I wanted a new camp knife, but I also wanted a[nother] late 15th century messer, so I commissioned Davis Reproductions to blend both in the same knife. This beautiful blade takes inspiration from a famous extant piece in Zürich, though with several creative interpretations. The style is commonly known as a bauernwehr in modern parlance, which loosely means “peasant self defense” knife, though that’s probably a later-period misnomer (particularly because these were also carried by nobility and the upper class). It -might- have been called a kurtze Messer (short knife) to differentiate from the sword-length langes Messer. The evidence is still scant on this point.

Regardless of nomenclature, I freaking love this thing. It’s big, it’s beefy, but it dances in the hand. Martially I’ve become very fascinated with slashing knife fighting styles over the past several years, and this is essentially a German equivalent of a Filipino Bolo or even a Japanese Wakazashi. If I had a pair of blunts exactly like this for fencing Lecküchner-styled messerfechten, it would move fantastically (obviously I’d adapt for the closer measure, of course). Going through solo drills, I almost can’t help but slip from German messer to Filipino escrima actions, since the knife has a certain ubiquitous quality to its handling (in the good way). It also feels like it will cut like a monster. That’s definitely something I’ll be testing in the near future.

It’s visually beautiful, with a gentle aesthetic flow, with a very organic feel to the filing of the bronze fittings. The nagel is both straightforward yet graceful, and almost leaf like. The pommel is… well, just look at it. It’s gorgeous. The grip is bone and quite comfortable, with just enough variance in color and visual texture to be pleasing to the eye. The three copper inlays in the blade are a nod to the original Zürich knife that inspired this, and are a subtle but attractive “pop” to the polished blade.

I mean, what else can I say? This has beauty, it flows wonderfully in the hand, it feels powerful in the strike. I love it, and it’s yet another reason why I keep going back to Davis Reproductions. He has such a good eye for historical details, both aesthetically and functionally.

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That looks beautiful! Huge knife....almost a short sword. Did you make or have made a sheath?

interesting knife! The blade kind of reminds me of https://neuesausdergotik.blogspot.com/2016/06/alle-biester-in-die-kafige.html by Niklas, although his is more of a Stichmesser than a Hiiebmesser.

Very nice bauernwehr, I think I recognize the inspiration for that one. It's a beast, and I want it!

Quite a camp knife! Congratulations - Very (Very) Nice!

I didn't notice, length or blade length? Is the "false edge" sharp?

Thank you very much for sharing.

Really nice Bill! (way too nice for a camp knife ;))

Thanks for sharing!