1st Model Luft Attic Find

[Kondor]

Helping a friend sort through his dads attic and we came across a few of his souvenirs that he brought back from Germany. So the dagger has the "patina" of having been up in the attic for the past fifty years. To clean or not to clean, that is the question As you can see, there is still gold on the swastika's. The blade had two nicks in it from when the trooper played with it back in the day. The blade is marked Adolf Braun Berlin. The chain fastener is not marked at all. The leather is still fairly supple, much better than what one expect from laying in an attic! If to clean, recommendations.

[Kondor]

Knot came with the dagger.

[Kondor]

more shots

[Kondor]

Blade

[Ed.Anderson,Jr.]

Cut down DLV 1st pattern Regards, Ed

[Ron Weinand]

Ed is correct. too bad the German cut the 55cms down.

[Mac 66]

Great find, Congrats

Do not clean any of the fittings ! you will destroy its value & attractive untouched appearance imo.

Just give the blade a light clean up with a soft cotton cloth & maybe use a little semi-chrome to lift of the rust marks & grime of the blade then give the blade a coat of Renwax.



Regards Mac 66.

[Kondor]

Obviously I am not a dagger guy, but a "cut down DLV dagger". The DLV's I have seen in the past have all been shorter and do not hat the same fittings at the top. So a little clarification as to why this is DLV and not a 1st model Luft would be appreciated Thanks

[Schlange]

Adolf Braun is a distributor mark.
Do not clean the dagger at all, because every cleaning, even little one, destroys dagger history and lowers his value.
It is always nice to see intact blade.

Schlange

http://www.mojalbum.com/schlange88/albumi

[Ron Weinand]

This was a DLV Dagger, not the DLV Flyer's Knife (the short one some might be thinking about when DLV is mentioned).
Braun blades are dull finished originally, so removing the rust with LIGHT application of Simichrome is not a problem and rust need to be stopped and removed.
Next, if any of the leather is loose from the scabbard body, use a small amount of Elmer's glue to hold it down and prevent catching on something and further tearing.
Also, any further deterioration of the nickel silver fittings should be stopped and the fittings cleaned if any green spots is found. JMO.

[Kondor]

Thanks Ron, so why is it shortened? How does one tell?

[busterz111]

Your dagger is Similar to a first lift but differences are quite a lot. Pommel on yours is totally flat sided with inlaid brass swaticas and the Luft has domed sides...the Grip on yours at the top is much more pinched ...wings are shorter on the crrossguard and the scabbard fittings have staples retaining them versus screws...also scabbard body is not steel...its either thick paper type material or even thin wood.Your piece was originally about 3" Longer when born...when the Luftwaffe became official the DLV Was integrated and the daggers were shortened to comply with regulations.

[Billy G]

Great dagger with a lot of charm & character. A cut-down DLV is still scarce & much more interesting than a Luft 1st model. I love that it was an attic find too. Don't clean it, as has been suggested. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Mac 66]

[QUOTE=Billy G;6493868] Don't clean it, as has been suggested.



Billy,


Surely the Rust & gunk needs cleaned off the blade to preserve it from further decay ?




Regards Mac 66.