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Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives.


Jack's Son
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Here is an example I found recently. It is one of the beaded handled styles, marked arrow 5 and England. England is also stamped in to the scabbard, so this indicates an exported surplus piece. It is truly a beautiful fighting knife, with perfect balance and extremely high quality...

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Thanks! I got it for $90 from a guy who sells video games of all things. I've never owned one of these before, and it is an impressive edged weapon...

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Thanks! I got it for $90 from a guy who sells video games of all things. I've never owned one of these before, and it is an impressive edged weapon...

Andy

Great price and the condition is great also.I know a lot of guys dont care for the England marking but to me its just another part or leg of its history.Nice examples are getting tougher to find as are early or variations.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi. I'm looking for information on this. It's marked Sheffield England and Broad arrow over 1983. I've searched and only could find one other example with the same markings on a European auction site. Would really like to know the maker and approximate number made in this run if anyone knows. I really like the cold war era militaria but the information on the post WW2 daggers is very general. I'd be grateful for any info.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

 

Here is an example I purchase recently. It is one of the third model, marked "2" on the pommel

 

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  • 10 months later...

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I had posted my new find on a separate post but figured I should add it here as well.

2nd pattern J.I./ MARSHALL / GLASGOW

this is supposed to be a very rare version?

The other issue is the bent guard, haven't seen this before but I am definitely a novice in this field.

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Hello, This is a nice second pattern knife but the bent guard was a modification made by some owner. This was done sometimes to prevent jambing one's thumb against the guard in a thrust. It was rumored that if you hit a hard piece of gear you could break your thumb or pop-off the thumb nail. In actuality the knife ought to be held with the thumb laid across the flat of the guard, blade flatwise. This orientation increases the odds if the blade passing smoothly between ribs without getting stuck in the "green" rib bones. The J. Marshall knives are indeed very hard to find. Some people say the Marshall knives were produced by Wilkinson Sword. Please come visit my website to see other models. www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com

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Here is a 3rd pattern thick-blade type with both "Broad Arrow and B2" stamps, along with "England". the sheath is also stamped "England". This seems an odd combination? The stamps are original.

 

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the B2 and England stamps are quite commonly found together as is the England stamp for import into the USA. The leather handle was nicely done. I like these maverick knives.

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Hello, This is a nice second pattern knife but the bent guard was a modification made by some owner. This was done sometimes to prevent jambing one's thumb against the guard in a thrust. It was rumored that if you hit a hard piece of gear you could break your thumb or pop-off the thumb nail. In actuality the knife ought to be held with the thumb laid across the flat of the guard, blade flatwise. This orientation increases the odds if the blade passing smoothly between ribs without getting stuck in the "green" rib bones. The J. Marshall knives are indeed very hard to find. Some people say the Marshall knives were produced by Wilkinson Sword. Please come visit my website to see other models. www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com

Thank you for your response. I was at the show and found your site when searching for "MARSHALL" before I bought it. Only knife the seller had, mostly furniture and kitchen items.

How hard is it to unscrew the pommel nut after it has been crimped using a vise? (I wondered how the guard could be bent while on the tang and came up with zip...)

Did any maker produce knives with bent guards?

Do you have examples of other knives with bent guards?

 

Based on what I see, I am think maybe this knife was never sharpened.

So little time, so much to learn.

 

Brad

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the B2 and England stamps are quite commonly found together as is the England stamp for import into the USA. The leather handle was nicely done. I like these maverick knives.

 

Thanks for clarifying this. I was thinking the 3rd thick blade version was early in the 3rd production window, and these blades were not around when they started exporting.

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Thank you for your response. I was at the show and found your site when searching for "MARSHALL" before I bought it. Only knife the seller had, mostly furniture and kitchen items.

How hard is it to unscrew the pommel nut after it has been crimped using a vise? (I wondered how the guard could be bent while on the tang and came up with zip...)

Did any maker produce knives with bent guards?

Do you have examples of other knives with bent guards?

 

Based on what I see, I am think maybe this knife was never sharpened.

So little time, so much to learn.

 

Brad

 

I would NOT try to remove the nut. It may snap the tang or ruin the nut. The tang is peened over and should be left as is or you will ruin the value of the knife! It is taking a chance that straightening the guard will not cause it to crack as well. So I suggest you enjoy it as is with minimal cleaning. I have one that had a bent guard but I forget which knife it is. Also most of the kniveswere not sharpened until the introduction of the third pattern. Many fine knives were messed up by people with grinders and electric kitchen knife sharpeners.

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I would NOT try to remove the nut. It may snap the tang or ruin the nut. The tang is peened over and should be left as is or you will ruin the value of the knife! It is taking a chance that straightening the guard will not cause it to crack as well. So I suggest you enjoy it as is with minimal cleaning. I have one that had a bent guard but I forget which knife it is. Also most of the kniveswere not sharpened until the introduction of the third pattern. Many fine knives were messed up by people with grinders and electric kitchen knife sharpeners.

Sorry for the confusion - I have no intent of trying to dismantle it. I was trying to understand how the guard was bent in the first place.

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