mew blog location

You can follow my blog now at a new location. Go to: https://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/ my blog is under the column heading on the far right of the home page.

Fairbairns Not for Everyone

In the past 40 plus years I have amassed what may be one of the most diverse and largest collection of Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives anywhere. At an early age I fell in love with the clean lines and no-nonsense functionality. Notice I did not say utility. The F-S knife is very much a one trick pony. It is a knife specifically designed to kill enemy sentries or soldiers in hand to hand combat.

It was not beloved by all military men during World War 2. Many soldiers complained that it had small metal handles, cold to the touch, slippery when wet, and the round shape made orienting the knife in one's hand in the dark difficult. Some troops wrapped the handles with cordage, leather thongs, or even tape to build up the diameter. These modification also improved the gripping and gave a warmer feel to the handles. They were less concerned about the precise balance than Fairbairn was.

Some of the more adventurous had the handles replaced with various materials. These included stag antler, varieties of wood, kitchen cutlery handles, wooden file handles, leather washers, washers of Plexiglas and metal among other options. Many times the knives so modified provided a better solution than the original handles. On some occasions the owners also replaced the guards but this was not as common a modification. A fighting knife is the most personal weapon a man ever carries and personalization of the knife was often just to reflect his tastes.

The better ones were converted by machinists and people having access to lathes and drill presses. The less successful ones were field modified, sometimes categorized as "Theater-made." Once I had satisfied my appetite for collecting standard models I branched out in search of what are known as "variants." Now variants, unlike theater made knives, are different designs but production made. Some are more common like the ubiquitous wood-handled, while others are more scarce like the hexagonal alloy gripped knives, or the "Polish" smooth handled knives.

Once you begin collecting these there are greater chances of buying a fake or a treasure. The difficulty is knowing which is which. Hopefully once my book is in print you will have a guide to assist you in determining which you have before you. The real enjoyment comes from finding a knife unlike any you have seen before. One tip I would offer is to try to buy knives that have their original sheaths. Usually a person making fake knives does not go to the effort to make a sheath for it.

The next blog will be about alternative knives that were popular with the troops.

We're Back!

Well after almost a year I have decided to resurrect this blog. Hopefully someone will come and read it. After the elections ended I decided to separate the caustic effects of politics from everything else that was good going on in my life. My website has had a tremendous number of visitors. Thank you one and all.
https://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/ I am back to focusing on the things I love most fighting knives.

Many faithful visitors to my website have asked about my book on Fairbairn Sykes Fighting knives. I am still working on it so please don't give up. In the 3 years since I started writing it I have been blessed to find some very rare knives and also documentation that will blow the lid off many sacred cows and those pushing BS about the knives and people involved. I have been contacted by people like William Cassidy, a Yeaton family member, and the daughter of the man who financed the Castle Knife co. Leroy Thompson has written the foreword for my book and also provided valuable knives, information, and photos. So things are progressing and the additional information has been partly to blame for the hold up in finishing the book. Another wonderful friend in California has donated literally thousands of dollars of knives to my collection including more than a dozen clandestine knives! My thanks are not enough Kevin!

I left my old job at Dresser-Rand after 37 years with no retirement package and just walked out the door. I have not needed to buy antacids by the case anymore. I am now teaching part time at a small college and with the help of my daughter established my own company, Gas Engine Testing and Training (GETT LLC) We have purchased land in Idaho and hope to eventually move out there, get out of the prison state of New York, and build a new life. So much has been going on but I wanted to pick this blog back up as a channel of communications.

I will try to post a new article once a week, more often as time allows or important knives arrive. So I am going to close this re-introductory post and write the next one on knives. Enjoy and welcome back.

