Could you help me identify these knives, please?

A

Annie H

Joined
May 6, 2019
Messages
9
EDIT: First one is solved, thank you to Blade Scout!

EDIT AGAIN: Second also solved, thank you to Rich S!
Thank you ALL for being so helpful to a newbie!



Hi y'all! I joined the forum because I have two knives that belonged to my Dad and (as you will quickly discover) I know nothing about knives. I live in a small town so i don't have a place i can go to ask--I did go to the local hardware store and was told that one is "a military knife" and the other is "handmade."

This is everything I know about them--they belonged to my Dad, who was in the Marines from 1952 to 1977, and he traveled all over the world--mostly in Asia. He spent time in Japan, Viet Nam, Australia, Turkey--all the Mediterranean countries, South America -- he visited every continent except Antarctica. My Dad died in 1996, and these knives were in his possession at that time. My memory is that they were around in the 1970s as i recall seeing them as a child.

I have lots of pictures of them but I couldn't find in the forum rules if there were limits on the number of pictures allowed in each post, so i will just put a couple of pictures in this first comment, then add more as requested.

While I do intend to sell these, I am NOT asking you to give me a value for them--I saw the post about not allowing them. I plan to list them at auction on ebay, so i simply wish to be able to describe them appropriately.


Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Here is the first--a "military" knife. I have found some that are similar to this online, but not quite exact. The only marking on it is "Japan." It weighs 8 ounces.

x2Hirix.jpg


Kr7PSSZ.jpg
 
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Here is the second one--the sheath appears to be bamboo covered in leather. It has markings on the blade that maybe look Islamic or Arabic? Maybe? There's a red stone of some kind embedded in the blade.

zEguRKi.jpg


qhHXpJJ.jpg
 
Really? My father was Norwegian and my mother was Swedish so that might be very possible! Thank you, kniferbro!
 
second I think is whats called a runic knife, scandinavian as knifebro says

but the runes are gothic, not viking, which is wierd.
 
First one is a variation of the 'Jet Pilots Survival Knife., Google that and all will be revealed.
 
kniferbro said:
The second "handmade" knife screams Scandinavian to me.
Click to expand...
Not to me.

slyraven said:
second I think is whats called a runic knife, scandinavian as knifebro says

but the runes are gothic, not viking, which is wierd.
Click to expand...
Gothic??
Where do you see any runes? I dont see any in the pics.

Im no expert on these but it doesnt look Scandinavian to me. Might be Asian. I might be wrong.
 
Slyraven – you said, "second I think is whats called a runic knife, scandinavian as knifebro says

but the runes are gothic, not viking, which is wierd."

I can't find any that look similar to this one with a google search--any other ideas? Are "gothic runes" a thing that are often on knife blades?



Blade Scout, you said "First one is a variation of the 'Jet Pilots Survival Knife., Google that and all will be revealed"

YES! Thank you--that's exactly what it is--appreciate it!
 
I'll add more pics of the handmade knife--the sheath has some etched designs on it also

n2R83Fl.jpg


7lPIKnV.jpg
aUKz27K.jpg
 
Annie H said:
Slyraven – you said, "second I think is whats called a runic knife, scandinavian as knifebro says

but the runes are gothic, not viking, which is wierd."

I can't find any that look similar to this one with a google search--any other ideas? Are "gothic runes" a thing that are often on knife blades?



Blade Scout, you said "First one is a variation of the 'Jet Pilots Survival Knife., Google that and all will be revealed"

YES! Thank you--that's exactly what it is--appreciate it!
Click to expand...
No problem.

Sounds like you already know but dont be led on a wild goose chase with the rune story - let alone 'gothic' runes.
With respect to Sly, thats neither here nor there. There are no runes on the knife.
Im not 100% but very highly doubt, that its Scandinavian. Most likely Asian or something like that.
With your dads traveling, it wouldnt be unusual for him to have picked it up up along the way.
 
Annie H said:
I think the ones carved into the blade near the red stone?
Click to expand...
Thx for extra pics.
Im willing to admit, that I can be wrong but its doubtful, that those symbols are of Scandinavian origin.
The sun-like symbol is almost universal/found in many cultures.
 
Maybe request having your thread moved to the Levine knife ID sub.
Use the 'report' button bottom left hand side
 
BladeScout said:
No problem.

Sounds like you already know but dont be led on a wild goose chase with the rune story - let alone 'gothic' runes.
With respect to Sly, thats neither here nor there. There are no runes on the knife.
Im not 100% but very highly doubt, that its Scandinavian. Most likely Asian or something like that.
With your dads traveling, it wouldnt be unusual for him to have picked it up up along the way.
Click to expand...
What part of it tells you its Asian? I too am no expert but when I saw the knife I instantly thought of a Scandinavian filet type knife, the sheath also seemed like the ones I see with Scandinavian knives. OP said her father spent time in Asia... and also visited every continent besides Antarctica.
 
kniferbro said:
What part of it tells you its Asian? I too am no expert but when I saw the knife I instantly thought of a Scandinavian filet type knife, the sheath also seemed like the ones I see with Scandinavian knives. OP said her father spent time in Asia... and also visited every continent besides Antarctica.
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No expert on Asian knives. More an impression when seeing the sheath and construction of the knife - especially the handle.
I might be wrong.
 
BladeScout said:
No expert on Asian knives. More an impression when seeing the sheath and construction of the knife - especially the handle.
I might be wrong.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking the symbols could be totally irrelevant in that, since it seems to be built by an amateur (don't mean that in the negative), they just looked nice to the maker and could hold no real significance. Just a thought.
 
The nordic sun symbol is far more intricate and looks nothing like the roundels on the handle.
I wont post a pic here, as the symbol sadly was/has been appropiated and tainted.
Feel free to google it it though.

I repeat, there are no runes on the knife, Futhark, gothic or otherwise.
 
kniferbro said:
I'm thinking the symbols could be totally irrelevant in that, since it seems to be built by an amateur (don't mean that in the negative), they just looked nice to the maker and could hold no real significance. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
The 'homemade'/relatively basic or primitive look would tie in well with the knife being made by a village smith somewhere in Asia.
 
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