Anybody got fighting knives other than German ? Lets see them. K-bar, Fairbanks, stiletto, Special Ops ?

Here is my one and only: A British Dudley-Robbins push dagger or punch dagger.

Sorry for the old picture. It was taken at the dawn of digital photography with a Sony Mavica.

I've still got it. Acquired from a friend in 1962 for ?5.

Dave

Dave,, you know they reproduce that very very well! - That one you can tell ancient photos and a old knife.. new ones have a bit of a bulky scabbard. ..Man that one looks so sleek and would make a comfortable kill,,,easy to conceal too.....

* A rare piece for sure..!! And you still got it!! lucky man,,yeah a keeper..



How about this? even seen one after VietNam? Supposed prototype... Some made, a few copies made. But then deemed to brutal[?] I mean we're killing people here right?

Gaz,

I've not seen a reproduction of a Dudley Robbins knife. Has anyone else ?

Dave,,couldn't get it to let me copy and paste.. but look up 'Atlantic Cutlery', ,,$59.95... IMA has them without scabbard for $44.95..There are others out there also...

Gaz,

Yes, I've been aware of those repros for some time. They look close to real thing but wouldn't fool anyone for long - - like those fake rings you expose.

A few more views:

So Dave ,,was this an issue item for the Brit commandos?? or something they could buy themselves and was approved to carry? How long were they in use for??

Not issue ... as far as I know.

Private UK purchase as far as I can tell. A reasonable number seem to have survived, and an an apparently greater number of recent fakes as well.

I got mine from a friend in 1962 or 63 . . . 5 pounds.

Looks like what they call a push dagger correct? I think there were ones like spikes, ice picks?

Mike,

I think the official name was, as you say, "push dagger".

There are a lot of real and imagined WW2 era "SOE", "Commando", etc, knives, icepicks, blades, and the like.

I often wonder how many of the real ones were ever used to attack another man. I have read quite a bit about WW2, both official histories and personal accounts, and don't remember any mention. Bayonets either, except for the Japanese.

Thanks for the reply Dave... and as you say who knows precisely. But speaking of ice picks, here is an interesting one.., technically an ice axe- this was supposedly the one used to assassinate Leon Trotsky in Mexico City by Stalin?s directive to have him silenced as he was speaking out against him at the time in exile. I understand it is on museum display this year and is headed to the international spy museum for display.

Here is an OSS fighting knife that was obtained with the original OSS lettered 1903. Both belonged to the same agent.
Not the best pic as I too inside with flash.

Ron,

That is fantastic. Seldom seen complete scabbard, too

Dave

Here is some more info on them:

On 16th of June 1942 an order was issued for 10 000 Stilettos from Landers, Frary & Clark for the price of $2.03 each. The knives looked very nice but the steel quality was inferior. After following tougher specifications a new knife was adopted in October 1942 for the price of $2.23 each. Wilkinson Sword had made an offer $30 each. With this great difference there was not much to argue about.
The US government got what they paid for. The knives bend and break easily!
The hilt is made in three sections of steel, the flat crossguard, handle and the threaded knob. The unique part of handle is the checkering - all the way to the cross-guard. This is not seen on any other F-S style of knife.
The shape of the blade differs from the typical F-S knife type because it is much narrower to the tip. Such a blade is more vulnerable and easy to break.
The knife is very beautiful and well made but weak. However the best thing with this knife is its scabbard. The scabbard got the nickname Pancake flapper. Landers, Frary & Clark was for a time the largest cutlery producer in USA. They also made a number of kitchen tools. One of the utensils was the kitchen spatula or pancake flapper. The same dies was used to produce the scabbard as the spatula! The knife was kept in place by a simple rubber O-ring.

Thanks Ron,

Interesting insights, but no real surprises. Screwing the Govt was a sport.

Somewhere I have a F-S knife given to a friend of mine when he left 41 Commando in about 1965. If I can find it I will post pic here.

Dave

I have the info on the owner but didn't want to take up too much space with it. if nobody minds, I can post it.

Sure. Post anything you can find on it. Maybe even as a new topic if you like.

