Some 25 or so years ago the Army, in its infinite wisdom decided that only Physicians and Physicians Assistants (PAs) would be authorized to use scalpels and sent out messages to all units to the effect they would collect all their medics scalpels and blades and dispose of them. The senior medic in my unit collected all the scalpel handles and blades and knowing I used Exacto blades, asked me if I wanted any of the scalpels before he threw them in the trash. I ended up with about a dozen handles and probably 3000 blades (#10, #11 and #15). After all that time (and giving a batch of them to friends) I still have a 1/2 dozen handles and between 500 and 600 blades!