Which knives did you use in the military? I know that many of us are veterans, and I bet that most had at least a pocketknife.

Also, if you were young again and knew what you do now, or were choosintg a knife for a son or other significant loved one who's off to Iraq or Afghanistan, what knives would you provide, if cost wasn't a factor?

I was a cop in the USAF and never saw a war zone. (I applied for Vietnam, and they sent me to Newfoundland. ) I did buy knives that I thought would be good in a battle zone, because I thought I might see duty in Vietnam or Thailand. I got a Model 3 Randall, mainly for a hunting knife, and a Ben-Hibben - later just Gil Hibben- small Bowie, called the Jungle Fighting Knife. It had a seven-inch blade. The Randall had a six-inch blade, and the standard leather handle, all that I found that I could afford.

My pocketknife was at first a Wostenholm I*XL Boy Scout type, later a Swiss Army knife from Victorinox. I bought the I*XL from Randall, who carried that brand then. The Victorinox came from a posh New York outfitter called Hunting World, run by a safari veteran named Robert Lee. I still favor that model of Victorinox (called the Spartan) as a basic pocketknife, although I now have many options.

When my son was headed for Iraq, I gave him a Fallkniven S-1 (www.fallkniven.com ) He declined a Swiss Army knife, preferring a multitool, and he had a lockblade from Pakistan, given to him by a friend. He decided that the black-bladed S-1 was too nice and too expensive for a battle zone, and was afraid that some customs agent or prig officer might confiscate it on some pretext. So, he got a Marine style Ka-Bar, made by Camillus, I think. Those served him well, although all of his killing was done with guns. Now a civilian, he prefers a tanto-pointed Benchmade folder, which saved his life a few months ago when he was attacked in his yard by a feral dog.

My use of the Randall was confined to wearing it when hunting and fishing in Colorado and in Newfoundland. It replaced an old Anton Wingen Bavarian style hunter as my sporting knife. I also used a Buck Pathfinder (Model 105) in that role.

Some disdain a combat knife, saying that it'll never be needed. But it may! One El Salvadoran soldier ran out of ammo and all his platoon were killed, and the insurgents were coming. He drew a lockblade folder (I never saw the brand in the news) and charged the enemy! He inflicted some casualties and they ran! This man received the Salvadoran equivalent of the Medal of Honor. I also have encountered other examples of knives in battle. The late G.W. Stone told me that a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam took off the head of a Viet Cong worthy with one stroke from one of Stone's Model A knives. Randall also has testimonials spanning about four or five wars.

But the military knife usually functions more like a camp knife, a valuable utility tool.

So, what did you carry, epecially if you in a war zone? What would you give someone today?

T-Star

The only knife I carried in the Army was a G.I. pocket knife. My primary armament was a 1911A1 pistol, and when I was forced to by the TO&E, an M1 carbine. I learned never to bring a knife to a gunfight. In later years, I picked up this one - I suppose there are worse fighting knives. It's an OSS stiletto, complete with the original "pancake flipper" scabbard.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

OOOH-

Nice catch, and very collectible!

I did have a Third Model F-S knife then, but left it with my family, as I'd read that they sometimes broke in battle.

I also had trouble getting a decent edge on it.

The USMC Fighting Knife...aka The Ka-Bar!
'Nuff said!

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The Last Standing Knight

I carried a Boy Scout knife-1960s vintage, forget the brand, then a "demo" knife or "engineer's" knife. In fatigues, Class As or khakis, and in civvies. Most used tool was the can opener-did a nice job on a C-ration can. IIRC one of the qualities of the "demo" knife was that it was non-sparking. ? The Gerber MkII
was the "in knife" during my time, I had 2 at various times. Yes, I DID use it. And it did not let me down.
Back in "my" day (1967-1971) you could only carry a sheath knife in the field, in garrison or off duty
nobody said anything about carrying a pocket knife. I gather in today's PC military carrying a pocket knife or a multitool leads to a lot of cackling and quacking among the powers that be and the knife aficionado, like the gun buff, is viewed with suspicion.

All.
TL-29. Electricians knife.
All them pointy ended fighting knives would get you electrocuted if you worked around high voltage equipment.
Bill@Yuma

A Model 18 Randall and a USMC bayonet during two tours in Iraq. And, no, not a Ka-Bar, but the bayonet.

Thanks! I'd never seen one of those. How does it fare as a bayonet? The M-4 carbine seems ill-suited for use with a bayonet, and the M-16 isn't great for that, either.

In Korea, the 27th (Wolfhound) Regiment made a bayonet charge against the Commies that is said to have been the largest since the Civil War. They routed the enemy. But they had Garands!

