It’s not wear, he’s sharpened it and destroyed its value. However he earned the right todo whatever the hell he wanted to do wit it. It was never a fighting knife... it’s a field/ Boy Scout knife
@@eugenevictortooms4174no it wasn’t. It was handled by kids who didn’t take care of their knives and do what kids do with knives. Some used them to throw into trees. Probably what happened here and a kid hit the handle.
Very cool. I appreciate people who use their knives practically, it's very cool you still have it on hand. I have a reproduction without the Swatzica or blade text in 440 steel. It's a fun knife to carry and good for food prep or light wood work. It's also a cool nod to history in general.
That’s amazing my grandpa fought in the pacific and was able to take all of his guns home and used them to hunt instead of like displaying them like I would.
My dad didn't think the relics were anything special. He said the Germans were desperate to surrender to the Americans, to avoid capture by the Russians. Everyone who wanted a Hitler Youth knife, SS dagger ceremonial sword etc. could find one. Dad brought home a 16 gauge, 8x57 drilling that was my pheasant gun. I could use any of his firearms, provided, of course, that I cleaned and wiped them down afterwards.
It bitter sweet a knife get made to just be a knife and a uniform decoration. Gets thrown into war sees some stuff. Then lives the rest of its life peacefully on a farm in iowa
My Father collects Nazi Daggers and other WWII items. I grew up learning all about the makers and who used them. Kinda neat seeing this pop up here and the story to go along with it, thanks
The plastic component was made of bakalite/bakerlite. Same plastic was used for home phones manufactured and used from the 1950's onwards to the 1970's. Its expense and better, cheaper plastics ended up replacing bakerlite. Germany pioneered plastic manufacturing early on. The knife is a wonderful looking weapon.
I literally just found one of these knives in my grandads house while re-doing the basement today. mine doesnt have the holder or the finger guard on it and its rusted really good
I have the same exact knife that I found in the barn at my wife's family farm. Her dad was in Germany during or just after the war. The nickel plating is mostly worn off the hilt and the emblem in the handle is missing. However, the handle is in perfect condition otherwise. I also have the sheath and the complete leather straps that are attached to it, although the part that is made to encircle the handle is broken. Apparently the handle emblems denoted the regiment or unit the owner belonged to. I've read that the knives were often highly valued by their eventual owners, but that the emblems were often pried out and discarded less anyone thought the owner supported the Nazis. I think the symbol is also outlawed in Germany, so that's another reason it may have been removed. The knife has had very little use and other than having the nickel worn off. This leads me to believe that the emblem was pried out rather than just falling out from hard use. My blade appears to have had very little use, although it has a dark patina, similar to what Old Hickory carbon knives get. For those that can't make it out in your photo, there is a leather-like material at the base of the blade where it meets the guard. I assume that's to make the knife add the sheath mate up nicely and stop any potential rattles. On the side of the blade where the emblem was, there appears to be some very faint letters that. Due to some very faint wear marks that don't match the wear marks on the rest of the blade, I think there may have been something painted or very faintly etched but which was later removed, perhaps by using steel wool. On the side opposite the emblem, there is a circle with the R7 and a very tiny A just below them. Below the circle it reads M7/13. The blade length, which appears to be the original length, is 5 and 9/16ths inches long from the tip to the guard. The forward half of the handle is strongly magnetic, but the bottom half is not, being I assume, made from some cheaper metal. To me, this blade shape resembles many popular bushcraft knives, especially the Kephart design, but with a slightly longer blade that also has a slightly more elongated blade taper. It's also not far off from the shape of a reproduction Mountain Man Buffalo Skinner's knife that I have. The skinner's knife has a longer and finer point though. I love it for processing deer and wild hogs! The sheath is painted steel with a piece of spring steel inside to firmly hold the knife when it is sheathed. The knife will go into the sheath either way. There are two rivets on the back which fasten the leather strap to it. There is no drain hole in the bottom of the metal sheath, which is really the only design flaw the knife suffers from in my opinion. I've wondered how good the blade steel really was on these knives. Based on the video comments, it seems to be pretty decent. My knife is not in good enough condition to be a collector's item, and I wouldn't let it go to someone that wanted it for that reason anyway. I'm going to sharpen it really well and give it a go cleaning some animals this fall. It turns out to be a blade that I really like, I may think about modifying it into a camping/bushcraft type knife. I'm not super crazy about the huge finger guard either, so I am eyeing cutting that down and rounding it off by about 50%. Once it proves itself, I might drill out the pins in the handle that hold the plastic handle on and replace them with some exotic wood or bone/antler. I think that I could also drill out the rivets holding the leather strap to it and either replace the leather with a more belt friendly leather design or a plastic Blade-tec type fastener to make it easy to put on and take off a belt. I'm thinking of drilling a small drain hole in the tip and having a local company put some kind of rust resistant coating like they do for firearms on it. The second option is to clean it up, repair the handle, and make the sheath more user friendly, or have someone make me a more functional kydex sheath, and use it on a second pistol belt/go-rig for when the zombies come. :-)
Don't modify it. It is unique as it is, and there are many modern knives that can do what you want your knife to do! Find out more about how the knife got to the USA and turn it into a family heirloom!
