I really like the design of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, but I cant find a site on the web that sells them, and also lists the steel used. Also I was wondering if anyone could speak for the general quality of the Gerber Mark 2. My friend has one, and it seems pretty dang nice, but I'm a bit cautious of buying a gerber. Thanks all.
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Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife / Gerber Mark 2
- Thread starter John79
- Start date
Don't buy a Gerber when you could get an EK for the same money. Even the Blackjack era EK's are better than the Gerber. Just my two cents but EK = Full tang, Wasp shape, Great handles, Good sheaths. Gerber = Partial tang, Bad striations, Bad handles, Cheap sheath.
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The Gerber MK II is made of good , 420HC steel, is made in the US (Portland) and i really like mine ! decent price too. if you have a Sportsman's Warehouse near you they sell them for usually around $92 or so.
-------- Eric
-------- Eric
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Between the two I would get the Fairbairn-Sykes, better steel and feels better in the hand.
Absintheur
Banned
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I own 3 EKs and can't say enough good about them. Shop on EBay and do a little end of auction sniping...you can get a good deal on them if you have a bit of patience.
A.G. Russell sells the Boker Fairbairn knives and 888 Knives-R-Us ( http://www.888knivesrus.com/ ) sells the Sheffield Fairbairn Sykes
A.G. Russell sells the Boker Fairbairn knives and 888 Knives-R-Us ( http://www.888knivesrus.com/ ) sells the Sheffield Fairbairn Sykes
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The Fairbairn Sykes has a super thin point though. I've never used mine, but it looks like it could break easily.
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Yes the points on both is very thin, more so on the FB-S, I am not much of a fan of the general design of this type of very narrow/thin dagger but whatever floats your boat, if it looks/feels great to you then that's what matters, they are hardly general purpose or EDC knives but presumably that's not what you're looking for.
I greatly dislike Gerber knives, I think they are low quality and even poor designs, if you are torn between the two I would go with the FB-S, it HAS got that "secret agent silence the guard" thing going for it.
I greatly dislike Gerber knives, I think they are low quality and even poor designs, if you are torn between the two I would go with the FB-S, it HAS got that "secret agent silence the guard" thing going for it.
So here's the story :
I am at a gun show 40+ years ago looking at a obviously non-original F-S knife ( made in ROC was the dead give away) - price was something like $9.00 and the guy selling it wasn't representing the knife as a original.At this point a old guy comes stompin up to the table and lays into the seller about him trying to sell me that Chinese POS Fairborn - Sykes. The seller turns to me and says - I never said it was original and I backed him up on this. Old guy - then makes a statement that puzzles me - Even the originals were no damm good - tips bend too easily and they make a lousy shovel. At this point he stomps away - seller visibly relaxes and says Well -Gunny's got his opinions - but he has fought in two wars and left that foot at the Chosin reservoir.So this is a guy who has earned his opinion.
OK - the first part of his statement makes some kind of sense - but what's with the shovel part. Took me some years to realize that when talking to combat veterans - when knife use came up - no one I have talked to had ever personally used a knife to kill anyone - it was always some guy in the squadron in the next valley or a neighboring battalion. What i did hear -again and again - in conversations with veterans of three wars - was- used my knife to chop a hole to get my ass that first 10"or a foot underground and that's why I made it thru.These were grunts - not Special Forces or Commandos - maybe those guys use their knives all the time as weapons - but Gunny was certainly right that the F-S makes a poor shovel and in his experience that was a real important task for a knife to at least be useful for.
And i still stop and look at F-S pattern knives every time i see one at a show.
I am at a gun show 40+ years ago looking at a obviously non-original F-S knife ( made in ROC was the dead give away) - price was something like $9.00 and the guy selling it wasn't representing the knife as a original.At this point a old guy comes stompin up to the table and lays into the seller about him trying to sell me that Chinese POS Fairborn - Sykes. The seller turns to me and says - I never said it was original and I backed him up on this. Old guy - then makes a statement that puzzles me - Even the originals were no damm good - tips bend too easily and they make a lousy shovel. At this point he stomps away - seller visibly relaxes and says Well -Gunny's got his opinions - but he has fought in two wars and left that foot at the Chosin reservoir.So this is a guy who has earned his opinion.
