One of A.G. Russell’s great talents was making modern send-ups of traditional patterns — in this case the legendary Fairbairn-Sykes Dagger of WWII fame. Russell dubbed his the “Sandbox Dagger” in reference to the Middle-Eastern theater where much of our U.S. military action has been focused. One major change A.G. and his designer Phil Gibbs made was to add a slightly wider blade with a thicker, beefier spine to dispel any doubt of the sturdiness, or lack thereof, sometimes associated with these old daggers. The result is the stout dagger (a take-off of the Marine Raider Stiletto version) you see here.
Russell’s revised perspective on the classic Fairbairn-Sykes is 10.8″ long — 6.0″ in blade length and with a noticeable increase in blade width of 1.20″ at the base. The blade grind is 4.0″. The steel is proprietary DM1 high carbon steel developed by knifemaker/metallurgist Dan Maragni and a black DLC top coat keeps the rust monster away. The handle scales are Olive Drab Rucarta (like Micarta), nicely sculpted with a machined omni-directional groove texturing. To keep the beast contained when not in use Russell designed a MOLLE-compatible ballistic nylon sheath with a front pouch to house a sharpening stone or whatever essential(s) you please.
