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Hello, I recently put the wrong sheath on one of my early war Japanese bayonets (the sheath was from a later war Japanese bayonet) and I had to force it off. The bayonet had a large scratch on both sides but do to me just getting these yesterday, I had no idea if it had come from the sheath. Could such scratches come from the sheath?

Here are some pictures I took last summer, going over some bits and pieces of fieldgear from my collection. This time it was bayonets and entrenching tools, that got a good going over by cleaning dust and oiling and preservation. The prices on these things have literally gone trough the roof in the later years, unfortinently. Buying one of these from a militaria vendour today is no fun at all, as it will set you back several hundred Euros Luckily, these do still show up from time to time here in Norway for a price that I can afford. Most of these I bought in the 90's .

@valMuch appreciated for the info!!

@Afrikakorpsrat64 , your Kleines Schanzzeug was manufactured by: Idealspaten und Schaufelwalzwerk vorm. Eckardt & Co. GmbH A very distinctive logo with a man and a spade https://fjm44.com/articles/equipment/entrenching-tools/straight-e-tool-idealspaten/

hello all! just signed up today and have been going through some of the sections. interesting indeed. i am from the United States and am a long time collector mostly in American WW2 items. i buy and some times sell. history is my corner stone interest in life. i like viewing members finds and find it interesting what lead them to collecting. i feel it is important to preserve the past as it serves as an ever lasting memory to those who served.

Welcome @hanswolf1224, American here as well. Long time collector also. Look forward to seeing your postings. My primary interest is German Tropical, but collect most anything. Another love is Reichsbahn and RailRoad items from all countries. Cheers!

Hi Hans, welcome to this forum. Bit quiet but I still think it will get busier when FB etc finally pull the plug, they are dyeing to do it. Best Rich

@Björn, this is my only entrenching tool I have except for a couple of old swiss ones I use in the garden. The carrier is a Finnish SA. from about 1940. Original German carriers are going for crazy money now! I will have to sell a kidney for one. 🤣 Do you have any idea on the maker of mine? I think it was "Schoa werk" but my memory escapes me. Cheers!

Haha, yes. You know, the usual full time family routine. A tight schedual and lots of stuff to do

Here is a nice little gadget i came across in my local area a couple of years ago. It's a British Mark one Magnetic moored mine. This mine is part of a minefield that the british placed here on the 8.th of April 1940 (The day before the German invasion of Norway in 1940) This was actually a breach of Norway's neutrality by the British, as they placed mines in the middle of norwegian civillian sea-lanes. The mine is placed up-side-down, as the Mooring mechanism would be facing down in the water By the way, this example is empty and does not contain any dangerous substances. The magnetic mine had a rather ingenious trigger mechanism. In a easy and understandeble explanation, It had an elecric coil that would detect the signature of a large metal hull (boat or ship) that was passing by, and if close enough it would generate a low electric current, wich would set of the detonators and the main charge. The main charges on these mines consisted of a barrel containing 280 pounds (127 Kg) Amatol - wich is a mixture of TNT and Ammonium nitrate, wich would provide a huge detonating effect when set off. These mines were known to detach themselves from the anchor after some time, and would be washed ashore. The good news with these mines, is that the Mooring mechanism had a very good safety function. If the wire was to break, and the mine lost the tension on the wire from the anchor, a strong springloaded mechanism would disarm the mine, preventing it from detonating. Anyway, these mines were placed in the middle of shipping lanes in Vestfjorden. The minefield is marked on the map here: In the upper part of the map you see Narvik. And on this I have marked with a small red dot, where I live. Only a few hundred meters from where the minefield started: The anchoring mechanism on these mines, were alo a brilliant mechanical patent. Anyway, my example is standing up-side-down as you can see. The top lid is unfortinently missing. I am looking for a top lid to complete the hull of this mine, so if anyone know where I can find one of these, i would be very interested Best Regards Björn

Thanks for the kind words, guys. There are still interesting collectibles out there to be found. I am always trawling second hand shops, and asking friends and acquaintances if they know about some leftovers from the war. Sometimes I get lucky Hehe, yes that is actually a dream that I have. They do show up on the international market from time to time, but they do cost about two or three fortunes. But I have already gotten permission from the wife, to aquire one, if I come across one for a price that I can afford I found a nice cannon thou, wich i bought for my collection in 2017.. It was painted in Norwegian post war olive drab when I got it. It has since been repainted in the correct Wehrmacht grey colour. Here connected to the towing hook of my wife's car

This one is new to the collection, and not pictured together with the other ones. I bought it for a fair price (around 160 Euros) from a family in my local area, only last weekend.

Thanks Val for the info.