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Page Armory » Blades
Posted: 1/25/2016 2:33:37 AM EDT
Does anyone know where I can find a reproduction that has a sharpened blade, doesn't cost a fortune and isn't complete crap?
So far my google fu is weak and the only hits I came up with had bad reviews. Thanks in advance for any help.
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 2:43:09 AM EDT
[#1]
I have the real thing, my Great-Grandfather carried this in WW1. What a badass knife designed to ruin the bad guys day. Good luck to you, I hope you find one.
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 3:04:56 AM EDT
[#2]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I have the real thing, my Great-Grandfather carried this in WW1. What a badass knife designed to ruin the bad guys day. Good luck to you, I hope you find one.
View Quote


Thanks. My grandfather had one, I don't know what happened to it.
He sold a bunch of stuff before he died.
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 6:25:35 AM EDT
[#3]
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 8:12:04 AM EDT
[#4]
They are banned here because my .gov is a bunch of ball chugging commie queer mother fuckers!

I really want one
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 8:59:45 AM EDT
[#5]
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 9:43:52 AM EDT
[#6]
Try Mike Smith Firearms in Port Arthur Tx.
Link Posted: 1/25/2016 10:40:16 AM EDT
[#7]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History



Great, now I want a boarding axe too.
Thanks for the replies, guys.
Link Posted: 1/26/2016 10:37:46 PM EDT
[#8]
A good replica of the Mark One, 1918 bronze handle trench knife is not available.

The only current replicas are absolute trash, made in China.
The handles are not even close to the original US Mark One or even the French made Au Lion Mark One.
The latest version may not even have a real brass handle, many ads say "brass colored".
The blades are stainless steel and better shaped then the older Japanese replicas, but thinner then the USGI originals.
These junk knives are all that's available now, and are sold by many online places.
Best advice...DON'T.  They really are trash.

http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/products/Combat+Ready/Combat+Ready%26%23153%3B+1918+WWI+Trench+Knife/CO032.html

Note that the "scabbard" is the same as used on the older Japanese made version and are total junk.
It's not unusual to open the box and find the scabbard has separated and fallen apart.
The belt prongs are ridiculously weak and can be pulled off easily with your fingers.
In no way could the scabbard be actually used to carry the knife.

A better knife was the older 1960-1970's Japanese version.  The blade was stainless but not as well made and shaped as the current junk.
The handle was brass but still not like an original USGI or French Au Lion Mark One.  
Some of these were sold to GI's passing through Japan to Vietnam, but the scabbard was the same weak trash as the current junk.

The best of them all is one I've never been able to identify, other than that it "may" have been made in Japan, or at least the blade may have been.  My knife has no markings on the blade or handle as to where it was made.
The blade is stainless and as thick as the original WWII Landers, Frary, & Clark.  However it's shaped differently then the original.
What made it so good was the handle is cast from bronze like the original US Mark One, not brass like most people think, and it was made using an original L,F,&C handle as a mold master.
If you look close on mine you can just make out where the L.F.&C 1918 mark was removed.

As said, I've never been able to find out where or when it was made, but I have seen one other with a carbon steel blade just like my stainless, with "Japan" stamped on the blade, but no maker markings on the handle.
I've never seen any kind of scabbard with one of these.

My "Japanese"??? Mark One.  Scabbard not original to the knife.  I made this one from sheet metal.
Note that a real bronze L.F.&C handle was used as a mold master.  Blade is stainless, as thick as an original but shaped differently.
The quality of this knife is such that it could have been used in actual combat since it was about as good as an original US version.


The original Landers, Frary, & Clark Mark One trench knife, often improperly called a "1918" due to the handle mark.


