LUFTGRAV #33546 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is probably the best example that I have offered for a non-takedown variety. It has outstanding nickel plated mounts which show virtually no age at all. These mounts are really great! The activator level is stamped “191”. The grip plates are also in choice, perfect condition. These plates are a fine oak or walnut wood, having most attractive vertically running graining. There is virtually no hand oil on these grip plates. The springs throughout the marlin spike and the blade release are nice and strong and feel just like they did when the gravity knife was made some 70+ years ago. The marlin spike has the original needlelike tip and in the corner it is waffenamt with the stick bird having the number “5” in his belly. The greatest pleasure of all though, with this gravity knife, is when the blade is released for full view to the next owner. This blade is completely factory bright and has 100% of its original cross graining. It is a real beauty and absolutely in pristine, new condition. The reverse ricasso is marked with the seated king trademark. The king is positioned over the firm’s initials “SMF” and he holds an upward pointing sword. Below the regent in an arch shape is the location city of “Solingen”. At the bottom is the German word for “rust free” or “stainless steel,” “Rostfrei”. A great example here, and if you are a condition fanatic and are looking for a Luftwaffe gravity knife, I doubt that this example could be upgraded.

Mint. $1,295.00

 LUFTGRAV #33530 Personalized Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – Paul Weyersberg

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife when we acquired it had broken springs on the blade as well as the marlin spike. We were able to have the springs properly replaced by machinist, Tony Bauer, and he has done a great job getting this knife back to working order. The mounts are the nickel type throughout. The activator lever is numbered “627”. Both the blade mechanism and the marlin spike mechanism work very well. The interesting part about this gravity knife is that it has the original owner’s personalization carved into both grip sides. On the obverse side is neatly carved “Kriegsjahr 1935”. On the reverse grip, the original owner’s name is nicely carved “Helmut Stumm”. This adds a nice touch to this knife and possibly the original owner could be researched? Other than the carvings, the grip plates are both in good condition. The blade of this example is still also quite nice. It features a little bit of sharpening on both sides but it is not bad and mostly curtailed to the edges. Most of the original grain also is visible on this still-bright blade. The reverse ricasso is etched with the dual ovals of the maker which confirm the firm’s name and location “Paul Weyersberg & Co Solingen”. Beneath this is the word for stainless steel “Rostfrei”. Overall, this is not a bad gravity knife and has lots of interest with the personalization. Because of the dual spring replacement however, it is priced accordingly.

Excellent. $495.00/P>

 LUFTGRAV #33062 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is in nice condition throughout. It features the nickel fittings and the springs are nice and tight. The activator lever is numbered “676”. The marlin spike is marked in the corner with the stick bird having the number “5” in his belly. Both grip plates are in excellent condition, showing only a little normal wear but no gauges or problems. The blade of this example has just the slightest of sharpening along the edges. It is not bad though, and the blade remains bright and still has most of its original cross graining throughout. The reverse ricasso is marked with the etched seating king trademark. The kings holds an upward pointing sword and resides on top of the firm’s initials “SMF”. Below, in an arch shape, is the location city “Solingen” and below, the German word for stainless steel “Rostfrei”. A fine gravity knife here that works very well.

Excellent Plus, Plus. $850.00

 LUFTGRAV #33375 Luftwaffe Takedown Gravity Knife

This wartime made Luftwaffe Gravity Knife was issued in a polished steel finish. If it was blued at any time, the bluing has long since gone to time. The knife is a takedown version and comes apart quite nicely by simply pulling on the throat area. The blade activator lever is marked “38”. The marlin spike is waffenamt on one side with the stick bird having a “5” in his belly. On the other side, the Luftwaffe issue number is stamped “r.b.0/0561/0019”. The blade of this example is unmarked as a lot of these wartime pieces will be. The “r.b.” number takes the place of the manufacturer mark, as these knives would have been ordered directly by the Luftwaffe. The blade is in fairly good condition, not showing much cross graining but it is still mostly bright. It has some mild smudge on the surfaces but still grades at about excellent to excellent plus. There is just the slightest of sharpening confined only to the blade’s edge. The blade and marlin spike both operate very well with good springs. The grip plates have a nice dark tone to them, showing some hand wear but no problems or gauges. A pretty good takedown example here, showing period usage.

