Collins No. 1253 “Paratroop Machete”/“OSS Machete”

wildwolberine · 5th July 2023, 02:56 AM

Posting for reference/comment: the Collins No. 1253 “Paratroop Machete”/“OSS Machete”. I’m posting photos of my knife, along with pages from Collins Machetes and Bowies: 1845-1965 by Daniel Edward Henry (1995).

Certainly this isn’t knifethnographic in any way, but it’s said to have been inspired by various Philippines and SEA traditional knives. Interested to know what the current thinking is on these - what knives inspired them and if they were used at all in combat?

I found a mention and photo in this thread (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=spring+bumper)

I missed an opportunity to purchase the contemporaneous US Spring and Bumper knife a while back, the seller grossly underpriced it before realizing what they had.

wildwolberine · 5th July 2023, 02:01 PM

Collins Machetes and Bowies: 1845-1965 by Daniel Edward Henry (1995)

Ian · 5th July 2023, 03:25 PM

WW,

Thanks for bringing these knives/machetes up for discussion. They are not ethnographic, as you say, but I'll leave them here for discussion because I have also heard that these were modeled after Filipino swords.

There is some similarity to the Visayan swords of Panay and of Leyte/Samar. The narrow forte is similar to talibon from the Eastern Visayas, while the blade shapes resemble tenegre from the Western Visayas. Those weapons usually have a chisel grind to the edge, whereas the Collins' examples have a V-grind.

The hilt also has a Filipino look, resembling the kakatua pommel on some Moro weapons.

It's not surprising that a U.S. company copied some of the Filipino blade styles given that the Philippines was a U.S. possession from 1898 until 1946.

drac2k · 5th July 2023, 03:55 PM

You have two very desirable WW2 machetes or bolos. The first example with the black handle did indeed go into the paratrooper's survival kit and while several may have found their way into the Philippine Theater, they were never distributed there as official OSS policy in so much as they did not operate in the Pacific. This was primarily due to General MacArthur's distrust of them.
The second example is much rarer and was truly issued to the Philippine troops trained in the United States. I have a picture somewhere with a soldier who was issued one. If you have the sheath for this one, you really have scored!

5th July 2023, 02:56 AM	#1
wildwolberine Member Join Date: May 2023 Location: San Antonio Posts: 110	Collins No. 1253 “Paratroop Machete”/“OSS Machete” Posting for reference/comment: the Collins No. 1253 “Paratroop Machete”/“OSS Machete”. I’m posting photos of my knife, along with pages from Collins Machetes and Bowies: 1845-1965 by Daniel Edward Henry (1995). Certainly this isn’t knifethnographic in any way, but it’s said to have been inspired by various Philippines and SEA traditional knives. Interested to know what the current thinking is on these - what knives inspired them and if they were used at all in combat? I found a mention and photo in this thread (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=spring+bumper) I missed an opportunity to purchase the contemporaneous US Spring and Bumper knife a while back, the seller grossly underpriced it before realizing what they had. Attached Images

5th July 2023, 02:01 PM	#2
wildwolberine Member Join Date: May 2023 Location: San Antonio Posts: 110	Collins Machetes and Bowies: 1845-1965 by Daniel Edward Henry (1995) Attached Images

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5th July 2023, 03:25 PM	#3
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,200	WW, Thanks for bringing these knives/machetes up for discussion. They are not ethnographic, as you say, but I'll leave them here for discussion because I have also heard that these were modeled after Filipino swords. There is some similarity to the Visayan swords of Panay and of Leyte/Samar. The narrow forte is similar to talibon from the Eastern Visayas, while the blade shapes resemble tenegre from the Western Visayas. Those weapons usually have a chisel grind to the edge, whereas the Collins' examples have a V-grind. The hilt also has a Filipino look, resembling the kakatua pommel on some Moro weapons. It's not surprising that a U.S. company copied some of the Filipino blade styles given that the Philippines was a U.S. possession from 1898 until 1946.

5th July 2023, 03:55 PM	#4
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,232	You have two very desirable WW2 machetes or bolos. The first example with the black handle did indeed go into the paratrooper's survival kit and while several may have found their way into the Philippine Theater, they were never distributed there as official OSS policy in so much as they did not operate in the Pacific. This was primarily due to General MacArthur's distrust of them. The second example is much rarer and was truly issued to the Philippine troops trained in the United States. I have a picture somewhere with a soldier who was issued one. If you have the sheath for this one, you really have scored!