OK - the first part of his statement makes some kind of sense - but what's with the shovel part. Took me some years to realize that when talking to combat veterans - when knife use came up - no one I have talked to had ever personally used a knife to kill anyone - it was always some guy in the squadron in the next valley or a neighboring battalion. What i did hear -again and again - in conversations with veterans of three wars - was- used my knife to chop a hole to get my ass that first 10"or a foot underground and that's why I made it thru.These were grunts - not Special Forces or Commandos - maybe those guys use their knives all the time as weapons - but Gunny was certainly right that the F-S makes a poor shovel and in his experience that was a real important task for a knife to at least be useful for.
And i still stop and look at F-S pattern knives every time i see one at a show.
Combat daggers like rifle bayonets, are COMBAT weapons - they are not general purpose cutting tools and certainly NOT usin' knives in the traditional sense of the word.
Both blade types were designed to penetrate, poke and puncture "soft organic material".
How well each particular make and model holds up in combat use is entirely another matter.
War is like a calling.
Some jobs require goin' into harms way (read, way up close); and the chosen few are trained "specialist" in their own fields.
In war, everybody wants to come back a "hero".
And both the service F-S and commercially made Gerber Mark II are vintage designs which signify the glories of past wars.
Whilst both daggers may still be usable in it's original form till this day, they do however make even greater presentation/commemoratives pieces for military vets and collectors alike.
Oh, and BTW the right to wear a commando dagger, always had to be earned unlike a general issue bayonet.
It's goin' to be an entirely different feeling for a commando seeing his special service dagger vs an ordinary civillian buying one.
Chances are the civillian would hold the F-S in even greater esteem; as in a knife for knife's sake, rather than a real life commando who would probably be stirred by a flood of memories upon seeing one!
Choosing between the Gerber Mark II vs F-S (like anything else) is entirely the buyer's personal reason for ownership.
But I'ld take an F-S for collection only.
Both blade types were designed to penetrate, poke and puncture "soft organic material".
How well each particular make and model holds up in combat use is entirely another matter.
War is like a calling.
Some jobs require goin' into harms way (read, way up close); and the chosen few are trained "specialist" in their own fields.
In war, everybody wants to come back a "hero".
And both the service F-S and commercially made Gerber Mark II are vintage designs which signify the glories of past wars.
Whilst both daggers may still be usable in it's original form till this day, they do however make even greater presentation/commemoratives pieces for military vets and collectors alike.
Oh, and BTW the right to wear a commando dagger, always had to be earned unlike a general issue bayonet.
It's goin' to be an entirely different feeling for a commando seeing his special service dagger vs an ordinary civillian buying one.
Chances are the civillian would hold the F-S in even greater esteem; as in a knife for knife's sake, rather than a real life commando who would probably be stirred by a flood of memories upon seeing one!
Choosing between the Gerber Mark II vs F-S (like anything else) is entirely the buyer's personal reason for ownership.
But I'ld take an F-S for collection only.
Last edited:
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I made a post on the subject here- http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6181012&postcount=3
I have an F-S marked J. Nowell & Sons, Sheffield England, purchased from Brigade Quartermaster, which stills has them. If memory serves if was not sharpened when I received it. I tried to sharpen it a bit but the angles on the blade are not conducive to a shaving sharp edge. It is ok for the most part but when I hold the knife vertically and look at the guard, it is not straight- it is off a bit. For collecting purposes, I like it but I do not use mine for anything apart from fondling.
I also posted about my new Gerber MArk II and I like it for the most part. In the link above I said that it did not shave hair but I tried again last night and it did. I'm quite happy with it.
