I now have 4 different fire official daggers, all by Eickhorn.

From left to right, they are:

Double Oval Serrated tail over CE
35-41 seated squirrel model 527
Double Oval Serrated tail over CE variant
Double Oval Serrated tail over CE large sized

They all differ in pommel, grip, crossguard and in blade length.

Here is the first one, the shortest in blade length, with a plain rear crossguard and a relatively plain pommel.

This is my first fire dagger purchase, a very long and hefty bladed dagger with plain crossguards and a plain grip and plain pommel, but also a double oval serrated tail version.

It also has a wicked looking serrated blade.

This model 527 with the 35-41 seated squirrel TM.

It has an embellished pommel, slant type grips, fancy crossguards and is similar in length to the large format plain serrated blade one I show in the previous post.

This latest arrival has the longest blade, the fancy pommel, an interesting grip, fancy crossguard and a very rare early fire portapee.

It also sports the double oval serrated tail over CE TM.

What a great and interesting hobby!

John

John,

As usual, your display of rare & unusual blades is terrific. I'm particularly loving this grouping because the Fire Official's dagger is a model that's close to my heart. It's astounding that you actually have two model 527s in your collection, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I particularly love the 527 because of its differences from the standard Fire Official's dagger. Unusual, obscure, rarely seen & just plain beautiful, at least to me.

The knot is also a thing of beauty, oh so rately seen. This is only the 2nd one I've seen in close to 20'years of collecting & studying these daggers. I own the other one I saw (which came on a presented WKC). Thanks for sharing these treasures.

John,

Billy G. got it right.

Your collection is without parallel and I really enjoy seeing your posts. The Fire Oficial's daggers, as noted above, are not something you see very often.

If you plan to be at the MAX, let me know and I'll my 2 interesting Eicks

Thanks for showing

Dave

Dave:

I will not be at the MAX, but do plan to go to the SOS.

John...I never did get into Fire Daggers. How do you tell a post war one?

Rick:

Many of the same flags as on forestry/hunting daggers... maker mark, orientation of mark, stamped vs etched.

But, the best way I know is to simply ask Billy for advice

In this hobby, knowing who to talk to about things is the best insurance you can have.

John

Thanks John....I just never got into them, i guess because there plain ( clover leaf model) but im looking at one now that is just to minty looking ( double oval trademark) . And those tradmarks just spook me. They look more like a rabbit,lol. Im assuming the cloverleaf model is the one that was still produced post war. But like i said im not knowledgle on these dagger.

Rick:

That is the beauty of GDC and WAF. If you are not sure, post here and ask away. The people who do know post here regularly and are always willing to help.

John

John,

I thought I would resurrect this older thread to mention that I have a Feuerwehr (FW) Officer dagger that is very similar to the first dagger that you show except mine has a plain clam shell. My dagger was made by Alexander Coppel with the "AC" marking on the edge of the ricasso as seen on some of the Coppel Seitengewehre. Do you know the Eickhorn catalog number for your FW dagger? I have no number for mine from the Coppel catalogs either but would like to know what it is.

ORPO, nice fire officer dagger you show. Those sawtooth versions are wicked looking for sure.

The model numbers in order of my pictures here are 42, 537 (35-41 Mark), 537 variant and 743.

John

Thanks John. I appreciate the catalog number for your Eickhorn 743. These things are just massive compared to their much narrower siblings.

George

George, the best thing about the 743 is that it came from Craig Gottlieb and was really cheap, significantly less than the traditional etched blade fire dagger.

J

I got mine (fairly cheaply) from a picker that I buy from at SOS. I was happy to pick it up.

Here's my Eickhorn Feuerwehr lineup:

#743 with triple oval mark and presented blade
#42 with back to back squirrels mark
#778 with triple oval mark
#527 with single oval mark

And a crossguard shot of the same pieces.

Now, Billy, while wonderful, I really think that these blades would be much happier in Canada.

John

Billy

Lets see some more of the presentation Sawback.

Gary

I'd love to see more of that third one

Dave

Eickhorn Model #778

Pommel Obverse

Pommel Reverse

Crossguard Obverse

Triple oval maker's mark

Thanks,

Dave

That is fabulous, B.

That Nr. 778 is fabulous Billy. I love it.

Thank you Gents. Not mint by any means, but a very difficult model to acquire in any condition. It took me perhaps 15 years of looking to find a reasonable specimen.

The 3R maker mark was the icing on the cake. Another thing that was quite unusual with this example is the long blade length, considering that the trend as time went on was for shorter blades on these sidearms. I don't remember the blade length of this one offhand but it's the longest one in my collection. Probably 22" or so.