Have a browse at the link and let me know if its worth buying. Thanks all. British SAS-Marines Fighting Knife Wm Rogers Sheffield (eBay item 120653176955 end time 05-Dec-10 19:05:20 AEDST) : Collectables
please explain why? A simple no doesnt really help me. I belive its a 3rd pattern but im hoping someone can confirm for me. Thanks in advance.
Because it is so clearly a post-war, commercially produced knife modelled on a third-pattern F-S . It is in poor condition. It has no issue-markings at all. It has a rubbish-quality sheath. It is worth at most about £15 ( I'm not sure as to the current £/$AUs exchange rate ). If you are seriously thinking of buying an F-S knife, I'd recommend investing in a copy of Alan W Locken's little book 'A Collector's Guide To The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife' ( Winnipeg 1995 ).
FM - there are some mugs around - that is about £160 in real money. I feel a business opportunity coming on !
Robert Welcome to the Forum. If you interested, have a look here. Forming of Commando Units demanded fighting knives Lots of information on British fighting knives. Regards Richie
Thanks all. Im glad i didnt buy it then. Im new to collecting and combat kives and bayonets are a great iterest.
I'm glad that you weren't the 'successful' bidder.... As has been vividly illustatred by this thread ( and several others lately ) in these economically-uncertain times, values of 'tangible' objects in many areas of collecting are rapidly increasing as people go looking for 'investments'. In militaria, this includes medals & decorations, deactivated firearms and edged weapons. Read the e-bay seller's description closely and you'll see that it's hedged about with phrases such as 'believed to be...', 'similar to...', 'possibly...' etc. 'WWII-era...' is another frequent description. We can laugh at the bidders on this particular knife ( it was so, so obviously not WWII-issue ) but they made the classic error of believing what they wanted to believe. On this Forum, we always advise anyone new to an area of collecting - buy one or two good books on the subject and read them thoroughly. Spend tens of pounds now, and save yourself hundreds......