Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > knife-ish dagger-ish identification help please Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
David Lewis Smith




Location: NC
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Likes: 4 pages

Posts: 506

PostPosted: Mon 17 Oct, 2016 4:18 pm    Post subject: knife-ish dagger-ish identification help please         Reply with quote

A good friend of mine, someone I served with in the Army inherited a knife. The information he has is very scant. Basicly his Grandparents lived in southern California.....

Not much to go on

I have some ideas but I do not want to taint the opinions. I also have not handled the knife so I do not know much about it



 Attachment: 52.29 KB
rich1.jpg


 Attachment: 129.56 KB
[ Download ]

 Attachment: 110.88 KB
[ Download ]

 Attachment: 114.18 KB
[ Download ]

David L Smith
MSG (RET)
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
M. Livermore





Joined: 20 Aug 2008

Posts: 96

PostPosted: Tue 18 Oct, 2016 3:39 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Interesting knife. The hand holding a stylized dagger and the pike writing style of the inscription give it a link to tattoo art. I'd guess it was made by someone in the navy during WWII. The quality of construction seems like the maker may have had access to a lathe.
View user's profile Send private message
Mark Moore




Location: East backwoods-assed Texas
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Likes: 6 pages
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 2,294

PostPosted: Tue 18 Oct, 2016 5:53 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm thinking it may be a Mexican-made knife for tourists, sold at souvenier shops. They made gazillions of these in various styles. The reason I say is because of the decoration on the sheathe and the way the engraving is done. I have a large, curve-bladed dagger with markings very similar. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is............McM
''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
View user's profile Send private message
David Lewis Smith




Location: NC
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Likes: 4 pages

Posts: 506

PostPosted: Tue 18 Oct, 2016 6:17 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Mark Moore wrote:
I'm thinking it may be a Mexican-made knife for tourists, sold at souvenier shops. They made gazillions of these in various styles. The reason I say is because of the decoration on the sheathe and the way the engraving is done. I have a large, curve-bladed dagger with markings very similar. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is............McM


Close to what I am thinking.

David L Smith
MSG (RET)
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Timo Nieminen




Location: Brisbane, Australia
Joined: 08 May 2009
Likes: 1 page
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 1,504

PostPosted: Tue 18 Oct, 2016 3:21 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Looks Mexican (or possibly other ex-Spanish colonial). Southern California and "Viva la Union" is very Cesar Chavez and suggests 1960s or '70s.
"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
David Lewis Smith




Location: NC
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Likes: 4 pages

Posts: 506

PostPosted: Tue 18 Oct, 2016 3:47 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Timo Nieminen wrote:
Looks Mexican (or possibly other ex-Spanish colonial). Southern California and "Viva la Union" is very Cesar Chavez and suggests 1960s or '70s.


And that is EXACTLY what I think. I think it was a dagger or knife that someone carved those into. I had done some research and that came up. I am going to wait on more opinions, but I think you are correct Timo

David L Smith
MSG (RET)
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Michael Beeching





Joined: 22 Jan 2014
Reading list: 2 books

Posts: 270

PostPosted: Fri 21 Oct, 2016 3:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

How close are the dimensions to an F-S knife?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbairn%E2%80%93Sykes_fighting_knife

Probably not one of the many off-shoots of the actual wartime designs, but it definitely looks to be inspired by one of them. Note the round handle, diamond cross-section, and pronounced ricasso which many FS knives or flavors thereof have.
View user's profile Send private message
Timo Nieminen




Location: Brisbane, Australia
Joined: 08 May 2009
Likes: 1 page
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 1,504

PostPosted: Fri 21 Oct, 2016 5:07 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I don't think it's inspired by the FS, as those same features can be seen on 19th century Philippine and Mexican daggers (and I guess Spanish daggers too, but I don't know about them).

For example:


http://www.forensicfashion.com/1898KatipunanSandatahanDagger.html


http://www.ashokaarts.com/shop/rare-katipunan...ver-mounts (triangular rather than diamond section, which is unusual)


http://atkinson-swords.com/collection-by-regi...dagge.html


http://atkinson-swords.com/collection-by-regi...ature.html (1st half 20th century?)

The more recent descendants of these daggers:


http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=7063


http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=3950

"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > knife-ish dagger-ish identification help please
Page 1 of 1 Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum