RAMBO KNIFE

HISTORY
The Sylvester Stallone "First Blood" Survival Knife

How it came to be:

In the summer of 1981, Sylvester Stallone asked me to design a survival knife that was different to
use in his next movie "First Blood".

I have known Sly for some time, having met him through mutual friends, Joe Ellinthorpe and Ray
Howser, owners of Pony Express Sports Shop, 17460 Ventura Blvd, Encino, California 91316, and
naturally i was pleased and flattered because i had found him to be a gentleman and a very
professional person. The result of my efforts is what you see in the above picture and in the movie
"First Blood", where the knife is ever prominent in the action packed production by an actor who
plays a starring role to perfection, Sylvester Stallone.

The Purpose:

It was not my intent to create just another attractive movie prop, but rather to make one basic tool
to do a variety of jobs. So i had to imagine what i would need if i were in an isolated survival
situation and could have only one tool to get by with, and i reasoned that it should be a multi
purpose knife that would:

1. Have a long cutting edge for cutting shelter materials, firewood and cutting up what i might
have to eat.
2. Have a compass in order to hold a true bearing for escape.
3. Have a hollow handle to hold necessities and into which a pole could be fitted to make a
spear or gig, as well as being waterproof when capped.
4. Have screwdrivers for working on any gear i had.
5. Have some nylon line for fishing or snares.
6. Have a flat butt for pounding.
7. Have a real saw on the back for cutting small poles for fishing and shelter and making a
spear as well as cutting out of the canopy or through the side of a downed aircraft.
8. And last but not least, it must be a dependable offensive or defensive weapon, as the
situation might dictate.

The First Blood combat/survival knife incorporates all these features to their fullest.

The first thirteen:

Thirteen is my lucky number, so just for luck i wanted to make 13 pieces and number them 1 of 13,
2 of 13 and etc, and on the opposite side they are marked "First Blood" in front of the guard.
Stallone got numbers 1 through 6 and i kept numbers 7 through 13. Numbers 14 through 100 are
marked 14 of 100, 15 of 100 and etc, and there will be only 100 marked in this manner, thus
insuring their value to collectors. This 100 is stamped not etched.

Prototypes:

There were three prototypes of this knife for the movie.

1. A "TaChee" bowie shape, marked proto S/S in acid etch on side opposite name. Stallone
never saw this knife because i thought it too common. It had black Micarta scales and nickle
silver bolster and no guard, top or bottom.
2. A 9 inch blade, same shape as the "First Blood" final shape, but without sawteeth. Instead of
screwdriver guard and hollow handle, it had black Micarta handle and brass guard and butt
with thong eye and entire knife including handle was matte finished. It is marked proto No. 2
S/S on side opposite name in front of guard. Mark is acid etched, not stamped. Stallone
never saw this knife either because i thought it was not good enough in design features for
the movie, but is offered as a standard combat model in my brochure.
3. Prototype No. 3 is the same as the final shape and features of the marked 100 except it is
not matte finished but has all of the other features of the "First Blood" knife. It is marked
"Prototype" in block letters on the side opposite "Lile". The "Name" or "Lile" side of my knives
can be determined by holding any Lile knife in your right hand with tip of blade pointing to
your left, edge down, and the name will be facing you. This shall remain that way till my
death, after which the name "Lile" will be on the other side of the blade if my long time
friends and co-workers Louis Evans and Gary Goree, wish to continue my business. If i can
be of any furrther help or offer additional information feel free to write or call me, Jimmy Lile
Handmade Knives, Rt. 1, Russellville, AR 72801, 501-968-2011.

Specifications:

 Blade- approximatlely 9" made of 440C high carbon stainless steel, finish matte non glare
except for edges.
 Handle- approximately 4 7/8" wrapped with nylon line for fishing, snares etc, over stainless
steel hollow waterproof handle, screwed and sweated onto the tang, houses a small Lile
folder for cutting fishing line loose when needed.
 Overall length- approximately 14 inches.
 Crossguard- 440C stainless steel with phillips screwdriver on top edge and standard crossbit
screwdriver on bottom end hardened and tempered, matte finish with two drilled holes for
lashing to pole for spear.
 Butt cap- aluminum, knurrled and is removable by unscrewing from handle which contains a
small non magnetic compass, has "O" ring (replaceable) to insure the waterproof storage
area in the hollow handle which can hold matches, medicines, needles and thread and a
variety of other necessities.

PRICE - $1000.00 complete with top grain 10-12oz. cowhide sheath.

These are the words of the late Jimmy Lile. A few things changed along the way, for example
numbering the knives from 14 to 100 with just a number above the Lile stamp, but on the whole
everything remains. Jimmy Lile started what was to become one of the biggest crazes ever seen in
the cutlery industry with copies of the First Blood knife selling in huge volumes.

FIRST BLOOD
Jimmy Lile First Blood Knife
A total of 100 First Blood knives were
made. Numbers 1 to 6 were sent to
Stallone for use in the movie and had 14
sawteeth. Numbers 7 to 13 were
originally kept by Lile and eventually
sold, these also had 14 sawteeth.
Numbers 14 to 100 were offered to the
public and these knives had 12 sawteeth.
Some of the numbered knives up to
number 20 had the deeper blade grind
under the raker teeth like the movie
knife (see picture to the right).

In addition Jimmy made a unique First

Blood and Mission set marked "Raven". One of the 12 tooth First Blood knives with the deeper grind
under the raker teeth.
Jimmy Lile also made 13 Family First
Blood knives. Each had 12 sawteeth and
each came with a Gents Folder.

In addition to these knives Jimmy also

made an un-numbered First Blood knife
which featured a none-high-polished
blade edge.

Differences:

The knives that were sent to Sly for use in the movie appear to be more or less the same as the
knives numbered from 7 to 13. The only difference that can really be seen is that the bead blast on
the movie knife ran consistently from the edge all around the blade, tip and spine, whereas all of
the numbered knives had no bead blast under the raker teeth. Instead Jimmy decided to give a high
polished finish from the bevel to the tip of these knives. The cord wrap on the first thirteen knives
was a twist, for the twelve tooth knives a braided cord wrap was used, however at least one of
the twelve tooth knives has a twisted cord wrap just like the first thirteen.

Comparison of First Blood Movie Knife bead blast finish and cord wrap hollow handle
 Comparison of the two blade grinds on the twelve
tooth First Blood knives. On the far left is a picture of
one of the twelve tooth knives with the deeper blade
grind. On the immediate left is an expample of one of
the twelve tooth knives with the shallower blade
grind.

Below are the two knives offered by the Lile shop after the run of 100 numbered First
Blood knives, the Jimmy Lile Sly II

SLY II

Blade length 9". Overall length 14".

Waterproof handle with compass in
aluminum butt cap. Equipped with wrap
ring for those who may have their method
of wrapping if they wish to try. Lugged
combat style guard and stainless handle.
Choice of 440C stainless or D2 steel.
$580.00
SLY II Cord Wrap

Same specs as above but with wrapped

handle of treated non-shrink nylon line
over stainless steel. This treatment is a
drawn out process, but worth it. Once the
line is removed by cutting a knot at the
guard, it must be sent to us for the same
type of rewrap. The knife in First Blood
was wrapped like this. Choice of 440C
stainless or D2 steel. $655.00