I had a mark2 for about 20 years, used it for tramping, cutting stuff and generally having fun, normal knife stuff...kept it until I learnt that it had a partial tang, then i sold it.
it never failed me at any time, but at the point i realised it was not full tang i lost confidence in it, sold my loveless guardian for the same reason.
The original FS are collectors pieces and should not be used, if you want a good dagger get one custom made, get it full tang, and then it will be secure and serve you well.
it never failed me at any time, but at the point i realised it was not full tang i lost confidence in it, sold my loveless guardian for the same reason.
The original FS are collectors pieces and should not be used, if you want a good dagger get one custom made, get it full tang, and then it will be secure and serve you well.
The production made Sheffield commando daggers of today are nothing like the earlier 2nd WW pieces.
If you have genuine interest to read the history on Wilkinson Sword's F-S; then you must certainly, know about Robert Wilkinson Latham's latest work on the subject matter. This would be an absolute guide.
-http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CWr1WAB3VK4/SM-NikZ1dxI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DgwAe-mZ2I0/s1600-h/F-S+Cover.jpg
Today, there are only a handful of British made collector's Commando Daggers
One to look for would be the hand made Reg Cooper
-http://www.sheffield-pocketknives.com/media/Commandostandard.jpg
Also, Pooley Sword
-http://www.pooleysword.com/images/Swords/FS%20knife.jpg
And, Samuel Staniforth Ltd
-http://www.s-staniforth.co.uk/images/Fairburn-Sykes%20Commando.jpg
There are other non-British made Commando Daggers.
Which are just as notable but I suspect are geared more towards function rather than form.
Like the Dutch made Hill Knives varient
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/Menu/Commando%20Dagger%20tek04.jpg
or ESA-Swords of Marysville, Ohio.
The British Commando Dagger (no matter where it's made) is going to be with us for a long time yet...
If you have genuine interest to read the history on Wilkinson Sword's F-S; then you must certainly, know about Robert Wilkinson Latham's latest work on the subject matter. This would be an absolute guide.
-http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CWr1WAB3VK4/SM-NikZ1dxI/AAAAAAAAAN0/DgwAe-mZ2I0/s1600-h/F-S+Cover.jpg
Today, there are only a handful of British made collector's Commando Daggers
One to look for would be the hand made Reg Cooper
-http://www.sheffield-pocketknives.com/media/Commandostandard.jpg
Also, Pooley Sword
-http://www.pooleysword.com/images/Swords/FS%20knife.jpg
And, Samuel Staniforth Ltd
-http://www.s-staniforth.co.uk/images/Fairburn-Sykes%20Commando.jpg
There are other non-British made Commando Daggers.
Which are just as notable but I suspect are geared more towards function rather than form.
Like the Dutch made Hill Knives varient
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/Menu/Commando%20Dagger%20tek04.jpg
or ESA-Swords of Marysville, Ohio.
The British Commando Dagger (no matter where it's made) is going to be with us for a long time yet...
FS knives break way too easily , cant see using one if I had access to anything better. The Gerber also cuts better . It's tuff to find a well made FS anymore . I would vote Gerber , even tho the new ones aren't as good as the old school ones .
EK's are one of those knives I just dont get , truly overpriced .
I would rather have an Applegate/Fairbairn than either of them .
Just my 0.02 $ worth .
Chris
EK's are one of those knives I just dont get , truly overpriced .
I would rather have an Applegate/Fairbairn than either of them .
Just my 0.02 $ worth .
Chris
"...FS knives break way too easily , can't see using one if I had access to anything better...."
-cfd
Agreed but...
Whoa dude, I sure hope that no one here but ex-wartime vet commandos would have had the displeasure of snapping the F-S for all the wrong reasons at the least appropriate of times!
The F-S is generally an early wartime creation that called for a concealable dagger with enough reach (lethal blade length); exclusively for sneeky stab-in-the-back type action.
It would have been a total misused of such a purpose designed weapon otherwise!
