Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of an early production 2nd Model Luftwaffe dagger with an excellent unmarked blade, complete with its scabbard, portepee, and a very nice hanger. The dagger has plated mountings, which originally had a lovely gray oxide coating, however it is now mostly worn away on the dagger.

Unlike most example that we see, the celluloid grip of this dagger still retains the original ivory color! These almost always faded to orange or darker over the years as the material degrades due to light exposure. It remains in great shape throughout, and has a nice tapered shape, still tightly wrapped with bullion bound twisted wire. There is just a bit of wear and light staining, and not any major cracks or other damage.

The hilt mounts are good condition, but they definitely do show a good amount of wear to the finish. The pommel is very good and still shows most of the original detail. The "mobile" swas (hook crosses) on both sides are clear and still the oak leaves around them are raised out and heavily hand enhanced. The pommel appears to be solid aluminum, and still retains about 50% of the oxide coating, with the rest possibly removed by cleaning.

The crossguard is also made of Aluminum, which was an "Air Age" material, used to make most airplanes. It was considered fitting and desirable for the eagle-shaped guard to be made of this material. The front side is an eagle with a breast and talon area that is vaulted out much more so than the crossguards seen on other types of daggers. This guard shows little wear and has great feathering on the eagle. The bird, of course, flies to the left and grasps a mobile swas (hook cross) in his talons. The reverse panel is decorated with small pebbling, which is still clear. It looks like the oxide coating on the cross guard degraded a bit, and it was then a bit aggressively cleaned, which has given some areas a bit of a matte finish.

The ferrule looks to be plated steel, and it is still in very good condition, having been protected by the portepee, and it shows a nice gray oxidized color. Tied around this is an original portepee, which is in very good condition, showing moderate wear from use. There is some minor fraying, as well as oxidation in areas.

The blade on this example is not nickel plated, which is common for later produced blades, and it is in very good condition! The original factory final polish cross grain is retained at near 100%, with just a bit of runner wear on the blade flats. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. The edge is correctly unsharpened, however it looks like the very tip was reprofiled after taking some damage. There is a bit of staining and dried grease stuck on the blade, which we have left intact.

There are no maker marks that we can see, but that is not uncommon for Luftwaffe and Army officer daggers. Outfitters often purchased unmarked blades from major makers, and would do the fitting themselves. The unique cross grain is definitive for WWII German production.

This steel scabbard is in very good condition, dent free and with almost all the original plating intact. It looks to have been silver plated and then had a blue plating applied, as we often see on Luftwaffe daggers, though this was then mostly cleaned away by polishing. The hanger bands are plated zinc, and are well defined with have hand enhanced oak leaves tipped at a 45 degree angle. They show light wear, with the plating mostly intact. The throat is the narrower version seen, secured by flush mount screws on the wider sides of the scabbard.

Attached to the scabbard is a very nice service used condition belt hanger, with all spring clips fully functional. The scabbard end clips are the more complex and desirable sliding type. The buckles and keepers are embossed with the same oak and acorn motif seen throughout the dagger, and are made from zinc alloy. The hardware is marked D.R.G.M., indicating that these were registered in the German trademark office. The end clip is also marked on the back with RZM and maker code U.E. 10.. "U.E" indicates Uniformeffekten Erlaubnißschein, (Uniform Accessories Licence), and the manufacturer’s numerical code, "10". It appears the combined RZM/U.E., markings were utilized circa May 1933 to March 1935. These were used when the RZM was still being officially organized. There is unfortunately no listing of the early RZM makers.

The condition is good, showing wear to the straps, particularly on the sides, and they have been made shorter by pushing the buckle prong through the straps, instead of just using the eyelet. The hardware has had all of the original plating either oxidize or wear away.

This really is a very nice 2nd Model Luftwaffe Dagger with belt hanger & portepee, offered in very good condition and ready to display! This is the full setup!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 9 3/4"
Overall length: 15”
Crossguard: 3 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 11”