The newest BOOK available on the Wilkinson Fairbairn / Sykes knife bares all and explodes many long standing myths. A must have for the Military Knife Collector. This fully illustrated 2nd edition, packed with all new additional facts, illustrations, drawings, photographs and original documents is a must for the collector who prefers fact rather then fiction!
We are the exclusive distributor for the Americas. Click on the blue link below and purchase your copy right here.
Size - 9" x 6" (228 x 152 mm)
Over 170 Black and White photos and Illustrations 207 pages.History of the F-S Fighting Knife
March 2010
Quote
"There is no such thing as equality. It is a beautiful and worthy ideal, but highly impractical as it discriminates against those who excel at what they do."
Unknown
Obsolete Wood
Did you know the Army declared wooden pistol grips obsolete in 1885, it appears the newly formulated hard rubber grips were all the rage, invest in plastics…
Silverware
While researching I found a design for official ships silverware designs. I copied the knives, table and dessert, to show here. This set was approved as official on 12 Dec 1952 and went through two revisions before being cancelled on 25 Sept 1972. The file did not have the new pattern in it so we can’t tell you what they changed to. I hate to speculate on what these were used for and by whom, can anyone point me to why they would be on a ship? Admirals, maybe visiting dignitaries?
M1917 2REP Knife
We hear from our good friend SGM John Larsen Ret. with a photo from a book he has showing the cut-down Model of 1917 bayonet in wear by a member of the French Foreign Legion 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes. The 2d REP is the tip of the spearhead of the French rapid reaction forces. It fills what we would call a special forces roll typical to what the US Rangers would be called upon to do. Interesting to note the scoped sniper type weapon while the Legionnaire next to him with the FAMAS has the rifles bayonet. This photo was taken in Bosnia circa 1993 by Yves Debay. The knife or one like it may still be in use today, quite a history for the M1917! Thanks SGM!
Hackman – Moran
We hear from reader Pat Lyons of a knife he inherited from his father. On searching the web Pat landed on Knife Knotes 9 in which we stated that W.F. "Bill" Moran sold Hackman survival knives during the Vietnam Period when he could not produce his hand made knives fast enough. Mr. Moran made his own sheaths for the Hackman knives and we wanted a picture of one. Well the knife Pat inherited from his father is a Hackman survival pattern with a leather sheath stamped on the rear By / WF Moran / Limekiln / MD. It is a curious fold over pattern with a leather belt loop riveted on the rear and a large retainer strap with snap. Not at all military in appearance but it has the Moran flair to it. And in wonderful as new condition, thanks Pat!
Schrade Walden MC-1 knives
Here we have a few photos of the Schrade made MC-1 knives that are fresh in the wrap. Our good friend Art Green just picked up a few in a deal and sent us these photos. Interesting to note that the storage paper is marked July 1960. This in itself does not mean they were made then but it usually indicates a very close relationship as the paper was typically used fairly quickly in the factories. These knives, four altogether are like new. Thanks Art for the peak into the history like it appeared in 1960.
Hollow Handled Parsons
We received a nice letter from a Ms Amie Parsons Pack on the topic of the Parsons hollow handled knives we ran a piece on in Knife Knotes X. It seems Ms Pack is the daughter of Mike Parsons, the maker of the unknown knife we featured. Ms. Pack confirms the knife was made in the 1980’s. It seems Mike was a custom knife maker for about 20 years located in Texas. He made mainly hunting knives but loved to do something different and large Bowies were among the many styles he would have fun making. His marking was the name PARSONS and a number would often be on the blade if it was a standard model. The knife shown is the 11th made of that style. Mike would set up at gun shows to sell his wares. Knives were also often sold to friends of friends with word of mouth being the best referral. Mike was good friends with Jim Pugh who started him in the custom knife making field. Amie tells us that Mike passed away a few years ago. Among her favorite memories are going to gun shows with him and the smell of leather sheaths. Ms. Parsons Pack is currently looking to purchase a knife made by here father so if you know of one you can contact her at Amie Parsons Pack apack7@comcast.net 615-305-4239
Quote
"Who actually cares if a laser guided 500 lb bomb is accurate to within 9 feet?"
