The blade of an original Jimmy Lile Mission, number 3 of 10, photographed on a black background

The Mission story, in brief

After the success of “Rambo – First Blood” a sequel was ordered straight away, “Rambo: First Blood Part II”, which reached cinemas in 1985. Sylvester Stallone needed another survival knife, and renewed his verbal agreement with Jimmy Lile: Lile designed nine prototypes in 1984 and sent them to Stallone for approval, each with different features. Stallone chose number 9, and the knives used in the film were modeled on it.

The knife had a 25 cm blade in 440C stainless steel, matte black with polished edges and fourteen teeth on the spine, nine split and five scrapers. The blade was 5 cm wide and the knife 38 cm long overall. The guard, matte black, was in 440 stainless steel with screwdriver ends, as on the “First Blood” knife. The handle was in 304 stainless steel, wrapped with black nylon fishing cord, and the aluminum pommel had an O-ring and a brass compass like the original knife.

The knives used in the film came with military-style sheaths in black full-grain 10-12 ounce cowhide, made by Johnson, with the EZE-LAP model M diamond sharpener on the front. There were ten numbered knives, from 1 of 10 to 10 of 10.

Greg Foster
Rambo collector from Australia
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An original Jimmy Lile Mission seen from the right, with the cord and the leather sheath
An original Mission with its military sheath in vachetta leather. Archive photograph, author unidentified.
An original Jimmy Lile Mission seen from the left, below the leather sheath worn by use
The left side of the same knife, with the LILE signature on the heel. Archive photograph, author unidentified.
Close-up of the stamp on the heel: 3 OF 10, RAMBO, THE MISSION MOVIE KNIFE
The mark on the heel of the 3of10: “RAMBO – THE MISSION MOVIE KNIFE”. Archive photograph, author unidentified.