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New Trench Knife


Red Devil
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I am pleased to share the newest LF&C to the collection. It was surprising local find and I am still very excited that one surfaced with the extra point. The downside is that it looks like two holes were bored in the handle (possibly to display it?) and it lacks a sheath, and the fun part was explaining to the wife why we needed "another variation" in the house. Needless to say, this wasn't one to pass up.

 

All feedback always welcomed!

 

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And at home with the family: LF&C ID'd to an Ohio veteran (forgot to show the sheath), and a beautiful ACCo version.

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Beautiful. I've seen plenty of bent tips - they seem a bit fragile (pronounced fra - gee -lee as in "A Christmas Story"). I'd jump on it - you just don't see them out there.

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Nice find, extra knobs are prized.. I noticed the handle had a couple of holes drilled. Did someone place pins, or screws in those? I do know that some LF&Cs tend to have loose handles, including mine. Figure it was to stabilize the handle. SKIP

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How special is a 7-point with a bent tip...?

 

Good question!

 

References seem to indicate ranges between a few hundred to a few thousand manufactured. They are thought to have been Landers Frary and Clark's first production run--with the change either being due to correcting a manufacturing error or a production change directed by the government.

 

How uncommon are they? The extra knuckle LF&C is definitely not as scarce as the Henry Disston (HDS) or Oneida Community (OCL) versions, but they are certainly less common than American Cutlery (ACCO) knives--somewhere in-between.

 

Many collectors do not yet have an extra pyramid variant. Even with the holes in the handle, a good, representative knife for the collection

 

Chris

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Nice find, extra knobs are prized.. I noticed the handle had a couple of holes drilled. Did someone place pins, or screws in those? I do know that some LF&Cs tend to have loose handles, including mine. Figure it was to stabilize the handle. SKIP

Skip,

 

Perhaps it once had a leather or cord wrap on the handle?

 

Chris

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Thanks guys. The one with the frageelee/bent tip came from the family of an Ohio vet who was an ambulance driver; I doubt it saw combat and wonder if someone tried prying open a crate with it or something in its history. I do have its correct scabbard and the blade is still straight enough to fit well.

 

The holes drilled in the new LF&C are definitely not newly done but I suppose their purpose is going to remain a mystery. Handle fits pretty securely still. I am very glad to find this version. It's only the second one I've seen firsthand (the other in an collection in Idaho many years ago). Thanks again for the positive feedback!

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Back in the the 1960s, I had a friend whose Dad had an OCL, with the blade tip slightly bent to the left and up, a lot like the one pictured above. He said his Dad told him it was done to improve the stabbing angle (which I still doubt). But, you always believed what adults told you, & his father was an active duty USAF Major at the time. The scabbard was a fairly large normal leather knife sheath, not the usual tubular version. SKIP

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That is a great example of a rather scarce trench knife.

 

I realize this is a bit off topic and my discalimer here is that I have ZERO affiliation with the Prairie Flower Leather Company, but I do think that they make a fantastic reproduction scabbard for this type of knife. Since the odds of you finding an original scabbard on its own in the woodowrk, Prairie Flower makes a great filler! http://www.pflco.com/militaria.htm#scabbard Take a look for yourself.

 

Allan

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I agree with my son that it may have had a rawhide or other similar wrap on the grip. I have owned at least 2 of the 1917 trench knives with a leather rawhide wrap. The other thing is the rarity and there is no doubt about that. My own opinion on the extra pyramid knives is that it was done so on the first batch furnished Probably 100 to 1000 and removed because it may have gotten more in the way and usable. The other funny thing is that over the years I have seen about a dozen of these and all but 1 of them was in near unused condition one of which came from an arsenal employee with an un marked unknown 1917 variety.

 

Ron Norman

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