Vets, tell us about your fighting knives.

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Same knife I shared as part of the bayonet thread derailment. This was my fast access knife where speed was the most crucial factor. Nothing to flip open, small, cheap if it ever broke, and easy to reach with either hand. I liked to mount it blade tip up on my web gear, usually over my left shoulder. Has a screw on the back of the sheath for when you really didn't want it going anywhere, like when jumping from a helicopter.

https://www.budk.com/McNett-Samish-Dive-Knife-Black-31497

Kabar D2 was my thigh knife on some patrols. It was the length, not the weight that made it impractical to carry all the time. The location was a place Afghan kids liked to grab so it got left behind at the outpost or rode in a bag. Carried in a very similar sheath as shown, a Blackhawk Airborne Deluxe.

https://www.kabar.com/products/product.jsp?item=1281

I had various knives that were clipped to my pants pocket over the years. Went through at least 3 while deployed. Many of them served as civilian EDC knives while stateside. Knives included are Kabar Warthog folder, Benchmade Infidel, S&W MP spring assisted tanto knife, a Boker knock off and plenty of others. I even bought a Spyderco Byrd knife in Kyrgyzstan since all my other knives went in checked baggage and I needed a pocket knife for the few days I was there.
 
OK, you made me start digging through old kit bags and the like. Cool thread, though. knives 1.jpg
The Randall 14 was bought as a young and inexperienced new SF graduate in 1988. I really thought I needed one. The cost, weight, and more experienced guys assured me I didn't need it, so its a safe queen now. The USN MK2 Kabar replaced it for several years. I think I got it at a flea market. The SOG bowie was won in a raffle and used on 1 tour to afg. on certain dismounted operations where a larger blade was desired.
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The small SOG fixed blade on my kit was perfect for most of what I did most of the time- sharp, and a long enough blade to do what I needed it to. The kydex sheath is superior to leather, nylon, or any other material in the environment over there. It continued to serve me in afg as a contractor. I put it on my RBAV with zip ties.
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The cold steel SRK on my "sniper belt" took the place of that SOG bowie. Lighter, and a better sheath (kydex vs leather). It was issued. I attached my IR distress strobe to the sheath. (This belt was used with BFG lowpro suspenders, but they have since been removed for use on my 3 gun setup.)

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I went through more knives of this type than I can hope to remember, mostly issued. These are the 2 best ones- most of the others were given away, traded, etc. The top one is a Emerson, which I carry almost daily. The bottom one is a spiderco. The thumbhole thingy was partially removed with a cutoff wheel to function like a Emerson wave. Then I ended up getting a real Emerson.
 
From the other side. 20190910_175940.jpg
Dad took this of some kid very late in ww2.
The kids uniform was too big and He said the kid was about 14 and scared to death. As soon as saw dad he put up his hands and surrendered. Smart move
It is a wellmade knife and comfortable to hold, with a useful profile.Good steel but the kid buggered up the blade with a file and Im not going to clean it up
 
Bikerdoc,

I carried what was likely a post war "reproduction" of a Hitler Youth Knife as a teen when not at school and not being woodsy when my M5A1 took its place. Mine was bought at a knife shop in Gatlingberg on family vacation and in place of the HJ insignia had a diamand shaped bit of plastic that was red on half of what showed and white on the other. My blade was by Othello and it took and held a very sharp edge. It was sold as a "Youth Knife" and at 13 I was not aware of the knife's history. As it turned out when Uncle Sam sent me to Germany I found out that late in the war the handle decorations were often simplified to just what I had. Oddly I can not recall if mine was marked "My Honor is pure" or "My Blood is Pure" or not as all. What was important to me was it worked as a knife and was flat and easily carried.

As I had left my knife behind in the states fearing confiscation by the Army I sought a replacement and obtained one in Germany I was sure was a modern reproduction (with the full HJ Jewel in the grip) which was promptly stolen. That very week I was working with our German Project Partnership unit (they were mech and we were not so we were jealous of their rides, Marder AFVs) when one pulled out his German Army Issue "Kampf Messer" (Battle Knife) and I decided that was what I needed.

A few years ago I dropped my HJ knife on concrete and cracked a scale. I decided to try to replace the plastic with its sharp edged crack with wood. So I ground down one side of the rivets and punched them out. Turns out what appeared to be a full length or 3/4 length tang with an attachment to the butt like some bayonets was in fact a STUB Tang! the tang sharply tapered and was bent into a hook that only the rivet closest to the guard went through. At any rate the parts are still in the shop somewhere (and by comparison Gunny's Before pictures on his shop cleaning were neater than mine) and some day I may find it again.

So yes I carried such a knife in service, one day, in garrison, tucked inside my trousers, and for two three hour guard shifts on our motor pool ( and it made me feel much better than the issued hickory night stick by itself) under my field jacket.

-kBob
 
Our unit didn't even have cleaning kits. "Shoot a round thru it to clean out the rust". The Sargent on our APC had an Army issue machete, but it was stowed aboard and I only saw it once. We used the APC for brush clearing!
I picked up a couple Mountainyard brush knives. I had to do war trophy paperwork to mail them home but they arrived safely.
 
Bannockburn,

Thanks for a nice photo of the Kampf Messer and Manhurin P1 (?) Some of my buds in the Infantry referred to the knives as German Butterknives as they did not look particularly vicious. I rather liked the classic "Forester" grip and the light weight and compactness. Durning cold weather armed patrols I carried an FS knife gotten from a British guy who's unit we worked with in exchange for a Beetle Baily fatigue hat ( there is a trade to make you feel like a bandit)

The two of them were in my car in Lawton OK one night when it was broken into but not after.

