Hi All,
This is my only HJ boys knife I have at the moment any opinions would be fine. It is late production with no motto, mm or RZM number the condition is fairly good though the blade has a bit of old pitting from water damage at some time in it's life. It has the last ditch celluloid/plastic type straps that are still flexible and have no cracks or damage, press stud works fine and the HJ diamond wiggles in the grip nicely. Next one will be a nice early one with a good motto and maker mark when I find one though I do like this one a lot, see what you think.
Cheers, Andy.

A few more pics.

Hello Andy,

Your HJ-knife is indeed the very late version, probably made in 1941-42.
The scabbard with plastic strap in not too often encountered, most are found with the RZM M7/72 mark (Carl Rob. Kaldenbach).
Your knife might be an unmarked knife by this maker as it has all the typical features: short finger guard, checkering of the grip plates, shape of the ricasso...
I add a couple of pics of some Kalderbach HJ-knifes, yours is to be compared with the 2 left ones.

Allow me to give you an advise: never close the snap of these scabbards, the aged plastic became hard and will easily break...

Best regards,

Herman

Hi Herman,
Thanks so much for your very informative reply and studying the photos you have posted I can certainly see the similarities of this maker and the unmarked knife I have, I was aware the late plastic straps aren't very common which is actually one of the things that attracted me to it. I have seen one on a UK dealers site with the same straps marked RZM M7/36 for Horster he states it is only the third example with the late plastic straps he has had in 30 years of dealing so I guess they are actually quite scarce. Lovely group of knives you have posted they all look in very nice condition and I specially like the one with the engraved pommel. I will take your advice and leave the press stud open from now on and I was also warned about this problem with these plastic straps by the dealer who sold it to me, I paid ?275 English pounds for it which I think was a very reasonable price though it's not in fantastic condition but the plastic straps are good and totally intact.
Many Thanks. Regards, Andy.