German gravity knife

[porkchop]

I know this is not a switchblade as such, but I did not know where else to post this.
My father-in-law brought this back from WWII (along with a bunch of other war trophies). It was not functional when I got it so I sent it to Bill Deshivs who did a masterful job of restoring it. These were issued to German paratroopers and they are vey high quality. When you compare these with the orange plastic scaled crap they issued to our paratroopers it is amazing we won the war!

[john]

awesome restoration and knife.

[Tom19176]

Great knife!

[whippersnapper]

[Dave. B]

Nice knife. The orange handled MC-1 was a post WW2 issue.

[gravknife]

Very nice Luftwaffe /Para. gravity knife Porkchop.

These can be notoriously hard to work on and Bill did a great job of restoring it .

I love the seated King SMF mark aswell.,and can see the waffenamt stick bird on the marlin spike which usually has a number in it .Nice grind lines visible on the blade ,a wartime knife with a story i will wager .

Great bring back by your father in law .

[porkchop]

Dave, thanks for the clarification on the orange scaled knives. Was there a paratrooper knife issued in WWII?

[porkchop]

gravknife, I had not even noticed the bird on the marlin spike! Thanks for pointing that out. I does seem to have a number in it but I can't make it out. What is the significance of the number?
Do you have one of these knives?

[gravknife]

porkchop
The waffenamt eagle or" stickbird "as its known was added by inspectors of the german army ,commonly seen with 5s and 4s . .
There may also be numbers on the locking catch on the side of your knife if you look carefully .Give it a good check on the backspring aswell when exposed there may be some there .
I do have one of these marked by Paul Weyersberg but I am a bit rusty on meanings of serial numbers etc ,maybe try war relics or wehrmacht awards forums ,they are spot on with info .
Its a nice example you posted and they are well sought after knives .
There is another takedown version of this knife which is a bit later in the war, and this was much easier to repair ,mine and yours are from 1938 onwards ,the takedowns 1943 onwards I believe .

These are interesting well built relics of war ,I love them .
Here is my example and one shared by texans123 with a rare lanyard .Also a few pics of the eagle and catch numbers for you .

[gravknife]

porkchop
As for your qustion on American paratooper knives in ww2 I believe they used Prestos .
Dont know for sure if they were issued or private purchased ,but I would love one anyway .

[porkchop]

gravknife, great info! On closer look the bird stamp has a "5". There is a "3" stamped on the latch.

[Bill DeShivs]

The US issued Presto and Schrade Cut Co. autos during WW2. Both were the same pattern.
After WW2 until around 1956, the US used Schrade-Walden knives of the same basic pattern, with a black plastic, jigged handle.
Then, the orange MC-1 was issued. The original MC-1 was produced by Schrade-Walden, and was a good quality knife. Unfortunately, most that are found today are well-used. The Later Camillus and Logan/Smyth knives cheapened the design considerably.

[porkchop]

Thanks for that info which clarifies a lot. From what you said, mine looks to be a MC-1. Tang stamp is Schrade Walden, NY USA, stainless.

[gravknife]

Thanks for clarifying the Prestos /Schrades Bill.
I could kick myself for not getting an example when I had the chance.
porkchop
Heres a takedown version of our knife by Emil Voos .If you see a lanyard like this and its reasonable in price ,buy it They are pretty rare now and go really well with the knife .