Description
WW2 Western Pilot Knife Baby Shark fighting knife, scarce Bakelite fittings type; “theater-made” custom scabbard. Great overall condition, considering the age.
A scarce WW2 era American utility/fighting knife manufactured during the war by Western Cutlery in Boulder, Colorado. This is a harder-to-find WW2 era US issue “Baby Shark” model utility-fighting knife issued to the USAF crews during the war as an all-purpose fighting/survival knife in case of a bail-out. This exact type is illustrated on page 234 of the KNIVES OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY WORLD WAR II book by Michael W Silvey – a well-established expert an author of many books on the subject of US military edged weapons (see the page’s scan attached with the photos).
A nice example of the Bakelite pommel/guard type – during the war Western Cutlery had phased-out the use of aluminum and bronze as the material for knife handles in favor of Bakelite in order to conserve strategic metals for the war effort. Stacked leather washers handle with colored fiber spacers on the ends; reddish-brown Bakelite guard and pommel. The handle is solid; all parts are tight with no play. Bakelite parts are intact with no cracks, chips or typical contact marks – rare as such as this plastic was prone to damage in the field. The knife is about 9″ / 23 cm overall; fullered “bright finish” blade is about 4-3/4″ /12 cm long; the blade has been re-sharpened and it’s razor-sharp still; the tip is intact. The scabbard is not original to the knife; looks like this is a “theater-made” replacement made from whatever materials were available on hand. The scabbard is in great shape, considering the age; the leather is soft and supply; some minor stitching loss near the tip is noted for accuracy.
This attractive WW2 Western Baby Shark Pilot Knife has not been cleaned or tampered with in any way, it is in 100% original “as is” condition. These are the actual photos. I have a few more American WW2 era combat knives and bayonets, as well as several scarce WW1 and WW2 fighting daggers and trench knives from other countries available for sale – please take a look in our Militaria section.
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International shipping for this item will be $44 and up to most countries on our “ship-to” list.