Excellent. $795.00

 LUFTGRAV #33272 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – Paul Weyersberg

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is in fine condition overall, having bright nickel mounts throughout. The springs are nice and tight and the activator lever is marked “77”. The marlin spike is waffenamt in the corner with the stick bird. I can’t read the number, though, his belly but it is probably a “5” like most of them are stamped. The grip plates are a fine oak or walnut and they show usage of the period but no problem with the surfaces. These plates have a good close graining. The blade of this example is really nice. It is completely bright and has almost all of its original cross graining. There is no sharpening on this blade. The blade would be in mint condition were it not for just a small dark spot on the right reverse edge near the ricasso. Other than that, it is perfect. This blade is etched with the double ovals which contain the producer’s name and location “Paul Weyersberg & Co Solingen”. Inside is a downward pointing sword between two wheat shafts. Below the trademark is the German word for stainless steel, “Rostfrei”. A fine example here.

Excellent Plus, Plus. $1,095.00

LUFTGRAV #26601 Price Reduced! Luftwaffe Takedown Gravity Knife

This takedown Gravity Knife has seen quite a bit of usage, and shows overall age throughout. It does, however, still work, and it is all there. The knife appears to have been made with the nickel plated style mounts, as opposed to the blued type, seen later on during war production. This example has the takedown style throat, which has the pointing downward arrow on the surface of the mouth area, and the takedown button works well. Taking the mouth off reveals the number "210" stamped on the surface below, which also has an arrow, and also the same number is stamped on the lip of the throat area. The activator lever has the number, "35", stamped into it. It is not unusual to see mismatched numbers on these takedown pieces. The marlinspike works well, and has a waffen amt in its corner, being the usual stick-bird with number "5" in his belly. Overall, these nickel fittings show dullness from age. The blade spring works well when the activator is pushed. The blade shows some old edge sharpening, and overall usage throughout. This blade is slightly gray, but still looks pretty good. The reverse area, about 1/3 down, is etched with the oval trademark of this producer. The double ovals capture the firm's name and location, "Paul Weyersberg & Co., Solingen". Inside is a downward pointing sword, placed between two wheat shafts. The grip plates are an oak variety, and they have turned quite dark from age. There is usage signs throughout the plates, with no serious cracks. This is a good working takedown Gravity knife, but unfortunately, the blade does release about a 1/4 of the way down when the knife is turned upside in the locked postion. Still a good knife though, and priced to sell.

Excellent. Initially priced at $795.00, now only $695.00!

LUFTGRAV #30667 Takedown Gravity Knife

This takedown Gravity Knife is one of the issue types that was definitely used during wartime. It has all blued surfaces and the bluing is about 90% throughout. There is some aging in some of the areas, for an example there are some darker spots in both sides of the throat but I don’t think it is too detractive. I took the throat mechanism off and the bottom portion of it is serial numbered “1170”. The activator lever is numbered “962” on the inner portion. Why these numbers never seem to match I don’t know but rarely do they. This example opens up nicely to reveal the blade inside and for cleaning purposes. The grip plates are a fine darker color walnut. They are in excellent condition showing only modest usage signs. These plates are a darker color wood having good graining on both sides and lots of eye appeal. The throat area has the arrow pointing downward on the obverse toward the push button. This is to tell the less bright among us that by pushing this button the throat will come off. There is also a downward pointing arrow on the inner section letting you know which way you’re supposed to put the throat back on. The Germans take nothing for granted! The marlin spike has a good original tip on it still having all of the blue. One side of it is marked with a waffen amt being a stick bird with a five in his belly. The other side is marked with the property numbers “R.B.Nr./0/0561/0019”. Sometimes you will see these numbers on the blades and what they are is a model number for an item made on behalf of the Luftwaffe. This blade has no markings on it because they appear on the marlin spike. The blade itself is in remarkably good condition considering that this is a wartime made piece. The obverse blade actually has almost all of its original grain and there is just the tiniest sign of sharpening just up from the edge. The reverse blade has more of this sharpening showing but it is not bad. All in all this blade easily grades in excellent plus condition. A nice combat gravity knife here.

