(Originally published on Breach Bang Clear)
Monday Night Knife Fights- M1917 Trench Dagger
Mike the Mook
The U.S. M1917 trench knife was designed by Henry Disston & Sons, and was first the official fighting knife adopted for military service. This was no knife for mundane tasks such as opening cases of ammunition or cutting paracord. This knife is intended for punching with its metal knuckle guard, and its trefoil-style cruciform blade was designed to stab the ever loving hell out of “ze Germans”.
This style of the knife was based on designs used by the French Army for close quarter battle going back to the Franco-Prussian War. There is no edge to this knife; this is an old school cruciform or triangular bayonet, with a handle and knuckle guard added.
The knife pictured is perhaps one of the best looking replicas of the 1917 that we have ever seen. It is made by Windlass Steelcrafts of India and sold through Atlanta Cutlery. From having examined several original M1917s, we think this one is almost perfect, with the exception being the knuckles. The originals were solid and these are hollowed out for cost and weight.
As for the sheath; it is insanely accurate. Windlass manufactures swords for numerous military powers and has been in the game since the 1950s, so they know a thing or two about how these things were made and can reproduce them properly.
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