Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Freddy · 31st March 2005, 10:00 AM

This one just arrived yesterday.

I know, it's not very old, but I got a bit of history with it.

This knife was obtained in Somalia in 1992 by a belgian soldier during a humanitarian mission (about the time the events occured pictured in the film 'black hawk down').
They had to do reconnaissance flights over the North of Somalia upto Djibouti. It was a small military group with 5 helicopters and in all 30 men.
They were stationed on a peninsula and no civilians were allowed on the base. At the guard post, children came to sell or trade stuff. This knife was traded for a package of biscuits.

Total length of the knife is 29 cm. The blade is stilleto-shaped, with both edges sharpened. Part of it has a sawback edge. The blade is steel of some sort. The handle is partly made of plastic (?) and aluminium and very thin.
The sheath is made of leather and looks used.

Any comments ?

31st March 2005, 10:00 AM	#13
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	This one just arrived yesterday. I know, it's not very old, but I got a bit of history with it. This knife was obtained in Somalia in 1992 by a belgian soldier during a humanitarian mission (about the time the events occured pictured in the film 'black hawk down'). They had to do reconnaissance flights over the North of Somalia upto Djibouti. It was a small military group with 5 helicopters and in all 30 men. They were stationed on a peninsula and no civilians were allowed on the base. At the guard post, children came to sell or trade stuff. This knife was traded for a package of biscuits. Total length of the knife is 29 cm. The blade is stilleto-shaped, with both edges sharpened. Part of it has a sawback edge. The blade is steel of some sort. The handle is partly made of plastic (?) and aluminium and very thin. The sheath is made of leather and looks used. Any comments ?