Help in identifying several blades needed!

[Paul Macdonald]

Hi Folks,

With regard to the blades in the following pics -

http://www.ummedia.com/knife/knife1.jpg

http://www.ummedia.com/knife/knife2.jpg

http://www.ummedia.com/knife/knife3.jpg

I am looking for as much accurate information about the ethnic blade types shown here. I know that the top blade in first pic is a Kukri, but am no specialist in Asian and non-European blade types.
Also familiar with the FS commando knife that is seen as the lowest blade in pic 3, so no further info required for this piece is neccessary, but help with all others would be much appreciated and I know of no better forum than here to find it

If anyone here could provide info on cultural origins, approximate period, rarity (or otherwise) and approximate market value (or otherwise!), that would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Macdonald

http://www.historicalfencing.org/Mac...mory/index.htm
www.historicalfencing.org/Macdonaldacademy

[ariel]

There is a Somali one (scabbarded) on the third photo.
A couple have markings: can't read them, but that's your best bet.
And a couple of kitchen(?) knives.
Couple of hundreds years ago you could have exchanged each for a nice bundle of pelts or a bag of gold nuggets

[Gonzalo G]

Paul, the khukri is and indian make of the type known as "lion khukri", usually sold in the tourist market, and most probably from the last half of the 20th Century. In the second photo there is an old style bowie and a kind of beaver tail knife, also not very old, but older than the khukri, I could not say. In the third photo, the last one below, looks like a Fairbairn-Sykes british commando knife made by Wilkinson Sword. If it is original and not a copy form other country, it has some value. I can ID the bayonet, latter.

[kronckew]

the 'beavertail' knife is actually made from a sheep shear, it's a popular conversion in wooly areas. another thread on them here: Linky
i note that the shear blade was made in sheffield, so it could have come from almost anywhere, US, Australia, New Zealand, etc... one more skilled could probably figure out where the stag for the grip came from.

the bowie accompanying it is made by Case & it's still available today, tho that one looks like an earlier model. here's a more current one:

the older one appears to have had some modifications to the grip by an owner to improve the grip, the originals are a bit slippery when wet.

[Paul Macdonald]

Initial info is great guys, thanks!

The sheep shear knife is really interesting.

Any and all further info. would be most helpful

I am familiar with the specifics of the Fairbairn Sykes commando daggers, and this is really the only one amongst these blades that I know much about in terms of specific pattern, value etc.
A bit lost on the others though.




All the best,

Macdonald

[Lew]

[QUOTE=ariel]There is a Somali one (scabbarded) on the third photo.

Ariel

The dagger in question is of Hausa origin from Nigeria not Somalia.


Lew

[David]

Hi Paul. Giving estimates of value is strictly fordidden on this forum as is making offers of sale (i deleted your offer ). Please feel free to make use of our swap forum if you would like to sell or trade anything.

[Paul Macdonald]

Apologies David!

Overstepping rules boundaries was purely unintentional there.

Thanks for letting me know.

Macdonald

[Paul Macdonald]

Has anyone looked into the striking similarities of the Nigerian dagger form and the C15th Swiss baselard or German dagger forms?

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
The bayonet is a shortened 1856 Enfield Infantry, yataghan style, with one of the quillions also removed.
Regards,
Norman.

[katana]

In the first pic is another F/S dagger hilt, looks to be the Mk2.. the F/S in the third pic is a Mk3.
Isn't that a bolas in the third pic ?

I agree with Lew, a Hausa dagger ....mid -late 20th C ??

Regards David

[Gonzalo G]

Kronckew, very interesting info, thank you. I didn´t know how to call this kind of knife, so I called a "kind" of another which vaguely reminded me this one. I don´t know if this specific knife has a special name, as sometimes this special adaptations does have a name.
My best regards

Gonzalo

[kronckew]

it does look a lot like a beaver tail knife, they were popular with some native american tribes, i seem to recall that the french supplied a lot of the blades.

sheep shears are made of excellent steel as they need to stand up to a lot of abuse while staying sharp, they lend themselves to conversion into knives of differing configurations, as shown in the link i provided. (each shear makes two knives too!) the unusual tang makes them a very distinctive style when you know what they are. crazycrow has a kit for making your own beaver tail knife, or if you are so inclined, you can buy a sheep shear via ebay and experiment, i'd suggest specifying the non-offset style shear.

[Tim Simmons]

Looking in Ron Flook "British and Commonwealth Military Knives" these two appear to be; wood handle knife- Royal Navy deck knife, non-magnetic. Still in production for NATO.
The bowie type is a version of ww2 Australian made V-44. Made for AUS and US military and private purchase.

[Gonzalo G]

Originally Posted by kronckew

it does look a lot like a beaver tail knife, they were popular with some native american tribes, i seem to recall that the french supplied a lot of the blades.

sheep shears are made of excellent steel as they need to stand up to a lot of abuse while staying sharp, they lend themselves to conversion into knives of differing configurations, as shown in the link i provided. (each shear makes two knives too!) the unusual tang makes them a very distinctive style when you know what they are. crazycrow has a kit for making your own beaver tail knife, or if you are so inclined, you can buy a sheep shear via ebay and experiment, i'd suggest specifying the non-offset style shear.

!Thank you! I think I´ll do, as old and cheap shears can be got in ebay. The specification (non-offset) is specially useful.
My best regards

Gonzalo