Merry Christmas

I just finished polishing the Silver service. If I lose my regular job maybe I can get one as a servant with Downton Abby. But, if I am polishing the silver (which we never actually use) then it must be Christmas time. This is one of those rituals that we do year after year so that visiting friends think we keep it polished all year round. NOT. Well I love the look of it myself and admire the craftsmanship.  I was taking photos of another knife and my nickel plated x-dagger was lying here. As I looked to one side the silver caught my eye and I decided to use it for a prop. What do you think? Looks good to me and different from my usual choice of books, maps, etc as a prop.

I wonder how many Brits, facing the coming combat of WW-II, might have taken a moment to take tea, one last civilized act before boarding ships or airplanes to carry the battle to the enemy? The juxtaposition of instruments of war and peace would resonate with their Samurai opponents. In fact they had a term for it, Bun and Bu. I hope you enjoy this photo of a handmade First Pattern Commando knife by Paul MacDonald of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a WW-II X-Dagger by persons unknown.

I wish you a Peaceful and Merry Christmas as we tumble headlong into the holiday season and a new year.

Been a Good Year

It’s been one hell of a year. On the national political front it has been all downhill and You all know where I stand on that. If my blog goes black you’ll know I got droned for expressing my utter contempt for the President/Dictator, his corrupt administration, the ineffective Congress, and the Supremely Socialist Supreme Court. On the home front it has been a pretty good year! We have enjoyed good health and are still employed. You have probably been able to judge by my blog postings that our knife collecting has been “over the top.” Thanks to my website, http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/ we have made connections with several top collector’s, dealers, and authorities on the Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knife. Many of these people have shared information and photos that have added to the breadth of our website. Some of them have provided us the opportunity to add extremely rare knives to our collection. While this has strained our pocketbook at times, most of those people have worked with us to make it possible to purchase items over time. I quickly learned that the smaller a WW-II fighting knife is the more expensive it is, often paying more for the thumb daggers than the much larger X-daggers. One collector and authority provided us with 20 years worth of correspondence, photos, sketches, and notes giving us a volume of sorely needed information and adding immeasurably to our knowledge. Some of this treasure trove has already been posted on the website and more will be as we sift through the hundreds of documents. He also provided us with several rare and truly exciting knives. We have gained quite a few new e-friends (and one gadfly) through the website from all around the world. In the meantime I have been working on photographing our collection and writing chapters for a book on Fairbairn Sykes knives. If any of you have connections with a publisher give us a holler. I want the book to be conversational and well-illustrated, with large color photos. I have dozens of miscellaneous fighting knives to sell and I need to get to work on that. If you’re looking for something special contact me. We have over 400 fighting knives (of all types) in our collection and no museum to house them. Between knives and research books on knives and commandos our house is being over-run. 2013 has been an exciting year and next year looks to be the same, with five knives already on hold waiting for money. Sure you don’t want to buy a nice fighting knife for Christmas? Email me. ghdave2@hotmail.com

Interesting Dagger

Here is a unique commando knife that appears to have mixed parentage. The handle is black painted or stained wood in the shape of a pepper grinder. This is usually associated with WW-II Egyptian commandos. What is unusual is the blade is shorter than those knives and very well finished. Perhaps someone bought this knife and reworked it? A standard Fairbairn Sykes sheath accompanies it. As soon as it arrives I will get better photos of it along with my other Egyptian knife. One author has suggested these knives may have been produced in England for Egypt.

The blade is nicely polished and exhibits a long square ricasso. The knife is unmarked and in near mint condition. This is another gem from my friend Roy Shadbolt. http://wilkinsonfscollection.com/wilkinsonfscollection.com/Home.html 

Check out our website at

http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/