Fairbairn Sykes combat knife with scabbard Far East/RAF (FS gevechtsmes met leren schede)

This Wooden Gripped variation of this F-S Knife seems to follow the late-war Third Pattern in style, in other words it has concentric rings turned into the grip to provide a rudimentary ‘grip’. This is the same for both Fat and Slim hilted versions. Along with other evidence it would be safe to assume that these variations date from October 1943 onwards (the inception of the Third Pattern). Over the years there has been many theories as to the reasoning and logic of producing an F-S with a wooden grip. After all one of the main design features of the original F-S was that the weight be hilt heavy and these wood gripped versions certainly alter that dynamic. However now that a connection to the R.A.F. air crews has been confidently established the logic becomes quite apparent. ‘Weight’ (or lack of) was of paramount importance to all fighting aircraft, every ounce saved was more ammunition or more fuel, both of which would potentially impact a pilots survivability. A ‘fighting knife’ would be a piece of kit that would only be used in an emergency after bailing out or crashing and therefor was not a necessary item for normal operations. As such making the item as light as possible would seem a logical decision.