Shanghai Fighting knife

"I believe that a knife should be bright and highly polished for the reason that 20% of the fight is lost by not striking awe in the mind of the victim that a flashing knife gives." WEFairbairn. I personally own a genuine type 3 Fairbairn Sykes Commando Knife I obtained in 1970 at CTCRM. It has the
removable brass/copper handle that can be loaded with lead shot to adjust the balance. It feels so natural in the hand that it becomes an extension of your arm. It would definitely be terrifying to be at the business end when it is held by a trained knife fighter.

I also have the Boker Fairbairn Applegate knives by Boker (a bit odd that a German company should be making these - Wilkinsonsword of Sheffield wake up!) and the folding versions by Gerber. However the blades do not seem to have the emotionally threatening effect of the original.


A great link on these weapons (click on the photo). As their images are copyrighted they are not reproduced here.

MacDonald Armouries make authentic reproductions of the Type 1 and Type 2 below:
FS1batch Pasted Graphic




More information


Some History
The Fighting knife
WE Fairbairn Books
Churchill's Secret Army!

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