The Special Air Services Regiment (SASR) uses a lot of equipment not seen by other units. Most often this is equipment aquired in small amounts specifically for SASR use and as a result does not have Military markings.

I have been aware for some time that the Gerber Mk2 was used by the SASR, but had not seen any proof. Without proof I was not prepared to add anything to my collection or to include it on this web page.

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the SASR Museum in December 2010 and observed that an example of the Gerber Mk 2 is part of the equipment on a mannequin in the counter terrorism display. None of the knives that I saw have any Military markings.

I have no information as to the scale of issue or whether these knives ever saw operational service.

When first informed about SASR use of the Mk II, I was told that the knives used by the SASR were easy to recognise because they had been shortened. This was because the blades were alledged to be brittle on the point and were subject to breaking. This was allegedly overcome by the troopers breaking the point off and reprofiling the blade. I think this can be discredited. In my research of these knives I discovered that the knives varied in length from 61/2 inches to 7 inches at manufacture. I believe this explains the apparent differences.

Does anyone have any information on other Commando type knives/daggers used by Australian forces? If so, I would very much like to hear from them. Please