[RobT]

Ian,

Thanks for the link. What caught my eye immediately was thinreadline’s comment about these knives being sold as midshipman’s dirks. I have seen the “Pure Steel/Victory” ones sold on this side of the pond with the same attribution but I have never seen the karud style versions sold as such. Sometimes the “Pure Steel/Victory” etching is ground off to make the allegation more plausible. Unless they are being sold as midshipman’s dirks, I have found the “Pure Steel/Victory” types typically go for under $50 (sometimes way under) but the karud types generally command prices over $50 and the larger they are, the more costly they get. I saw a humongous one (pristine condition, w/o sheath) being sold by a very knowledgeable dealer for $300. He has been in the game for a really long time and knows his stuff both as connoisseur and a dealer so he must have been pretty confident that he was going to get his price. Especially since he knew that I would have bought it on the spot had the price been more reasonable. I tend to agree with Kubur, Sajen, and Jon MB that the karud style knives are older (probably 19 century) and better made than the “Pure Steel/Victory” knives which I think are at best 20th century and most probably just post WWII.
Because it is unusual (the only double edge symmetrical straight blade version I have ever seen), I have added a “Pure Steel/Victory” variant to this thread. Like the “Pure Steel/Victory” knives, I suspect that the knife that started this thread was made anywhere from the beginning of the 20th century to just post WWII.

Sincerely,
RobT