H.&P.S 1917 Trench knife

[indconst]

Came to me at the past TMCA show in Franklin. Can not find any reference to this maker . Looks legit. Maybe French or English made early on ?

Havn't cleaned it yet . 

[6th.MG.BN]

Interesting knife. I never saw a H.&P.S 1917 marked knife before? There is a H.&D.S 1917 one. Could be a screwup by the maker a "P" instead of a "D"?  I can't remember ever seeing a scabbard throat stamped with the marker marking and date either. I wouldn't think if it were foreign made it would have the "U.S." marking? Regardless if it were me, I wouldn't clean it.

See what everyone else thinks about it.

Ken

[indconst]

In the marginal lighting at the show & the knife being very dirty . I thought it was a Disston until I sat down with a light. I believe the Disston's are marked H.D.&S. 1918  with 5 point rounded guards and have Jewell scabbards?

[militariaone]

Greetings all,

 

     This knife is a not particularly well-known reproduction from about 10 years ago. There was a thread on these in our forum, which in a short search, I could not locate. Long story short, the company that contracted them to be made was either sold or went bust shortly after offering these as I recall the letters stood for the company or the owner's initials, as such, these are not a variant that flooded the market as some of the Windlass made ones have. 

     Here's a link to one of Frank's pages and what they looked like prior to being "aged" as the original poster's has been. Showing a new one.

 

Best,

 

V/r Lance

[militariaone]

A short update,

 

I believe, the knife was marketed by Schipperfabrik, shortly before they were bought out.

 

Best,

 

V/r Lance

[militariaone]

Greetings all,

 

   Found the other/earlier mentioned thread that I could not find the other day https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22115-amazing-reproduction-of-the-m1917-trench-knife/#comment-156697 and in the thread's very first post, you will see the backstory for the the knife's H. & P. S initials. 

 

Best,

 

V/r Lance

[indconst]

Thanks - I think. Of course, not what I was wanting to hear. Having been collecting US edge weapons for a long time. I was skeptical when I couldn't find the trademark anywhere. It sure does look real.

So how many do we know of 3?

Rick

[indconst]

Found this:

 

Repro M1917 Trench Knives | Great War Historical Society  ,Repro M1917 Trench Knives | 

Mar 17, 2008 at 10:39pm  , 

 

"I just saw on Schipper's home page that they are offering repro US M1917 Trench Knives with scabbards for $99!! No picutes yet, so don't know how they look. Here is the text:

We are very excited to announce that our biggest and most difficult project attempted so far is coming to fruition. We will soon be offering perfect exact replicas of the M1917 TRENCH KNIFE. No one has ever offered these before and they are exquisite!

Please do not confuse these with the junky brass handled M1918 trench knives that have been around for years. This is the M1917 with the wooden handle, studded "D" handguard and spike blade. The M1917 was by far the more common trench knife in service with the WWI AEF. These were carried in WWII by Paratroopers and others. Originals often sell for over $600!!!!

Ours is complete and exact to the finest detail including the date and maker stamps (ours is stamped H & PS instead of LF & C) and includes an exact reproduction scabbard. We anticipate these to sell for $99.95 and the first 25 will be available by the end of April. We hope to have a few for sale at teh WWI Newville event if this first batch is not already sold. We will not be taking pre-orders."

[sactroop]

The trouble with advertisements is that they have the tendency to stretch the truth.  WW2 paratroopers and others wouldn't have been issued this knife type as they had been removed from the US inventory long before the beginning of WW2.

 

 

[Slufstuff]

Just a note on the artificial aging shown on the OP knife. The biggest giveaway (other than the obvious repro markings) is the overdone "wear" on the wood handle. I see this a lot on fake aged knives. In reality, the handles on original M1917's generally held up very well, often looking nicer than the blade and other metal wear would indicate. 

[GWS]

6 hours ago, Slufstuff said:

Just a note on the artificial aging shown on the OP knife. The biggest giveaway (other than the obvious repro markings) is the overdone "wear" on the wood handle. I see this a lot on fake aged knives. In reality, the handles on original M1917's generally held up very well, often looking nicer than the blade and other metal wear would indicate. 

 

Agree 100%

    I can't help but think the H&PS mark was intentional to confuse us short-memory people with the original H&DS knives!  The "aging" is way overdone too.

 

Steve