UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Hunting, Forestry, and Shooting Forum F Dula with a twist

Correction: The previous photo is Thomas T. Wittmann's # 37099 F. DULA Waidblatt, not the Waidmesser.

C. Wetzel-20609

Thomas T. Wittmann's # 37099 F. DULA Waidmesser is pictured and shows the 11 mm D. R. G. M. mark. The poor condition of the blade shows it was probably sharpened on an electric grinder.

Thomas T. Wittmann's # 37099 F. DULA Waidblatt and Waidmesser both have the same size (11 mm) D. R. G. M. mark, I would call this a "matched" set as opposed to my "married" set, with 9 mm D.R.G.M. mark on the Waidblatt and 11 mm D. R. G. M. mark on the Waidmesser.

C. Wetzel-20609

Hey Calvin,

I remember many many years ago in Germany, a man would come around in his horse drawn wagon with a blade sharping stone wheel and everyone would have him sharpen their knifes, axes, sickles etc. etc. Sometimes I noticed the blades looking very similar after a good sharpening lol.

I can remember the same thing in France 1949-53, Mikee.

We lived in the Paris suburbs. The guy had a push cart with a big wheel and he rang a two tone bell as he pushed it up the street.

I don't remember blade shapes but this guy would give the wheel a push with his hand to get it going then pump a pedal.

I sent a personal email to Herr Henning Ritter (HUBERTUS) asking about blade restoration / regrinding a few months ago and he told me HUBERTUS Waidblatt blades were grinded by a family that was for the most part retired and only did some restoration / repair work. Herr Ritter said it could probably be done but the handles would have to be removed. I then thought that it was best to leave the knife as found. I thought that was the end of the story.

Herr Ritter did not give up and continued to ask for someone to grind the blade but since it was not a HUBERTUS and was made by another firm (F. DULA) no one would touch it.

Again, I am humbled by Herr Ritter's kindness. Here is a small, cropped portion of the email I received today:

"Dear Mr. Wetzel,

I had tried without delay several times to contact the previous grinder family’s members (two brothers, following to their father and grandfather) outside from Solingen.

That family had supported our company in grinding / satin finishing or polishing hundreds of our our company’s blade blanks for sheath knives, fixed bladed hunting knives and hunting cutlasses including Waidblatt pattern knives. „We have retired, and we are just taking care of minor repair work “, „We did not grind such Waidblatt blades during the last 15 years “. „The special tooling's for grinding Waidblatt blanks have not been used for more than 20 years! “.

Kind regards

Henning Ritter

P.S. My sincere compliments for posting vintage German hunting related stuff on GDC and for sharing great photos!

You are encouraging me to cross-check my vintage hunting catalogs and hunting magazines, for possible posts!"

Hello Gents ,

For my own knowledge can somebody remember me who was the sheath's maker of the DULA's . I believed that this maker was also

an amunitions pouches producer for the Army ? Is it right ?

Many thanks to you = S+

Seppi,

after searching many emails to my friend "Mr. K." in Oberkirch, I found emails where I was asking him about "Hruby Leder Fabrik, Hachenburg, Deutschland" because Baz69 (Gary) was asking for information about this company because he suspected this was the company that made sheaths for the F. DULA. I am still looking for Gary's request which was on German Daggers.com or War Relics forum.

C. Wetzel-20609

@ C.Wetzel ,

😊 Thanks for your help , Hruby is the name I was forgeting until now for the DULA'S sheaths .

Kind regards = S+

I found a very interesting F. DULA set that sold at some unknown date.

The bottom of the sheath is different as the reinforced piece of leather on the bottom of the sheath is stitched straight across (bottom leather piece maybe a replacement?), there is no mention of a D.R.G.M. mark in the description and both blades are marked with "Die Jagerschaft des Kreises Melsungen ihrem 1. Kreisjagermeister".

I can see no D.R.G.M. mark on the small photos of the F. DULA set. The leather retaining strap for the small Waidmesser is missing from the sheath.

The front of sheath is rather plain without the enhanced leather decoration work and does not have the "V" notch on the Waidmesser pocket.

There is a buttonhole on the back of the leather sheath loop and the condition of the blades of the F. DULA set appear to be close to excellent.

On page two of this thread, "F Dula with a twist", Baz69 (Gary) has posted a photo of a blade with the same inscription "Die Jagerschaft des Kreises Melsungen ihrem 1. Kreisjagermeister".

I used the zoom on the original photo of the back of the sheath on the above F. DULA and it showed intact stitching, no problem with the sheath.

Then I went back to page two of this thread and noticed this is one of Baz69 (Gary's) F. DULA sets.

As Gary has stated about the above example on page two of this thread on 23 Dec. 2014: " The piece on the left is another early piece with a great blade dedication on both the main knife and skinner."