Let’s see some theater knives

not2sharp

not2sharp

Platinum Member
Joined
Jun 29, 1999
Messages
20,413
Theater knives or radar knives, are a fun area. These are generally knives that would have been made by troops while on deployment in theater. They were also often made by family members for the departing soldier. But in general these are a mysterious knives, made by amateurs, for which we have little or no information. Quality is often rough, but many show real creativity and promise; the kind of thing a future master smith might make as a teenager, and if they saw actual combat, it is a good bet that they worked well as knives despite their appearance. There is nothing like a cool theater knife to spark the imagination. So let’s share some of our favorites.

n2s
 
Last edited:
There are a lot good examples of makers or people with good machine skills who actually produced quality blades although they may have been rough around the edges for the troops deploying overseas, especially in WWII. Also troops on ships who had access to the machine shops, plexiglass from fighters to replace handles, or cast aluminum handles, etc. Some would use standard equipment and personalize them by removing leather handles and replacing them the other materials. Good topic. Ex: Anderson Patton knives of WWII, using old Patton sabers cut down, EK Knives, Kennedy Bros. Arms/ Moore Fighting knives, etc. one of my favorite books is Theater Made Military Knives of WWII by Bill and Debbie Wright. Some good articles appeared in the Knife World, now Knives Magazine. I especially remember reading how one high school shop class made knives for the war effort. There were also ones with the one piece aluminum cast handles with a skull and knuckle guard. After looking it up, EW Stone knives.
 
Last edited:
Can't believe there's no play in this thread.:( I know the OP has some cool stuff and was looking forward to seeing some again.o_O
 
Me too. If you post it they will come. Maybe Op can post some of his collection.
 
jfk1110 said:
Can't believe there's no play in this thread.:( I know the OP has some cool stuff and was looking forward to seeing some again.o_O
Click to expand...

I’ll add a couple of photos over the weekend.

There is no denying that there are a lot of great knives out there. If you are buying Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, or similar current brands, the metallurgy is solid and the machine manufacturing is close to perfect. But, it’s different when you chase after military knives; on those the primary attraction is the history of the piece and whether you can track it down to link it with a particular war, campaign, battle, military unit, or even individual soldier. Theater knives are similar, but for the most part they are “custom” made. A unique piece that often made it through the conflict and returned home. An item that despite its apparent roughness was appreciated enough by its owner that it has survived the many years. It is not often easy to see why and that part of the mystique. Whether it served the owner well in some long forgotten battle, or is valued for having been made by a long departed buddy or family member, it is still here when it would have been so easy to simply buy a more polished replacement and toss the old thing into the nearest trash heap. It is not what it is, but why it still is, that keeps theater knives interesting. There is a mystery there, and only rarely can we find one that will reveal its story. They call to the mystery lovers in all of us.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
I’ll add a couple of photos over the weekend.

There is no denying that there are a lot of great knives out there. If you are buying Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, or similar current brands, the metallurgy is solid and the machine manufacturing is close to perfect. But, it’s different when you chase after military knives; on those the primary attraction is the history of the piece and whether you can track it down to link it with a particular war, campaign, battle, military unit, or even individual soldier. Theater knives are similar, but for the most part they are “custom” made. A unique piece that often made it through the conflict and returned home. An item that despite its apparent roughness was appreciated enough by its owner that it has survived the many years. It is not often easy to see why and that part of the mystique. Whether it served the owner well in some long forgotten battle, or is valued for having been made by a long departed buddy or family member, it is still here when it would have been so easy to simply buy a more polished replacement and toss the old thing into the nearest trash heap. It is not what it is, but why it still is, that keeps theater knives interesting. There is a mystery there, and only rarely can we find one that will reveal its story. They call to the mystery lovers in all of us.

n2s
Click to expand...

I definitely found your collection very cool and the information about each just made it better! Looking forward to seeing some of your acquisitions again!!!
 
Me too. I would think when most come from a time when people supported the war effort, they supplied what they could,in the early part of the war, often times homemade from what materials they could use or find, sometimes by sheer ingenuity, which speaks volumes about their desire to do their part for the war effort or help the troops, maybe someone they knew personally. Others, on the ships or where they were stationed, wanted something to do to pass the time or needed a tool or weapon. I like what N2S said about the mystery behind each one.
 
not2sharp said:
I’ll add a couple of photos over the weekend.

There is no denying that there are a lot of great knives out there. If you are buying Spyderco, Benchmade, ZT, or similar current brands, the metallurgy is solid and the machine manufacturing is close to perfect. But, it’s different when you chase after military knives; on those the primary attraction is the history of the piece and whether you can track it down to link it with a particular war, campaign, battle, military unit, or even individual soldier. Theater knives are similar, but for the most part they are “custom” made. A unique piece that often made it through the conflict and returned home. An item that despite its apparent roughness was appreciated enough by its owner that it has survived the many years. It is not often easy to see why and that part of the mystique. Whether it served the owner well in some long forgotten battle, or is valued for having been made by a long departed buddy or family member, it is still here when it would have been so easy to simply buy a more polished replacement and toss the old thing into the nearest trash heap. It is not what it is, but why it still is, that keeps theater knives interesting. There is a mystery there, and only rarely can we find one that will reveal its story. They call to the mystery lovers in all of us.

n2s
Click to expand...
Anticipating
 
Here is one we haven't seen in a while.

It is a vintage Buck 110 dating from 1973-1981.

It has been modified for quick one handed deployment. The handle has been ground down to make it easier to grab and the nail nick has been made huge for an easy purchase. Just grab the blade and flick the handle out and you are in business. These were popular with motorcycle gangs during the 60-70s.

Not what we usually think about when we hear the word theater knife, but for all we know, it could have been carried by someone in the field.

Buck 110 2nd gen 1968 to 1970.jpg

n2s
 
Here is a large commercial knife that has been turned into a huge fighting knife. This would have been one of the larger I Wilson knives and dates to the late 19th century (pre-1891).

I wilson machete.jpg

This is what the original knife looked like. (this is a slightly smaller example)

I Wilson 19th century knife.jpg

n2s
 
Last edited:
0Qpvswx.jpg
 
cbach8tw said:
There are a lot good examples of makers or people with good machine skills who actually produced quality blades although they may have been rough around the edges for the troops deploying overseas, especially in WWII. Also troops on ships who had access to the machine shops, plexiglass from fighters to replace handles, or cast aluminum handles, etc. Some would use standard equipment and personalize them by removing leather handles and replacing them the other materials. Good topic. Ex: Anderson Patton knives of WWII, using old Patton sabers cut down, EK Knives, Kennedy Bros. Arms/ Moore Fighting knives, etc. one of my favorite books is Theater Made Military Knives of WWII by Bill and Debbie Wright. Some good articles appeared in the Knife World, now Knives Magazine. I especially remember reading how one high school shop class made knives for the war effort. There were also ones with the one piece aluminum cast handles with a skull and knuckle guard. After looking it up, EW Stone knives.
Click to expand...

My dad's got my grandfather's "Patton Sword" knife from WW2. It was from the middle section of the sword, since it has a full-length fuller. Handle appears to be wood blocks on either side of tang with leather wrapped around (reminds me of a strap for binoculars). Butt plate is missing, but was likely an oval plate peened on using the tang.
 
Ohhhhh......still not that funny!! I almost BROKE A LEG trying to figure that out. :rolleyes: Well,.....the show must go on!! Hopefully we will get some more pics.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top