Testing confirmed that the existing M1917 and M1918 designs were in need of improvement. The field test was performed to examine the qualities of each knife based on the following criteria: the ability to carry one-handed while performing other tasks, the quickness or rapidity of employment in action, security of grip, in case the user was stunned or knocked unconscious, ease of carrying when crawling in a low prone position, the probability of the knife being knocked out of hand during a struggle, the suitability of blade weight, length, and shape and the shape of the handle. M1917, the Hughes trench knife and the standard-issue trench knives of the British and French armies, respectively. On 1 June 1918 a panel of AEF officers conducted an exhaustive field test of various trench knives, including the U.S. By 1918 it was apparent that the M1917 and M1918 designs were too limiting to succeed in their intended role, and a new trench knife design was requested.
Both the M1917 and M1918 used a triangular blade and a handle equipped with a guard designed to protect the user's knuckles. M1917 and the slightly improved M1918 trench knives designed by Henry Disston & Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Mark I was a development of the earlier U.S.
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