Excellent Plus. $995.00

LUFTGRAV #28932C Luftwafffe Gravity Knife – Paul Weyersburg

This Gravity Knife is the non-takedown type, having good nickel finished mounts. This knife shows general usage throughout but the fittings are still in fairly good condition. The activator lever is marked, “717” and the spring portion of the lever matches this number. The marlin spike has the waffen amt consisting of a stick bird with the number, “5”. Both springs seem to work well and the blade goes in and out nicely. The grip plates show a little bit of time served as there is a small chip on the reverse upper edge area and a gauge in the side area extending to the center on the obverse area. But these are the kind of things that one would expect to see in a gravity knife that saw service. The blade slides in and out very nicely and it is still bright. It has minute amounts of graying in the surfaces if you look very closely. The blade has a couple of small hits to the edges but they are not really nicks. This blade grades at about excellent plus. The reverse has a good etch to the double ovals which contain the firm’s name and location, “Paul Weyersberg & Co. Solingen” and beneath this the word, “Rostfrie”, which of course stands for stainless steel. A decent example here, priced accordingly.

Good. $695.00

LUFTGRAV #28979 Luftwafffe Gravity Knife – SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is made of all polished nickel parts and it is the non-takedown type. All of the nickel parts are in good condition throughout. The springs are nice and tight on both the marlin spike and blade. The activator is stamped with a number one and also, “54” underneath this number. The marlin spike has the usual stick bird waffen amt in the lower corner and the bird has a, “5” in his belly. The grip plates are a good oak solid wood and the reverse plate is in good condition throughout. The obverse plate has a gauge cut across the letter portion of the wood as well as a matching type cut across the upper area of the same grip. I do not know why this was done but a lot of things can happen during wartime and perhaps boredom. The blade of this example works well and it is still bright. It also has quite a bit of crossgraining in the finish. Unfortunately, someone has done a sharpening job and the sharpening was not done too well as some of it has scored the blade itself. It is not bad though and this blade still rates at excellent to excellent plus. In fact, some of this could be taken out if somebody wanted to work with it. All in all though, a good original gravity knife.

Excellent Plus, Plus. $795.00

LUFTGRAV #28710 Luftwafffe Gravity Knife – Paul Weyersburg

This This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife has the usual nickel plated mounts. The obverse side still is quite clean, where as the reverse side has some minor pitting to the throat area and the collar below. The oak wood grip plates are in good shape having a couple of minor hits, but nothing serious. The activator lever is stamped with the number “54” in two places. The marlin spike has a good tip to it and it is waffenamt with an early form of stick bird. The blade of this example is still nice and bright, having its original cross graining pretty much all there. There is some minor sharpening, but it is mostly confined to the edge area and is not bad at all. There are a couple of stains in the blade but all in all, this blade grades at excellent plus plus to near mint condition. The reverse ricasso is etched with the maker logo of the double ovals which contain the firm’s name and location “Paul Weyersburg & Co Solingen”. Inside is a downward pointing sword placed between two wheat shafts. Below this logo is the German word for stainless steel “rostfrei”. The mechanism for this knife works good but the blade does not like to come out without just a slight jerk of the wrist. This would be an easy example to operate once the right touch is achieved. A good gravity knife here, showing usage and some minor age but it is all there and the springs are still nice and tight.