 

Links to Russia

I don't know about all of you but I am tired of hearing about the Russians. FAKE NEWS, Hyperbole, we all know who hacked the election, the DNC and the USA intel community. Why isn't Bernie Sanders more incensed? Now the FBI is hacking rightwing conservative websites looking for conservatives with links to Russia! Hey! Who gave the Russians access to our Uranium? Who had an unsecured server in her basement? One hint, her initials are HRC. But if the FBI is looking for links to Russia..... here we go. ...LINKS TO RUSSIA LINKS TO RUSSIA LINKS TO RUSSIA LINKS TO RUSSIA LINKS TO RUSSIA how am I doing? They are tireless servants of the people and I don't want their search to be fruitless. LINKS TO RUSSIA LINKS TO RUSSIA  ..........Ok I hope they will now feel vindicated and have enough proof that conservative media sites are truly filled with links to Russia. Besides I am getting tired of typing. You know I grew up during the cold war with our government telling us on a daily basis the Russians were going to NUKE us. We had drills in case of a nuclear attack, hiding under our desks, standing against school hallways with arms over our heads Some folks built bomb shelters in their back yards. A government always needs a bogyman to distract its own people from the truth of what they are doing. As Sun Tzu said: "Uproar in the east, strike in the west." When the FBI points a finger at Russia look the other direction, to the one pointing the finger.

Elitists vs Us

"Former President George H.W. Bush appears to be joining a growing list of Republicans who say they will either abstain from voting for Donald Trump or cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton."
If there was ever any question in your mind about whether we have a government run by an elitist few this headline should resolve all your questions. Trump is an imperfect candidate and I think he would admit that. BUT, when you have supposedly diametrically opposed politicians supporting one of the opposite party you have collusion against the American people and the two party system.

They are not afraid that Trump might get us into WW-III. Who the hell got us into all of the other wars besides the members of the current ruling class? They are afraid an outsider might win. He might actually serve rather than rule. Trump is dangerous they say. Who is threatened, our enemies? I hope so! Are the Washington insiders also threatened? I hope so!

In this case I am not sure that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." I think the enemy of my enemy is also my enemy. It has all been a charade. There is no two party system folks. There is Them and Us. Vote your conscience not your party, use your head and not your emotions. We are being played by the very same people who have enslaved all Americans and poisoned the well of the Republic. Do Not drink the Washington Cool Aid. 

The Russians do not have to hack the election the DNC and GOP will make sure the "right" person wins. You think your vote matters, you think the elections are fair? All George Soros has to do is slip a few million in cold cash to a few Electoral College people and the election will go as planned. Sure I'm going to vote anyway because as I tell my friends and family. I vote because it irritates THEM.

government vs freedom

 When I was a young lad in 10^th grade high school I had a course on comparative governments or some such thing. During the class we discussed Socialism, Communism, Capitalism, Fascism, etc. You get the idea. Back in those days we lived in a state of relative innocence. It was the pre-Vietnam era and life was good. Our studies in “isms” proved that Americans lived under the most benign form of government on the planet (which I am sure was the initial goal). But, I found myself in hot water with the teacher when he saw on the cover on my notebook  a statement that read: “all government is a necessary evil.” I believed it then and I believe it even more today. So what was my problem with governments?

I am a firm believer that actions have consequences and words have meaning. The concepts of Freedom and Government are mutually exclusive! Either you are free, or you are governed. It is a case of “either or,” they are not compatible. People willingly sacrifice some freedoms for some safety or protection. Once you have lifted the lid of Pandora’s box looking for protection many adverse things crawl out. Just as there are no boundaries to freedom, pure freedom, there are no boundaries to government once it has been unleashed. Government is like a flesh-eating virus, once it gets into your system there is virtually no ridding yourself of it. During the Vietnam War over 35,000 American men and women died providing safety to the rest of America. Safety from attack by whom? Most of them were forced into military service, to travel abroad to a foreign country and overthrow the government there. In the process of making Vietnam safe we killed tens of thousands of the Vietnamese people. We were there to set them free from Communism, whether they liked it or not, no matter how many we had to kill.

The vast majority of our service men and women acted honorably and did their duty. Our government lied to us about why we were there and then escalated the war because of a false flag operation known as the Gulf of Tonkin. “On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia.” It was over 40 years later that we learned the “attack” on our spy boats never happened, we were duped by our own government. What could be more evil than to force young men and women to travel against their will to a foreign country to kill the people of that country, to possibly be maimed or killed themselves, all under false pretenses?  https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/gulf-of-tonkin

Now that generation is in their 60s and the same government has labeled them potential terrorists and tried to strip them of their rights to own firearms. In many states the same type of guns they carried in Vietnam, to kill or make “safe,” the Vietnamese people, have been made illegal to own. We, who were conscripted to make the world safe for Democracy, are no longer safe in our own nation, in our own corrupted “democracy.” Still wonder why I wrote what I did on my high school notebook cover?