BTW, the Lee-Enfield rifle stock is shaped the way it is to make it better for use with the bayonet, although the spike form issued with the Rifle No. IV seems anemic, at best. I suspect that is one reason why Australia never adopted the No. IV. It is, however, in some ways a better rifle than the No 1 MK III that preceeded it.

T-Star

It works better than the Army bayonet, which is also designed to be used as a wire-cutter, torque wrench, etc. The USMC bayonet is designed for killing, and the Commandant had the handle ergonomically designed to reduce hand fatigue when knife-fighting with it. Side note: Walked into the chow hall at Al Taqaddum and the Sergeant on head count looked at my bayonet and said, "That's a big knife you got there, Master Sergeant. You planning on killing something?" I replied, "Sergeant, you DO realize we're in a combat zone, right?"

I recently had a wave of nostalgia an haunted ebay until I found a good Gerber Mark I and a new production Gerber Mark II.

For folders it was always a Buck 110 and 112. One day I got called to the CSM's office where he measured my buck which came out 1/16th inch under the limit. I got a 15 minutes lecture about how he could not understand why a soldier in his army would feel the need to carry such a disgusting weapon. I said it was a tool to do repairs on on camo nets an such before I was told to **** and get out of his sight. So I can see his concern about some smuck in the chain of command finding some excuse to steal it.

The spike bayonet of the No. 4 Mk I was designed to be used as a mine probe with the handle of the Uk entrenching tool, while the sword bayonet of the SMLE/No. 1 Mk III was the length it was to make up for the shorter barrel length of the SMLE compared to the Long Lee Enfields it replaced. We did the same with the 16" M1905 bayonet for the M1903. The Krag bayonet was one of the first to incorporate the "fighting knife/camp knife" concept . When I joined the Army in 1967 bayonet drill was a major component of BCT. "WHAT'S THE SPIRIT OF THE BAYONET!..." Also several Marines from that era told me Marine Doctrine was your bayonet goes on the end of your weapon, your knife is on your belt if you need it.

Vietnam era..... usually a Buck folder plus the standard ol' K-Bar.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

issue Kabar.
pocket knife was a Barlow.
I wasn't into "Blades". As long as I could run, there wasn't going to be any "Knife Fighting" by JimmyJ.

I used to carry a Lakota folder, most of my shipmates carried Buck folders. Now I would probably carry something like this....

23 months in Vietnam and points west.
Randall #1, Gerber MkII and a Gerber folder.
Guess which one I used the most?

Rule 303

Never had a serious use for it but I always had it just in case all else failed.



Big enough to be serious but compact enough to always be with you and not in the way.

On meatloaf or mystery meat only..........

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If I were sending one, it would be a Grayman. Flapjack

I had a bunch of 'em in Iraq, most spent the whole deployment sitting in a box next to my bunk in the tent. Most of them are still in that same box in my basement. The most unique was a repro of the Farbairn-Sykes SAS dagger I ordered from Sportsmans Guide, since at the time they shipped overseas to APO addresses. I kind of "collected" knives via mail order over there. Getting mail was like Christmas morning, and so I used to order a bunch of stuff.

I showed up in Iraq with the US Army version of the Ka-Bar on my belt and caught some heat about that....."look at this guy with the commando knife......" I still have that one too.

I did 550-cord a Benchmade fixed blade in the sheath to my IBA, until I broke the tip off. It still works, just has no sharp tip now.... Benchmade makes good stuff, that blade was so sharp if you touched it, it would draw blood. I thought of sending it back to Benchmade for a new blade, but I might just leave it as is......it's got "character". The Benchmade wasn't cheap and it was a better made knife than the new Ka-Bar I had. I also have an Ontario fighting knife that felt cheap to me.

I replaced it with a Turkish Mauser bayonet with the handle wrapped in electic tape, with a rigged up sheath I took from another knife. The blade was dull, I used it as a prying tool and to break light bulbs out. That thick, long heavy blade would have made a better bludgeon than a stabbing weapon It was a Turkish bayonet but it had German marks on the root of the blade.....must have been "recycled" by the Turks. A lot to be said for good German steel, I used to pry open metal doors with it and it never broke. Tried the same thing with a cheap Chinese made knife and snapped the blade right in half. I still have the Turk bayonet.

I also had one of those cheap S&W branded "tanto" knives I bought at Ft. Drum before I deployed. I had all kinds of bonus money, and I bought all kinds of useless junk before I deployed, most of which I still have laying around somewhere, the rest was stolen or lost.

