LUFTGRAV #34746 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – SMF

This non-takedown style Luftwaffe Gravity Knife has beautiful nickel-plated mounts throughout. These mounts show only nominal usage and do not appear to have ever been worn in any combat situation. The activator lever is stamped, “791”. The grip plates are beauties being a fine walnut having good looking grained surface. The plates are in perfect condition throughout. The marlin spike has its original tip on the end and it is waffen amt with a stick bird having a number “5” in his belly. The springs throughout this example are especially tight. It has very little usage. The blade itself is a beauty having all of its original crossgraining and a nice bright finish. This blade has never been sharpened and shows no usage. The blade is marked with the seated king trademark. The king holds an upward pointing sword and is positioned over the firm’s initials, “SMF”. Below this is the location of “Solingen” and below this the notation that the blade is of stainless steel, “Rostfrei”. A great knife here and if you are particular about condition I’m sure that you will really like this example.

Mint Minus. $1,195.00 

 LUFTGRAV #32632 Luftwaffe Take-Down Gravity Knife

This Luftwaffe Take-Down Gravity Knife is a wartime made piece and has an RB number on the blade. The gravity knife has a fairly good blue finish throughout, although it does show some usage and wear to the finish. The finish remains about 50%. The take-down style knives have the small button at the top of the grip plate which releases the spring holding the throat assembly. Taking the throat assembly off, the bottom lip is stamped “684”. The lower portion of the grip assembly has the number “379”. It is not unusual to see these pieces with mismatching numbers. The blade activator lever is also numbered, and this one has the number “7”.

The grip plates of this example are a fine walnut. They are in nice shape with a pleasing rich color. The original owner of this example decorated the grip plates by adding dual line which are on either side of the last set of rivets. These dual lines are nicely done and probably helped to give a good handhold on the knife. The marlin spike also has a good blue finish, and there is no waffenamt that I can see. It is possible though that this waffenamt was a “light” hit, as I do see just the slightest impression of something in the proper corner. The springs for both the marlin spike and the blade are in good condition and work well. The blade shows a little bit of graying and also some old sharpening. Overall, though, it is still not bad and retains its original shape. Possibly, a little work could be done to brighten up this blade. The obverse ricasso is etched “RB Nr./0/0561/0020”.

Overall, a solid, working example that definitely saw usage during the war.

Excellent. $895.00

 LUFTGRAV #29798 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife is in good overall condition, having nickel fittings throughout. The nickel is in good shape, the throat fitting having the original owner’s initial “A” scratched into both sides of it. The blade release activator is numbered “2”, as well as “655”. The marlin spike is in good shape and is waffenamt with the stick bird having a “5” in his belly. The grip plates of this example are a good dark walnut and they have a pleasing grain, showing some minor usage signs.

The blade is as good as you will ever see. This mint condition example has full original graining and precise shape. A beautiful example here! The reverse ricasso is darkly etched with the seated king trademark. The king holds an upward pointed sword, while sitting on the firm’s initials, “S.M.F.”. Beneath this in an arch shape is the town, “Solingen”, and beneath this the German word for stainless steel, “Rostfrei”.

A very nice gravity knife here, with good working springs.

$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. $850.00

 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 with 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 #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. $750.00

 LUFTGRAV #32872 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife appears to have been a nickel-plated version, but possibly, it was produced later in the war as the mounts are a steel base. The mounts are all in good condition, however, there is a light coating of rust that is noticeable on the throat area as well as on the back strap and some area around the marlinspike. It gives the gravity knife an unusual look, as the flush mount four rivets on each side of the throat area stand out against the dark background created by the toned metal base. The springs on both the activator lever and the marlinspike are strong and work nicely. The activator lever is marked “318”. The marlinspike appears to have the original tip and it is waffenamt in the corner.

The grip plates of this example are a fine toned oak and they are in perfect condition, showing very little wear. The blade of this example, on the obverse, is bright and in mint condition with full grain. The reverse of the blade also is still quite nice, although there are some sharpening scars that show about ¾ of the way down. Other than these scars, the reverse blade is still in fine condition also. This blade is etched with the SMF logo that features the seated king holding an upward pointing sword. Below the king are the firm’s initials, “SMF”, and the location town of “Solingen”. Below this is the German word for stainless steel, “Rostfrei”. A nice gravity knife here that with a little effort could have the finish brought up, but actually I kind of like it the way it is. The choice would be up to the next purchaser, as I’m quite sure this finish would clean up.

