U.S. World War II Aluminum Handle Barteaux Commando Fighting Knife.

U.S. World War II Aluminum Handle Barteaux Commando Fighting Knife.

Inscription 'F. Barteaux's on Handle. Interestingly, the handle markings on this knife are legible. It doesn't appear to be just from wear; it's almost as if Barteaux partially removed the markings from the handle die.

The Murphy/Barteaux Commando Fighting Knife was produced during World War II by David Z. Murphy and his son David M. Murphy, along with neighbor Frank Barteaux. Murphy was a custom knife maker who first came to fame as the maker of the knives sold by the Gerber Legendary Blades Knife Company. The "Murphy" fighting knives are often categorized loosely as "Theater Knives", even though they were not manufactured in a wartime theater of operations. They were, however, fighting knives manufactured for the explicit use of US military forces in combat during the Second World War. Murphy and Barteaux manufactured the knives in Gresham, OR, and according to knife maker, researcher and author M.H. Cole (who interviewed David M Murphy), approximately 90,000 knives were produced during the war. This seems to be a very high number, considering the rarity of these knives on the market today. Several knife researchers and authors have postulated that either Murphy was simply incorrect in his estimate of total knives manufactured, or that somewhere along the line, the production figures inadvertently received an extra "0" at the end, turning a much more believable total production of 9,000 into 90,000!

Item Code - MIL8B454PAN

Width: 3/4"  Height: 7 1/2"  Depth: 1 1/4"  Item Weight: 111.0 g  Item with Packaging: 350.0 g