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Comment by Tobias Gibson on February 20, 2016 at 12:34

Horace, what Kiril said, for the most part is correct.   The only correction is that his pattern was first adopted in 1933.   Kiril has a later pattern that incorporates a cap lifter into the can opener blade.

This was a much smaller and lighter marlin spike knife  (pattern 317) adopted for service after complaints that the older pattern (6353/1905) was too big and too heavy for pocket carry.  This pattern, the 317 came out in the years between World War I and World War II.

See the pictures below for comparisons.

Left to Right,

Camillus Made World War I era 6353/1905  three piece clasp Knife

W & S B  World War II era pattern 317  three piece clasp knife

Sheffield Modern era  Pattern VN21307  three piece clasp knife

The 6353 is five inches closed with a four inch main blade.  The other two are 3.75 inches including the integrated screwdriver.   All have secondary can opener blades and a spike on the back.  The early knife lacked the screwdriver. (However a metal slab sided version of the 6353 that was made in Canada from Worled War I until after world War II did sometimes have a screwdriver.)

As Kiril pointed out, the ABL knife are made in Belgium for the Belgium military.  Contrary to popular belief the  knives were used by all services, Army, Navy, and Air Force.

finally not all 317s have a sheepfoot blade.  Some where made with spear point blades. And many of the earlier 6353 knives were made with spear blades., That said,  as far as I know the ABL  marlin spikes  were made with sheepfoot blades.  If you find them with a spear point it was most likely modified.

Comment by horace rogers on February 20, 2016 at 4:19

 Here is one i just acquired. i thought the 1950 was a date, maybe it is a model number. It is like the one that Mr. Mitrashkov has. I have a few more coming from another collector I deal with. Will post pics when they arrive. Thank you for the info. 

Comment by Kiril Mitrashkov on February 20, 2016 at 2:18

I have the same knife:

Thihs is not an Italian made rigging knife. This is a Belgian army knife. Mine has a marking on the strange blade - "ABL - 1951".

It was ordered before WWI in Sheffield by the Belgian army. The design is after British sailor's knife. The sailors preferred the sheepsfoot blade, so they didn't cut themselves on the rocking shop. The strange looking blade is a combined bottle/can opener (a must have for every military guy), the pick was used to untwist ropes and there is a fourth "blade" between the two big blades - it is a screwdriver.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on February 19, 2016 at 16:36

If it is unmarked, there's a good chance it is an Italian made rigging knife.  These have been flooding ebay for at least three or four years.   They are a copy of the British Pattern 317 Three piece clasp knife.    Several other countries made knives of the same pattern.  The 317 was adopted by the British in 1933 but started entering service shortly before WWII.   It served side by side with the older 6353/1905 pattern.  The British  declared obsolete the pattern obsolete in 1952l replacing it with a stainless steel three piece clasp knife that is still used today.  Despite being declared obsolete in 1952, it was still being issued well into the 1970s.

British issue knives will normally have an arrow marking -> somewhere on the tang. Many will also have a maker's mark of some kind.    Belgium also adopted the pattern as well as other European nations.  Most of these will have some kind of maker's mark.   Without more information, I would assume an uinmarked one is from Italy.  I believe Romanian and/or Albanian also produced unmakred copies of this knife for Italy but I'm not 100% sure.   Also these were made both durring and after WWII so they do not necessarily date back to WWII.  Hope this helps.

BTW, the knife looks like its in pretty good shape.

In Memoriam Comment by John McCain on February 19, 2016 at 9:58

Horace- Are there any markings on any of the blades ?? It would appear to be a  Royal Navy or Commonwealth issue. (Unless of course it is an Italian copy of the British Clasp knife.  These are known as the No. 317 Pattern. I should mention, it was used by all branches of service in the British Military.  They call it a three piece clasp knife. re-(above info courtesy of IKC member Tobias Gibson, who knows far more on the subject than I do.) For examples of similar knives, check this out .I'm sure Tobias can provide more answers.  

http://iknifecollector.com/group/knifepatterns/forum/topics/marlin-...