UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons The BCN Bayonet Forum Factory Shipping/Transportation of Bayonets.

Maybe a bit of a strange question really but here goes...

What sort of packaging/crates etc were K98 bayonets transported in from the manufacturers to the military depots/warehouses etc prior to them being issued?
Were there specific types of boxes/crates for this that held them securely or were they just chucked into the back of a wagon sort of thing in, loose in an old box or whatever?
Did it vary from maker to maker or was there a standardised method?

Like I said a strange question I know but I was just curious really, happened to be looking in Graham Priest's 'The Spirit of the Pike' book about UK/Commonwealth No.4 spike bayonets and it shows some of them in factory and stores packaging and it just made me wonder how the Germans did it for the SG84/98 III's so I thought I'd ask and see if anyone knows??

Many thanks

Mike,

I know most manufacturers shipped their private purchase bayonets wrapped in heavy paper or in paper bags. I would think the issue S84/98 would probably have been similarly packaged in paper wraps inside a shipping box. I have never seen a box though.

Cheers ORPO

Yeah, it sounds about right I guess, would seem to be the logical way to do it.

I'd love to see a picture of some 'in transit' S84/98's, wrapped and boxed if anyone out there has got one to show...a long shot but you never know!

My understanding is they were shipped in wooden crates with the "L"-type latches similar to German wooden ammo crates. They would have had wooden partitions with notches to hold one bayonet each. I expect each crate would have held anywhere from 50 to 100 pieces.

Some years ago, I spoke with a guy whom had done a bit of lake diving in Austria. I got a incomplete S84/98 T3 blade blank from him marked "bym" & "5" on the spine. He mentioned on one dive encountering a crate such as I have described, and upon opening the lid, found it was full of S84/98s. Unfortunately his dive partner signaled him with a light, and he swam over to see what he wanted, but when he returned to look for the crate, he was unable to locate it again!

Cheers Fred.

What a shame the guy couldn't relocate the box, that would of been something to see even if they were in 'relic' condition.

TB: The diver told me it is quite dark in those lakes, and vision is often limited to a few feet. The bottom is a viscous mud. However, some of the bayonets he recovered were remarkably preserved. The parts which were covered in mud were protected from corrosion because the oxygen was cut off. In addition, fresh, cold water also slows the formation of rust. That box he found was just barely above the lake floor; the majority of it buried in the muck. Easy to see how in such an environment one might move a yard or two, and not find where you just were!