A slash & stab test demonstration of a sharpened Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife aka Commando Dagger

This is a very cool dagger. It is officially known as the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife although is known as the Commando Dagger also.

This is a cool piece of historical blade. Modern made, yes, but it is the same thing made to MOD (Ministry of defence) specifications for military use in the modern age. It is a weapon, not a toy. Please keep these away from children and irresponsible people for their own safety and the safety of others. Someone could have an accident with this and drop it and bad things would ensue!

Here's a little demonstration test of me going "toe to toe" with a plastic milk bottle full of water, testing how the dagger penetrates the bottle when stabbed and how slashes work. I have properly sharpened the blade, so unlike in some other people's demonstration videos of their review of the knife, I did not have to hold the bottle. Even though this is a flat milk bottle rather than a more stable round cider bottles in other people's tests, the fact that I hand sharpened this dagger myself means it's penetration is exceptionally smooth and easy, not requiring any additional support to stop the bottle from falling over.

Soldiers trained with this to become proficient with their handling of the knife, because it was crucial that the edge be orientated to the target point, else they would smack the person with the flat edge instead of making a slashing cut. I witnessed this during my demonstration. Also, slashes are most effective when done from the end of the blade, where it's thinnest. I noticed this also, where I feel like I hit it right but I contacted too far back on the blade and did not have enough of a drawing back action to get a deep slice in the plastic.

However when I hit it just right, from the tip, with good edge alignment, I had 2 really nice deep cuts that opened up the bottle. As you will see in the demo.

These are really nice and I am over the moon to have 2 of these in my little militaria collection. If you watch the old videos from Fairbairn himself demonstrating the techniques of using his blade design, you will see he does in fact use slashes as well as stabs, though it's main finishing move is the stab which "ends" the fight.

Here's what WIlliam Fairbairn said about his fighting knife in his book "Get tough!":

"In close-quarters fighting there is no more deadly weapon than the knife. In choosing a knife there are two important factors to bear in mind: balance and keenness. The hilt should fit easily in your hand, and the blade should not be so heavy that it tends to drag the hilt from your fingers in a loose grip. It is essential that the blade have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges, because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. If a main artery is cleanly severed, the wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die." [End quote]

Whether the original historical manufacturers pre-sharpened them for soldiers or the soldiers had to sharpen them them selves, they had to be sharp for their function to work properly, quickly and humanely, so to speak. So if people say "They weren't sharpened because they are only for stabbing" they are flat wrong on two points, because the man himself stated they need good keen cutting edges for them to be effective while entering the body and two, as I mentioned he did train people to use slashes. Slashes would only be useful if the knife had sharp edges!

Since making this video, I have also tested the stab test on a 1.5 litre bottle of cocacola full of water and it went in smoothly, also without having to hold the bottle. Very nice dagger!

Enjoy!

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