Thank Dave
I believe it would be best if I started a new thread in the United States Militaria. That way it will not clutter this thread. Ron

I forgot the best pic on that push dagger:

hi ron /dave
this goes to show you guys never ever mess with a chef with a pan cake turner in his hands especially an sos chef god bless andy militarynut

Here is my neighbors knife, heavy thing! It is a Leo Baker knife. He was a
Maker from Chicago who made custom private purchase ww2 fighting knives for the marines and others. Many were repurposed as fighting knives from metal files etc. This one was also
Made from a file, but I think a hunting knife not a marine corps fighting knife but I am not sure about that exactly.., however nice drop tip Bowie blade and nice cross guard, wooden grip, and brass pommel. My neighbor had a custom scabbard made for it, and he is selling if anyone is interested and has an offer please pm. Thanks!

too big of a photo Mike.. Can't get a good idea how cool it is in hand etc. Shrink it down a bit,,get the whole knife in smaller photo ,,,will look much better

hi mike
i just would like to add my three cents in here yes l.e. baker made private purchase knives for prople i believe he is mentioned in coles knife book along with many outhers this knife shown appears in my opinion not to be that old nicely made and as you said nice sweeping tip to the blade also did you notice the cut on the handle side of the blade looks lika bottle opener simular to the ww2 made eck fighting knife if i was to guess this knife made maybe in the 1970s now back to early ww2 knife makers of america machinests and just men makeing knives were called apon by our govt. to make any style knives for our fighting me in mostly the south pacfic theater most famious knife maker is randalls from florida these knives are the most sort after in the collectors world all most as valuble as a ss dagger he made many many knives for vietnam veterans and last your right many of these fighting knives were made from files old steel bars etc what ever didnt go in the scrap pile a knife was made from it hope you guys all agree god bless great posts thanks guys andy militarynut

Thanks Andy! Yes 70s sounds correct, looks right for its age and style. Here is yours: Australia fighting knife!

hi mike
this is a very rare to find ww2 oss fighting knuckle knife along with original leather scabard these rare fighting knives was made by australia for our sos fighting men used behind enemy lines the you may find the knife on acasions but hardley ever the leather sacabard is rarer then the knife to find there never was any maker or marks on the blade or scabard along with the sos clothes they wore behind enemy lines the blade is made of black steel molded in to the aluminum handle i will have it at this years max show on the fore sale table any one intrested just give me a shout hope you guys enjoy this rare ww2 fighting knife seldom seen thanks god bless andy militarynut

Andy,,,that IS a beauty and with a scabbard no less!! Those are HTF as in 'hard to find' which = RARE!

. Very Nice,,Don't think that will be on the table very long this year!!

yeah man!! Got it.. They tell me it is a VN era bayo... Not so pretty, Tarnished, a little beat up but I love it !

Thing is razor blade sharp!,, Really,, you could almost shave with the thing.. Hopefully no one will get unlucky enough that I'd have to use it.... It fits my hand perfectly,,and very comfortable!..

hi gaspare
i think this is a after vietnam bayonet knuckle knife not sure if it fits m-16 or not possibly 1980s era but this i do know it is not legal to have in new york n.j. and a few outher states the above states if you sneeze after 12pm take him away bailif god bless all andy militarynut

There has been much talk about these on the us fighting knife sites.
I do believe the originals should have some markings on the underside of the grip.
I have personally seen a lot that did not, and they are deemed repos.
There are usually a few listed on GB and Ebay.
These would have came from my era of Army service, but I'm sooo far behind on the WWII, this will have to wait.
Congrats
Ed

hi ed
hard to say now days where they was built what year only a guess on my part thanks for your service and wellcome home god bless andy militarynut

Andy
Most of what I have read states made in Kentucky by a firm trying to get military contract in the mid late 70s.
There should be a number and letter mark on the backside of the grip.
They have made many repos afterb that. Gunnyssurplus had then for 20 some bucks a while back.
If you look at them there are differences.
The one here has a round injection mark near the guard. Most I have seen have no such mark.
A search of m7 knuckle bayonet will bring up many forum discussions and photos of these.
The supposed originals are worth about 50 to 80 bucks, repos for 30 to 50, my opinion and findings.
There are reports of brass ones, I have not seen those personally. I believe the rumor plastic ones to be false rumor, and was reference to the original plastic grip.
Hope this sheds SOME light,
Ed

hi ed
that makes sence to me i personily like from civil war to vietnam items i dont go any further i would be just guessing then i try to stick with what i know god bless have a great day andy militarynut

Ed and Andy...Thanks so much for your help and opinions....
The bayo itself is VN era..

The knuckle part handle is a intrical part of the whole thing.. Never took one apart before. Really cool as you only get the one piece. It was wrapped in a lightly greased brown wrapper.. It had some marking on it but wanted it on there I just didn't even take note of them!. It had not extra flashing , and matched the other half of the handle material perfectly! Went on nice and easy. Kind of weird because its offset because your only putting on half of the handle!. Really nice design and goes on literally in 2 min!! I like it.
Hope to never have to use it. ,,,thanks again... Anyone that has a old one? One that you know for sure is at least 20 years old?? Would love to see it...,G.