Military Clasp Knives

Ha ha
And Mt Vesuvius is only a small volcano.
Duncan I know likes his stampings
And that one is stampier than a Sumo wrestler at a Slade concert.
 
Hello all
I've been back through all the pages but can find no mention of this, so i'll ask it here -
Do you guys know -
Of the Belgian ABL type has anyone got one dated post 1952 (as I've never seen any dated after that )?
Of the British ones which are the most & least common makers based on your observations? For instance I seem to have more SSP's than others, so I think they might be quite a prolific maker.
Opinions welcomed :)
Cheers
Dave
 
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thanks for the comments guys. Campbellclanman, other than the wandering wavy liners and the dried out and cracked covers, the knife is in ok condition.
Dan
 
Picked this up recently and, unlike the majority of knives of this type, was pleased to find it carried a Case tang stamp. After some rudimentary research I discovered that Case did indeed produce these knives for the Canadian army setting up a factory specifically for the purpose in 1948. I believe the knives produced here carried an 'MS Ltd' tang stamp (short for Machine Stamping Ltd) and not the Case name itself. I wondered if the fact that this knife does carry the Case name makes it an earlier, perhaps WW2, example? It is a large, utilitarian knife with what appears to be a small arrow within a circle stamped on the aluminium handle just below the opened punch blade (pictured). Either way it's an interesting old knife with a lot of history and I'm very pleased to have it. Any additional info would be much appreciated. :):thumbsup:
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

- Mark

27902390072_f76b494513.jpg
 
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Ok, British knife experts, I picked up a 1945 dated three piece British Army clasp knife. Needham, Hill Street, Sheffield. Cursory research makes me think Needham made a knife almost identical to the two piece Army knife. It had two cutting blades vice a cutting blade and can opener. Believe it was a NAAFI item vs official issue. This brought a few questions to mind:

1. Are these two cutting blade knives legit?
2. Were they indeed private purchase from PX/NAAFI or private purchase everywhere cutlery was sold or were they official issue?
3. How common/easily found are they? And if fairly common, what online search terms should I use?

I'm quite impressed by these old clasp knives and am thrilled to own the two I have.
 
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leghog said:
Ok, British knife experts, I picked up a 1945 dated three piece British Army clasp knife. Needham, Hill Street, Sheffield. Cursory research makes me think Needham made a knife almost identical to the two piece Army knife. It had two cutting blades vice a cutting blade and can opener. Believe it was a NAAFI item vs official issue. This brought a few questions to mind:

1. Are these two cutting blade knives legit?
2. Were they indeed private purchase from PX/NAAFI or private purchase everywhere cutlery was sold or were they official issue?
3. How common/easily found are they? And if fairly common, what online search terms should I use?

I'm quite impressed by these old clasp knives and am thrilled to own the two I have.
Click to expand...

Interesting post, can we see a pic, might make things a lot clearer? I made a post about Needham, Hill Street a couple of weeks back, detailing the history of the firm. The standard knife is a 3-piece, with Sheepsfoot blade, can-opener (and bottle-opener by this date), and a marlin spike, plus a screwdriver web-extension.

The NAAFI knives were were sold only in NAAFI stores, there are several patterns, they were private purchase. However, there was also at least one overseas contract of this pattern, to Sudan. The NAAFI knives are far less common than the issue patterns, which were produced in vast numbers. This may be of interest :thumbsup:

NAAFI knives 2.png

NAAFI knives.png

Here's another variant by Herbert Robinson :thumbsup:

HRobinson Sheepsfoot 2-1.JPG
 

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Really pleased to have picked up a good, period example of this pattern. Apart from a relatively small amount of wear to the main blade, the knife is in very good shape with good, useable pull, sensible snap and no play to the blade or spike. Despite having been produced at the beginning of the war it has no military stamps. It bears the date of 1940, the cypher of King George the Fifth and the makers stamp of Joseph Rogers and Sons, Sheffield. A fine and historically interesting knife for the measly sum of £12.00 from a second hand tool dealer. :):thumbsup:
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Untitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

- Mark

27902390072_f76b494513.jpg
 
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Blake the Blade said:
Really pleased to have picked up a good, period example of this pattern. Apart from a relatively small amount of wear to the main blade, the knife is in very good shape with good, useable pull, sensible snap and no play to the blade or spike. Despite having been produced at the beginning of the war it has no military stamps. It bears the date of 1940, the cypher of King George the Fifth and the makers stamp of Joseph Rogers and Sons, Sheffield. A fine and historically interesting knife for the measly sum of £12.00 from a second hand tool dealer. :):thumbsup:
Untitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Untitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on FlickrUntitled by Blake Blade, on Flickr

- Mark

27902390072_f76b494513.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice find Mark, and at a decent price :thumbsup:

I wish I still had the one my granddad gave me :( :thumbsup:
 
At the start of this year I didn't have a single genuine example of this type of knife. Since then I've came across five. The two big ones I've already mentioned above. The more modern designed one is by Warriss of Sheffield and is dated 1953, and the two older ones are stamped 1941. The one with the marlin spike is marked Wade and Butcher, Sheffield, and the other has no manufacturers mark. All have the military arrow alongside the date.

Next on the list are some WW1 examples.

20181204_123647 by Blake Blade, on Flickr
 
Blake the Blade said:
At the start of this year I didn't have a single genuine example of this type of knife. Since then I've came across five. The two big ones I've already mentioned above. The more modern designed one is by Warriss of Sheffield and is dated 1953, and the two older ones are stamped 1941. The one with the marlin spike is marked Wade and Butcher, Sheffield, and the other has no manufacturers mark. All have the military arrow alongside the date.

Next on the list are some WW1 examples.

20181204_123647 by Blake Blade, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Excellent finds :thumbsup: The Warriss is a Burma Knife designed for use in the Far East, where a stainless knife had advantages. Here's one from 1945 by Ibberson :thumbsup:

bmzEN1T.jpg
 
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