How the Mark One was intended to be worn..... On the INSIDE of the belt.
When issued in WWII, too many people didn't know this and wore them on the OUTSIDE of a cartridge or pistol belt.
One pull and the prongs on the scabbard would break off.
The scabbard was iron, copper plated, then chemically blackened.  The prongs were attached with copper rivets:


The US Mark One made in France for the AEF.  This is the Au Lion version.  Real brass handle, blade same as used on the French fighting knife, European bayonet type steel scabbard with welded on prongs.
The older 1960's-70's Japanese replica looks more like this then the current trash.


Best advice is to haunt gun shows or the gun auction sites and try to find one of the older Japanese versions.
The handle looks pretty much like the L.F.&C but doesn't have the spikes on the knuckles.
It's still kind of junk but not nearly as bad as the current crap.









Link Posted: 1/27/2016 2:20:42 PM EDT
[#9]
This is a copy of one that I made for myself in Iraq. I had an old Chinese knockoff knuckleduster and an M7 bayonet, so I made me a "scary knife" to wear around town. I lopped the "ears" off the knuckleduster handle, cut the tang off the bayonet blade, welded a "quarter twenty" bolt to the bottom of the blade, then jammed the whole thing into the brass handle, capping it off with the brass pommel screw and finally putting it in the issue sheath.  I sold my theater-made knife to a buddy who was extending, but missed it enough to duplicate it after I got home.

This one is a bit different, because I painted the handle in Brownell's Alumahyde black and the scabbard in Alumahyde OD green, as well as re-Parkerizing the whole blade after cutting and welding the tang bolt.

Not bad for less than a hundred bucks.



Link Posted: 2/6/2016 12:55:44 AM EDT
[#10]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
This is a copy of one that I made for myself in Iraq. I had an old Chinese knockoff knuckleduster and an M7 bayonet, so I made me a "scary knife" to wear around town. I lopped the "ears" off the knuckleduster handle, cut the tang off the bayonet blade, welded a "quarter twenty" bolt to the bottom of the blade, then jammed the whole thing into the brass handle, capping it off with the brass pommel screw and finally putting it in the issue sheath.  I sold my theater-made knife to a buddy who was extending, but missed it enough to duplicate it after I got home.

This one is a bit different, because I painted the handle in Brownell's Alumahyde black and the scabbard in Alumahyde OD green, as well as re-Parkerizing the whole blade after cutting and welding the tang bolt.

Not bad for less than a hundred bucks.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0042.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0043.jpg
View Quote


That's pretty sweet. Looks like it'd make a good project to do
Link Posted: 2/6/2016 7:59:13 PM EDT
[#11]


 



ETA this is on Plowshareforge.com on the second page (go to "older posts" at the bottom of the page.  
Link Posted: 2/6/2016 9:04:30 PM EDT
[#12]
Looks like a French-made Mark One that was altered for WWII.
A common WWII alteration was to cut off one or both sides of the round guard so it could lay flatter against the side, or allow using a non-original sheath of some sort.

The sheath shown is newly made, not a period replacement.

Here's a French made Mark One "Au Lion" made for the AEF during WWI, and also used in WWII.
These were much lower quality then the American made Mark One knives.



They weren't used just by paratroopers.  Early Rangers also were issued them, and anyone who could get their hands on one carried them too.
Link Posted: 2/7/2016 2:04:22 AM EDT
[#13]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
This is a copy of one that I made for myself in Iraq. I had an old Chinese knockoff knuckleduster and an M7 bayonet, so I made me a "scary knife" to wear around town. I lopped the "ears" off the knuckleduster handle, cut the tang off the bayonet blade, welded a "quarter twenty" bolt to the bottom of the blade, then jammed the whole thing into the brass handle, capping it off with the brass pommel screw and finally putting it in the issue sheath.  I sold my theater-made knife to a buddy who was extending, but missed it enough to duplicate it after I got home.

This one is a bit different, because I painted the handle in Brownell's Alumahyde black and the scabbard in Alumahyde OD green, as well as re-Parkerizing the whole blade after cutting and welding the tang bolt.

