Fairbairn Sykes Commando Dagger

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Vicarious Reality

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Apr 9, 2008
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Is the current Nowill Sheffield version of the FS dagger top quality?
What steel is it? It only says ''carbon steel'' on the pages i've seen.

I really want a decent priced, coated 6-10in dagger. Preferably tough carbon steel.
 
If you want an F-S dagger as a collectable due to the history or appearance of the blade, I think the Sheffield version is the best one available short of a couple of custom makers who do their own versions of the design. :thumbup:

That said, if you are looking for a "user" there are probably better choices available these days. The F-S is notorious for breaking the tip off and their are lots of complaints about the handle (too small, uncomfortable, poor grip). During WWII the knive may have been "cutting edge" (if you will excuse the pun!) but IMO there are lots of better combat daggers available today.

The Applegate-Fairbairn dagger, for example, with its stronger tip and more ergonomic handle, was specfically designed to address some of the percieved shortcomings of the Fairbairn-Sykes design. ;)
 
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mdauben said:
The Applegate-Fairbairn dagger, for example ;)
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Yeah, but that lacks several things i specified, it's stainless, short, and very pricy in the coated version.
I can get the uncoated one for just under $200 at my local reseller, and the black coated one for just over $300.

Is there any reliable online retailer that has the coated one for a sane price?
 
Vicarious Reality said:
Yeah, but that lacks several things i specified, it's stainless, short, and very pricy in the coated version.
I can get the uncoated one for just under $200 at my local reseller, and the black coated one for just over $300.
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Not sure where you do your shopping, but I regualry see new 6 inch Boker A-F knives going for under $100 on auction sites and for not much more from the popular on-line retailers.

If you really want to go with carbon steel, Blackhawk makes a 6.2 inch combat dagger (the UK-SFK) in D-2 tool steel which looks a bit like an updated F-S dagger. MSRP is around $200 but you can probably find it for less. If you really want a serious dagger longer than around 6.0-6.5 inches you may have to go with a custom maker. Most of the bigger daggers I have seen were fantasy wall hangers.
 
mdauben said:
Blackhawk makes a 6.2 inch combat dagger (the UK-SFK) in D-2
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Oh god, i forgot about that. And i even posted it here a while ago!
It should fit the bill just nicely.

Also, why is there so few long daggers? Is it because a clip point is just about as useful?
 
I think that a dirty little secret of daggers is that they are usually city knives and commonly carried concealed. I would never do such a thing nowadays :D , but in my youth I designed an upside-down underarm carry rig just so that I could keep a FS-sized dagger out of sight. The bottom line is that daggers generally don't get to be as big as a field knife that gets carried openly in the great outdoors.
 
Vicarious Reality said:
Also, why is there so few long daggers? Is it because a clip point is just about as useful?
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For what it's worth, my personal opinion is that since the dagger's point is the working part of the knife, they don't benefit as much from a longer blade like a bowie, tanto or other cutting/slashing blade does. As long as the dagger is long enough to reach vital organs, making it longer does not offer much benefit, while making it harder to carry.

Most makers of serious tactical knives seem to have settled on 4-6 inches as the optimum length for a fighting dagger.
 
Look up CSA Hanwei, they make a really decent version of it in a tough carbon steel that was written up tac knives mag I do believe. You can find them on ebay for less than a 100 bucks American most of the time. keepem sharp
 
The originals were made of 1095 and they were quenched in whale oil ! In practice the tips would easily break off .6-7" blades are used for combat so they can reach the vital organs.I'd take a USMC knife any day and I'll bet that knife killed many more than the F-S.
 
Fairbairn Sykes never was a "top quality" - it was military issue.
If you look for quality long dagger - with lenght of about 10 inches you should move to earlier times, when daggers were more popular.
From production knives, SOG would be best choice.
 
I just ordered (and got shipment confirmation!) :) on the Bark River Mountain Man dagger- looks promising! It's a great company that knows blades! Got mine for just over $100...and a couple folks have them ordered and/or just got one.
 
Vicarious Reality said:
Yeah, but that lacks several things i specified, it's stainless, short, and very pricy in the coated version.
I can get the uncoated one for just under $200 at my local reseller, and the black coated one for just over $300.

Is there any reliable online retailer that has the coated one for a sane price?
Click to expand...

Knifecenter beats those prices for the Applegate-Fairbairn (if you ignore the new "Premium" models), and they ship internationally.
 
If you want one to hang on your wall then quality does not really matter, if you want a user...well they are a little dated.
The first ones made were well made and well thought out for the time, designed for silent removal of men as opposed to a knife fight, however due to various factors they started being mass produced and the quality went downhill - there was a shortage of components/skilled labour and etc and so many of them were pointy junk.
Also many of them were used to dig holes in the hard stony ground - and they broke.
Now if you want a knife for self defense there are many modern choices - you could get a nice custom that fits you like a glove, or a cheap factory version in case it needs to be...lets just call it "lost" shall we?
IMO (for what is worth - free, therefore nothing) a good push dagger is hard to beat, small, easy to conceal and draw, hard to spot once drawn and hard to get out of your hand/dislodge. Mercworx make the best non or semi custom one I have seen, I have one made to my specs by a local maker and I would stake my life on it (which is the point).
 
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