Welcome!
This site is dedicated primarily to exploring the history of the iconic Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife (commonly known as the British Commando knife), the many variants of that weapon, and the brave men and women who trained with it, carried it, and whose valor made it famous.
Below: Here is a photo of an instructor's set handmade by Travis Evans Knives of Melbourne, Australia. Yes you have seen other work by Travis here under Custom knives when he made me a gorgeous X-dagger with matching thumb dagger. Travis also made me the lovely push dagger featured further below. His work is detailed, accurate and of the highest quality. I will soon be sharing more photos of this set. So if you want to see the goodies inside you will have to keep checking back. Trust me, it is worth the return visit! I am negotiating right now with Travis to purchase this set. Incredible work from the knife making lad Down Under. (Photo of the Evans X-dagger near the bottom of this page.)
KNIFE SALE: HELLO ALL. Since I cannot seem to break my habit of buying nice knives, its time to sell some more. So I am looking in my closet, under my bed, in boxes and bins and finding knives that I am willing (some reluctantly) to let go of. I'm selling them on the fighting knives for sale page at pretty much what I paid for them, plus postage. At least some postage because it keeps rocketting upwards as I am sure you all know. Take a look and see if there isn't some knife you would like to add to your collection. Its "National Adopt a Knife" week. Well not really but I thought I'd try that since they have national donut day and national this and that. Here is one wooden hilted dagger for sale and another unusual one.
Ben Carroll if you see this please email me. I have been trying to contact you.
CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO GO TO MY KNIFE SALES. NOTE: It is increasingly difficult to ship double edged knives to many foreign countries. Check your laws before you ask about buying one to prevent unhappy situations. My Post Office is very strict about respecting the weapons laws of other countries.
Below: This beautiful dagger iis from the War in the Pacific series once produced for the American Historical Foundation. It is a copy of a rare version made by H.G. Long in Sheffield. Robert Buerlein was at the helm of the foundation and oversaw the production quality of these magnificent daggers. I mentioned to Bob one day that I never got a copy of this particular knife and he never forgot. He came across an over-run and gifted it to me for "the work I have done for the knife collecting community", i.e this website. What a great gift from a true gentleman. You can find photos of some of the other series on the web page dealing with commemoratives. Thanks Bob for your friendship, the production of so many terrific daggers, and especially this gift. This one commemorated General MacArthur and the many battles of the Philipines
Newsflash: There is another F-S maker in the market now that I was totally unaware of. From the photos, his products are looking top notch. They are made in small batches by a collection of artisans and final assembly and approval is by the owner, John Hamilton, Glasgow. I will be writing more shortly in my blog area and posting photos as I receive them. In the meantime check out his website at the following link. Some more photos are shown below.
Home H-D-G Website (Hamilton Daggers Glasgow) 1st Pattern 2nd Pattern dagger
Home H-D-G Website (Hamilton Daggers Glasgow) 1st Pattern 2nd Pattern dagger
Below: CHECK THE CUSTOM MAKERS PAGE FOR MORE PHOTOS!!! Here is a handmade Third Pattern from HDG, Hamilton Dagger Glasgow. They are making 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pattern daggers as well as Fatmen, Beaded and Ribbed, and Australian Army Stiletto. I have put in my order for an AAS because I like the unusual look of the hilt and the dimensions of the blade. Third pattern knives are much maligned for the shoddy quality of commercial offerings. A well made one like this, with a beefy blade and a proper guard and hilt, is a totally new animal and a truly credible Commando Knife. contact them at https://www.h-d-g.co.uk/
Below: Well folks, I was going to shrink this photo down but I decided to let you see the quality of workmanship up close.
Below: I have become quite enamoured of these minimalist weapons used by members of the SAS, SOE, and OSS. If you have any for sale or trade please contact me. I have plenty of other knives to sell, including some very exotic modern fighting knives.
.Just click the button to go to my Blog.
