Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I recently ordered this knife and I'm quite pleased with it. It's not up to the quality of a custom hand-made knife but it compares well in quality to actual military knives I've been issued. The blade is blued carbon steel, while the cross-hilt and pommel are painted or plated black, not unlike the inexpensive finishes on some military knives and bayonets. Blade, grip, and pommel are straight and the forging/grinding of the diamond cross-section blade is cleanly done. This shaping was clearly accomplished prior to tempering, as the blade did take a slight (barely visible viewed point-on) twist in tempering, but not so much that it hinders sharpening or function. This is really a minor detail and helps keep cost down -- grinding prior to tempering saves wear on the grinding machinery.
The stacked leather grip is finely and deeply grooved as were the originals. It's well-shaped and gives an excellent grip. The leather padding of the cross-hilt is an interesting feature. The cup hilts of fencing foils and sabers are commonly padded to protect the knuckles when thrusting and I've included a leather-padded cross-hilt on several large knives I've made, but this is the only production-made knife I've ever seen with this feature. It does it's intended job, protecting the fingers from the hard edges of the cross-hilt, and I'm surprised it's not more commonly featured. It does make the knife markedly more comfortable in the hand.
The pommel was slightly loose when the knife arrived, but it's cleanly treaded on the substantial blade tang so was no problem to hand-tighten. There is a separate hex nut under the pommel securing the stacked leather grip, which might come in handy many years in the future. If the grip shrinks or becomes loose through use it could be tightened with a wrench with no fear of damaging the pommel.
The "thumbprint" on the blade is stamped or forged rather than ground-in as was done on the originals and there is no maker's name where "CASE" would have appeared below the thumbprint. "HANWEI" and "DALIAN CHINA" are very lightly stamped in tiny letters on the flat of the blade opposite the thumbprint. I suppose someone might stamp "CASE" below the thumbprint, apply a little artful wear to remove the light maker's markings, and try to pass this off as original, but the stamped thumbprint would be an immediate give-away.
I've long been interested in making fighting knives and purchased this knife to get some feel for the "state of the art" as of WWII. It's not a collector's item other than as an example of the design so I feel that sharpening it and handling it won't detract from its value. A little work with a carborundum stone and finishing with an Arkansas stone put a very good edge on this knife. While the double-edged blade is only 0.74" wide at the hilt and 0.16" thick, the diamond cross-section was carried from a peaked central spine almost to the edges, with only a very light final grinding, and the blade is tapered in thickness to correspond to the tapering of the edges. Thus, it was fairly easy to put an accute, shaving-sharp edge on it.
The blade has a spring temper and is slightly flexible, but the ease of sharpening suggests to me that the blade isn't tempered very hard. I wouldn't expect it to hold an edge well in utility use, but it's not meant for such use. After sharpening it I applied some cold bluing which quickly turned the blade a uniform black, indicating that it's a carbon steel of some sort, although I haven't been able to find any information on the actual alloy used.
In his book "Combat Use of the Double-edged Fighting Knife" Combat Use Of The Double-Edged Fighting Knife, Col. Rex Applegate notes that in combat use the Fairbairn Sykes Commando Knife Fairbairn Sykes Commando Knife, Leather Leg Sheath (SH71490) Category: Utility Knives, on which this one is patterned, was abused by being used as a utility knife and proved too weak in the blade, breaking at the tip and at the hilt. He designed his Applegate Fairbairn fighting knife Boker Applegate Fairbairn A-F II Fixed Knife to be broader in the blade and stronger, as well as being easier to sharpen, to overcome this problem.
I've no doubt Col. Applegate is correct, this knife's blade is light and thin, not nearly as robust and dummy-proof as most military issue knives. On the other hand, it's 7" blade and slightly handle-heavy balance (about 1" behind the hilt) make it very fast-handling and it takes an excellent edge with careful sharpening. Within it's limitations -- it's not meant to open tin cans or sharpen tent pegs -- it's all in all a most excellent design. And now I can't wait to compare it to the Applegate Fairbairn knife I've just ordered!
Click Here to see more reviews about: CAS Hanwei V-42 WWII Dagger
Issued to U.S. Special Forces in WWII, the V-42 combat knife featured a skull-cracker butt cap, double-edged blued blade and a stacked leather washer grip. This replica by Hanwei is authentically detailed and fully functional.
Click here for more information about CAS Hanwei V-42 WWII Dagger
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