In dabbling into prepping, bush crafting recently, I remembered the Dartmoor knife sitting in my gun safe that I bought in 2005-6. I was going to take it to a contract job in Iraq then but decided against it as it was just too much considering all the other crap I carried (my vest alone was 36 lbs!). While quite the handful and with a scary saw on the top, it nonetheless seems to be the kind of thing that you'd want to have if you were dropped in the middle of nowhere with just the clothes on your back and could carry just ONE thing. I thought it'd be fun to put it through its paces.
When I took it out of the safe, I noticed while the hard plastic sheath was OK, the rubbery belt loops (hangers) were degrading and falling apart. Looking to replace them, I reached out to Dartmoor Knives UK - the only people with parts for these - and they offered to sell a replacement hanger for about $54 USD (w/insured shipping). Then they offered to exchange a NIB satin-finish Dartmoor CSK185, with every thing including a new survival kit and hanger for the knife I have - as is - claiming they had sold their last black Dartmoor a few days ago and were looking to get another. I do see Dartmoor knives for sale online (some at unbelievable prices!), but I don't see ANY black ones. While I really like the black one, I'm OK with the exchange - after all, I can always cerakote it, but I don't want to sell myself short either if this is something of much greater value.
EBay only goes back 3 years so I can't find the sale info and there is limited useful info online about this knife's history. My knife is exactly as those pictured above except even the lanyard grommet on mine is black. It has the typical "WILKINSON SWORD MADE IN ENGLAND" stamped on the port side of the blade along with the crossed swords in the background and the "W" in a diamond on the pommel cap. There are no other identifying marks and I don't have the packaging it came in. I believe it was called the "military" version and I've got all that came with it except the packaging and some parts of the in-handle survival kit which I cannibalized for my hiking emergency kit.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to find the value of this knife.
My apologies for the long read and thanks for looking and any help you can provide.