 

Irony of Ironies!

"An almost day-long outage of the National Security Agency’s website has raised further questions as to whether America's most secretive surveillance agency has itself been compromised, days after a shadowy cybergroup claimed to have obtained some of the NSA's most powerful hacking tools."

OMG this is too good to be true! The great all seeing eye, spying on our nation, like Cyclops, has been blinded!! Is this the ultimate irony of ironies or what? LOL

Disgusting lunatics

Thanks to the likes of Hillbilly Clinton and Nasty Pelosi we now know what the Democrats think of white male voters. They said that white men vote republican because of guns, gays, and God. I am not sure what "gays" has to do with anything but I am for the guns and God and if she isn't, well I'm sure God will forgive her. Obama seems overly fond of the gays so I won't touch that. Kerry said refrigerators are more dangerous than ISIS. No matter how dangerous they are, using a refrigerator for self-defense just doesn't make sense to me so I am thinking of trading my refrigerator for another rifle. Do you suppose there are any "Assault" refrigerators with high capacity ice cube trays? Am I being silly, a little facetious? Maybe so, but no more than any other nut in the asylum. .

Et Cetera !

More blood, more killings, more spin, by the media. Its not a Muslim problem we are told, its a gun problem! So, how do we explain innocent people's deaths by machete, axe, car bomb, knife, suicide belt, cargo truck, IEDs, pressure cookers, et cetera? I forgot to add stoning, burning, drowning, throwing off roofs, and last, but not least, crucifixion. Did I miss any?
How did the media take away the Islamic element and end up blaming my guns? I have owned and shot guns for over 40 years and never once killed anyone. I don't know about you but I am tired of the drivel from the President saying the world has never been safer. Or blockhead Kerry saying we are more likely to die due to air conditioners and freezers than ISIS. If this is true then ban Air Conditioners and not my rifles! Do you suppose Kerry has central air in his houses, air conditioning in his cars, refrigerators in his kitchens? No doubt, but he is part of the elitists who are never a part of the problem, only us ignorant proletariats, we're the problem.

More Blood, More Madness

Three more officers killed and three wounded in Baton Rouge, LA. I suppose we'll get another lecture from the POS in the white house about how we have to try harder to understand the Black perspective. How about if we just all stop killing people? White, Black, Yellow, just stop the killing! Where is this madness coming from? The hating needs to stop or maybe we need to have a final showdown and just get it all over with. Lock and Load! May the best man win. It's madness.

What sort of idiot says its easier for a black kid to buy a Glock than a book? What kind of malevolent moron stokes the fires of hate and racism and then cries the victim card? What sort of designer drugs is he doing in the People's House?    

Prayers offered again for the injured and the survivors and loved ones of those killed.

More Blood, More Madness

Three more officers killed and three wounded in Baton Rouge, LA. I suppose we'll get another lecture from the POS in the white house about how we have to try harder to understand the Black perspective. How about if we just all stop killing people? White, Black, Yellow, just stop the killing! Where is this madness coming from? The hating needs to stop or maybe we need to have a final showdown and just get it all over with. Lock and Load! May the best man win. What sort of idiot says its easier for a black kid to buy a Glock than a book? What kind of idiot stokes the fires of hate and racism and then cries the victim card? What sort of designer drugs is he doing in the People's House?    

Prayers offered again for the injured and the survivors and loved ones of those killed.

Atrocity in Dallas

Prayers are out for the Law Enforcement men shot in Dallas, those wounded, those killed and all of their friends and loved ones. We are in perilous times and our president can only talk about gun control and white prejudice. These are topics unfit to be discussed in the same breath as the tragedy so may people are suffering from. If we don't start coming together as a people we are going to see a lot of turmoil and chaos coming down the road. Its time the race baiters and haters were drowned out by the calls of Americans to stand together against violence in all its forms.

fighting knife sale

I have listed more of my collection of fighting knives for sale on the Fairbairn website. Some of them are very  hard to let go but I have purchased another rare commando knife from England and now I have to "pay the piper." So if you might be in the market for a bowie or a fighting knife to add to your collection please check my site out at http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/

You might just find that special knife you have been looking for. That's how I felt when I bought each one of them and now reluctantly part with a few. I am open to trades or reasonable offers but please be reasonable. Here are some shots of some of the knives. I prefer money orders but will accept paypal. Full descriptions and prices are on the website.

 

The Fix is In

Truer words were never spoken, The Fix Is In! What I hate the worst is the snarky POTUS (aka POS) flying Miss Daisy to a rally in North Carolina at your and my expense on the most extravagant airplane in the USA. And of course lets take the next Supreme Court nominee, Loretta Lynch, along too. She earned her wings last week working a deal with Slick Willie.  

OSS commemorative

OK I am going to try to get away from politics for a bit! They are more corrosive than soaking in a vat of sulfuric acid. Like acid you cannot touch them without coming away scarred. So lets talk about my second most powerful addiction, knives, fighting knives in particular.

I just bought this unusual F-S knife from a good friend John Gibson. Yes you have seen his name on here before. It is obviously a post war knife, but who made it? It has a typical British machine ground blade, indicating Sheffield make. But in over 45 years of collecting I have never seen one before today. I like the way the letters O.S.S. are etched in a diagonal stripe, very racy looking. The handle is very distinctive too. The typical third pattern rings are cut into sections by longitudinal cuts. This is another characteristic which is unique to this knife. I suspect the gripping power is much better than on a standard third pattern  knife.

It is accompanied by a traditional sheath which shows some age. I presume they are a set but the sheath could be older. I am looking forward to receiving it and adding it to our collection and book. Speaking of the book I may have to divide it into two volumes. Some people have suggested I start a group funding site to raise money for the first printing. I am having poor luck finding a publisher in this economy. Had I started one at a dollar a hit when I first launched my website I would have almost $100,000 to pay for printing. That's the difference between a businessman and an artist.

 

Incompetent or Complicit

Incompetent or Complicit

Take your choice of the above and decide where you feel the President and his administration lie. For example, of all people, John Kerry ought to have at least a fundamental grasp of guerilla warfare and terrorism.  How many “Leaders” have our Administration already killed? How many innocent victims have been killed too, just for a fleeting headline, a phantom victory?  As a nation, are we so stupid that we do not know terrorism is formed in cells, able to operate independently without a commander in chief? Are our leaders so ignorant that they think killing one more leader affects the overall capability of ISIS? Since when do three muslim attackers qualify as a lone wolf, singular? Why do muslim terrorists carry rifles, while American civilians carry “ASSAULT” rifles? Why are AR-15s  demonized while the AK-47scarried by the vast majority of muslim terrorists are characterized as “long rifles”?

Terrorism is not about taking cities and holding ground. As soon as ISIS started doing that they started having higher casualty rates. Terrorism is about striking fear and “terror” into the hearts of the common people. It is NOT about killing soldiers because they know that  by killing civilians, creating havoc and taking away from us all of our supposedly “safe” places  they can have a greater effect. These same safe places are also known as “Gun-Free” zones. The height of insanity is that even our military bases have become gun-free zones. Our administration has offered us up as targets for terrorists, either through ignorance or through intention.  While ISIS operates freely, like spilled mercury, we are being corralled and restricted, more freedoms stripped away, more surveillance focused on us, the VICTIMS.  Incompetent or Complicit?

While we are forced to live under increasingly stricter gun control laws, laws that preclude law abiding citizens from protecting themselves in target rich venues and activities. The government, conveniently arrives just in the nick of time to take the body count and talk to the press. But we are told to be brave and do not buckle under to the pressure of terrorists or they have won. In the meantime our president travels around the world, with a small army by his side, apologizing for our shameful “Islamaphobia,” while riding in his 20 ton armored car. I ask you, Incompetent or Complicit?

The most Beautiful Sound

We heard the president say more than once that the most beautiful sound he has ever heard is the muslim call to morning prayer.  I wonder if he ever hears the" beautiful sounds" of men being burned alive or slowly drowned, what about the gurgling sounds of men with their throats being cut, does he ever hear the screams of gays being thrown from roof tops, the screams of daughters and wives being stoned to death or set on fire? Does he hear the full spectrum of sounds coming from Sharia and Islam, the  religion of peace? What about the people just killed in Orlando, their cries, their groans, their death rattles as he refuses to acknowledge we have a problem with radical Islamist terrorists. May the Orlando shooter burn eternally in hell.