My Philosophy: I realize that despite my best efforts I may not get everything right here the first time. That is why there is a contact page for your input and questions. My website is a continual work in progress, a journey in search of truth through the dim pages of a World War long past and fading history.
NEW HDG IMAGES!
Below: A couple more photos of an HDG First Pattern knife. With prices of original First Pattern knives ranging from $2,500 to $6,000 they are out of the reach of the everyday collector. This is presuming you can even find one for sale. The line of customers waiting for originals is extremely long. If you want to experience the heft and mytery of holding and owning a P-1 (and are not endowed with a fortune) consider a recreation of one from a short list of two or three makers. In all honesty I have not seen any that exceed the quality of this one.
Note: I have frequent requests from visitors to give an appraisal of the value of their Commando knives. I do appreciate the interest and questions but I can only give you approximate values because there are so many variables, such as condition, model, maker, etc. So please feel free to ask me but I apologize in advance for not being able to give you exact values. Also, you may see knives like yours on an online auction site listed at much higher values than I quote. The question you must ask yourself is, are they selling them for those inflated prices? Many of these same knives have been on auction for several months or years with out selling. How do I know? Because I track them almost daily looking for knives to buy. If they weren't so overpriced I would have already bought them.
Yes I am always interested in buying and adding new knives to our collection, so you are welcome to contact me using the form on the bottom of the "contact us" page for that purpose or to just say hello. I will do my best to make you a fair offer although sometimes you must understand my cash flow is limited. I am also open to trading a modern fighting knife for your F-S knife. I have some very exotic and classic fighting knives in my other collection. Before you ask, I generally do NOT trade or sell any of my F-S or miniature knives 
Above: Not every discovery has to be a magnificent specimen for it to become part of a collection. I got this knife from ebay for $268 and with a little cleaning it will make a nice addition to the variants I own. Based on the blade, brass guard and the top nut I believe this was originally a wood handled knife. The wood is prone to shrinking and splitting near the guard. Or, maybe the owner just wanted something different. I don't know what the story behind it I am just saying you don't have to spend a million bucks to get started collecting. Sometimes the really unusual knives are the ones you can get the cheapest by looking around and taking a chance.
|
SO WHATS NEW?
As I add new photos, information, or acquire new knives I'll tell you about it right here first. Below: A genuine WW-II Whitingslowe Australian Stiletto. The hilt has some shrinkage issues but is solid. The sheath appearts to have provided a snack for a rodent. I am paticularly fond of the heavy blade of the Australian dagger with its very thick ricasso and greater length than the British Commando dagger. In all of my yers collecting this is only the second one I have had the opportunity to buy.
Below: This knife has been for sale on this site for a long time. No one expressed an interest in it so I bought it. Silver plated cutlery hilt knives were often sold through retailers or men's tailor shops to customers wanting something different. This one is particularly stunning because of the lovely temper blued, hand forged blade. It comes with its original custom heavy leather sheath. Aren't you sorry you didn't buy it?
Below: A modified 3rd pattern. The ribs have been lathed off and the alloy hilt knurled like a second pattern. It looks to have been pretty well done, but I won't know for sure until it arrives. I have never liked the feel of the 3rd pattern grip and evidently the original owner didn't either. Knives moified like this do not usually bring a high price, so if you have one and think you should change it up, file serrations in the blade or other brilliant ideas, you might want to rethink that!
Interesting theater conversion. The original hilt was probably a 3rd pattern. The new one is a once popular change, using a .50 caliber brass casing. The wide brass guard is stamped with the owners name and unit. A 1943 coin was adapted as a spacer between the guard and grip. The commercial style sheath is correct for the time period.
NEW: Known as the "Earl of Suffolk" dagger. The story goes that this miniature once belonged to Charles Howard the 20th Earl of Suffolk. It and others may have been made by Wilkinson or other cutlers or jewelers according to the late William Windrum.
