Here are a hastily thrown together pile of my aluminum fitted Army daggers. All have either 1st or 2nd style EPack fittings. All but 2 have tapered tangs. Normally seen only in early Army daggers.....

Makers shown are by EPack, Paul Seilheimer, Gustav Spitzer, Tiger, Max Weyersberg. VERY difficult......

somewhat closer views starting from left w/portepee'd dagger as center reference.

Next...

Very nice Denny!!

Last....

Is there any trace of lacquer on the aluminum parts ?

Dave

Wow.
A great post from JR on the black stuff and now these beauties. I can certainly see the attraction of the aluminiums, it is just a shame they are so far and few between. A grouping to be proud of and an eye fest for the heer collectors.
The darkest grip has to take my vote, and I am also interested to see that you dont clean them in any way. Thanks for posting Denny, I am re-inspired .

Dear lord!!!!................

Denny,

I have to say that you are making it all too easy to dive head first into the Armies!

Sir - you have a super group there. If you have the time are you willing to pick your favorite out and do some close up of the fittings... consider it a training tool for us new guys!

Thanks

John

Dave
Not sure if there ever was lacquer on the aluminum since it didn't tarnish or otherwise change color/etc? The very best I own does not seem to have any traces of lacquer as it would undoubtedly be seen somewhere.

degens
The dark gripped example is a Paul Seilheimer. Not the prettiest, but right in there. NO cleaning. I always attempt to preserve the blade condition by wiping and sometimes using a prudent amount of SimiChrome, wax them w/RenWax, apply a light coat of liquid silicon to chase any moisture, but clean the fittings/scabbard, NO way.

John
Thanks for the kind word.....

Herr Cooper
I'll shoot some close-ups of the EPack w/slant grip and post. That may be my favorite (They're all my favorites). It's shown, 3rd from left. Another favorite is on the far right. It's pictured in Wittmann's Army book on p.51 & 52 and has a glass type grip that he neglected to tell about in the book.

Dennys big warehouse - impressive as ever. Thank you for letting take us another glimpse on a small part of your collection and your knowledge.

when I mentioned cleaning, I was referring to the grip patina, I totally agree that in no way should the fittings be tampered with. I used to silicon the blades but was worried about the runners collecting gunk / debris and ultimately marking the blade, I store mine in the scabbard!. I hear alot about renwax but cant seem to find a supplier in the UK, do you coat everything, scabbards, x-guard etc?.
Regards

What a flock that is. Very impressive assortment. Denny do you find that even though the aluminum crossguard is attributed to pack that when found on a pack marked dagger that they exhibit more hand workmanship? From the examples that I have seen or owned the workmanship or hand embellishment on the pack far exceed the other makers

wotan
ME? You have an outstanding collection....that surpasses mine by a longshot.....

degens
I wipe the outside down w/a soft cloth and remove any harmful gunk, then apply RenWax to the exterior. Beyond that, I don't use any type cleaner on the exterior for fear of removing plating and patina....I store mine in the scabbards also. I feel the addition of the silicon chases moisture away from the blades. It continues to work for me and I live in an area where humidity could become a problem if I didn't watch it and prepare for it.....

Tom
I agree with you that Pack went over and beyond what other Makers using their fittings, did along the lines of enhacement/hand workmanship.

Pack was the maker that seemed to put out the best product (to me anyway).

Denny

A pleasure to see your daggers!

Thanks for showing

PVON

Nice line up D.J. In fact, actually quite impressive to say the least. I am glad I could make my contribution to it As mentioned to you earlier, the daggers just tend to clutter up my helmet collection.

Cheers

Erik

Denny, These are really beautiful! The Pack you mentioned as your favorite has an interesting color to its slant grip! I also enjoy the Pack style enhancment to most of the scabbard bands on these. VERY NICE!! Kevin.

erik
Thanks for the contribution. That one is As near mint as they come....

Kevin
The slant grip looks a lot like a glass type, but is not.

DJ

Said I was going to do this, changed my mind, but will do it anyway........

My favorite EPack aluminum Army following with 7 pics.....

Preceeded by a brief description:

Here are some pics of my favorite EPack aluminum Army. As you can see it is so close to being perfect, it isn't funny. Just the way it came from the factory except for the patina on the scabbard and ferrule. Think you see the handwork that was done to enhance the pommel and crossguard. All these things when in nice condition, have a matt look and not shiney. Not much you can do if that look has changed to the shiney look due to wear. Fittings are Epack, 1st style, all around....

This dagger has a "nearly" glass look to the slant grip, but it's not glass type. Blade is perfect w/no/very few runner marks present. Logo is Epack 1st style. Tang of dagger is the tapered type. I've never seen a ferrule that was aluminum. Always have been the steel type. I've also not seen but a few of this type that had a slant grip.

I have never seen any with lacquer to my knowledge since aluminum had desirable "anti-patina/no tarnish" qualities.

Scabbard has the Epack trademark enhancing done to both bands. Much lacquer evident on the scabbard, unlike the rest of the dagger.

Epack seemed to know what they were doing.....

My favorite maker has to be Epack as I own a bunch of the 1st style w/aluminum and brass based/plated fittings, that are all beautifully done and well made. Fit of all parts is outstanding. Later made daggers seem to have let quality slip and you'll have a hard time finding ANY with fit like this one or most other early Armys...... That's why I love the early ones and the fact that they are very hard to duplicate and fool anyone........

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