Great smatchet, MVP. What are the specs on it?

Heh, heh. Smatchet.

Smatchet
 

It is an Al Mar that I replaced the handle scales.

Here are some W. German knives from the 1980s; basic combat knife made by Puma and two gravity knives.

MVP

Ek
 

A comparison of the FS dagger and a 1985 vintage Ek model 1 with the poured lead rivets.

MVP

I really like that FS dagger. With the S hilt.
It is an old model? or a great repro from FS Commando Knives ( http://www.esa-swords.com/customknives.html ).

Best regards,

Here is my grandfather's Ka-Bar, issued by the Navy during WWII. The handle has been changed among other things.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/...rbarian2/1.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/...rbarian2/3.jpg

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/...rbarian2/4.jpg

Outstanding... who was he with during the war?

I never knew the design was kept the same from WW2. During WW2 the Fallschirmjagers carried that same looking knife with a wooden handle and many had the solingen stamping on the blade. Are either of the gravity knives stamped with anything on the blade?

There are basically 3 Gravity Knives models.
The first one from WWII (wood handle)
The second, very similar but with plastic handle (1950 to 1970).
And the third one, almost all plastic body (the LL80) (1980's)
http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/Pato/GGK.jpg
Pic not mine.

Awesome thank you for the information sir! I think I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for one, seem like a really neat little knife. thank you for the information again sir.

Chris

Your welcome Chris. I bought the second model in Texas for 40 or 50 u$ two years ago.
In my opinion, the second model is better than the third one made by Eickhorn

http://www.lbainternational.com/eickhorn/mk_ll80.htm

There were a LL80 model made under Colt's brand, with black plastic body.

This pic is mine. You can compare the GGK with a regular knife (a training knife) and a Police Spyderco.

Best regards

You've got quite a collection, MVP. Very cool.

I'd never found out. He never liked talking about it. Also I was a kid, and didn't know enough to ask that type of thing. I'm going to talk to Dad and fill out a sf-180 to see what I can find out. I guess that's the best way to go about it, anyway.

ThX Barabrian.

Chris, there are four major German versions of the gravity knives and 1 brit. When the W. Germans re-created their airborne forces in after 1950 they created a new knife that is much trimmer without the marlin spike having black handle scales. It cannot be taken apart and they had a funny little door that was frequently broken off (top knife in this photo). The LL80 types are really weak, the locking latch spring rides against the back of the blade when it is out but does not lock the blade. it can be pushed back into the handle witha moderate amount of force. When I first saw the LL80 in the little market/Garden shop on Markstrasse in Tolz I was told they were made for tourists... The Brit version was only made during WWII and is a virtual copy of the German type with the addition of checkering to the handle. I believe all five types are shown in FJ Stephens book "Fighting Knives". There is a large amount of additional background information in the German language book "German trench knives and fighting knives" I cannot think of the exact title just this minute but it is written in fairly high German making reading a bit slow.

All of the German knives I have seen are marked on the blades but the only listing of codes (post war) I know of is in the German language book.

MVP

Thats great sir, thanks for the information. I am going to keep my eye out for a couple of these. I guess when I get home I'll take a couple more pictures of some knives I have in my collection. I should add to this thread as opposed to just asking questions. Thanks again though.

You might be able to request more information from other areas as well. There's a great amount of research information available just through the internet. NARA might be a place to start?

I really appreciate the information sir, you definitely answered a lot of questions I was contemplating when looking at the differences between them. I'd like to check out that books which you mentioned as well. I really appreciate all the responses, lots of great information on the gravity knives. Thanks again gentleman.

Please MVP, if you can tell me where you bought your FS dagger.
Thank you very much,

Damm. I got nothing. Have to dig one out