"Charles Henry George Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl of Berkshire, was an English bomb disposal expert who was also an earl in the Peerage of England, belonging to the ancient Howard family. He was styled Viscount Andover until 1917."Wikipedia Howard was killed while attempting to defuse his 35th bomb. Howard had several of these daggers made and distributed them to friends within the military. This was his personal dagger and is deeply engraved with "Suffolk." It is considered by some to be a fake. So those of you who do, don't feel you need to email and "educate me" because I already know it could be a fake. The original sheath is missing. 
They're Here! A new recreation of an X-Dagger by my friend Travis Evans in Australia. Watch for it right here. Yup I bought the set! Great work as usual from Travis. Travis borrowed the handle idea from an original third pattern I own with this type of cord wrapping. This dagger is made from a file not a bayonet. It is one sweet X-dagger and the thumb dagger is potentially lethal too.
Below: Here is a knife that was made by Paul MacDonald of Edinburgh, Scotland. He made this in response to the outlandish comments on some forums that it was impossible to make a fighting knife from a Lee- Metford bayonet. The thumb dagger is made from the tip, just as they were during the war. I am very pleased to come into possession of this knife from a friend I met through this website. Thank you Henk! Paul is also making for sale very close copies of the original Shanghai daggers. Contact him if you are interested at MacDonald Armouries in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photos below
|
|
Push dagger by Travis Evan: travtek88@hotmail.com
From these raw materials came the above dagger. It takes great skill and an ability to conceptualize, creating form from formlessness to produce such work. Thanks Travis for the beautiful work.
|
Paul MacDonald Shanghai Daggers. As close as you can get short of paying tens of thousands of dollars. Very Nice work Paul.
Below: I am always looking for bayonet coversions like these or in any other format. I think these were made by Phoenix Iron Works during WW-II.
|
White Shadow & Associates Personal Protection
The website for my daughter and son in law's executive protection business is updated and looking good. I hope you will check it out. It has a whole new look. If you need First Class Security, not Mall "rent-a-cops." For a facilities or domicile security assessment, close personal protection, long or short term contract, or for a resume and more information contact them at. http://www.whiteshadowassociates.com/
If you are in need of one-on-one personal security, or a team of security specialists, contact them for a consultation. Locally or globally they will take good care of keeping you and your assets safe. Are they capable? They have served clients whose net worth is in the $ Billions of dollars, YES BILLIONS with a "B".
The website for my daughter and son in law's executive protection business is updated and looking good. I hope you will check it out. It has a whole new look. If you need First Class Security, not Mall "rent-a-cops." For a facilities or domicile security assessment, close personal protection, long or short term contract, or for a resume and more information contact them at. http://www.whiteshadowassociates.com/
If you are in need of one-on-one personal security, or a team of security specialists, contact them for a consultation. Locally or globally they will take good care of keeping you and your assets safe. Are they capable? They have served clients whose net worth is in the $ Billions of dollars, YES BILLIONS with a "B".
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO VIEW MY F-S WEBSITE?
DO NOT forget to click on the Main Headers i.e WW-II Commando knives, as well as the sub-headers i.e Second Pattern, and even more details under the individual categories i.e. Nickel plated, as these pop out to the right. Otherwise you will miss a lot of information and photos.
All images and written materials on this site are copyrighted as are the images in the banner at the top of the page which are courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. Materials on this website are (C) copyrighted 2013. As a courtesy, please contact us for permission to use them, as we have asked permission ourselves to use many of the photographs which are the personal property of the veterans or their heirs. Please do not ask, we do not provide exact measurements of the rarer original WW-II knives to prevent people making counterfeits of the models in our possession. That is why you do not find detailed descriptions with specific measurements.
Dear Visitors the old counter disappeared after recording over 140,000 visitors, and getting lots of great communications from all of you. We are starting out with a new counter on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23rd, 2017. Wow you folks are great. We are NOW APPROACHING 250,000 visits total!