Keeping Racism Alive

Mrs. Obama was quoted as saying.


When not taking a shot at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, first lady Michelle Obama used her commencement speech Friday at City College of New York to tell graduates that “every single day … I wake up in a house that was built by slaves.”
If she does not like it she should move her indignant, ungrateful butt out, and stay at a Motel 6 until her husband's term is up. And the left calls Trump a "hater"!

NOT About Roots

This is Memorial Day weekend. A & E would have you believe it is about Roots and African American slavery. I honor all of those people of all races, colors and creeds who serve and have served in the AMERICAN military. I wish the twisted media moguls would do the same thing and stop pushing the Race Card. I suppose Obama will take the opportunity to diminish or apologize for American Veterans.

"Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces.^[1] The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May,^[2] originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.^[3] By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.^[1] It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end."  source Wikipedia


GOD bless America, and our veterans and remember those who died to keep us free.

 

A New First Pattern FS

After only a few weeks wait time I received a package from the Egginton Group in Sheffield, UK.  I had ordered a First Pattern knife from them. This is a fairly new model from their custom shop, part of their “Collectable Knives” series.  First impressions are very favorable. The packaging was robust ensuring that it arrived in undamaged condition. Inside the shipping box was a finely appointed cardboard box which set the expectations that the knife inside would be equally as elegant. Indeed I was not disappointed. Inside the box is a paper wrapped booklet briefly describing the history of the cutlery firms which compose the Egginton Group. The booklet also included a certificate of authenticity. Now, let’s get on to reviewing the piece de’ resistance, the knife.

 

There are some anomalies, but only someone reasonably familiar with the World War Two version would probably notice. The nicely ground and symmetrical blade is one inch wide at the ricasso and seven and one quarter inches long. That is a trifle longer than most originals. It is approximately 3/16 inches thick. World War Two versions are a full ¼ inch thick and usually under seven inches long. Still the knife has a nice balance and heft to it. One thing I found ironic is the blade profile is closer to an X-dagger than a Wilkinson. The original specification calls for a blade with a straight taper from the guard to the tip. The ricasso, which is a little longer than normal, is nearly parallel sided, whose taper then increases to the tip. Unlike many originals this blade is sharp, a decided improvement.  I am especially pleased with the etchings on the ricasso. Both are typical of the World War Two originals with the exception of Joseph Rodgers replacing the Wilkinson name. Nicely done!

Handle and two inch wide “S” guard are both beautifully plated and traditional in form. The serial number of this knife is cleanly stamped on the upper surface of the guard. The sheath, the sheath is a breath of fresh air! After decades of complaining about crappy sheaths this one is superb. It is a very snug fit and has a lovely plated chape identical to the originals. Snap and strap retention is very nice too. Kudos to the sheath makers! WW-II knife top, Rodgers knife bottom.

Is it a perfect rendition? No, but my final assessment is that I am very well pleased with the knife, despite any of the minor anomalies listed.  It is perhaps one of the finest Factory- Made First Pattern knives since those made by the H.G. Long Company a few years back. It is destined to become a collector’s item based on the Joseph Rodgers mark alone. The only fault I would point out is the lack of definition in the region where the ricasso blends into the blade’s bevels. This is typical of a machine ground blade, although these may be hand ground.  It is a knife of excellent quality and the extra efforts taken in the finish and presentation of it make a very favorable impression.  Congratulations to the Egginton Group craftsmen for a job well done.

 

Somewhat as an afterthought I have added a few photos which compare the ricasso areas of an original and also a Paul MacDonald First Pattern and a Peter Parkinson (very early) first Pattern (middle) along with the Rodgers knife. The variations in original WW-II knives are almost as stark as these three modern knives exhibit. The two by MacDonald and Parkinson have thicker blades. With original WW-II First Patterns selling in the $2,000 range, knives by any of these makers; MacDonald, Parkinson or Egginton, are a bargain.