Kriegsmarine - Looking for Puma Assault dirk

[Billy G]

As with any hotly contested item, there always is the suspicion that it may have been fabricated by dealers looking to make a buck. And whenever Col. Jim Atwood's name is added, it's like poison to an item and one's interest in the hobby.

The Puma #8 Naval dagger appeared in period publications, as evidenced by Oleg's excellent article. Whether a particular item is period or not must be determined on an item's individual merits or lack thereof. It is a very strong piece of evidence that a particular item appears in a period catalogue or trade publication, as in this "Naval Assault" dagger. Take the Government Official dagger by Holler, most won't touch one but why would it exist in one of their 3R catalogues if the company never manufactured it?

I would agree that the originally posted dagger is cobbled together and that the blade is probably not period. Dante is a reliable seller IMO and probably made a mistake. He'd much rather take a hit on an item rather than have his reputation suffer because of a questionable sale.

Originals are, as stated, marked by Puma with the cat's head inside the diamond. I have seen both plain blade and etched blade examples so it's anyone's guess if only plain blade examples were made. Personally I don't buy the story of Puma Naval Assault daggers with a typical M38 pommel, but that's just me. One tidbit I've observed on reproductions is the pommel is much smaller than on the original examples.

[Anderson]

"but why would it exist in one of their 3R catalogues if the company never manufactured it? "

The answer Billy is manufacturers touted for business back then as today. So a manufacturer would list what they would like to make and sell in hope of an order or contract. The parallel situation we see with WKC and the so called 1st pattern Luftwaffe General Degen. It is listed and pictured in my late 1930's WKC catalogue but the evidence is it was never produced as Goring prefered the Eickhorn version. All the WKC versions that turn up are assembled from parts or post war reproductions. I believe something similar has occured with the "Naval Assault Dagger".

[Frogprince]

"but why would it exist in one of their 3R catalogues if the company never manufactured it? "

The answer Billy is manufacturers touted for business back then as today. So a manufacturer would list what they would like to make and sell in hope of an order or contract. The parallel situation we see with WKC and the so called 1st pattern Luftwaffe General Degen. It is listed and pictured in my late 1930's WKC catalogue but the evidence is it was never produced as Goring prefered the Eickhorn version. All the WKC versions that turn up are assembled from parts or post war reproductions. I believe something similar has occured with the "Naval Assault Dagger".

A reasonable common sense explanation IMO. The article saying much the same thing: "Confronted with this new organizational changing it was obviously the intention of the Puma company to create, register and introduce an entire new dagger pattern into the market and present it to the Kriegsmarine in the hope, that it would be adopted by the Navy that had since 1929 continued to use the old Weimar dagger." One of the things that I always found "curious" (for lack of a better word) about the so-called "Naval Assault Dagger" story was who was supposed to wear it? The only picture I've seen of those Kriegsmarine personnel who could be described as assault personnel has them equipped with rifles, hand grenades, and bayonets - with no daggers to be seen anywhere. Best Regards, Fred

[Transam38]

Hi All! Dante Gambino here. I figured i would chime in on this thread to clear up a few things.
Firstly, i did not inherit my dads “large collection”. Most of his collection he had to
Liquidate when he was ill to help pay for medical expenses. Being self employed, these bills nearly bankrupt him so most of the collection was gone before he passed away at the young age of 59. I was left with a bunch of old ball items, a few really nice items and a few questionable items to which i had a hard time getting answers on and ultimately left me with some bad impressions of some VERY big names. It was enough to help me launch a new business but also gave me many sleepless nights.
The few items i have found to be illegitimate, were all sold as such with no attempt to pull the wool over anyones eyes. Initially, as a newbie myself i had false hopes for this “assault dirk” but this particular one never staked up to the versions in other publications. I cannot say if the other ones are legitimate, as i can only regurgitate previous works on the matter. I can say however, that the features on the one i had were becoming more and more obvious as time went on to be a post war piece. The dagger was sold at the last SOS 2021 AS A POST WAR ITEM for a fraction of what the other publicized “good” versions were reportedly worth.
I make no attempts to dump bad items on people for crazy money. Customers are encouraged to ask questions and show items to other dealers if they have a concern. In the event something turns out to be post war, the customer has a return option and im proud to say ive never had an issue i couldn't resolve with a quick phone call or a few emails.

Thanks and take care!

Dante Gambino