Randall or Other Mil Use Blade

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airborne464

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Ft. Benning, GA
I just joined today. I have to ask if anyone has used a Randall Knife in combat or at least taken it to either OIF or OEF and how did it work out? I deploy this year to one of those two places and I am trying to find a suitable knife to carry on my IBA. I am an infantry 2LT so I'm sure I'll find some use for it. I have a friend that has one and he said the best use he got out of it was prying open the door to his humvee after an IED hit. Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
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Wait till you get to your unit and see what the chain of command will allow.

I'm very happy with my non-tactical benchmade folder and a Cold Steel Master Hunter or SRK.
 
Can't speak of SF per se, but have two friends one of whom is ex PJ and another ex SEAL. Asked ex PJ about knives once and he said they get told how much money they have to spend and get a bunch of catalogs thrown on the table. Ex-SEAL said pretty much the same thing. They are well-trained professionals and know their needs.
 
Most of the people I know working in special ops prefer Seal pup models... Pretty common from what I've seen.
 
Think tool first and weapon second. Prying open things, cutting and perhaps digging.

Randalls have a long tradition and I know several folks that have and do carry and use them. They aren't the only knife out there and the wait is upwards to 5 years now to get one directly from them. There are certainly plenty with dealers though. Chris Reeves sells plenty of knives that would serve and the BKT fixed blades get lots of praise by folks that like larger fixed blades. Try to stick to less than 6" though. Ontario and KaBar both make knives you can trust.
 
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That's a great link Kaylee, thanks for posting it.

I especially like this one.

http://www.mtknives.com/3fw.html

IMG_4105.JPG
 
Oddly enough, the SF troops I'm around seem to be much fonder of firearms, and little fixated on blades.

I know a few SAS and marine recon guys through friends and they laughed at me when I asked if any of them carried daggers. Apparently a knife fixation is the classic sign of a wannabe and people have been booted off the SAS selection for turning up with big 'military' knives.

As far as I can make out they all have bayonets which will do as big stabby things if needed. The knives they admit to buying are either SAKs or more likely multitools.
 
Airborne, welcome to THR.

I tried several different knives while deployed to OEF in 06-07. Some actually were used during combat, though they were used as "combat" knives are generally used, to get things done rapidly in tough conditions, not to directly kill anyone. We used support weapons for that.

One knife I used was a very sturdy knife made by good friend Shane Justice. It has a 5.5" blade with about 4.75" cutting surface, not huge, but good for lots of jobs. Even that was hard to pack around in a quickly accessible manner with all the stuff you have strapped to your IBA.

An even better solution was an On Scene Tactical Speed Dialer sheath and Waved Spyderco Endura. This gives you a very size-efficient knife that has a 4" blade, so it can be kept in the barracks even in the U.S. It deploys as quickly as a fixed blade, but takes up much less room, and is lightweight. It can also be clipped to your pocket when you're not in IBA.

If you want pictures, try to find a December issue of SWAT magazine. I wrote a short article about it.

Be sure you have a good multi-tool, and a red lens light. For general utility use, a MiniMag Lite with red Night Ize LED (available at Wal Mart) works great, is brighter than the incandescent bulb, and batteries will last several times as long (about 30 hrs!).

Take care, and keep your head down.

John
 
Randalls have a long history of being carried and used by military folks. If you get one, I doubt you'd be disappointed with the knife in any way. They're extremely well made knives and they hold their value. If you won't baby it and will be willing to use (and perhaps unavoidably abuse) it, I'd say go ahead and get one.
Otherwise, purchase something that is less expensive, but still good quality, and won't make you heartsick if it gets lost, stolen, or destroyed.
 
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