Unknown
That M3 Knuckle Type Knife Again
Here we have photos supplied by Barry Olson of the M3 type knuckle knife mentioned in a previous Knife Knotes. This one is marked inside the knuckle bow with MAR CO in a large sans serif type stamping. This is the only marked example we have seen to date. We still do not know what to think of this one?
Richtig Test
Well we don’t know what to list this under, ballzy or stupid? We just received a few photos of someone testing the validity of the Richtig Believe it or Not article where Richtig would hammer one of his knives through a railroad spike and still have a shaving sharp knife blade. It sounds like a great marketing gimmick but with a multi thousand dollar knife not something one would want to try for themselves. Well here we have a test case without risking any of our own money or knives. Yes that is a Richtig that was hammered into an old railroad spike. You make the call.
Knives and Holsters
We often see photos of soldiers with a knife tucked in behind a holster. This seemed to be a fairly standard way of carrying a knife on the pistol belt, and efficient as well in space. This one was sent to us by our good friend Gunbarrel asking about the knife shown. It is a cut-down Klewang and the sheath is the correct model for the sword. These were used early in the Pacific campaign while machetes were in short supply. The Army captured many of these in the islands. The Japanese also used the swords as a badge of rank with the local islanders, cut down to a certain length they would signify the individuals status. So it came to be that the Americans also used the same rank structure when occupying the same islands. This is a superb photo that shows the non official weapon is a typical carrying position. Thanks GB.
Some Drawing Numbers
While going through some blueprints I decided to compile some of the dates and revisions of the ones I have on hand. These are the drawing dates not adoption dates so it will certainly vary but should give us somewhat of a decent time line at least on these items.Model of 1917 Bayonet, Drawing 20-2B-32
July 2, 1917 Original Drawing Date
April 20, 1918 Revision 1
Nov 8, 1918 Revision 2
Nov 20, 1918 Revision 3
Redrawn as 20-2B-42 but undated
Model of 1917 Scabbard, Drawing 20-2B-28July 2, 1917 Original Drawing
Oct 10, 1917 Revision 1
Oct 31, 1917 Revision 2 (Removal of leather and double hook mounting tab)
Feb 25, 1918 Revision 3 (Mouth piece spring width change from .407 to .467)
Mar 12, 1918 Revision 4 (Add the chape staples to the drawing no changes)
Sep 30, 1918 Revision 5 (Thicker ferrule / chape tip material .028 to .031)
Feb 20, 1919 Revision 6 (Add mouth piece spring rivet)
June 15, 1920 Revision 7 (Add mouth piece rivet)
Mar 1, 1938 Revision 8 (Add List of Specifications to drawing no changes)
??? Revision 9 (Remove packaging from list of Specifications, no changes)
Sep 18, 1942 Revision 10 (Whole new design with Beckwith Tenite scabbard)
Model of 1905 Scabbard, Drawing 20-2B-3
Sep 18, 1905 Original Drawing
??? Revision numbers not listed on drawings, just dates, this is the first one I have.
Dec 14, 1915 Metal Krag type swivel hanger still standard
Mar 15, 1916 Outside diameter of swivel washer made smaller 1.00 to .85
May 1, 1916 Mouthpiece top locking latch changed to Case Hardened
July 10, 1916 Drain hole eyelet removed
May 24, 1917 New designation Model of 1905 Modified adds leather sleeve & double hook
Feb 25, 1918 Remove third rivet hole in leather sleeve added above
Aug 20, 1919 Redesign throat sleeve and add new throat chape design
Mar 1, 1938 Add List of Specifications to Drawing, no changes
M1 Bayonet, Drawing 20-2B-54
Feb 18, 1943 Original Drawing with Bowie point cut down M1905
Apr 16, 1943 Change to Spear Point purpose made M1 blade
July 8, 1943 Change to List of Specifications for test and packaging only
Mar 29, 1944 Change to List of Specifications for plastic inspections only
M7 Scabbard, Drawing 20-2B-56
Apr 6, 1943 Change from M3A1 to M7 designation
July 7, 1943 Redrawn with no changes
Not a lot to go on but it adds to the growing list of information, like pieces in a puzzle. When I feel energetic again I will pull out some more drawings and do another list… never enough time in the days…
Quote
"When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."
Chief Tecumseh
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