@@survivalcommonsense My wife's mom and dad have passed on, so all we know is that her dad brought it home from Germany. At the very least, I plan to sharpen it and use it some in the field this fall. I'll make an honest blade of her yet!
I have one of these also. Got it from my dad who got it from an uncle who I never knew. The swastika emblems are gone and it didn't come with a sheath. But the blade sure does sharpen up hair popping razor sharp. I come from a military family that served from the civil war up into the conflicts in the middle east. I wonder how my long lost great uncle came upon this knife. Thanks for sharing this.
Like other nations the Germans adapted commercial hunting knife patterns to military use and mass produced to issue as many as possible to all personnel. This process began in 1915 during WW1, initially Officers then had swords and enlisted men 20" bladed bayonets holdovers from the 19th Century but not much good to a vehicle driver, radio operator, medic, gun crewman, or even regular grunt soldier needing a utility tool and close quarters fighting knife. Between the Wars and into WW2 the Axis militarized society, arming the boyscouts, and then the adult troops especially those armed with handguns and submachineguns not usually equipped with bayonets but having use for knives. Whoever had this likely started out as a hitler youth boyscout taking it to war and it ended up as the found trophy of a victor. Fascinating.
With mine I could sometimes hear this noise when I would turn it upsidedown. Finally after years of curiosity and prodding from my son one day.. we worked a long retractable painter/wallpaper razor knife into the sheath and out popped a Reich's Phenning (I think I spelled that right?) Cool right . But it still made the sound so back in with the blade and eventually another one pops out. They are 1943 and 1942
If you live in austria today , the government takes away all things from 2nd world war and destroy it. They don t interested if its a memory from your grandfather or family history. For example :you have grandfathers ss ring , and someone who knows it tell this the police , you get visited and have a house search. If they found things of 3 rd reich they take it from you and you in big trouble. Thats austria today .....😢
Say, if we went to war with Russia and a year after you get home from that war, you had a russian knife, would you seriously give a fuck if you damaged it? No you wouldn't.
@@ADAMHack-vp1wt You clearly haven't had contact with many HJ knives and more proof of your infancy in the field, you called it a "dagger" Any knife from that period will look as well kept as the owners decide to keep it. You will find some that have been sitting in a box for that entire period that look prestine, you will see some that has been used, but kept clean from grime with products, and some that look like they were dug out of the ground but were kept in a damp attic for decades. I own 10 of these, all come from veterans with proven backgrounds, as well as factual checks from reputable collectors and sources and two of them share the same condition as this one.
I liked that scene from Saving Private Ryan, when Mellish said he will use it as a "Challah" cutter..Your Dad is a hero..like mine was in Korea. He had the right to do anything he wanted to with that blade.
I'm not absolutely sure what the material is. I've read that some of the knives had a plastic handle. My knife, apparently made before 1938, has what appears to be a plastic handle.
Imagine living your whole young life being indoctrinated into some weird cult that taught you that you were the master race and that it was by your sheer strength of will and genetic purity that you would rule the world, and you get this cool knife as a token of who manly you are and to encourage you to be part of an organization teaching you some of the things you'll need to be a good soldier, then 3 years later you're getting gutted by some Iowa farmboy who takes that knife and uses it to slice twine in the garage for the rest of his life.
People saying it’s ruined? His father found it tossed on the side of the road surrendered... his father used it. Better being used for a farmer than displayed in some sick honor of the Fascists
6r6 b6 exactly. It’s a knife. He used it as it was intended to be used. It’s worthless if it’s kept inside a box and never used purely for the sake of history, when honestly there’s probably an abundance of them already in museums.
It’s not wear, he’s sharpened it and destroyed its value. However he earned the right todo whatever the hell he wanted to do wit it. It was never a fighting knife... it’s a field/ Boy Scout knife
It has no effect on value. Hitler youth knives were often sharpened by the members themselves because they were very dull from factory.
