding Army Air Force led to the adoption of existing commercially available hunting knives. The Pal RH-36 was one of two principal knives that were used extensively by the Army Air Force.