Identification please?

[plbramham]

Can anyone identify the type, country or date of this dagger please? The blade is 5 inches long, overall length 9.5 inches. No markings at all. Sheath appears to be felt and the hilt is a heavy metal. I bought it several years ago from a market stall selling second hand cutlery.

[Falschirmjager]

Can anyone identify the type, country or date of this dagger please? The blade is 5 inches long, overall length 9.5 inches. No markings at all. Sheath appears to be felt and the hilt is a heavy metal. I bought it several years ago from a market stall selling second hand cutlery.

Now this looks very much the same as one i had many years back which came from the USA. This example has bigger and longer blade as mine was basically a smaller version which could be hidden up a sleeve, inside a boot or concealed inside a pocket. The blade was surgical steel with serrations along the first two inches of blade and had a hard black plastic sheath. This is exactly same design but larger and minus the blade serrations. Mine it was said was Vietnam era but it seems many soldiers have and still do privately purchase knives like this as back up weapons if things get really nasty as they say. I knew a guy in Northern Ireland who always carried a sheath knife strapped to his belt-just in case!!! A knife like this can be used for skinning animals and cutting up small amounts of meat and could certainly kill someone! Shame i dont have any further info but i know these types of blade are commercially produced and exported all over the world and often sold in gun and fishing supply shops as well as military surplus outlets. Cheers for showing it anyway and hope this helps a little. Regards, Tim.