Bunches of Knives!

Two weeks ago I bought a nice Beaded and Ribbed knife from John Gibson at Military Fighting Knives. Only a short while ago I also bought my first and only Smatchet from John. Great guy to deal with and he and his partner Gary Ruleford always have reasonable prices. I don’t know why I am telling you this because now I have more people to compete against when they list new knives. I guess I am telling you because people like them deserve my support and your business.

Well right after buying the Beaded and Ribbed I got an email asking if I was interested in a small collection of F-S knives. That’s like asking whether my cat Lucy is hungry, she is always hungry! So John sent me photos of the knives and a price. I bought the five of them without dickering. You ought to be warned that “Commemorative” knives are not always the best investment. Sometimes they go up in price and sometimes they remain flat in value. So when it comes to buying them I recommend you decide whether they are something you want to keep, not whether they are something you are trying to make money on. I liked both of the commemoratives by Crown Sword Co. and John’s price was very fair.  So I added the five knives plus the sixth Beaded and Ribbed to my collection in one fell swoop. John ships fast and I had them in hand within about 3 days.

The five knives in this photo are, from left to right:  

• A Vietnam era chrome-plated F-S possibly made in Taiwan and usually engraved for Special Forces troops. This one is sterile with no sheath, markings, or engraving. There is another SF style knife that was made by Japan Sword which I have illustrated on my website.
• Crown Sword cased Commemorative for the Parachute regiments. Nicely etched with some wear to the gold infil, but a nicely made knife. Note the Crown Sword style handle which uniquely incorporates a third pattern ribbed section with a second pattern pommel knob.
• PPCLI Knife. This is a copy of the knife issued to Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry unit which was formed during the 1950s. It does not have the PPCLI engraved on the blade as some models I have seen. Those were marked with an electric pencil engraver. This standard third pattern knife is marked only with a tiny ↑ inside the letter C on the guard. The knives were sourced separate from the sheaths. By the way, the green paint is correct. Also the sheath is the rare leg or arm style and is very well made. It too has a ↑C marking on the back of the frog.
• Made by Crown Sword, this third pattern commemorates the 22^nd SAS regiment. The quality is excellent and the knife is in very good condition.
• The final knife of the set is this Wilkinson Sword Co. Second pattern. I was very surprised with this knife. I was not aware that Wilkinson had made second pattern knives this late that were not special commemoratives. It came with the std high quality sheath. What is unusual is the blade is a bright heat blue, not the usual black nickle, commonly found on their blackened knives. It has the long “Masonic” crest acid-etched into the blade. On the opposite side is a small serial number #006, stamped into the blade. This is an extremely nice knife and typical of the high quality knives Wilkinson Sword once made in the 1970-80s.

All in all it was one heck of a week for my collection, although a little rough on the bank account. Thanks to John and Gary for operating a nice website and selling good quality knives at affordable prices. Check them out at:  http://www.militaryfightingknives.com/  

Return of the Second Pattern

Lets have a round of applause. Sheffield has finally started producing a high grade Second Pattern F-S knife. I got my copy off ebay for a very reasonable price. The seller is "Thesheffieldcutleryshop". Delivery was reasonable and the knife was worth the wait.

They are being produced by under the name of J. Nowill & Sons, a renowned cutlery firm with a long history. As any of you who have followed by blog or visited my website know, I consider J Nowill & Sons as the maker of the finest Third Pattern F-S knives today. The knife is the equal of any made during the war and shortly thereafter. A very nicely polished blade is richly blued and show no grind marks anywhere. An equally well finished and blued guard is well fitted. The knife is noticeably lighter than a WW-II version and testing with a magnet confirmed the handle is not brass and most likely is steel. The knurling is well done and finer that on WW-II knives. The knife still has the same feel and balance of a fine Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife at a price that is sure to please. I do not know of any other way to get one other than through the ebay connection but don't let that discourage you.

 

Deja vu Separate but Equal?

News Report:  "In order to help black males graduate, the University of Connecticut is constructing a dorm with a living space only for them. Called the ScHOLA2RS House, the living community for African American males is set to open in 2016. According to UConn’s website, the ScHOLA2RS House is “a scholastic initiative to groom, nurture, and train the next generation of leaders to address grand challenges in society through the promotion of academic success in undergraduate programs at the University of Connecticut and in competitive graduate programs.”

Now we move from affirmative action into reverse discrimination. We have lowered the standards to be admitted, lowered the standards to graduate, and given preferential hiring, what next? New college buildings for only Black men? Will they be paid for by Black men only or your tax dollars? I think you can figure that one out.

When I was in 9th grade my family was living in Georgia. At that time the US was still living under the stigma of what was supposedly separate but equal public facilities. Separate lunch counters, bathrooms etc. Yes it was wrong and Americans changed it. For all of the civil rights marches and protests it was still primarily WHITE politicians who rewrote the laws and corrected the archaic discriminatory practices. My high school in Georgia was right out of the pages of "Gone With The Wind." The only new part was, of course, the gymnasium. The classrooms still had the iron framed bench seat desks with lift up tops and ink wells. This was like living on the set of Little House on the Prairie. The real irony was this school was all white. After we got off the bus the black kids  continued on down the road. They went to a brand new school with all new desks and chairs.

I remember separate lunch counters and bathrooms. I remember the dead freedom riders in a ditch in Alabama or was it Mississippi and the bombed churches. It was an ugly, evil time. Are we ready to repeat it all over by creating a new separate but equal society? Call it Apartheid, Segregation, or "a living community for African American males," it still smells bad.