Military Clasp Knives

smiling-knife said:
That was the pattern 6353 which was issued from 1905 to 1939. They only had the year stamped on them 1937-39. Here's a Joseph Rodgers and Sons perhaps similar to your friend's knife. The scales are chequered buffalo horn.

Rodgers2.jpg
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Very informative as always S-K, Here's my own Joseph Rodgers.



















(Originally posted here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1090344-A-Joseph-Rodgers-WW1-Clasp-Knife)

As you can see the shackle is bent. I've seen others with similarly bent shackles, and am unsure if they've just been damaged or if they were deliberately bent, perhaps to allow the knife to be carried in a certain position. The knife is in otherwise decent shape, with no blade play at all, but the tin-opener is a real struggle to open.
 
I spent half an hour messing about with this Nowill today, which I picked up a couple of months ago. The covers on one side appear to have swollen and were putting pressure on the pivot. I like the pattern, but the spring on the main blade is shot unfortunately, so I doubt I'll spend too much time on this one. I didn't want to leave it as it was though, so I used my Taylor's clasp knife to trim back the scale material, and scrape out the remainder from round the pivot pin. With clamp and hammer I set about correcting the pivot, and then put a bit of epoxy in the substantial gap under the cover. It's now clamped. See how it goes.











 
Nice knives Jack. This Canadian military WWI knife was made by Thomas Turner. The M & D is for Militia and Defence.

Turner2.jpg

Turner3.jpg
 
Thanks for pulling together a central thread, Jack. There seems to be almost enough interest in these knives to make this a sticky. I have posted these pictures before, but in the interests of completeness, here they are again.

1) British military style, 1941-1945 era based on design features. Completely unmarked, so a mystery. Member gr8dismal recently posted an identical one, also unmarked, in the "What traditional knife are you totin' today?" thread.





2) My father's WW2 Canadian (RCAF) issue made by Case. Aluminum handles, 4 7/8" (123mm) closed, 5.8 oz. (164 g).






 
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Very nice knives. Great example of the Case pattern M346. That one dates 1942-45. Thanks for posting them.
 
^ That's a nice one S-K :thumbup:
 
Thanks Jack. This one is somewhat rare. It is the basically the same 6353 pattern but with stag scales. It has seen some hard use over the years. It was made by Hunter Sheffield and has a Broad Arrow I mark for issue in India. This one came to me via Alaska and Texas so you could say it's been around the block a little.

Hunter1.jpg

Hunter2.jpg
 
That has certainly got some great character S-K. Lovely. Thanks for letting us see it :)
 
I have to get one of these someday. I'll post up my Soviet-era clasp tomorrow- heavy SOB, about 6" closed, sheepsfoot blade about an eighth inch thick.
 
This thread had some unpredicted effect on me. Your fault, obviously. :p
I searched for one of the Italian made military clasp knives, but had no luck. Meanwhile, I found out that there's one company in southern Europe that still produces this same pattern, selling it as "sailor's knife" :)
I will post a picture of it soon. Meanwhile, I can share a few thoughts on the pattern itself.
The knife is quite big and heavy (compared to what I'm used to), and fills my hand completely. The spike is quite big, and aside from it's original use, I don't know if I will find any other task for it. The sheepsfoot blade is one of my favourites, while I suspect that the shackle tool might come in handy in many situations. And the screwdriver/scraper tip will also be useful. The knife has strong pulls (hopefully, it will lossen up a bit with some soap and oil), and I decided to carry it a bit, and see how it works.

Fausto
:cool:
 
This is the much debated 'gift' knife. Although not an official military issue, it is believed that these were included in gift packs sent to the troops at the front in WWI.

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So, here is my knife:

1ok3.jpg


before some cleaning. Now that some late summer rains are getting in, I will bring it out and see how it goes. :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Yes, the knife is an exact copy of the old British pattern, and that's why I got it :)
The bottle opener/ can opener combo is what made me think that these knife are widely comparable to scout knives in terms of versatility.

Fausto
:cool:
 
I picked this one up the other day, from 1938, possibly the most dangerous knife I've ever handled! Despite the spring having gone on the blade, it's still very difficult to prise it open, while opening the tin-opener nearly gave me a hernia, even with the aid of pliers! As you can see from the pics, the tang stamp is very feint, but with the aid of a powerful magnifying glass and strong light, it looks like it says 'Slater' over 'Brothers' over 'Sheffield'.









BTW that's red paint on the cover, not my blood!
 
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