It was the "cool guy" thing to do, to have a big fighting knife tied to your body armor......it also gave me a little extra peace of mind that if all else failed at least I had some kind of weapon.

Like most sailors of the time I always had a Buck 110 folding hunter. When I was with the Seabees I usually had a TL29 as well.

I carried a TL 29 and then a TL 30 when I was ground pounding, when soaring with the eagles I carried that cheap (really cheap) aircrew survival knife a shroud line cutter and a Schrade folder (like a buck).

bob

Bob-

Buck is a family and brand name and is capitalized. Lots of people make that error. I was taught as a Journalism student that owners of trademarks, like Kleenex (Kimberly-Clark, I think) , are touchy about seeing their brands in lower case. Not my place to scold, just FYI.

Anyway, the knife you mean is probably the Schrade LB-7. I knew a man (interviewed him by phone) who used one to kill a cougar that attacked him on Vancouver Island. It worked fine...once he got it open while keeping her teeth from his throat! She scalped him in the process, but surgeons got most everything back where it went. Probably left bad scars, though.

I know what a TL-29 looks like. What's a TL-30? Does TL mean Telephone Lineman?

T-Star

Germany sold Mausers to Turkey and they prob. came with bayonets made in Solingen. Several models were used from 1891 until after WW II and beyond. Turkey was an effective German ally in WW I, as the Australians learned to their considerable loss at Gallipoli. Not the ANZACS' fault; it was Churchill's.

Someone mentioned the Krag bayonet (one of them) being among the first like a knife. The Lee-Metford M-1888 bayonet preceded it by a few years. Very handsome bayonet.

T-Star

After looking around after your question, there may not be a TL-30. That is what we called it, but we were probably wrong.

It is a silver knife with a 2-1/2" blade, hole punch, can opener, and bottle opener. It is marked US on one of the side plates. The one I have is marked "Q1986" on the knife blade. No maker name anywhere.

This is what it looks like.



After seeing what they are selling for, I think I should have taken better care of mine.

bob

For years I carried an M3 Trench knife, since it was similar to the bayonet for the M16, most didn't pay any attention to it. Right before I retired I got a Cold Steel SRK original USA made Carbon V steel. It served the last three years with me, retired with me, and went to Iraq for two years, all of 04, and 05. Always needing something other than a pigsticker, since my first days on active duty after training I've carried a VSAK Huntsman thats been rebuilt twice is over 40yrs of use, and now also keep a Leatherman Wave close by too.

I carried a plain leatherman tool (but in the cool tactical black version) and a Spyderco Police model. Before the Police model, I carried a Buck Bucklite 112 size folder, along with a 2AA mini-maglight. Being a squid, and not assigned to any boarding parties, that stuff made the most sense. They bitched about me wearing the light and leatherman on my dungaree belt, but of course NOW they issue that stuff to sailors....
(which is a good thing, I think)
OMC

Bob-

Aha! Yes, I know that knife, and have one by Camillus. I knew an airman who had one when I was on active duty, too. If it has a formal title, I've never heard it.

What do they sell for these days? (Mine isn't for sale.)

When in Nam I carried a Buck 110 Folder & Western Bowie.

The one pictured above is being offered at $99.99 US.

I guess I will have to take it, and my TL-29 out of my roll around and bring them in the house.

bob

edit: Actually this thread got me to wondering what some of my knives were worth these days. I was pleasantly surprised at the going price for a few of them. The Cold Steel Black Bear knife has appreciated quite well as has the Effingham Blackjack 7L. I am glad this thread came up.

I sent a Kershaw Whirlwind with a Marine to Iraq, and a Leatherman Surge with a SeaBee.

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

wow i had no idea those sell for so much i got one from 1967 its in good shape for being kept in my tool box.

Viet Nam era, Camillus Marine K-Bar and an E-Tool (entrenching tool) that was used more than the K-Bar. I ended up giving my K-Bar to a friend's son, a young U.S. Army soldier who has taken to Afghanistan and is now in Iraq.

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

I have the same knife, my granddaughter's found it in the street in frount of my house abought 4 years agoIt has Camillus 1970 on the blade.I carried a Buck 110 from 1977-1984, it was stolden along with my flight survible knife when I was outprosesing.

I was a Navy Cryptologic Technician. My 'military knife' was a 3-blade pipe tool...pen blade, pick, and bowl reamer!