Not bad for less than a hundred bucks.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0042.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0043.jpg
View Quote


That is really cool. As far as all the other posts, I appreciate all the info. They're a nice piece of our history, it's a shame no one makes a quality replica.
Oh well, I can still get the boarding axe.
Link Posted: 2/7/2016 8:04:24 PM EDT
[#14]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Great, now I want a boarding axe too.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
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View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:









Great, now I want a boarding axe too.

Thanks for the replies, guys.
If you go to that page, then hit "older posts" at the bottom of the page, the knife I posted is half way down the page.  Costs $175.  New manufacture.  

 
Link Posted: 2/11/2016 8:18:58 PM EDT
[#15]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
If you go to that page, then hit "older posts" at the bottom of the page, the knife I posted is half way down the page.  Costs $175.  New manufacture.    
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:



Great, now I want a boarding axe too.
Thanks for the replies, guys.
If you go to that page, then hit "older posts" at the bottom of the page, the knife I posted is half way down the page.  Costs $175.  New manufacture.    


This is a trick to get me to buy even more stuff, isn't it?
Link Posted: 2/11/2016 8:44:07 PM EDT
[#16]
I make a version of the WW2 M6 leather scabbard for the WW1 M1918 knife

THE WW1 US issue trench knife though?
The M1917 = 100% badass design, way better than the M1918
Link Posted: 2/12/2016 5:51:42 AM EDT
[#17]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
This is a copy of one that I made for myself in Iraq. I had an old Chinese knockoff knuckleduster and an M7 bayonet, so I made me a "scary knife" to wear around town. I lopped the "ears" off the knuckleduster handle, cut the tang off the bayonet blade, welded a "quarter twenty" bolt to the bottom of the blade, then jammed the whole thing into the brass handle, capping it off with the brass pommel screw and finally putting it in the issue sheath.  I sold my theater-made knife to a buddy who was extending, but missed it enough to duplicate it after I got home.

This one is a bit different, because I painted the handle in Brownell's Alumahyde black and the scabbard in Alumahyde OD green, as well as re-Parkerizing the whole blade after cutting and welding the tang bolt.

Not bad for less than a hundred bucks.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0042.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q293/doubleclaw/The%20Gun%20Closet/DSC_0043.jpg
View Quote


That looks awesome!
Link Posted: 2/12/2016 10:13:18 AM EDT
[#18]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I make a version of the WW2 M6 leather scabbard for the WW1 M1918 knife

THE WW1 US issue trench knife though?
The M1917 = 100% badass design, way better than the M1918
View Quote


Didn't the '17 version have a habit of breaking? I thought I read that somewhere.
I freely admit I could be wrong though.
Link Posted: 2/13/2016 10:14:17 PM EDT
[#19]
If you refer to the Model 1917-1918 spike blade trench "knife", it's not really a knife.

It was the first trench knife designed for AEF use but was a failure.
It was an effective trench weapon with which you could punch, skull crack, and stab, but you couldn't CUT anything with it because the blade was just a triangular ice pick-like spike.

For use as a weapon for night time patrols in no mans land it was pretty useless because you couldn't cut a sentry's throat.
In an actual knife fight it wasn't very effective because you couldn't slash or cut with it.
The tip had a problem with breaking off, which is why many of them have been re-pointed.
It was large and easily hung up on equipment or projections, the green leather and steel scabbard only allowed the knife to be carried and used by a right-handed person, and ......you couldn't cut anything.

This meant the soldier had to carry a bayonet, the 1917-1918 trench knife and still needed a knife to cut all the things a soldier needed to cut.
The Mark One was a real knife that could cut and slash as a weapon and still be used as a combat knife for opening rations, cutting rope, and all the other needs for an actual cutting tool.

This is why in the 1920's the Model 1917-1918 trench knife was declared surplus and sold off while the Mark One was retained and reissued in WWII.


Page Armory » Blades
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