Fairbairn Smatchet:
This modern reproduction of a Smatchet was crafted by a man named Bill Seigle. In many ways it is superior to the WW-II originals. Quality commercial Smatchet were made by Boker and Al Mar. (see the right  column) Custom ones were at one time available from Col Rex Applegate himself. They were made by Bill Harsey. Original WW-II British and American Smatchets are often found on Ebay but they can be quite expensive.

The beautiful Smatchet illustrated above was crafted by Paull MacDonald of MacDonald's Armourie, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Applegate Fairbairn:
There are many Applegate~Fairbairn copies on the market. The earliest models were made by TJ Yancy. The one I own was made by Bill Harsey and purchased personally from Col Rex Applegate along with this autographed copy of his book "Kill or Be Killed." Cheaper copies of the A~F were produced by Blackjack Knives and eventually Boker Knives. Some material or molding problem has caused almost all of the Blackjack versions to develop a non-critical crack near the butt end of the handles. The custom knives have lead weights inside the handle that can be moved, or removed, by unscrewing the handles, thereby adjusting the balance to the owner's taste. The Harsey model is one of the sharpest stainless steel knives that I own.

Is the A~F a vast improvement over the original F~S? I suppose that  depends on what you want in a knife. It will definitely cut better than a traditional F~S because of the flatter bevels, due to a wider blde. The oval shaped handle accurately positions the knife in your hand and the groves provide very good retention. Penetration with the shorter A~F is more than  adequate. But in my opinoin it lacks that classic elegance and presence of a P-1 or even a P-2 Fairbairn Sykes.

Fairbairn Fair-cane:
Officers of the WW-II era often carried riding crops or sticks of simillar size. In America they were sometimes referred to as "swagger-sticks".  One that I own came from Canada and was associated with Camp X. These sticks were not just for show, but were suitable for putting up a solid defense against an unarmed man or a man with a knife. Called a "Fair-cane," the top stick has a steel core that extends the full length terminating in a bullet shaped tip. Fairbairn taught the value of carrying and using a short stick, cane, or umbrella to put up a defense or to kill an opponent.  

The Fair-cane pictured here (top) was purchased along with a First Pattern F~S, belonging to the same veteran, also from the Camp-X area. If only these items could talk. There is no solid proof, and the seller could not guarantee they were carried at the STC103 training center. Whether they were or not does not make them any less exciting to me since they were carried by a WW-II veteran who would have been an officer. 

The bottom stick was a gift from a good friend. It has a knob and tip made from buffalo horn, suggesting either SE Asia or the Phillipines as a place of origin. The next photo shows them full length with a WW-II P-2 for a  size comparison. the P-2 in twelve inches long. 

Boker Smatchet:
One of the finer commercial copies of the Smatchet was made by Boker of Solingen, Germany. Other firms including Al Mar have at times made these knives in limited number. The Smatchet is not a knife for the efete dilittente or the faint of heart.

Here is a Boker version laid upon a copy of "GetTough" Fairbairn's manual of armed and un-armed combat wherein he recommends the Smatchet. The blade is etched with replicas of both Applegate's and Fairbairn's personal signatures. This knife is numbered 642 of 1,000 I believe.

The shortcoming of the Boker version is that the handle is too fat, and being a phenolic material it cannot be filed or sanded down as the original wooden handled ones could. Besides this one fault it remains an awesome weapon.

This interesting little dagger may have been made from a bayonet. It has a five and one half inch blade and with perfectly ground bevels and a high polish. Whomever made it was a skilled craftsman. The handle slabs are secured by three rugged rivets. The oval shaped guard is like that of an F~S and appears to be made from nickle silver. Often refered to as "theater-made knives," this one is well above average in construction.
An update on this dagger: A closer inspection seems to indicate it was made from a file! One of the flats near the guard has very light marks left of the file teeth cross-hatch pattern. It must not be from the very tang end of the file or else the tang would be too narrow to drill for rivets.

Australian Knives:
The knives in the photo below are of Australian origin, with the possible exception of the second from the top. The top knife is a style illustrated in Ron Flook's book with very little known about them. The handle scales appear to be of a masonite or hardened paper-like substance. No sheath came with it. The third one down is a bird-headed knife referred to as a commando knife although it has nothing in common with the British Commando knife. It has the "WE" Whittingslowe stamp in the blade. It is a servicable, though cheaply, made knife. The bottom knife is a fine example of a very rare Whittingslowe Australian Commando knife marked with the D^D. These long daggers came in two styles, with an alloy handle, or the more rare, wooden handled one shaped identical to this.
The blade of the second knife down is an exact duplicate of the bottom knife in length and shape. Obviously the handle is either a replacement or else the whole knife is a fabrication, possibly based on someone seeing or taking measurements from the Australian version. Either way it is a very nice fighting knife with a walnut handle, balanced by a cast-in-place pewter butt cap. Again this one came out of Canada with no explanation.