Joining the fray in Sep 1970, my issued knife was the much maligned curved blade that had recently replaced the straight bladed original. So 1970 was the earliest I remember the 'curver' and what an improvement it was over its predecesssor, which was utterly unsuited to scraping out one's briar. The curved blade, blunt or not, was perfect for decoking one's pipe (having first cut away the annoying string).
