The third West German post-war model is the Type V LGK, initially named AES79 and still today produced under the designation LL80 (1979–present) by Eickhorn. They were issued to the Bundeswehr soldiers until 2017.
The Type IV LGK, is very similar to the WWII-production Type II takedown knife, but features plastic polymer instead of wooden scales and was made by WMF, OFW and Eickhorn from 1972-1984. The initial Type III "trap door" gravity knife, made from 1955-1961 did not prove to be very reliable and thus, the original WWII Type II design was reintroduced until it was finally replaced by the early Type IV knives in appr. The West German Luftwaffe abandoned the gravity knife concept completely and purchased completely different rescue knives including a shroud line cutter. Īfter the end of World War II, the newly organized West German Bundeswehr placed new orders with German cutlery manufacturers for a postwar version of the Kappmesser for issue to the Army´s airborne forces and tank crews. The Type II LGK (two manufacturers, five WWII variations) is the same knife, but with takedown features, and was produced from 1943 until 1945 and then again from ca. The Type I LGK (three manufacturers, five WWII variations) has wood scales (handle), was made from 1937-1943, and unlike successive models, has no 'takedown' capability. There are two principal types of wartime-era Flieger-Kappmesser with altogether 10 known variations. The spike does not lock when opened and was never intended to be used as a combat weapon. Primarily intended for untangling rope knots, it was also used as a prying tool or to fix jammed weapons. The LGK was also equipped with a folding marlinspike or awl. The LGK may also be opened by flipping the blade release lever while flicking the wrist holding the knife, causing the blade to extend. Releasing the lever locks the blade into position. To open the blade, the user points the knife downwards while flipping up the fulcrum-style operating lever, allowing gravity to draw out the blade to its fullest extent. The blade itself is a relatively blunt spear-point, and the profile is flat ground, tapering to a utility edge. The Flieger-Kappmesser uses a sliding blade inside a metal gripframe, which was originally fitted with smooth wood scales. Though not intended for use as a fighting knife in the first place, the LGK was introduced to the 1st Skijäger Division and SS units on the Eastern Front to be used primarily as a close combat weapon from 1944 on. Luftwaffe air crew members used the knife to cut themselves out of their harnesses or cut through the aluminum hull of the aircraft after a crash landing. The spike was used to untie knots while packing the parachutes. First produced in 1937, the often so called Fallschirmjägermesser was initially issued to German flight crews and paratroops, primarily for the purpose of cutting a trapped parachutist from his rigging in case he landed with a tangled parachute, or became entangled in trees or in the water with the shroud lines. One of the most recognizable gravity knives is the World War II-era Flieger-Kappmesser (literally: "flyers-cutting knife"), which utilizes a four-inch (100 mm) telescoping (OTF), gravity-propelled locking blade. German Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger-Messer or air force paratrooper knife Factory-made gravity knives have various types of buttons, triggers, and fulcrum levers, which usually are used to release the blade from both the open and the closed positions. While most military gravity knives utilize a locking blade design, other types may not mechanically lock open but rely instead upon friction to wedge the rear section of the blade against the interior of the handle. The gravity knife uses a button, trigger, or fulcrum lever to release the blade from both the open and the closed positions, and may use a side-folding or telescoping (out-the-front, or OTF) blade. Hence, historically they have been issued to parachutists to cut off caught lines, such as lines tangled in trees, a major potential use of the gravity knife. The main purpose of this opening method is that it allows opening and closing to be done one handed, in situations where the other hand is occupied. As the gravity knife requires gravity or spinning motion to propel the blade out of the handle, it differs fundamentally from the switchblade, which opens its spring-propelled blade automatically upon the push of a button, switch, or fulcrum lever. A gravity knife is a knife with a blade contained in its handle, and that opens its blade by the force of gravity.