@@cerberous5509 sharpening during the period is fine, sharpening after period isn’t. Value is reduced and OP is correct.
With a handguard like that, it's a fighting knife.
It’s not stainless steel either…
@@eugenevictortooms4174no it wasn’t. It was handled by kids who didn’t take care of their knives and do what kids do with knives. Some used them to throw into trees. Probably what happened here and a kid hit the handle.
The translation on the blade is the HJ motto "Blood and Honor".
yes that is correct
HJ? Hand job? The hand job motto? Lol
Lots of blood anyway...
especially towards the end.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@crinklediaper Hitler Youth in German is why its HJ
Very cool. I appreciate people who use their knives practically, it's very cool you still have it on hand. I have a reproduction without the Swatzica or blade text in 440 steel. It's a fun knife to carry and good for food prep or light wood work. It's also a cool nod to history in general.
That’s amazing my grandpa fought in the pacific and was able to take all of his guns home and used them to hunt instead of like displaying them like I would.
My dad didn't think the relics were anything special. He said the Germans were desperate to surrender to the Americans, to avoid capture by the Russians. Everyone who wanted a Hitler Youth knife, SS dagger ceremonial sword etc. could find one. Dad brought home a 16 gauge, 8x57 drilling that was my pheasant gun. I could use any of his firearms, provided, of course, that I cleaned and wiped them down afterwards.
Mine still has the ‘Blut und Ehre’ etched onto the blade and is pretty much in good condition considering it’s age.
It bitter sweet a knife get made to just be a knife and a uniform decoration. Gets thrown into war sees some stuff. Then lives the rest of its life peacefully on a farm in iowa
I always wondered what stories that knife could tell. My dad thought it was a tool, and that seems like a fitting end.
My Father collects Nazi Daggers and other WWII items. I grew up learning all about the makers and who used them. Kinda neat seeing this pop up here and the story to go along with it, thanks
There are a lot of good stories that need to recorded and shared.
The plastic component was made of bakalite/bakerlite. Same plastic was used for home phones manufactured and used from the 1950's onwards to the 1970's. Its expense and better, cheaper plastics ended up replacing bakerlite. Germany pioneered plastic manufacturing early on. The knife is a wonderful looking weapon.
I literally just found one of these knives in my grandads house while re-doing the basement today.
mine doesnt have the holder or the finger guard on it and its rusted really good
@Dantalion nah dont think so, he is american
@Grimoire but what if it was a bring back? Because if he was a supremacist he wouldent have let it rust
I’ve found one of these in an old hoarders cattle barn
Wow! SCORE!!!!
I have the same exact knife that I found in the barn at my wife's family farm. Her dad was in Germany during or just after the war. The nickel plating is mostly worn off the hilt and the emblem in the handle is missing. However, the handle is in perfect condition otherwise. I also have the sheath and the complete leather straps that are attached to it, although the part that is made to encircle the handle is broken.
Apparently the handle emblems denoted the regiment or unit the owner belonged to. I've read that the knives were often highly valued by their eventual owners, but that the emblems were often pried out and discarded less anyone thought the owner supported the Nazis. I think the symbol is also outlawed in Germany, so that's another reason it may have been removed. The knife has had very little use and other than having the nickel worn off. This leads me to believe that the emblem was pried out rather than just falling out from hard use.
My blade appears to have had very little use, although it has a dark patina, similar to what Old Hickory carbon knives get. For those that can't make it out in your photo, there is a leather-like material at the base of the blade where it meets the guard. I assume that's to make the knife add the sheath mate up nicely and stop any potential rattles. On the side of the blade where the emblem was, there appears to be some very faint letters that. Due to some very faint wear marks that don't match the wear marks on the rest of the blade, I think there may have been something painted or very faintly etched but which was later removed, perhaps by using steel wool.
On the side opposite the emblem, there is a circle with the R7 and a very tiny A just below them. Below the circle it reads M7/13.
The blade length, which appears to be the original length, is 5 and 9/16ths inches long from the tip to the guard. The forward half of the handle is strongly magnetic, but the bottom half is not, being I assume, made from some cheaper metal. To me, this blade shape resembles many popular bushcraft knives, especially the Kephart design, but with a slightly longer blade that also has a slightly more elongated blade taper. It's also not far off from the shape of a reproduction Mountain Man Buffalo Skinner's knife that I have. The skinner's knife has a longer and finer point though. I love it for processing deer and wild hogs!
