combat-capable Fairbairn-Sykes repro

M

Muskrat

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Jun 7, 2005
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I'm looking for a reproduction of the Fairbairn-Sykes that is tough and combat-useable, while hopefully staying true to the original. Is there such a thing? Who makes it? Would something like the Boker Applegate Fairbairn dagger be a better option for serious use? Thanks.
 
Go to Brigade Quartermaster: www.actiongear.com
In the search field enter "dagger".
One thing this will pull up is an SF Dagger made to original British Mil-specs. Key to this is that the blade will be carbon steel. This design is too delicate for stainless steel.
Look at the other designs that are listed. You might want to pick one with a stronger tip design.
 
So the Sheffield repro is a pretty good choice? Do you know how the Boker Applegate-Fairbairn would compare with it, in terms of quality? Or would one of the Cold Steel Peacekeeper models be better? Thanks.
 
The original Syke-Fairbairn daggers were notorious for having the tips break. The reproduction may be a little better than the originals, but still not very rugged. I would look at the Peacekeeper-I or the Boker MAGNUM MAG13 DAGGER as stronger.
 
But what about the Applegate-Fairbairn? I have a great respect for Fairbairn, and I kinda like the idea of getting a model that he helped design. ;)
 
The Boker A/F is a different animal entirely. It is by all accounts a decent knife and is certainly more rugged then any F/S dagger but the blade profile is much wider/thicker and the handle is totally different. If you are looking for a double edged fighter it should serve very well, it just isn't a F/S dagger.
 
By the way, an American marine named Sam Yeaton, designed the first Fairbairn dagger and gave it to Fairbairn as a gift. Yeaton and Fairbairn were in Shanghai together and collaborated on ideas for martial arts and weapons. Yeaton's brother did a book on the topic. Here's an interesting bit from a Bladeforums posting:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2619372&postcount=3

It was a really interesting thread so here is a link to the top of it:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306357

I've got the book. It turns out that Fairbairn and his cronies had some wacky notions. One of these was that even minor contact on a bone would put an opponent into shock. They intended to try and slash ribs with rather lightly built knives like the FS dagger.
 
The original F/S dagger was too narrow for me...The Cold Steel Tai Pan is an excellent "fighting dagger", with a longer, wider blade.
 
Is the Tai Pan significantly better than other, less expensive, CS models like the Peacemaker?
 
An old Blackjack. (made in USA) :)

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I have a reproduction of the S-F knife .Yes the tips broke off easily .Sometimes it is referred to as a "light duty combat knife" if you like oxy-morons.
 
Hi Guys
I have several of the NZ made knives, along with a 3rd pattern Nowells issue knife from the early 1980's. IMHO the NZ made knives are superior in every way to all other repros( including the Wilkinson ones) in fit, finish and quality. You can even customise the materials, sheaths, blade steels etc. The blades are VERY pointy, the X-dagger is the worst, and it is easy to see why some broke off. have two Eks in my collection too, I think I prefer my stabbing knives to have guards though.
Phil
 
Muskrat,

I saw a copy of Tatical Knives (I think it was) that had an article on a new F/S Dagger copy made by the German company Eikhorn. The knife is made on order for the Greek government's SFs. The Eikhorn version is supposed to address some of the weakness of the original (i.e. tip strength) while being faithful to the design.
 
Eickhorn (Solingen) is out of business, as I understand... They were a big military contractor and had a nice webpage exhibiting most of their products, but it's sadly offline now. Many retailers still have their knives, so I don't think it's a completely lost cause.

I think Linder has a F-S dagger in their catalogue. Their website has some issues atm though, and I can't confirm this. I am pretty sure that it was in 420 steel, which might mean that it is soft and pretty tough. The tip may be less prone to snapping, but a fine cutting edge could be nigh impossible to achieve and laborous to maintain. Is this an issue though if you're going to use it on people? Possibly not.


Edit: Yes, they have it in the imported knives section. See here. At least it's dirt cheap. They also have something similar, but made locally in Solingen and seemingly of better quality (looking at the price, by quite a margin).

Another edit: The latter knife mentioned in the above paragraph is also sold here.
 
I wonder if it would be possible to make one with the handle & blade of one piece of steel, and attach a guard later. The NZ knives look great, I've admired them for some time. I wonder how strong the tang is at the guard, though.
 
Hi there
Stong enough I think, have clamped up one of mine and it will take anything I can do with muscle power unaided. Waiting for a 1st pattern in O-1, soon, soon.
Phil
 
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