WWII Survival Knife

[bobatl]

Attached photo of a survival knife carried by WWII Army pilot in CBI. Obviously that was not what Springfield Armory intended when they made it in 1914. Anyone know what this knife is?

[gunbarrel]

Congratulations! :thumbsup: You have a desirable knife made in WWII from a 1913 Patton Cavalry Saber blade. How desirable? I don't have one in my collection and I would love to have one, but they are NOT cheap!

[Still-A-Marine]

Like gunbarrel said. Its a hard knife to find. And even harder to get one at a decent price.

 

Congrats. :thumbsup:

 

Bill

[Jack's Son]

.......How desirable? I don't have one in my collection and I would love to have one.....

GB,

That's a First!!

[Tony V]

Congrats ! A very nice find indeed.

 

Tony

[doyler]

Nice hilt section of a Patton sword.Several variation of these exist as the need for knives in WW2 saw the patton swords bought as surplus/scrap and were cut into various lengths-sections and knives were made from these.Some ranged from crude to near pieces of modern art(in my opinion ).Anderson made some with plastic handles as well.

 

Great find and a bonus you can trace it to a vet.

 

RD

[gunbarrel]

GB,

That's a First!!

 

Oh, no! There are a few others...

[gunbarrel]

Great find and a bonus you can trace it to a vet.

 

Exactly. BTW, these are considered "fighting" knives, instead of survival knives. Of course, if you use it to fight for your life it becomes a survival knife.

[SKIPH]

bobatl-Nice knife! How is the pommel held on? I see the leather washers at the guard, the wrapped handle, but can't quite make out how the pommel is held on. Is there metal under the leather? Do those tacks go through a hole in the tang? If you could add an explanation, show some more pics of the pommel, at different angles it would be appreciated by all. Thank you. SKIP

[Spathologist]

Can you give us a pic of the other side, or tell us the serial number?

[bobatl]

This is a fighting knife so on a B-25H, the primary armament is a 75mm cannon, backed up by .50 BMG, then maybe a .38 revolver, then the fighting knife.

[bobatl]

Can't tell how the pommel is attached without taking the leather off. Remnants of black paint on the pommel.

[bobatl]

one more photo

[SKIPH]

bobati- Does it feel like wood or several layers of leather under the metal pommel? It's tacked into something. Thanks for posting the pics. SKIP

[bobatl]

The pommel feels as firm as if it was welded on. I can insert a penknife blade between pommel & leather in the center but hit something solid above & below center.

[DSchlagan]

An extremely nice knife! :thumbsup:

 

BION, it is possible to drive those small nails into solid steel.

 

Don.

[SKIPH]

bobati-Thank you for posting the best, and most detailed photos of this type knife that I have ever seen. The few pics in books always left me wondering how the handle kept from un-raveling . You have solved that question. Sooner or later we'll figure out the tacks. Thanks Again, for showing and informing us. SKIP

[nifman]

Pretty sure you knife was made by Knifcrafters for WW2.

Nice knife

Dennis aka nifman

[DSchlagan]

Welcome to the Forum, Dennis.

 

Could you please elaborate as to who "Knifcrafters" may be? I've not heard of this.

 

Don.

[gunbarrel]

Don,

 

Dennis is referring to Knife Crafters of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA who made this style of sword knives in WWII:

 

 

Here is another one of their knives with the leather wrap missing:

 

 

Dennis, do you have a source for your information? I ask, because even theater knife guru Bill Wright doesn't know who made the style presented by bobatl on this post. Any credible source of information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

[gunbarrel]

While I'm at it, I will post photos from the internet for future reference showing other styles of sword knives often seen. In addition to these, which were made in significant quantities, there are also thousands of others "one of a kind."

 

San Antonio Iron Works sword knife with the original Patton saber handle:

 

 

San Antonio Iron Works sword knife--wooden handle style:

 

[gunbarrel]

Anderson, Glendale, CA.

 

[gunbarrel]

Style often seen, also from an unknown maker

 

[tsellati]

This is a fighting knife so on a B-25H, the primary armament is a 75mm cannon, backed up by .50 BMG, then maybe a .38 revolver, then the fighting knife.

 

What a fabulous knife and the provenance is priceless :thumbsup:. I have yet to come across one of these sword blade-made knives in person. Alas, I can only drool over other collector's photos :crying: .

 

Thanks for the vicarious experience, nonetheless.

 

Tim

[DSchlagan]

Don,

 

Dennis is referring to Knife Crafters of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA who made this style of sword knives in WWII:

 

[photos in quoted post]

 

Here is another one of their knives with the leather wrap missing:

 

Dennis, do you have a source for your information? I ask, because even theater knife guru Bill Wright doesn't know who made the style presented by bobatl on this post. Any credible source of information you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

 

GB,

 

Thanks much for the explanation and the photos!

 

I had heard of "San Antonio Iron Works" and of "Anderson" sword knives, but "Knife Crafters" was one not familiar.

 

And man, is that first San Antonio pictured about the finest I have ever seen!! :thumbsup: Beauty!

 

Found another nice example of a Knife Crafters; (Google was more co-operative today).

Described as "appear[ing] to have been made from tip section of a Civil War era M-1850 foot officer’s sword."

A lot of very well done details. including it's clip point grind, guard, and leatherwork.

 

 

The hand grips' base, on these, is apparently a hollow steel tube; split, formed, and either soldered/brazed/welded around the guard for strength. This detail shows well in GB's second photo of it: .

 

Regards,

Don.