What's the knife on top of James "Whitey" Bulger's safe?

[James0723]

Can anyone ID the knife on top of his safe? It looks like some kind of cool dagger, that's why I ask. As for Bulger himself, I think the crimes he committed are horrendous and I hope he's punished accordingly, I'm just curious about the knife.

 

[Bob W]

A boot knife of some sort, seeing the clip on the sheath.

My best guess, a Western. Found this picture online:

Notice the large square-ish plate on the back of the clip. Similar at least to the reflecting bit of metal on the safe-top knife.

 

[James0723]

Woah, thanks for that Bob. After this post went awhile with no comments I started to doubt if anyone would actually be able to ID it.

 

[Bob W]

Well, I don't think anyone could identify it positively without good close-up pictures. But years ago the Western boot knives were common, and the lines of the knife and especially the sheath clip appear to be a good match. Look closely, well as close as possible anyway, at the shadows on the exposed tang of Bulger's knife that hint at the blade shape and the size of the pins. I can't make out the 'eared' guards though.

 

[jeffwithaj]

Probably nothing fancy,expensive,or worthy of notice by a knife collector. So long as it had a point and could "do the job" were all the mattered. I'm sure his guns were run of the mill too. He wasn't a collector.