Original Item: Only One Available. Theater knives are knives made by military personnel in the various theaters of war. Each knife is unique in its own way due to the maker's style, preferences and materials available. Most theater knives were made from spare parts, wreckage, tools and already existing blades.

These knives were made by the armorers and engineers on request. The larger ships needed to have skilled fabricators on board to make repairs and modifications to weapons and gear. Usually the blades were made from existing weapons or from steel components, and the hilts were cast from metals such as aluminum or zinc.

This example has a very nice one piece aluminum hilt, cast directly onto the tang of the knife. It has both a pommel and crossguard as part of the casting, around a comfortable tapered grip. This is the same infamous style as the Murphy brand fighting knives which are growing increasingly difficult to find. The “Murphy” fighting knives are often categorized loosely as “Theater Knives”, even though they were not manufactured in a wartime theater of operations. This is due to the cast aluminum handle, which was common in true "theater made" knives. They were, however, fighting knives manufactured for the explicit use of US military forces in combat during the Second World War. This example however bears no Murphy marking on the handle and being in fact a theater made knife.

The knife is in very good condition, showing some light wear and cleaning, as well as sharpening to the blade. It is still relatively sharp, and would have been very useful during the "Island Hopping" campaigns of the Pacific Theater of WWII.

The sheath is in good condition and was manufactured by the world renowned Hamley & Co of Pendleton, Oregon. Since 1883 the Hamley family has faithfully delivered quality western craftsmanship to working cowboys, rodeo bronc busters and horseback riding enthusiasts of all kinds. In 1905, Hamley & Co. found a permanent home in Pendleton, Oregon and set up shop in the same building where it still resides today. During WWII they manufactured many types of leather sheaths with or without commercial knives. The leather is still solid with great stitching and all 7 rivets retained. The retaining strap is still solid with functional button snaps.

Comes more than ready for further research and display/

Specifications:
Blade Length: 5 ¾”
Blade Style: Single Edge Bowie
Overall length: 10 ½”
Crossguard: 2”
Sheath: 11 ⅛” with belt loop