Traditional Folding Military Knives

Jack, two more great all metal examples and the stamping on the Ibberson handle are really wonderful. Also, some great markings on the Rodgers model.

george65, that is a classic example and one of my favorite American variations. Very interesting that Miller Bros. used screws on many of their handles.

Ramrodmb, another American mainstay. My Dad and Grandfather both had these models about the house.

smiling knife, beautiful example and nice to see a Wade & Butcher.

Danke42, a classic model, and thanks for your service!!!
 
Jack, love the comment that "these things were built for opening Panzers!" :)
And your collection of English Military folders is just simply amazing. Thanks for the pictures, descriptions, and fascinating information.

Chin, wonderful pictures and information of another large collection, and interesting to compare them in a group setting.
But, I really love the additional pictures and notes from your Grandfather's WWII notebook. Just fantastic!!!
 
Here are two Sheffield examples, but I believe the bottom one was made from spare parts after WWII. It is certainly an SOE special forces type lock back model, but does not have a small fold out tire slasher blade at the rear handle side. It is also marked "W. H. Wragg Sheffield England" whereas most of the SOE models were unmarked. The top model is a WWII example by Richards and is dated 1942 below the broad arrow stamp on the can opener blade.

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herder said:
Jack, two more great all metal examples and the stamping on the Ibberson handle are really wonderful. Also, some great markings on the Rodgers model.
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herder said:
Jack, love the comment that "these things were built for opening Panzers!" :)
And your collection of English Military folders is just simply amazing. Thanks for the pictures, descriptions, and fascinating information.
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Thank you my friend :) :thumbsup:

Here's a few more Burma Knives (that I already have pics of) :thumbsup:

A.Wright & Son 1952.





Harrison Fisher 1945 and J H Thompson 1955.



J.H. Thompson 1953 and H.M. Slater 1952.





J.H.Thompson 1954.





This Rodgers Life Raft Knife uses the same frame.





A contemporary British Army Knife.

 
Jack Black said:
I dunno, but I suspect the 55 gallon drum would have lost! These things were built for opening Panzers! :D :thumbsup:



A lot of these knives ended up in tool boxes, and got all sorts of abuse. I guess it's also possible there was a flaw in the blade.

I have a LOT more WW2 era clasp knives, picked up an IXL just today in fact. I don't have photos of them all, but I'll post pics of the ones I have pics for, and maybe cover the others at some point too :)

This is one made by Richards, dated 1945.



Sheffield Steel Products 1942.



Richards 1944.

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There's two rules. One is if anything ever achieves squaddy proof status they'll just loose and and second is that if you build a better tool someone else will just build a better idiot.
 
Cambertree said:
Dylan, I have this 1940 HM Slater clasp knife, that I picked up for £8 at the St. Georges Market in Belfast.

View attachment 761852

It was fairly rusted up, so that I could only just make out the tang stamp. Even so, the quality of manufacture was evident compared to the various other clasp knives that the stallholder had.

Disregarding the elements of three-quarters of a century of wear and tear, once this knife was cleaned up, it showed very competent and assured construction. All tools have excellent, tight, snappy walk 'n' talk, the bolsters are cleanly soldered to the inner scales, and the fit of all the metal parts is generally outstanding.

It's a really well made tool - and I note that the previous owner was so attached to it, that they held onto it until the blade tip was sharpened well clear of the blade channel.

As all Sheffield cutlers were put to 'war work' during WW2, it's interesting to consider that clasp knives were made by the whole gamut of working cutlers, including the very best at their trade.

Here's a quick pic of part of a friends collection of clasp knives, including some Australian variants.

View attachment 761860
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Cambertree said:
(Just bringing this over from Jake's Stranger Things thread.)

Here are a few less common, wartime variants (not mine) - dating from the Second World War, and produced for British Commonwealth forces, I think.

These two knives are sterile (unmarked), and presumably intended to equip Commandos, and possibly other 'partisan' users with handy tools for sabotage, and other 'behind-the-lines' functions.

View attachment 761869 View attachment 761865

The black knife with parkerised, pressed steel handle, has a thick, sturdy punch, that would easily penetrate sheet metal fuel tanks, storage drums, and the like.

The other knife features a strong, hawkbill shaped tyre sidewall cutter, which would also make short work of slashing open soft material quickly, like enemy stores of grain bags, opening gaps in tent walls etc.

View attachment 761866

Both main blades are optimised in shape for piercing, as well as their standard cutting function.

View attachment 761867

This small Joseph Rodgers knife only offers a piercing function. It's intended to be included with emergency inflatable life rafts, which may need to be swiftly deflated and hidden, on making it to shore.

View attachment 761868

As a sidenote to these knives, here is a page from my grandfathers WW2 field notebook - he was a combat engineer in the 2nd AIF (Australian Imperial Forces), in the South Pacific theatre - which identifies eleven priority targets for 'Demolitions in Raids' - Petrol/Gasoline dumps and water supplies are number one and two on the list.