(Yes, I understand that a can of SPAM is meat too, but that tin armour around it might be asking a lot of the poor F-S if done in a repeatedly undignified manner!).
Short comings of the original wartime F-S knives lead to some design changes, but with it's inherent narrow tip and pencil-thin blade tang; dimension and weight considerations could have possibly changed the idea of "covert" carry?
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/HOMEPAGE%20FOTO'S/Fairbairn%20en%20Sykes.jpg
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/HOMEPAGE%20FOTO'S/Fairbairn%20en%20Sykes%20tek-2.jpg
I am not aware of any major radical changes done to the wartime F-S except to facilitate easier manufacturing for faster production runs and lowering of material standards and production cost.
This action made the later production daggers differ in blade handling which made overall knife balance less than ideal.
That's why Applegate designed the much later A-F's with lead weights in the handles to facilitate the proper "knife balanced" feel. And you would have noted that it has a structually wider blade tip.
A dual edge dagger will always be prone to tip damage.
That's the nature of the beast.
There is one tip that won't give way so easily though; and that's the crux or triple edge blade. Which were used on spike/socket bayonets, now banned by the Geneva Convention due to effects of creating inherently non-stop seeping punture wounds.
Unfortunately, some people still see it fit to create such horrible nightmares till this day...I seriously wonder if people who do buy such commercially made production knives, actually consider to use them on others without the justification of living in a known area of armed military conflict. What an awful thought.
-http://budk.com/images/500/17BK1278.jpg
-cfd
Agreed but...
Whoa dude, I sure hope that no one here but ex-wartime vet commandos would have had the displeasure of snapping the F-S for all the wrong reasons at the least appropriate of times!
The F-S is generally an early wartime creation that called for a concealable dagger with enough reach (lethal blade length); exclusively for sneeky stab-in-the-back type action.
It would have been a total misused of such a purpose designed weapon otherwise!
(Yes, I understand that a can of SPAM is meat too, but that tin armour around it might be asking a lot of the poor F-S if done in a repeatedly undignified manner!).
Short comings of the original wartime F-S knives lead to some design changes, but with it's inherent narrow tip and pencil-thin blade tang; dimension and weight considerations could have possibly changed the idea of "covert" carry?
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/HOMEPAGE%20FOTO'S/Fairbairn%20en%20Sykes.jpg
-http://www.hillknives.com/HillWebsite/HOMEPAGE%20FOTO'S/Fairbairn%20en%20Sykes%20tek-2.jpg
I am not aware of any major radical changes done to the wartime F-S except to facilitate easier manufacturing for faster production runs and lowering of material standards and production cost.
This action made the later production daggers differ in blade handling which made overall knife balance less than ideal.
That's why Applegate designed the much later A-F's with lead weights in the handles to facilitate the proper "knife balanced" feel. And you would have noted that it has a structually wider blade tip.
A dual edge dagger will always be prone to tip damage.
That's the nature of the beast.
There is one tip that won't give way so easily though; and that's the crux or triple edge blade. Which were used on spike/socket bayonets, now banned by the Geneva Convention due to effects of creating inherently non-stop seeping punture wounds.
Unfortunately, some people still see it fit to create such horrible nightmares till this day...I seriously wonder if people who do buy such commercially made production knives, actually consider to use them on others without the justification of living in a known area of armed military conflict. What an awful thought.
-http://budk.com/images/500/17BK1278.jpg
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2000
- Messages
- 33
If Gerber is smart enough to offer the knife everyone wants which is the upcoming anniversary model, why can't they listen to folks like myself who want an unserrated LMF?
If the Cutlery Shoppe follows suite with their history with Gerber, maybe we will see the Mark II anniversary model a standard in the line up. Minus the writing on the blade, everything else is good to go!
Dan
If the Cutlery Shoppe follows suite with their history with Gerber, maybe we will see the Mark II anniversary model a standard in the line up. Minus the writing on the blade, everything else is good to go!
Dan