Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife

[voodoo]

So I picked this up at a garage sale in Calgary for .50 cents. I think it is a Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife. condition is a bit rough but still cool for .50 cents. any idea of what it's worth?

 

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[voodoo]

wow that's a cruddy pic let try and get a better one. brb

 

[voodoo]

meh not much better...

 

[billn1956]

It looks right. do not know what one would be worth.

 

[diggummup]

Yeah, can't see much detail in those pics. It's definitely a commando knife. As far as which company made it and when, I don't know. Here is a good site for you to explore to find out all you want to know about your knife. Nice find btw, I like it.
British Commando Knife

 

[Terry Soloman]

Looks like a repro. What are the markings on the blade?

 

[voodoo]

on the handle side of the hilt there are two stamps. One looks like crows feet (Three 'feet' or prongs if you will). and the letter F (if that helps at all) I tried to take a pick with I-Phone just comes out blurry. No markings on the blade.

 

[diggummup]

I was thinking maybe post war production myself.

 

[voodoo]

thanks for the tips folks. I will research it more. I'll try and get some better pics.

 

[diggummup]

on the handle side of the hilt there are two stamps. One looks like crows feet (Three 'feet' or prongs if you will). and the letter F (if that helps at all) I tried to take a pick with I-Phone just comes out blurry. No markings on the blade.

Did you check the underside of the cross guard for marks? The reson I ask is because I found a knife with the crows foot mark and letter F but it is also marked on the underside of the guard "England". It can be found here if you wanna take a look, 17th one down (FSFK-20). http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...es.net/pages/fs.htm+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Is it definitely an "F" and not an I? Here are what they say about the "crows feet" mark-

[TABLE="width: 900"]
[TR]
[TD]It carries the "

I" stamp (but NO ENGLAND stamp).The Broad Arrow and I stamp is NOT Ishapor but the acceptance mark of the India Stores Department, who prewar marked the good Arrow and ISD.
During the war any stores for India were marked "I".[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[NHBandit]

If it's a real one you did very very well. Another one to look for is a Gerber MKII. A US military issue MKII with the leather scabbard that dates to the Vietnam era is worth quite a few bucks. Even a modern version made for the civilian market can bring a couple hundred bucks. They can be dated by the serial number. I sold one of these 60s era military issue versions a couple years ago for $700..

 

[gunsil]

Nice Gerber!! But they were never U.S. military issue knives. They were private purchase knives available at the PX stores, from catalogs, and directly from Gerber, and very popular in 'Nam. Voodoo, your knife is a second model F-S knife, and a nice find, especially for the price!! It is mid-war vintage. Sadly the tip has been broken and re-shaped, hard to get a real idea of overall condition from your pics. Still probably worth a couple hundred U.S. dollars. Nice ones with original sheaths bring around $500-600. Mint ones in mint sheaths a little more.

 

[voodoo]

yes the pics i posted above do have 'England' stamped on the hilt as well. so It has the letter 'F' the crows feet and 'England' stamped on the other side of the hilt.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Here you go Voodoo: British Commando Knife marks

 

[diggummup]

Here you go Voodoo: British Commando Knife marks

Same website I already posted a link to.

 

[voodoo]

2nd Pattern F-S Fighting w/o Wilkinson trademark this would be my best guess with the info everyone has provided.

 

[GregK]

"2nd Pattern F-S Fighting w/o Wilkinson trademark". From what I can see you are correct. The ENGLAND stamp on the hilt was put on post war to make them legal for export. Many, many moons ago you used to be able to buy these at United Army Surplus here in Winnipeg for $3.00 a piece. I have no reason to doubt its authenticity. If you'd like you can PM me and I will put you into contact with a friend (who is mentioned several times in the website linked by others) who wrote a collector's guide on the F/S knives. He will be able to tell you all about it without any doubt about originality.

Thanks,
Greg