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

I never served in the armed services. Blind in one eye, none would accept my application. My brother was in the Navy. He died in 2004. The day of the funeral, I found his stainless steel G.I. knife. It is dated 1983 and is made by Camillus. It was in the trash along with lots of his ammunition, reloading items, etc. I took it home with me. I also "emptied the trash can" for my SIL. Later I found and bought a Cattaragus 225Q. The original sheath was in poor condition so I had a local leather shop make up a new one. It is a very fine knife.

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<><

I carried a Leatherman Wave all my time on a ship, and it served me very well. IMO it's the best multitool out there. Has the blades on the outside, so they can be deployed quickly.
Although for combat, i'd suggest a nice fixed blade. Can't go wrong with a Ka Bar.

If i were giving one, i'd give both of these.
"One is none"

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

USMC issued K-Bar and later a Gerber Mark I, aka a poor Marine's Randall! Still have the Gerber. Didn't realize until not too long ago those things are worth beaucoup bucks now!

Oh noes! He has to kill us now!

T-Star, you can pick up those Camillus military knives on ebay for less than 20 bucks if you are patient. The sellers usually give the date and of course nice condition older ones go for more.

At some point the supply will dry up and the price will go up.

Queen also made the same knife under govt. contract and you see those on ebay as well.

I've got a Camillus (1991!) in the little emergency kit I carry in my bird hunting vest.

They are $29 in the current GSA catalog.

Here's a link to a thread I started that had some interesting replies to.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/...all-knife.html
For those here that didnt see it, it might be of interest.

$100 seems pretty steep to me. The knife is a military utility knife and they first became available with that handle during WWII. Untold millions were purchased during the war for servicemen and they have been available ever since. Every major maker supplied them to the government at one time or another. The design is a copy of the Boy Scout utility knife that goes back about 100 years.

Bob

There's a Randall on consignment at my LGS. Around $1K.

Beautiful knife. Absolutely beautiful. I'm sure it's extremely high quality.

...but c'mawn.

The best killing knives have already been invented. My first choice would be the British Fairbain stilleto, already depicted in this thread.
That would be followed in a close second by the American M3 Trench knife, later altered into the M4 bayonet for the M1 carbine of WW2.

This was my setup. The folder is a Gerber and came as a set with the Original multi-tool you see. In my pocket was an SAK.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I am carrying a small Benchmade. Uncle Sam gave me a nice Gerber auto. But I chose to leave it at home. I see a lot of folks wearing some really hooa hooa knives and they never use them for anything but conversation.

Also if its an automatic and not issued customs will take it from you when you leave theater. You have to have a letter from the commander stating it is an issued knive to carry any auto home with you, or mail it back and there are some rules with that also.

I am dual carry meaning I carry an M-9 and an M-4 so I really have no use for a fighting knife. However, I would never leave home without a good pocket knife. And I also was issued a couple of Gerber multi tools. I do carry and use it regularly. But I have carried a Gerber multi tool for many years its just a part of who I am now.

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SC Army National Guard

SAK in my pocket, and a Gerber multi-tool or Leatherman and a largish, relatively inexpensive folder in my LBE/vest.

I outgrew the really big fixed blade fighter on my pistol belt fairly early in my career.

I went to RVN with a Buck having a 4 inch blade, and a Swiss Army Knife, the Personal, if i remember rightgly.. The Buck stayed in my duffel bag. Teh Swiss Army slipped out of the patch pocket on my combat fatigurs when i was riding in a Huey. Your rump is only a couple of inches offf the floor, and your legs are at quite an angle. I looked for it in the ship, but it had either fallen out or someone else had gotten it. My wife sent me another; I retired it about 6 years ago: the plastic grips had worn enough that the edges of the metal shield around the Swiss cross were exposed; they were very sharp. I used the tools more than the blades; once I fixed the office Xerox machine so well that it took the techrep three days to get it going again.

The Gerber multitool is a must overseas, I must have like 5 of those things. It was my most used tool, for everything from cleaning weapons, opening MRE's, whatever you would need a tool for........ Broke most of the attachments eventually prying on things, etc. I still use them once in a while.

84CJ's post reminds me of how I had to throw my nice little Mako automatic folder in a dumpster on the way out of Iraq, because it wasn't worth the hassle to get the letter. I also collected Zippo lighters and the Customs people made me take the cotton out of about 10 Zippos and other lighters I had Basically ruined about $500 worth of nice brass Zippos I had sent over in the mail. I also had a few nice vintage Ronsons I got on FleaBay that were destroyed too........ridiculous.

Stan-

Maybe if you kept the rest of the lighters, Zippo will replace the cotton, if you tell them that this was due to US Customs abusing you after your service to this nation.

Why did Customs get excited about the cotton?

Good luck.