The Camillus Cam1a1 Bayonet is not a Becker design. In fact it was designed by Bob Terzuola. Why am I telling you this? Because to this day due to some oversight, people think the Cam1a1 is a Becker blade. No joke go check eBay right now, I bet you find at least one that says it's made by Becker Knife & Tool. So the apparent story here is Camillus accidentally shipped all of them in their Becker boxes. The label on the box only said Cam1a1. So for all these years after Camillus closed their doors, people still think Ethan Becker designed a bayonet.
So I cant find a 100% confirmed story about why they ended up in the Becker boxes. I've heard they never actually sold these to the public or even issued them. So one theory, they had a large stock left when they were going under and they just stuck them in what ever box they could find or had extras of. I've also heard they sold most all of them in one large lot to Smokey Mountain Knife Works (SMKW) during the closing action. Rumor has it SMKW also bought up all the extra Camillus boxes. So another theory is that they purposely put them in the Becker boxes just to move them. However if this was the case I don't think they would have taken the time to put the labels on all the boxes, but still a possibility. I do know for a fact that all those cleaning cloths Camillus sent out with with these and the other blades that went to government/military are currently residing in a massive barrel on the bottom floor of SMKW. I think they are selling them for $1 each. So SMKW defiantly bought up a bunch of junk from Camillus at the closing auction.
So lets talk about the price. Holy cow these thing sell for so much money! If you get the complete set (as pictured above) it can really cost you. I'm personally not into bayonets. However, knowing the knife industry I'm sure there a massive amount of bayonet collectors. It fits the categories for both blade collectors and militaria collectors. I suppose if they really were never issued or sold they might have some extra value, but honestly I know nothing about the bayonet market. I would need a real expert or collector to chime in.
Side note: the MOLLE backer currently on the one above was not originally included. I got that from a guy on eBay who claims to be the only one to have them. He says he bought the only box of them at the auction. He said something like Camillus was making them so the troops could attach them to their vests. Again I don't even know if these left the factory and saw any action, but still... a cool find.
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