Knives...

[Time Bandit]

Collecting military knives of various types seems popular in this section so I thought I'd show a few I've ended up with over the years. I never set out to collect them and still don't as such but they seem to find me somehow!!
Nothing exciting such as genuine FS type knives alas - mainly just pocket knives.

Anyhow here goes with No.1...





This one arrived via a cupboard in my dads workshop a few years back, no idea where or when he got it. It's got fibre (?) grips, dated 1942 and the blade is maker marked as N K F. It is also marked on the grip with a very, very faint broad arrow and some other letters/numbers I can't make out. As can be seen it ain't in the best condition and the main blade has snapped at some point in its life.

[Time Bandit]

No.2...








This one also came from the same cupboard as the first knife. It's dated 1940, has a broad arrow on the spike and is maker marked but the marked has been double stamped and is difficult to make out - it looks something like... Wade & Butcher Sheffield England ???

[Time Bandit]

No.3...








Now then...this one was an expensive bugger was this...cost me 5p at a car boot sale and the woman I bought it off couldn't believe it was even worth that as at the time it was in a hell of a state, blades were seized solid and looked like they were just a mass of rust and crud... I chucked it into some diesel for a week or so and that cleaned it up a bit and eventually I managed to get it as it is now which is a miracle compared to what it was like!!
Anyhow, as can be seen it's the type without the spike, it's dated 1941 and is maker marked on the blade although once again it's difficult to read, I think it's something like John(?) Petty & Sons ???

[Time Bandit]

No.4...






Bought this one cheap in the late '80s. I think a batch of them must of been found somewhere and were being sold off - unused and still in grease. Every now and again you still see them for sale, still unused and in grease so I dunno maybe they are still part of the batch from the '80s??
I'm not totally sure if this is a British knife or not? It looks similar to one but I'm not sure if it is? As can be seen it's marked on the can/bottle opener with ABL 1950 and something like COLA53E or possibly COLASSE (looks more like a 53E than an SSE though??).

Edited to add...just had a PM and this is a knife from Belgium.

[Time Bandit]

No.5...





This one is the knife my dad was issued with in the Army and which I got off him a few years back. The lanyard is the original one and has always been on the knife.

[Time Bandit]

No.6...it is 6 ain't it? I'm losing count...







This is one I've had for years, can't remember where it came from now? I used it as my pocket knife so it got used and abused over the years but it survived quite well...until I broke the spring (not sure what it's called - the bit that's like the knife's spine?) bit that holds the blade in the right place. It's now obviously buggered and so is now chucked in the box with t'others....

[Time Bandit]

No.7...







What can I say about this one...it's in mint condition and the pics really don't do it any justice at all to be honest. I bought this one in the '80s/'90s sometime, can't remember where or when but it wasn't expensive...or I wouldn't of bought it!! I dunno if it's maker marked or not on the blade as I've never opened the blade out!

[Time Bandit]

No.8...





RAF Aircrew knife I think this is? It's a bit battered and is well used and abused as it was used as part of the tools in my dads workshop. Locking bits in the handle are knacked (well one side is anyhow), blade is well worn thru' sharpening over the years and I managed to snap the tip off the blade trying to force something apart years back.

[Time Bandit]

No.9...





Well...yup...it's a fake!!

I always wanted a FS but there was no way I could afford (nor want) to pay the price of a genuine one so I bought this one back in the '80s/'90s. It cost about £25 I think and it was claimed to of been made by one of the genuine makers...yeah right, whatever... I have no idea if it was or wasn't but I'm not really that bothered to be honest, it serves its purpose of looking the part within reason. It's marked on the crossguard 'Sheffield' and 'England' but has no other marks as to ID a maker...who were probably in China....

[Time Bandit]

10...






Just a blade this time. I have no idea about this at all, it came from my dad once again and he'd had it for years and once over it had a home made handle on it. There are no marks or anything at all on the blade. It's similar to a FS blade but has been sharpened a lot and so is slightly narrower and slightly shorter from where the sharpening has reduced the tip of the blade.
I guess this one is a mystery and will probably remain like that??

[Time Bandit]

11





Probably shouldn't be here 'cos it ain't British...but I took it's pic so what the hell it's going in!! Modern (1978??) Bundeswehr Gravity Knife. Cost me about £30 I think a few years back.

[Naaficook]

Your no. 4 is a Belgium Army pocketknife, copied directly from the wartime British knife.

ABL (or sometimes ABBL) means "Armee Belgique / Belgisch Leger", being bilingual they mention it in French and Dutch.

[Time Bandit]

Finally, last but not least...No.12.







This is the last one, and possibly the most interesting...then again, maybe not...what is it they say...buy the item not the story?? A couple of years ago I bought a Magellan GPS receiver from an ex SF type person who had 'accidently' forgotten to hand it back in...it had gone MIA...ho hum...anyhow, when I bought it he said do you want to buy my knife also...and me thinking it was probably the usual FS one said maybe, lets see it...well it wasn't a FS it was this one...
It's a William Rodgers made stiletto and one edge of the blade is serrated (quite fine serrations), said chappy said it was a private purchase item 'cos he thought the FS was crap...
So there you go...is the tale true or not? I have no idea...he may of found it at a car boot sale the week before...who knows? I ended up buying it because I quite liked the knife itself...not the sort of thing I'd seen very often - plenty of William Rodgers sheaf knives about but I'd not seen a stiletto? The cost for the GPS and knife was only about £40 so I figured at that price I couldn't go wrong??