SS scabbard - no beauty, but mine, your comments welcome

[Kev G]

I simply couldn't resist .... I was offered a SS scabbard in not the best possible shape ... but I had to have it!

Received, snapped some shots and here it is - I would love to hear what you think!

What I don't understand is the end tip of it - why would someone do something like this?! Would there be some marks ... ?!

Thanks,

Kev

[wolfeknives]

Kev, I suspect this is a NSKK scabbard rather than an SS. This is mainly because it appears to have been re- painted, which is common for these. There is of course the possibility that it could be a repaint SS. It is common to see the ball at the end of the lower scabbard fitting crushed, a result of dropping the dagger. This one seems to have suffered more than most. The scabbard is also missing the suspension ring and all four scabbard screws.

[Kev G]

Kev, I suspect this is a NSKK scabbard rather than an SS. This is mainly because it appears to have been re- painted, which is common for these. There is of course the possibility that it could be a repaint SS. It is common to see the ball at the end of the lower scabbard fitting crushed, a result of dropping the dagger. This one seems to have suffered more than most. The scabbard is also missing the suspension ring and all four scabbard screws.

Thanks Wolfgang!

Yes, it suffered for sure a lot ...

If I'd take some more really good close ups with my macro lens, would there be a point / a view which could make sure whether it's a NSKK or SS scabbard?

Thanks!

[wolfeknives]

Kev, if you take a close look at the spots where the black paint has been worn away you may be able to see the brown "anodizing" seen on SA daggers. Many of the NSKK dagger shells were SA dagger shells painted black by the owners. Of course, if the shell was sanded down before painting, this may be difficult to detect. As well, you can check underneath the lower scabbard fitting, if it is easy to pull off, without doing further damage.

[777]

Agree with Wolfgang, but if there is a black instead of brown under the paint, then you've got SS scabbard. We must not forget there are also period repainted early SS scabbards. It's just too bad the fittings are so badly damaged.

[Kev G]

Thanks guys - I think you could lift the scabbard fittings without any further damage - they don't sit very tight. I'll post pixx on the weekend and look forward to your comments!

Thanks,

Kev

[R.R.]

Observing some scratches at middle scabbard, I suspect this scabbard shell was chained at some time. May be fittings was changed to a better shape shell.

[DR DOLCH]

If it at one time was chained it would have a hole or two in the side of the scabbard.

[R.R.]

If it at one time was chained it would have a hole or two in the side of the scabbard.

Seems to me there are holes here:



and here:

[Kev G]

Seems to me there are holes here:



and here:

There is something there - I will let the pros have the final decision once I post some macros!

Stay tuned ...

[Kev G]

Hi,

I did something more around this scabbard.

The covers could be removed without any further pressure needed, so I did remove them. From the bottom, I guess the knife seat also came out - I needed to place them on a little bag as they are oily.

The broken piece of the tip fits perfectly to the other broken piece.

Nowhere on the scabbard you can find signs of another color, only starting points of some corrosion.

There are some hints of double color layers, but they only appear in the area of the top and the bottom scabbard cover.

The middle area ...

I also took close-ups of the sides where screws or something should have been. On the one side you clearly can find an deep "dent" (might be the wrong expression ... ) which could be a pressure mark of a screw.

On the opposite side of this you don't find such a mark.

Also in the middle area, you seem to see those double color layers, but also no signs of another color than black and some corrosion.

I really would appreciate your input on my finds / macros on this scabbard.

Thanks!

[Kev G]

... me again.

Looking at this picture ...



... it seems as if the shell for the chain was only clamped with one screw - which would match my findings ...

I am curious to hear what the pros say!

[777]

Kev, please don't get me wrong, I really don't want to spoil your fun, but even if the scabbard is the SS scabbard (very possible), or even ex M36 scabbard, there will be not much use of it. Not only the fittings are destroyed (the ball is not only flattened, it's torned apart and missing scabbard ring is a huge problem), but also the lead weight is broken - are you going to put the blade inside of something like that? Will the scabbard in such condition match your dagger or just make it looking worse? OK, there is lot of spare parts to be found on ebay or military shows, but believe, me finding all parts matching together can be a problem. Let's say you've found all the parts (plus the screws) that match somehow together, so what's the result? Parts scabbard that is strange to your dagger anyway. Knowing that "the shell used to be a part of SS scabbard" wouldn't help me much to like it. Honestly saying I would feel much better having my dagger in nice complete NSKK(or period repainted SS, who knows?) scabbard than in "frankenstein" made of few different pieces.

[Kev G]

Kev, please don't get me wrong, I really don't want to spoil your fun, but even if the scabbard is the SS scabbard (very possible), or even ex M36 scabbard, there will be not much use of it. Not only the fittings are destroyed (the ball is not only flattened, it's torned apart and missing scabbard ring is a huge problem), but also the lead weight is broken - are you going to put the blade inside of something like that? Will the scabbard in such condition match your dagger or just make it looking worse? OK, there is lot of spare parts to be found on ebay or military shows, but believe, me finding all parts matching together can be a problem. Let's say you've found all the parts (plus the screws) that match somehow together, so what's the result? Parts scabbard that is strange to your dagger anyway. Knowing that "the shell used to be a part of SS scabbard" wouldn't help me much to like it. Honestly saying I would feel much better having my dagger in nice complete NSKK(or period repainted SS, who knows?) scabbard than in "frankenstein" made of few different pieces.

... thanks a lot - and no prob, I won't get you wrong and rather appreciate the feedback!

Of course I thought about what to do with it in my collection - and I am thinking of having it displayed apart to see the inside of such an scabbard, I think this will make an interesting mix!

I fully agree and never would put a SS dagger into that ...

Thanks again!

[ValhallaMilitaria]

A very interesting tale here with a progression of evidence and photos to illustrate it, My feeling without reading anyone's comments was that it WAS an SS scabbard...my hunch was right. Kev, your decision on how to utilize it best is a good one.