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First introduced to the US Army following the Spanish-American War and the so-called pacification campaigns in the Philippines, the bolo is the forgotten weapon of WWI. In addition to being a useful tool for brush-cutting, the heavy bolo blade was a formidable weapon.

The Collins No.1005 was the first issue bolo and was purchased around 1900. It had a curved and heavy bright finished blade that was about 15 1/8-inches long. It came in three versions, one with a green horn handle, the second with a wooden handle and the final with a wooden handle, but with a steel ferrule between the handle and the blade. All three were issued with the same tooled leather scabbard with a wide belt loop.

The M1904 Hospital Corps Knife was another early bolot-type knife. It had a rounded tip, bright-finish 12-inch long blade. It had a wooden grip with finger grooves and a brass cap on the end. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a long leather belt loop, later replaced with cartridge belt loops. While never intended as a weapon, some did find their way into the hands of Doughboys who used them in trench raids.

The M1909 Bolo was the first, offical bolo. This had a 14-inch long, bright finish blade with a sharp tip and a slightly curved wooden handle without finger grooves. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a brass throat and a long belt loop.

The M1910 Bolo had a shorter 10 3/8-inch long blade and its wooden handle had grasping grooves. It was a lighter, more compact design that was well regarded. It was issued with a wooden scabbard covered with canvas and a leather tip as well as cartridge belt hooks.

The final bolo was the M1917, of a similar design to the M1910 but designed to speed up manufacturing and not as finely finished as the M1910. The M1917 was issued with a sheet metal scabbard and all metal parts of the scabbard and the bolo were parkerized.