The Garcia was a copy of the Hackman Survival Knife that was developed in response to a shortage of Randall 18 knives for the Vietnam War in the late 60’s early 70’s. The Hackman Survival Knife was designed by Ken Warner and Pete Dickey and produced in Finland. The Garcia came out after the Hackman stopped production and was shaped the same but it was a lighter knife with a 3/16" thick blade instead of Hackman’s ¼” thick blade. It was made in Brazil and also featured a survival kit in the sheath with a whistle, compass, sharpening stone and flint sparker. Like the Randall 18, the handle was hollow, watertight and had space to store additional survival items like fishing line, hooks and matches, although many Vietnam Vets used the space as well for needed pills. Blade is 6 3/4”, OAL 10 ¾” and weighs 12 oz for the knife and 20.5 OZ for the knife and sheath.
Many of you will recognize Garcia as the Manufacturer of the unstoppable Garcia Mitchell fishing reels like the model 300 or 308 and other quality outdoor gear.
Regarding the design of the Hackman Survival Knife from Ken Warner's book "The Practical Book of Knives" circa 1975, Chapter 7-The Sharp Pry Bar: "I was responsible for the shape and the grind of the blade and the overall configuration. My collaborator, Pete Dickey, figured out the rest of it. In essence, it has a hollow stainless steel handle, closed watertight by a large threaded pommel. The space inside is nearly the size of two 12 gauge shotshells, which means it will hold matches, pills, another little knife, hooks and line-a whole raft of stuff that could come in handy. Pete went ahead and had packed a miniature kit that went into the sheath's pocket and had a lot of that gear in it"
"Anyways, I put all I could think of into that knife to make it do as many jobs possible for a fellow who, all of a sudden, has to do it all with a knife. So did Pete. It is heavy and tough enough to chop wood or meat or bone. It is wide enough to dig with if you need a hole in a hurry. The saw edge is designed to get its users poles without making loud noises. Its steel won't rust, and it's hard, so it hold an edge. If you had to hurt someone with it, it is equal to that job. It will slice very nicely and is, after you get used to it, pretty handy for dressing out game. It has a couple of holes in the modest double guard, and by lashing through those to a pole seated in the hollow handle, a rather impressive spear results."
This knife has a great feel, balance and is very well manufactured. Available for sale at AAPK: https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/ca ... y-70s-nos-
