(German?) Gravity Knife

[Bill DeShivs]

Expounding on Killgar's information:
These knives have a die cast zinc bolster and front cover. The zinc is pretty fragile. The front cover breaks off easily, and the single takedown screw is often cross threaded or stripped out of the soft zinc. The issue knife pattern was made by WKC, Eickhorn, and Anton Wingen.

Most of the popular German gravity knives were developed when Germany was looking for a replacement for the WW2 gravity knives in the early 1950s. The ones that were not adopted were sold commercially-at least to exporters. I don't know if they were sold in Germany or not. According to Killgar, they were not legal, and the German economy was in shambles after WW2.

[jim d,]

This is probably a good time and place for me to extend my thanks to all the contributors to this and related recent threads. Since its inception, this forum has experienced peaks and valleys of activity. We had been in a bit of a valley, but the last few weeks have seen a flurry of beneficial (in my opinion) posts. By beneficial, I mean knowledge sharing posts that contribute to the collective switchblade knowledge of our membership.

Hopefully the knowledge sharing will continue to build...

Jim

[autoknife]

And on a somewhat related note, in searching for the M1956 I stumbled upon what is described as a Yugoslavian/Serbian variation of the 1956. I don't think I've seen one before. Thought I'd post it for any possible interest.


yugo grav.jpg

I have one of these interesting gravity knives from a very good friend from Bosnia.

IMG_1918.jpeg (209.11 KiB) Viewed 221 times

IMG_1917.jpeg (271.91 KiB) Viewed 221 times

IMG_1916.jpeg (276.89 KiB) Viewed 221 times

IMG_1915.jpeg (390.79 KiB) Viewed 221 times

[button_man]

.
autoknife ~~ Thanks for sharing photos of what must be
a rarely seen knife here! Are there any markings on it?
If so, would love to see close-up photos!
.

[Killgar]

It turns out those Yugo/Serb gravity knives aren't that rare, at least not in eastern Europe. I found several posted on eastern European forums and for-sale sites. But I couldn't find any solid information about these.

The only marking I could find is this blade etch, probably the maker, but I can't make it out. It might be in Cyrillic.

Some of these knives, like Autoknife's above, and others I've seen have what looks like some kind of stamp on the underside of the trap door, but I don't believe that it's a stamp, I think it's just a mark from the tip of the blade hitting the soft metal of the trap door.


Blade etch

img-1713611264-fcd52b8bc710.jpg (147.82 KiB) Viewed 163 times

That knife

img-1713611260-4cd7be54c6a6.jpg (199.6 KiB) Viewed 163 times

A different Yugo/Serb knife with the mark under the cap

Screenshot 2025-11-05 100745.png (288.33 KiB) Viewed 163 times

[OldIsGold]

.
Possibly my last visit to the flea this year..... bought this old beat-up gravity for $20. Blade has seen a lot of use & knife won't lock closed, but figured it might be worth salvaging.

Faint markings show a knight's helmet; the letters "WKC"; "rostfrei"; and the number "57".

Any info appreciated.... especially time of manufacture.
.

[autoknife]

.
autoknife ~~ Thanks for sharing photos of what must be
a rarely seen knife here! Are there any markings on it?
If so, would love to see close-up photos!
.

None that I can see.