Designed by a committee of experienced men led by then-Colonel Robert Frederick, the First Special Service Force's commanding officer, the dagger that would become the V-42 Stiletto (or "Force Knife" to its users) was intended to represent the state of the art in close quarters battle and replace the nigh-random assortment of knives and daggers used by the FSSF with a single weapon. Discarding the bulky and restricting knuckle guards of America's WWI trench knives and the utility functions of the bowie-style knife, Frederick's team focused on an agile stabbing and slashing knife in the vein of the famous dagger of Fairbairn and Sykes. Soliciting prototypes from the commercial market, Case responded quickly, producing three prototype knives, one to be held at the factory as a reference, the other two shipped to Frederick. The team liked what they saw and how the blade performed when tested. Reportedly, one of these tests was to load a head of cabbage into a U.S. M1 helmet and try to stab it to settle an argument between two Force members about the penetrating power of the Case stiletto; according to the unit's intel officer and historian, "The stronger of the two gripped the handle, point down, and smote the helmet, liner and cabbage. Bingo. Cole slaw came out." A few refinements were made, but the three originals were very close to the sidearm the First Special Service Force carried while making nightmares come true for the Germans in Europe. Of the three original prototype knives, one wound up in the family collection of a FSSF member, the second is now permanently encased in a Canadian Special Forces memorial (according to legend this was Frederick's personal knife, "liberated" by a Force member who later donated it to a museum to ease their guilt), and the third (the one originally held by the factory) stayed in Case's hands until the 1980s when it was acquired by Robert Buerlein. Buerlein, among other distinctions, was president of the American Historical Society (which procured many top-rate V-42s, both direct from Case's collection and elsewhere for its blade museum) and author of the book "Allied Military Fighting Knives and the Men Who Made Them Famous". This knife can be seen on page 143 of his book with two later prototypes to show the contrast between Case's first offering and the later production model, as well as on page 138 of "Heroes in Our Midst" by Ltc. John Angolia, Ret., similarly cited as one of the three originals. Measuring 12 1/2 inches overall, the first visible difference is the bright finish, with a high polish to the blade and fittings, the blade itself measuring 7 1/2 inches, slightly larger than the main production blade. The guard is a flat alloy oval (possibly brass based), backed by a spacer of hard rubber instead of the traditional washer, with a smooth washer grip showing a flatter profile. The "skull crusher" pommel has a slightly less aggressive point than the issued V-42 but still is notably similar in design. The sheath is the traditional FSSF "long drop" model, with staple reinforcement. A black box is included with the stiletto.

Excellent, with some light handling marks overall. The rubber spacer has come off the back of the guard, though the book listings speculate that this may have been deliberate. The sheath is also in excellent condition, with some minor stains and verdigris. A top-tier scarcity in American blade collecting, one of only three to ever exist, and an important milestone in combat knife development.