Gentlemen,
I wonder,could you give me a list of the 10 rare K98 Bayonet Makers, I don't expect every list to be identical, but perhaps broad consensus will emerge. I'm not expert on these Bayonet Makers - I only know of two - Aesular-Werke,J.Corts,if members have others please post them. Regards

Black Dudley, interesting question. i see you have been a member for almost 3 years and only have 11 posts. Do you have some information to share? A picture or two of your rare bayonets?
Thank you.

Thanks for the post John,
I don't really have any extra information. To expand a bit further on my first post. Late last year I bought a Aesular Bayonet purely on the fact, the maker was unknown to me, showed it to a blades collector, his comment was "don't let it go, you'll never get another one". Three weeks ago at a flea-market, I bought a J.Corts bayonet again on the fact the maker was unknown to me. Looking through the internet at various forums, didn't find much about him. On this forum one member commented, that he regarded J.Corts as being one of the 5 rarest makers (if that's true or not I don't know)but I got to thinking, to have a rough list of ten rare or rarest makers would do no harm. Cheers

Hello

Have a look at this website and you will get the information you need.
http://k98.free.fr/
Regards
Alain

BD i agree. It would do no harm if you posted your opinion of the top 10 rare makers with your experience. The members may even help you out as you have already seen. I look forward to your future posting of pictures and your best estimate of the top ten rare makers.
regards,
John

Dudley,

I am assuming that your question was about S84/98 bayonets rather than other types such as the S98/05 or KS98? There are production figures for most of these issue bayonets along with variations such as Imperial S84/98 with dual maker/distributor markings. There is a whole thread on KS98 Extrawaffen makers you might want to look at.

Having said that, production numbers are not the whole story as to what is "Rare" to collectors. For instance a property marked bayonet could be more scarce or command more money or be more desireable than an unmarked one. In that instance a RFV or Railway marked bayonet would be less numerous than their standard issue cousins.

I too would be interested in your thoughts.

OK - Getting down to it and working off the link kindly supplied by Klinge, and sticking strictly to only Wehrmacht Issue Bayonet 1934 -45 table supplied, i.e. ignoring all the Kriegsmarine, Police, Reichsbahn, Commerical,etc blades, emphasising again "I'm no blades expert" and answering my own requested list. I would go for these seven in the following order -
(1)SQX (1)CAN (3)NYY (4)Durkopp (5)J.Sch (6)Elite Diamant (7)JWL - afraid I couldn't fathom out exactly ten makers, seven it will have to be.
Gentlemen now is the time to post your lists.
Regards

Hello BD,
Just a couple corrections to your listing. Good collecting...

Hello Denny,
Yes, 1st & 3rd are my copying mistakes. Thanks for the corrections.

BD-
Good crack at it...you made the other collectors think! SGX in my opinion is one of the most beautiful bayonets and one of the most expensive. In its category of late war bayonets, many were produced and it isnt the rarest. Continue to study and learn...feel free to share your thoughts anytime! Would love to see pictures of your collection. Everyone will learn from the pictures. My least favorite maker is J.Sch and not really sure why? :-)
regards,
JCJ

I think you should clarify your request even further. For the S84/98 T3 1934-45 are you asking:
1. Which 10 manufacturers are the least encountered during that time period?
2. Which 10 manufacturer marking variations are the least commonly found during that time?
3. Do you want to include production variants in either #1 or #2? This would include bayonets with such features as riveted grips, "can" or "fnj" subcontract scabbards, etc.
4. Lastly, are you restricting the category to military contract S84/98 T3s only, or do you want to include all the commercial variants made for other organizations or export during 1934-45?