Excellent Plus. $795.00

LUFTGRAV #28017 Takedown Luftwaffe Gravity Knife with RB Numbered Blade

This takedown Luftwaffe Gravity Knife shows quite a bit of overall usage and age, but it still has most of the blue finish and it also still works well. The blue throughout the fittings is about 85%. There are some rust marks here and there, but nothing serious. The throat has the arrow which points downward to the button which is countersunk within the top of the grip plate where it meets the throat. The activator lever is stamped “92". When taking the throat off and revealing the lower area, the parts are marked “804" respectively. The grip plates are a dark brown oak color which probably is stained deeply from hand usage. This looks quite well. The marlin spike is in good condition and it is waffenamt in the corner with the usual stick bird having the “5" in his belly. The springs both work well on this piece. The blade also shows substantial age in the surfaces and there is some mild sharpening, but the blade’s shape still remains intact. This blade would only grade at near excellent. The reverse ricasso is etched with the Luftwaffe property marking “rb nr./0/0561/0020". This “20" ending indicates to me that this is a later-made piece, as most of these I have seen in the past ended with the number “19". This is an excellent example for someone outfitting a combat tunic mannequin or, if you are just looking for one of these takedowns that still works and available on the cheap!

Excellent. $695.00

LUFTGRAV #27366 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - Paul Weyersburg

This fine example has all nickel fittings and shows only mild usage. The springs are still good throughout. The activator lever is stamped “22". The same stamping appears on the spring mechanism attached to the lever. The marlin spike is in good condition and is waffenamt with an early style stick bird have a “5" in his belly. The grip plates of this example are an attractive, nicely graining oak. They are in choice condition, showing only minimal usage. The blade is still nice and bright, having most of the original cross graining. There is just the slightest sharpening evident on the edge, but this is to be expected, as most gravity knives were sharpened by the owner. It was tastefully done however, and this blade still grades in near mint condition. The reverse ricasso is etched with the double oval trademark which traps the firm’s name and location “Paul Weyersberg & Company Solingen”. Inside is a downward pointing sword placed between two wheat shafts. Below this is the German word for stainless steel, “rostfrei”. A fine example here which will fit very well in any Luftwaffe collection.

Excellent Plus, Plus. $895.00

LUFTGRAV #27847 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - Paul Weyersburg

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is the type with fine nickel finish throughout. The activator lever is stamped “435". The marlin spike is in good condition, having fine, original point. Stamped into the bottom area where the marlin spike is hinged is a stick bird waffenamp. The waffenamp appears to have the number “5" in his belly. The spring mechanisms for both the spike and the blade all are in good working order. The grip plates are a fine darker brown oak wood. They show a little bit of mild usage, but overall are in good condition. The blade is a very fine example, still being factory bright and having nearly all of the cross graining still intact across its surfaces. Only the very edge of the blade has been sharpened, and this was not done with any scarring on the edges. This blade easily rates in near full mint condition. The reverse ricasso is etched with the double ovals. These ovals contain the firm’s name and location “Paul Weyersberg & Company Solingen”. Beneath is the German word for stainless steel “Rostfrei”. A nice example here, that will go well with your Luftwaffe collection.

Excellent Plus, Plus. $995.00

LUFTGRAV #27898 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is the nickeled type and all nickel fittings are in excellent condition throughout. The activator lever is stamped “154”. The springs are good in both the marlin spike and the blade. The marlin spike is deeply stamped with a stick eagle bird having the number “5” in his stomach. The grip plates are a lighter color oak wood tan. They show only modest usage and are in perfect condition. The blade is still bright throughout and does have most of its original cross graining in the finish. The original owner has sharpened the blade and some of the sharpening effort has gone into the blade surfaces. Overall, though, it is not bad and this blade still easily grades at excellent plus. The reverse ricasso pictures the seated king with a sword pointing upward. The king is resting on the firm’s initials “SMF”. Below is an arch-shaped location town “Solingen”. Below this is the German word for stainless steel “rostfrei”. A good, sound example here.

Excellent. $895.00