Identifying Second Opinion

[Tharin]

Hi Guys.

This knife cost me a long time to figure out it's possible origins. It is an old, much used, knife of my grandfather. I know he served in WWII here in the Netherlands, but was not quite sure of the age of the knife or it's particular goal at the time. Was it a sailors knife?

The old knife.

old-knife.JPG (57.66 KiB) Viewed 1647 times

Yesterday I found the picture and information below. If I look at the handmade newer model, I think it could be from the same manufacturer, however as the picture above shows, there are no other recognizable marks, except for the brass anchor. Looking at a Youtube movie of the Otter messer factory in Solingen I saw versions that looked even more like the old knife. The sizes from the factory website seem to match the old knife.

This is the Otter messer / Mercator M35K.

OtterMesser.jpg (28.44 KiB) Viewed 1646 times

Question: Could these two knives actually be of the same manufacturer?

Thanks in advance.

Regards, Tharin.

[Ringmaster]

Hi Tharin, welcome to the club.

Looking at the pictures, it's very reasonable to associate the Messer knife with your Grandpa's. It appears that he put it on the grinding wheel in the past, to re-shape the lambsfoot, and also to grind off the identifiying marks on the tang. (Which is very understandable, since he was Dutch.) Someone with more knowledge and documentation may be along shortly, with an identification, tho'.

Do you know how he got the knife ? That is, was it issued to him, or taken from a prisoner ?

Show us some more of your collection, we'd love to see it.

Take Care,
JR

[Gunsmoke47]

Pins are in the same place, but it looks like they moved the anchor down.

[Tharin]

Pins are in the same place, but it looks like they moved the anchor down.

That was one of my thoughts as well. The anchor shape, roundings and size seem to be an exact match however.