By Paul Markel

We’ve been running a series on guns of the Cold War at Shooting News Weekly, but I thought it would be an interesting diversion to consider some of the cold steel that was carried during that time period.

Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife

William Fairbairn was once referred to as “the most dangerous man in the world.” Long before WWII, Fairbairn was honing his hand to hand combat skills as a member of the International Police on the violent streets of Shanghai, China. During his 20 years in Shanghai, Fairbairn was said to have engaged in hundreds of fights. He bore the scars of the encounters all over his body. During that time in Shanghai, you either learned how to fight in a fast and devastating way or you ended up dead or crippled for life.

Fairbairn met Eric Sykes, a small arms expert, in Shanghai and the two soon became partners. Both Fairbairn and Sykes were noted small arms and tactics instructors. With the outbreak of WWII, both men were recruited in the British Special Operations Executive and they taught close quarters combat to British commandos. Fairbairn’s seminal writing “All In Fighting” is a must read for any student of martial arts and hand to hand combat.

This duty led Fairbairn and Sykes to work together to develop a specially designed commando dagger or fighting knife. The result was the famous Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife which has also been referred to as the British Commando Knife or Dagger.

The original F-S knife had a 7 inch double-sided blade with a fine, needle sharp point. There was a small crossguard and handle was approximately 5 inches with steel pommel. Overall length for the F-S knife was 11.5 inches. The first models were all steel. The Wilkinson Sword company was the primary manufacturer for the knives issued to British commandos.

By the close of WWII, the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife silhouette had become famous. The official Soldier of Fortune icon included a red beret over two F-S commando daggers. Ownership of the F-S knife also became a badge of honor for commando groups worldwide during the Post WWII era. Special Operation and Commando groups from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA were once issued these knives. The dagger on the US Army “Delta Force” patch looks very much like the famous F-S knife.

Over the decades, numerous knife makers and designers borrowed heavily and liberally from the original Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife. Currently, there is an excellent reproduction of the original F-S knife available from MAC under the title “Inglis Fairbairn-Sykes Knife”.

Gerber Mk II

The Gerber Mk II was designed for Gerber Legendary Blades by retired US Army officer Clarence A. “Bud” Holzmann in 1966 and adopted by the military in 1967. Official literature states that the design was based upon the Roman “mainz gladius” knife. While there may be some truth to that statement, looking at the knife shows definite similarities to the original F-S as well as the Applegate-Fairbairn knife..

A big knife, the Gerber Mk II has a 6.5 inch double-side blade with a dagger point. A cast aluminum handle was used and the overall length was 12.75 inches. Serrations were added to both sides of the blade about halfway down the cutting edge.

Having been designed and released just as the war in Vietnam was getting hot, the Gerber Mk II saw immediate issue and use by troops in the field. Popular legend states that the US Navy SEALs were some of the first American “commandos” to embrace Gerber MkII knives. This makes perfect sense as “Mk” is the Navy designation for arms.

When I was on active duty, there were numerous times that I went into the PX and eyeballed the Gerber Mk II knives on display. Every PX back then had a bunch of Gerber products. Sadly, I never pulled the trigger and bought one. I say “sadly, because Gerber discontinued production of the MkII knife in 1998. However, fans of that blade now have an outlet to go to.

Military Armament Corporation MAC Mk II

The current Military Armament Corporation is headed up by people who love American military history. Saddened by the loss of the Gerber Mk II, they decided to reintroduce a version of the famous blade called the MAC Mk II knife.

The MAC Mk II looks very similar to the Vietnam era MkII with a stainless steel blade, double-edge blade and a gray handle with black cross guard and pommel. The edge is razor sharp and the pommel has the traditional lanyard hole.

At press time, MAC has launched commercial sales of the MAC Mk II knife. If you are interested, go to www.milarmamentcorp.com. Keep in mind, both the F-S knife and the Mk II may be limited production runs. They will not likely last forever. Forewarned is forearmed.

KA-BAR USMC Fighting Knife

The official designation is the “USMC Mark 2 Combat Knife,” but every Marine grunt for nearly a hundred years has called it “he KA-BAR. The knife design was a product of the post-WWI era and a desire to replace the Mark I Trench Knife, AKA the “doughboy dagger” or “knuckle knife”, with a blade that Marines would carry and use in the field everyday for both utility and close combat when need be.

With the entry of the United States into World War II, the need for the new fighting knife intensified. The newly formed Marine Raider Battalions quickly adopted an exact copy of the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, but a stout utility/fighter was still needed for conventional infantry troops.

What became the USMC Mark 2 Combat Knife was designed in 1942 and officially adopted and issued in 1943. Numerous manufacturers have produced copies of the blade to include Union Cutlery Co., Camillus Cutlery Co., and the Ontario Knife Co. Modern, new versions are made by KA-BAR Knives, Inc. The Ontario Knife Co. now produces the official USMC bayonet called the OKC-32 Bayonet. This blade can function both as a bayonet, combat knife, and utility blade.

The KA-BAR has been produced in the original standard size and a smaller version. Standard blade length is 7 inches with a single edge and upswept point. Overall length is 11.75 inches and the original handle material was leather. Some modern versions have black polymer handles. Sheaths have been black and brown leather as well as modern polymer designs.

When I was a Marine infantryman during the Cold War, the standard practice was to issue the M7 bayonet to those whose primary weapon was the M-16A2. The Mark 2 Fighting Knife was reserved for the small percentage of troops who were issued a pistol. From a realistic standpoint, most of the Marines that I knew, particularly grunts, went to the PX and purchased their own personal fighting knife, the KA-BAR being one of the most popular choices. For my part, I purchased a “Camillus” version when I arrived at my first permanent duty station and have kept it to this day.

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.