View attachment 761871

(Interestingly, his notes also identify four non-priority targets, 'unlikely to have serious effect' - roads, culverts, aerodromes and telegraph equipment.)
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Jack Black said:
The patterns were set by the Government Dylan, but there are variations. A basic level of quality would have been expected, and certainly by WW2, the Sheffield cutlers had a lot of experience of producing knives like this. Cutlers were exempt from conscription, but many joined up anyway. This may have meant that the oldest, most experienced cutlers produced a greater percentage of the knives than previously, but some work would also have been done by young lads, and women who came into the factories to assist in the war effort. The cutlery firms and individual cutlers had more consistent work than they had had previously, and were guaranteed to be paid for that work. They were also taking part in the war effort, at a time when Sheffield was directly affected by the German war machine (it was very heavily bombed), and where fathers, brothers, sons, and former work-mates were overseas and in peril. Despite the shortages and deprivations, the knives produced, during both WW1 and WW2, seem to be outstanding work-horses, worked hard during the war, and often for decades after. Cosmetically, the knives made earlier in WW2, with the bolster and copper bail, are certainly more attractive than the later ones, and a little more time could perhaps be spent on them. There are differences between knives from different firms, but there are differences between knives from the same firms in different years. I'll try and show as many examples as possible, and perhaps examine them in more detail than previously, so you can get a flavour. I regret now getting rid of a few of the ones I had which had a lot of wear, since they would still be interesting to examine. Generally, the better knives are produced by the firms you'd expect, but none of them are bad, and some of the less-prestigious firms still turned out excellent knives. I've had scores of these knives, and the only one I've had a fault with, was a Richards example from 1944, which was a particularly attractive knife, but the spring on the tin-opener blade broke. Possibly, that was just me putting it to use after decades of the knife being in storage. They were often used as tool-box knives after the war, and frequently abused, but I don't recall seeing one with blade-play, even where the blade has obviously been used for prying. They're ugly knives, but tough as old boots. I don't think the knives produced after the war are of quite the same quality, though they're still very robust knives overall. I've seen quite a few Belgian-made clasp knives, similar in appearance to the British WW2 pattern, with broken springs, and I don't think they're quite as well made. Similarly, I've seen a great many broken springs on British stainless 'Burma Knives'.





Your posts are always a treat to read my friend :thumbsup:
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Thank you, Chin and Jack, for the wonderful information and the accompanying pictures. Very informative and insightful. So very special to have your grandfather's field notes, Chin.

I find the history behind purpose built knives in particular to be rather fascinating and these knives are no exception. I am going to continue looking on with great interest.
 
Danke42 said:
There's two rules. One is if anything ever achieves squaddy proof status they'll just loose and and second is that if you build a better tool someone else will just build a better idiot.
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:D :thumbsup:

Pàdruig said:
Thank you, Chin and Jack, for the wonderful information and the accompanying pictures. Very informative and insightful. So very special to have your grandfather's field notes, Chin.

I find the history behind purpose built knives in particular to be rather fascinating and these knives are no exception. I am going to continue looking on with great interest.
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You may find these pics of interest Dylan :thumbsup:

















 
Jack Black said:
:D :thumbsup:



You may find these pics of interest Dylan :thumbsup:

















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Those are fantastic, Jack, thank you! What a great way to provide some perspective, I didn't realize the knives were that large, though I shouldn't be surprised. Overbuilt tanks of knives in a time before such concepts were popular (referring to many modern folders). :D
I think I might need to be on the lookout for one, I would love to experience it.
 
I'm always fascinated by the fact that other countries copied the British Army WW2 pattern post war.

Here are some Belgian Navy Clasp Knives from the early 1950's (some of these pics are among the first I ever posted in Traditionals).

Colasse 1950.







Colasse 1951.





Colin Winand 1951.





Libert 1951.





A more recent Italian Navy Knife.

 
The military plier knife was a private purchase. The design was patented in 1900 and made before and after WWI. The "Escape Knife" is a derivative of the pattern that was issued to Special Operations, Executive (SOE) and Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

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A1gJF2C.jpg
 
supratentorial said:
The military plier knife was a private purchase. The design was patented in 1900 and made before and after WWI. The "Escape Knife" is a derivative of the pattern that was issued to Special Operations, Executive (SOE) and Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

Javrx7e.jpg


U7NJTp6.jpg


g7Kc0sh.jpg


A1gJF2C.jpg
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I always enjoy seeing that one Jake, quite a piece :thumbsup:
 
Here are two of mine: (didn't get the time to click so taking the images from the seller's site itself)
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(link to non-BF dealer removed)

Daburu Bamboo Dragon Scales knife, a duel folding knife based on historical relics from ancient Japan.

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(ditto)

Italian WWII Beretta 38A Folding Bayonet, a fully functional curiosity from WWII.
 
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