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New Zealand Fighting Knives

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    New Zealand Fighting Knives

    Hi All,
    I was rummaging through my collection this morning and came across these three New Zealand manufactured fighting knives.
    these were manufactured by several companies and are often found with the blades marked AKE Regd or NZ Cutlers Co Auckland.
    Of these three knives only the center one is marked AKE Regd and the other two are unmarked which is not unusual at all.
    Often these are described as only ever having seen use in the Pacific Theater however these are instances where soldiers were issued with these knives before being deployed to the middle east also so not a 'theater specific' item as such.


    These were also used by members of the RNZAF with a different scabbard which I do not have an example of (not through lack of looking though!)

    This next knife is the most often seen type with an unmarked blade often these are found with no scabbard but there are also plenty of examples about with original scabbards



    This one has been there and done that .... it looks like whomever the servicemen was had plenty of time on his hands and polished off the crosshatching and also inscribed the places he served on the scabbard





    This last one is my favorite and a nasty piece of work !


    Marked AKE Reg this one is certainly one of the more uncommon blades found .... this is the first one I have handled with its original scabbard.


    Hope you found these interesting

    Tim

    #2
    SWEEEEEEET

    Comment


      #3
      A fine and rare collection, superb

      Comment


        #4
        I wonder what the chances of finding one here would be, that would be a nice find, thanks for letting us have a look

        Comment


          #5
          Neat knives, these come in many shapes and sizes. Here's one that walked in a month ago. RNZAF marked, manufactured by NZ Cutlers Co of Auckland.
          Regards,
          Mark
          NZ
          Attached Files

          Comment


            #6
            nice Mark, whats the no.s refer to please?

            Comment


              #7
              I'm told they are simply a stores batch number(?)
              This is the second knife which has turned up in a year for me. Here's the other.
              Cheers!
              Mark
              NZ
              Attached Files

              Comment


                #8
                Very nice knives Mark ... I've been after an RNZAF one forever ! Well done ! It's interesting to see it's not got the D ... I know they made them that way and they were also often removed but it's nice to see an Rnzaf example.

                Cheers
                Tim

                Comment


                  #9
                  I unable a couple of nasty Knarly old ones floating about too. Strangely compelling, for such a crudely made item. I'll post some pics....

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Here you go

                    There's one more floating around in a box somewhere. Definitely theatre made. I'll see if I can dig it out.
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Nice looking knives Ted ! Does the one on the right give any clues as to its maker ?


                      Tim

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Boyd 9211 View Post
                        Nice looking knives Ted ! Does the one on the right give any clues as to its maker ?


                        Tim

                        None what so ever, I'm afraid. It has the feel of an RNZAF Pacific fitter made to it.
                        But who can tell? It came out of a NZ collection, and had been sitting there since the 70's, so I'm confident it's 'kosher'.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by kiwitedferny View Post
                          None what so ever, I'm afraid. It has the feel of an RNZAF Pacific fitter made to it.
                          But who can tell? It came out of a NZ collection, and had been sitting there since the 70's, so I'm confident it's 'kosher'.
                          Sorry, I didnt mean to imply I thought otherwise mate... I suspect youre right ... it was more a point of interest as I note the blade is the same as Marks knife and the handle is a similar shape so I wondered if it may have once started life as an issue blade and the handle modified (which would easily be done by a fitter with some spare time on his hands)...

                          cheers

                          Tim

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Boyd 9211 View Post
                            Sorry, I didnt mean to imply I thought otherwise mate... I suspect youre right ... it was more a point of interest as I note the blade is the same as Marks knife and the handle is a similar shape so I wondered if it may have once started life as an issue blade and the handle modified (which would easily be done by a fitter with some spare time on his hands)...

                            cheers

                            Tim
                            No worries, Mate. I didn't take that as an implication. As far as I know, the RNZAF boys had quite a lucrative sideline in making these for the Americans, and our own guys in 3 NZ Div. but mainly the Yanks. They had the time; tools; and access to aluminum etc. I dare say they copied each other's designs a fair bit.
                            I heard that the blades were made from steel from Ford truck leaf spring suspension! You must have seen the repro knuckle knives at the local shows? The damn things are very hard to distinguish from the real McCoy, eh?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Very nice. Thanks for showing them.
                              I have only seen reference to these in books.

                              Comment

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