The sheath is painted steel with a piece of spring steel inside to firmly hold the knife when it is sheathed. The knife will go into the sheath either way. There are two rivets on the back which fasten the leather strap to it. There is no drain hole in the bottom of the metal sheath, which is really the only design flaw the knife suffers from in my opinion.
I've wondered how good the blade steel really was on these knives. Based on the video comments, it seems to be pretty decent.
My knife is not in good enough condition to be a collector's item, and I wouldn't let it go to someone that wanted it for that reason anyway. I'm going to sharpen it really well and give it a go cleaning some animals this fall. It turns out to be a blade that I really like, I may think about modifying it into a camping/bushcraft type knife.
I'm not super crazy about the huge finger guard either, so I am eyeing cutting that down and rounding it off by about 50%. Once it proves itself, I might drill out the pins in the handle that hold the plastic handle on and replace them with some exotic wood or bone/antler. I think that I could also drill out the rivets holding the leather strap to it and either replace the leather with a more belt friendly leather design or a plastic Blade-tec type fastener to make it easy to put on and take off a belt. I'm thinking of drilling a small drain hole in the tip and having a local company put some kind of rust resistant coating like they do for firearms on it. The second option is to clean it up, repair the handle, and make the sheath more user friendly, or have someone make me a more functional kydex sheath, and use it on a second pistol belt/go-rig for when the zombies come. :-)
Don't modify it. It is unique as it is, and there are many modern knives that can do what you want your knife to do!
Find out more about how the knife got to the USA and turn it into a family heirloom!
@@survivalcommonsense My wife's mom and dad have passed on, so all we know is that her dad brought it home from Germany. At the very least, I plan to sharpen it and use it some in the field this fall. I'll make an honest blade of her yet!
Good luck! Let me know how it comes out!@@yellowdog762jb
Thanks for the review. A wonderful sample especially because of how your dad used it after the war. And him not having any reverence for it.
I read somewhere about beating swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. I think that's what my Dad did.
I have one of these also. Got it from my dad who got it from an uncle who I never knew. The swastika emblems are gone and it didn't come with a sheath. But the blade sure does sharpen up hair popping razor sharp. I come from a military family that served from the civil war up into the conflicts in the middle east. I wonder how my long lost great uncle came upon this knife. Thanks for sharing this.
I'm guessing there are millions of such knives, as well as a couple million samurai swords, that were brought back from the war.
Survival Common Sense, agreed, thanks for your reply!
Like other nations the Germans adapted commercial hunting knife patterns to military use and mass produced to issue as many as possible to all personnel. This process began in 1915 during WW1, initially Officers then had swords and enlisted men 20" bladed bayonets holdovers from the 19th Century but not much good to a vehicle driver, radio operator, medic, gun crewman, or even regular grunt soldier needing a utility tool and close quarters fighting knife. Between the Wars and into WW2 the Axis militarized society, arming the boyscouts, and then the adult troops especially those armed with handguns and submachineguns not usually equipped with bayonets but having use for knives. Whoever had this likely started out as a hitler youth boyscout taking it to war and it ended up as the found trophy of a victor. Fascinating.
I got one too. When my grandpa was young he lived in belgium when it was occupied by Nazi Germany. He stole that knife from a german officer.
Impressive he even thought about doing that. I would have shat myself if i got caught.
I don't think they blades were 440 Stainless. They were carbon steel nickel plated. The hilts were the same then later zink with nickel.
Interesting - I got my info from a WWII collectors site. I don't know for sure.
with motto!! nice!! I have 5
i have an eig ka-bar style knife from ww2 it is a beast love it
My great uncle got one in ww2 he was in field artillery
There were a lot of those knives just laying around as the Germans surrendered. Many of them made it back to the USA and became family heirlooms.
With mine I could sometimes hear this noise when I would turn it upsidedown. Finally after years of curiosity and prodding from my son one day.. we worked a long retractable painter/wallpaper razor knife into the sheath and out popped a Reich's Phenning (I think I spelled that right?) Cool right . But it still made the sound so back in with the blade and eventually another one pops out. They are 1943 and 1942
Wow! What a story that knife could tell! Any idea of its history?
@@survivalcommonsense I purchased it at a flea market so unfortunately there was no history.
Excellent knife. Perfect Skinner. Sharpens easily and is razor sharp. It's my go to for dressing deer.
