The Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knives
  • Home Page
    • The Beginning
    • Modern Warrior
    • End of an Era?
    • Fighting Knives For Sale
    • commando knives for sale
    • Recommended Reading
  • WW-II Commando Knives
    • Rarest of Them All
    • X-Daggers
    • First Pattern >
      • Examples
    • Second Pattern >
      • Standard P-2
      • Nickle, Silver, & Gold
      • Beaded & Ribbed
      • Fatman Knives
      • Named Knives
    • Third Pattern >
      • Nickle plated P-3
      • Wilkinson P-3
      • FR693
    • French Commando Knives
    • Variants >
      • knuckle knives
      • Wood Hilted Knives
      • Leather Hilted
      • Stag Hilted
      • Cast & Alloy Hilts
      • Cutlery Handles
    • Australian Knives
  • Derivative knives
    • Odds N Ends
    • USMC & OSS Stiletto
    • Geber & Randall
    • EK Knives
    • Case V-42
    • Post WW-II Versions
    • Custom F~S Knives
    • Commemoratives
  • Agent's Daggers
    • Smatchets & Kukri
    • Thumb Daggers etc.
    • Capt. Peter Mason
    • Shanghai daggers
  • The Stories
    • Our Family Stories
  • Minutiae
    • Sheaths >
      • Field Expedient
      • Sheath Minutae
    • Inspection Stamps
    • Blade Etches
    • Top nuts
  • Contact Us & Links
    • Combined Military Services Museum
    • What is it? Who made it?
    • About Us
  • Blog

Outlandish prices!

11/1/2019

0 Comments

 
It seems impossible to me that some greedy sellers are asking upwards of $300 - 400 for plain jane 3rd pattern knives. Even more incredible is some people are paying those prices. Now I expect the values of knives I bought 20 years ago to rise but seriously! I'd call it price gouging. Remember folks the combined manufacturer output of   WW-II 3rd pattern knives was nearly a quarter million. Most of those made since the war have ranged in quality from Wilkinson's excellent war-time models to the absolutely awful ones out of Pakistan and China. Some post war years (and into the Korean war era) saw the production of a few well made knives. But, even the last production out of Wilkinson Sword was very marginal, with non-traditional shaped handles (said to me made in China) and blades buffed out like tableware or letter openers.

Beware, because many sellers are describing their knives (3rd pattern) as Wilkinson commando knives when there is no justification. They could be made by one of a dozen makers of varying quality. If it doesn't say "Wilkinson", it most likely is NOT a Wilkinson. If it has a coarsely ground blade and thin, flimsy guard you can be sure it is not a Wilkinson. Personally I would prefer a raggedy second pattern dagger any day to a pristine 3rd pattern. Its all a matter of preference but just don't get taken by some unscrupulous dealer on the famous auction site and pay twice what a knife is worth. Then there are out-and-out fakes like this one. I bought it just to get it off the market.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author:

    You can find out more about me on the "Stories" pages. My hobbies have included training in Japanese martial arts, including Kenjutsu, many forms of knife fighting, long range rifles and tactical firearms. I have written several self published books on muzzle-loading firearms, knife-fighting and textbooks on gas engines and compressors. I am working diligently on my 400+ page F-S book.

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.