Excellent. $750.00

 LUFTGRAV #33804 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – SMF

The nickel parts throughout this SMF Gravity Knife are in outstanding condition. It is interesting to note that the activator lever is not plated but is in a blued steel form. This activator lever is stamped, “01” on the outside portion of it and on the inner portion it appears to be stamped, “590”. The grip plates are real beauties being a very fine oak wood having a nice grain in the surfaces. These grip plates virtually show no wear at all. The marlin spike still has its original tip and it is waffen amt in the corner with a stickbird having a number “5” in his belly. The throat of this example still has good smooth surfaces which is a sure sign of little usage.

The blade activator works well and this beautiful blade still has 100% of its original crossgraining. It has never been sharpened and remains in a mint state. The blade reverse is etched with the seated king trademark. The king positions his posterior over the firm’s initials, “SMF” and carries an upward pointed sword. Below the image is the town, “Solingen” and beneath this the German word for stainless steel, “Rostfrei”. A very fine gravity knife here. I suspect the blued version activator lever was probably using up of parts inventory.

Mint Minus. $1,095.00

 LUFTGRAV #34295C Luftwaffe Gravity Knife - F. & A. Helbig

This maker mark for a Gravity Knife is extremely difficult to find. I have sold a lot of gravity knives over the years, and I have only had one F. & A. Helbig example in the past. If there is someone out there that is specializing in gravity knife types, this example should be of prime interest. Holding the knife next to the Weyersberg and SMF entries, it is interesting to note that the mounts are of a slightly different shape. The throat is different, as is the activator lever and also the grip plates are of a flatter nature than the other types. These aspects all make for a unique item here. The mounts are all nickel plated type, and they are in good shape throughout. There are no number stampings anywhere on this gravity knife. The activator lever spring works well, as does the marlinspike spring. I note also that the marlinspike appears thicker than the types used by the other makers. This marlinspike is stamped on the corner with a waffenamt. The waffenamt is the standard stick bird with a "5" in his belly. The grip plates appear to be walnut, but as stated above, they are flatter in nature than the more curved types used by other producers. These grip plates are in excellent condition throughout, having no flaws or problems. The blade of this piece unfortunately has some fairly good edge sharpening. The sharpening does go up slightly also into the blade surfaces. In the areas not scarred by the sharpening though, the blade is still factory bright and has all of its crossgraining. The maker mark is very lightly etched on the reverse ricasso, being a double oval. The ovals contain the firm's name "F & A Helbig" and their location below. About half of the maker mark has been worn off by the sharpening. Below the maker mark is the word for stainless steel "ROSTRFEI". An interesting example here, in good working order, and a very rarely seen maker.

Excellent. $1,395.00

LUFTGRAV #34672 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – Paul Weyersberg

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife has very fine nickeled mounts throughout which are all in excellent condition with good strong springs. The activator lever is stamped, “4”. The marlin spike appears to have its original tip and it has a waffen amt in the corner featuring a stickbird with the number “5” in his belly. The grip plates are a fine grained walnut both of which are in perfect condition. They show only the most nominal of usage signs. The blade is the best you will see. This blade is completely mint having all of the original factory graining. There has never been any sharpening to this blade. The reverse ricasso is etched with the double ovals which contain the firm’s name and location, “Paul Weyersberg & Co. Solingen” and beneath this the German word for stainless steel, “Rostfrei”. A very fine example here with good strong springs.

Near Mint. $995.00

LUFTGRAV #34747 Luftwaffe Gravity Knife – SMF

This Luftwaffe Gravity Knife has the standard nickel-plated mounts throughout. The springs are extremely strong in this knife. The activator lever is stamped number “784” and also has the number “2” stamped on it. The wood grip plates are the walnut type with good graining. These plates are still in perfect condition showing some nominal usage. The marlin spike has a good tip and is waffen amt in the corner with a stickbird having the number “5” in his belly. The blade of this example shows just a tiny bit of sharpening just on the very edge. The rest of the blade shows some usage and a little bit of age. Overall though this blade is still in nice condition grading at about excellent plus. It also has quite a bit of the original grain in the surfaces. I recently purchased this knife directly from the family whose relative brought the knife back after World War II.

Excellent Plus. $895.00

LUFTGRAV #26601 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 #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 (#050712)

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 (#112312)