My friends grandpa was hitler youth and came to Canada after the war, unfortunately he said they confiscated all his nazi memorabilia in customs
If you live in austria today , the government takes away all things from 2nd world war and destroy it. They don t interested if its a memory from your grandfather or family history. For example :you have grandfathers ss ring , and someone who knows it tell this the police , you get visited and have a house search. If they found things of 3 rd reich they take it from you and you in big trouble. Thats austria today .....😢
Ruined by sharpening
Different times, they went for wide furrows not for the pretty pictures on the blade,
Say, if we went to war with Russia and a year after you get home from that war, you had a russian knife, would you seriously give a fuck if you damaged it? No you wouldn't.
@@ADAMHack-vp1wt Explain how.
75 years old and looks like new
This dagger orginal looks much older
@@ADAMHack-vp1wt You clearly haven't had contact with many HJ knives
and more proof of your infancy in the field, you called it a "dagger"
Any knife from that period will look as well kept as the owners decide to keep it. You will find some that have been sitting in a box for that entire period that look prestine, you will see some that has been used, but kept clean from grime with products, and some that look like they were dug out of the ground but were kept in a damp attic for decades.
I own 10 of these, all come from veterans with proven backgrounds, as well as factual checks from reputable collectors and sources and two of them share the same condition as this one.
I have the exact same one in my home, I don't understand how we got it but it's been there for a while
Nice piece there sir
Nazi Collectibles i have one in a great shape , how much do you think they worth ?
Found one of these in my family members chest the other day. All of the Nazi emblems appear to have been defaced
Those emblems may have deteriorated away over time. The Nazi eagle and emblem on my SS dagger just crumbled away.
I have a very similar blade like that in 420, only difference is the emblem on the handle
My old mans got one too badass
You should have donated it to a museum or sold if you would have got a fortune but a beautiful piece.
It's fine where it is.
Survival Common Sense of course it’s up to you I would love to posses something like that something to be handed down
You can easily get one of these for only a few hundred dollars...they made millions of them..they are not rare, or museum pieces.
looks like it had writing on the blade. blut und ehre? or something else
I'm told the inscription translates to "Blood and Honor."
+Survival Common Sense Yep, that's correct.
On the SS Daggers it says "Mein Ehre Heißt Treue" which means "My Honour Is Loyalty"
I have that same knife
Cool what year is it
Thats awesome like to know how he got it
I liked that scene from Saving Private Ryan, when Mellish said he will use it as a "Challah" cutter..Your Dad is a hero..like mine was in Korea.
He had the right to do anything he wanted to with that blade.
what is the value of this knife?
I have no idea. It's priceless to me.
It make me smile to think of a retired U.S. soldier using that knife for work and hunting!
Yeah - it's a classic case of beating swords into plow shares.
@@survivalcommonsense very well put!
Would be cool to.see it returned to the family. My thought only though.
There is no way to trace it to any one soldier.
Survival Common Sense fair enough, but those things were like personal family heirlooms to them German boys. War sucks.
javimiami92 it’s a Hitler youth knife so it would have been a kids
Awesome
I have that knife my grandpa brought home but the symbol has fallen out he also brought home a flag and a helmet
The eagle emblem on the SS dagger also fell off. Don't know why - it was stored in my gun safe.
wow
hi I'm one dagger same only blade 1937..same diomons
Plastic from the Second world war? I have one of these which has plastic scales, assume it's a reproduction?
I'm not absolutely sure what the material is. I've read that some of the knives had a plastic handle. My knife, apparently made before 1938, has what appears to be a plastic handle.
It's bakelite. Precursor to modern day plastics.
Plastic was invented in like...1928...also these are bakelite.
das deutschlandlied
1000 year Reich
not that sharp
Imagine living your whole young life being indoctrinated into some weird cult that taught you that you were the master race and that it was by your sheer strength of will and genetic purity that you would rule the world, and you get this cool knife as a token of who manly you are and to encourage you to be part of an organization teaching you some of the things you'll need to be a good soldier, then 3 years later you're getting gutted by some Iowa farmboy who takes that knife and uses it to slice twine in the garage for the rest of his life.
Times changed! That explains how some of those boy soldiers became fanatics and fought to the end.
LOL!
Really interesting piece of history. Shame about its nazi origins but interesting to see nonetheless
People saying it’s ruined? His father found it tossed on the side of the road surrendered... his father used it. Better being used for a farmer than displayed in some sick honor of the Fascists
6r6 b6 exactly. It’s a knife. He used it as it was intended to be used. It’s worthless if it’s kept inside a box and never used purely for the sake of history, when honestly there’s probably an abundance of them already in museums.
@@donneale6719 I appreciate your reply. I agree.