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Recommendation? Fairbairn Sykes British Commando Knife Replica?
- Thread starter Stahlmann
- Start date
I just wanted to thank you again. I finally ordered a Nowill & Son F-S yesterday and I just noticed that it has shipped. Really looking forward to it.Go for Jack Adams (Nowill). The IXL mark is owned by a company called Eggington, who are just round the corner, but they probably get their knives made by Adams anyway
The vendor was also selling an F-S produced by William Rodgers. I hope I made the right choice between the two? Either way, thanks again.
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2005
- Messages
- 71,102
Glad to be of assistance, and I hope you're pleased with your knife. Eggington own the William Rodgers mark, though I don't think they use it a great deal, and there is every chance the William Rodgers F-S knives were made by Adams. Nowill, I think are more historically associated with the pattern, and I would have certainly made the same choice
Thank you!Glad to be of assistance, and I hope you're pleased with your knife. Eggington own the William Rodgers mark, though I don't think they use it a great deal, and there is every chance the William Rodgers F-S knives were made by Adams. Nowill, I think are more historically associated with the pattern, and I would have certainly made the same choice
Sweetness...
Ever so slowly I have found the anticipation from waiting for a delivery has actually become pleasurable. Typically I find the parcel under my front porch as I return home from work. If I am feeling disciplined and the following day hits on a weekend, I'll wait until after breakfast the next morning to actually open it.
I now take my time in opening knife parcels. Once open I give any accompanying documentation a quick look, I then take the knife outside in the sunshine for a thorough visual inspection. If all looks good, I de-grease the knife if necessary (usually with a bit of alcohol or WD40) and then wipe it down with either Rem Oil or Ballistol. I also add a quick homemade lanyard if appropriate.
The blade then stays on my desk for about two weeks, no matter what. It does duty opening other parcels and mail, while it's heavily fondled, often to break-in its sheath. Only then does it join the EDC rotation, or the display case with its cousins.
I have learned to really enjoy this process.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
- Messages
- 3,989
I own one of the current Nowill FS dagger versions, but not one of Egginton's. I keep the Nowill in this display case...
I may eventually want to get one of Egginton's too, just to cover both bases
While doing some reading on the Egginton Bros/Sheffield Collectable Knives website, I read the following pertaining to their involvement in making FS Daggers for MOD use...
"The John Clarke and William Rodgers names form part of The Egginton Group of Companies, owners of Sheffield Collectable Knives. We are proud to say that it is our Sheffield made third pattern Fairbairn-Sykes Commando Knife which is chosen by the British Ministry of Defence to be carried by the British Commandos. It is made exactly to specification E/1323E and has passed the strict British Ministry of Defence quality inspections."
Here is a page with a little more info...
https://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/brands/william-rodgers/military-knives/all-black-commando-knife.html
So, I guess the plot thickens a little. I am curious as well as to the current status of this pattern knife for Britain's MOD use. I don't doubt Egginton's claims, but is it actually them that makes them, or are they in fact farmed out to another vendor?
Also, are the current Nowills made to meet the MOD standard? Or, have Nowills been made to MOD specs within the past few years?
All that said, I believe my Nowill dagger is sporting a blued finish blade, and if it's not, it sure looks pretty convincing to me! I believe the blade is a carbon steel.
As for Egginton's offering of their William Rodgers version, it is listed as a blackened stainless steel. I don't know if what one gets when buying the off the shelf civilian version, is the same as what they offer for MOD use. The materials and specs may make them two different animals.
A very interesting thread
On a somewhat related item, here is my Camillus Marine Raider Stiletto Commemorative that Camillus did back sometime during the late 80's, (or maybe very early 90's).
The originals during WW2 had cast on handles made of some sort of Zinc alloy. The material was not stable in the long run, since many have been seen fracturing, and even crumbling away. This Commemorative has a cast on handle as well, but since these were done with solid pewter, they should at least have a good chance of aging well and surviving the long term for posterity. It was said by some of the former employees of Camillus, (including Tom Williams), that these commemoratives were made using actual stiletto blade blanks that were found inside of a barrel at the factory. They were leftovers from a previous military contract, (overrun).
Collecting "stuff" causes one to learn all sorts of little facts that would otherwise likely never be known. This knife stuff can be pretty darned cool!
I may eventually want to get one of Egginton's too, just to cover both bases
While doing some reading on the Egginton Bros/Sheffield Collectable Knives website, I read the following pertaining to their involvement in making FS Daggers for MOD use...
"The John Clarke and William Rodgers names form part of The Egginton Group of Companies, owners of Sheffield Collectable Knives. We are proud to say that it is our Sheffield made third pattern Fairbairn-Sykes Commando Knife which is chosen by the British Ministry of Defence to be carried by the British Commandos. It is made exactly to specification E/1323E and has passed the strict British Ministry of Defence quality inspections."
Here is a page with a little more info...
https://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/brands/william-rodgers/military-knives/all-black-commando-knife.html
So, I guess the plot thickens a little. I am curious as well as to the current status of this pattern knife for Britain's MOD use. I don't doubt Egginton's claims, but is it actually them that makes them, or are they in fact farmed out to another vendor?
Also, are the current Nowills made to meet the MOD standard? Or, have Nowills been made to MOD specs within the past few years?
All that said, I believe my Nowill dagger is sporting a blued finish blade, and if it's not, it sure looks pretty convincing to me! I believe the blade is a carbon steel.
As for Egginton's offering of their William Rodgers version, it is listed as a blackened stainless steel. I don't know if what one gets when buying the off the shelf civilian version, is the same as what they offer for MOD use. The materials and specs may make them two different animals.
A very interesting thread
On a somewhat related item, here is my Camillus Marine Raider Stiletto Commemorative that Camillus did back sometime during the late 80's, (or maybe very early 90's).
The originals during WW2 had cast on handles made of some sort of Zinc alloy. The material was not stable in the long run, since many have been seen fracturing, and even crumbling away. This Commemorative has a cast on handle as well, but since these were done with solid pewter, they should at least have a good chance of aging well and surviving the long term for posterity. It was said by some of the former employees of Camillus, (including Tom Williams), that these commemoratives were made using actual stiletto blade blanks that were found inside of a barrel at the factory. They were leftovers from a previous military contract, (overrun).
Collecting "stuff" causes one to learn all sorts of little facts that would otherwise likely never be known. This knife stuff can be pretty darned cool!
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