In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knife
ammo guy
Member Posts: 810 ✭✭✭
Can anyone give me details on how to ID a real one of these knives. For example what if any marking should be on it, thanks
Comments
There are more than one "generation" of these knives with different variations (the "third generation" is post WWII).
More important, for every authentic WWII era knife out there, there are probably 1000 replicas in various degrees of fidelity. Most are clear "homages" not intended to be anything other than decorative, some are copies that are excellent functional knives even if not authentic, and of course some are just outright forgeries designed to fool the unwary collector/investor.
Although the bad fakes probably stand out, I think the "good" fakes are probably good enough that its easy to get taken unless you have a lot of experience with these. So I'd be pretty wary about buying one that you couldn't have authenticated or provenanced by someone knowledgeable.
To directly answer your question, there is a wealth of information on this site here:
http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/
And this one here has especially good info on variations in design, marks, etc:
http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/fs/p1/fs_knife_p1.htm
Thanks for the reply, I found one of them locally at a consignment store and wondered if it was a copy or original. It looks for sure like a 3d pattern type. The only markings on it are the word "england" stamped into the front of the hand guard as shown one one of the examples at the second web site you suggested. Is this in fact a original and if so what would be the value, it does have the sheeth as well, thanks
U.S. customs law requires imported manufactured goods to be marked with the country of origin. Being that it's marked "England", would suggest that it was imported for commercial sale.
I personally don't know anything about these knives. Perhaps the same manufacturer who made them for the British forces, continued production after the war for the U.S. market?
The only thing I know for sure are that there are LOT of them out there, the vast majority of which are post WWII manufacture. (Not sure if a high-end knife made in Sheffield England for actual military use should be considered a "replica").
Value on these things seems to run from about $20 to $2000 depending on quality, condition, and provenance.
For what its worth, post WWII reproductions can be had from about $20-400, with the lower end ones being Asian-made junk and the higher end ones effectively being hand-made custom knives. At the top dollar price range, you can have one of these basically made to your spec with custom features and/or etching. If you just want something FUNCTIONAL, $100 will probably buy you a great knife as good in quality as the WWII originals.
If you want an actual WWII era knife, these seem to be going in the $200-400 range (again, condition dependent) though some are less. For example, there is a putative authentic WWII era one on sale right now at Amazon.com for $25, though I wouldn't expect much in terms of condition there. You can pick up an authentic WWII era knife for $100 or so on Ebay, though again, you shouldn't expect much in terms of condition.
Again, I really don't have any special expertise here. All I can say is that when it comes to antiques like this, caveat emptor. There are so many fakes around that before you shell out collector money (and by that I mean more than around $100) for one of these, its a good idea to have the knife examined in person by someone with a lot of experience with them.