I ran across a Kampf Messer at a gun show and told the seller my story and he thanked me for my service and sold me the knife for a ten spot even though it was marked at $25.

I unfortunately ordered a FS knife from a popular online surplus store and received a POC Indian Made not shaped right thing.

With the recent thread about cheap Aircrew Survival Knives at WalMart I went to their site and searched knives and did not find one, but noted they sell the Kampf Messer and a "sanitized" version of the Hitler Youth knife without out the Nazi stuff on it.

As my knives were stolen the week I was clearing Ft. Sill OK (So how does a single 2LT rate off post housing when 95 percent of his classmate's get stuck in the Q? Be polite children always be polite to the civilian ladies that process housing. Got a nice place on the economy in Germany after that as well the same way) I was in a hurry to replace them and bought a Gerber Mark I because I liked the look and it was what I could get RIGHT THEN, a mistake but for another post.

My P1 I bought that trip to Germany was a reconditioned Austrian Police model sold by the Graffenhower American Rod & Gun Club with a spare mag and flap holster for a princely $69 1981 US Dollars.

Traded it away a few years later for my first Star PD.

-kBob
 
kBob

Still have the Gerber Mk.I; bought it right after I finished High School. Great boot knife and I eventually got a Mk.II and a Loveless Guardian Boot Knife to go with it.

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The Manurhin P1 was part of the contract to supply the West Berlin Police Dept. with sidearms.

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Firebase Tagab, Kapisa Province, early 2007.

The knife to the left of my Justice is the knife I kept on my gear on my last deployment.
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Here is a good example of a MK 1.
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I now always take an ARK with me when I deploy. I am doing some training overseas now, and unfortunately, only brought an ARK... which I gave to the only female in the detachment because we don't have showers in our barracks, and there are many foreign troops around, some of whom have bad reputations. :fire:


John
 
Kind of you, Doc, but that's okay. Now, if I was going to be out in the field with my Tac teams, I'd certainly be missing one! :thumbup: As it is, I'm "dual hatted", playing a role at both Division and as OIC for my support team. I've spent my time playing in the mud, I'm okay with sleeping in a bed. :D
 
index.php

Firebase Tagab, Kapisa Province, early 2007.

The knife to the left of my Justice is the knife I kept on my gear on my last deployment.
index.php



Here is a good example of a MK 1.
index.php



I now always take an ARK with me when I deploy. I am doing some training overseas now, and unfortunately, only brought an ARK... which I gave to the only female in the detachment because we don't have showers in our barracks, and there are many foreign troops around, some of whom have bad reputations. :fire:


John
The tanto in the group pic on the lower right... Is that a CS Voyager or Gunsite?
 
I was probably too interested in the welfare of my troops.

No such thing, IME.

The proudest moment of my career came when I was returning from my second tour, this one to Afghanistan. I was a mustang, prior enlisted and now a 1LT in charge of a PSYOP detachment (hence the user name). I had to replace my detachment NCO a few months in for malingering (he would ultimately end up in prison for sex crimes, bastard). We were on Bagram, cleaning gear and a day or two away from rotating home. The chaplain interviewed every soldier in the detachment, seeing how things went, checking on their mental health. I went last. He told me that this was the first time where a group of soldiers said that their OIC had been the one who took care of them, rather than the NCO.

That I got to come home with everyone, and to have earned their trust, are points of pride I'll carry with me the rest of my life. I only had some control of the latter; in the case of the former, I was limited to trying not to have my people sent out on pointless missions.

Blades to follow later today or this week, once I get time to pull them out and take some pics.
 
Got a nephew, not the he was the dumbest rock in the box, but he could break an anvil by looking at it.
When he deployed to the sandbox I sent him off with a Gerber fixed blade and a Spyderco Endura. He broke both! I sent him some cheap United Cutlery junk and he brought them home, go figure
 
I count ten Spydercos! I thought I was addicted - you win.

Dave was a cool guy.
Back when I was making knives I sent him a Skinner. He used it often, which made me feel good.
We were supposed To go hunting together on the Eastern Shore,
It never happened, between his Illness and one of my incidents
RIP Dave..
 
I count ten Spydercos! I thought I was addicted - you win.
12 in that pic. The Byrd is a Spyderco product, as is that Street Bowie. I have more, though. ;)

Dave was a cool guy.
Back when I was making knives I sent him a Skinner. He used it often, which made me feel good.
We were supposed To go hunting together on the Eastern Shore,
It never happened, between his Illness and one of my incidents
RIP Dave..

Yes, Dave was someone that I loved immediately on meeting him. He had a "welcome back" dinner for me soon after I returned, and we were supposed to begin getting together regularly. 3 weeks later he was gone.
 
In 68 when I first went over the Ole man gave me a Moran Persian, which made it about have way through, it disappeared in the mountains, first stop in a PX, I picked up a Gerber Cats paw, it had the nifty bend to the blade, when I came home I left it with a 1Sgt I knew. Second time over I took a Randal Bowie and a WW-2 issued K-bar, The Randall is now with no-1 grandson, the K-bar is some where in an Air Force museum as it was given to a Raven who needed it
 
Gerber Cats paw, it had the nifty bend to the blade,

Mk II "Cat's Tongue" handle treatment? (unless there's a Cat's Paw model I'm not aware of)
KnifeCT1t.jpg
L6 steel, cant with "Cat's Tongue" handles are supposed to be found from S/N 001001 to 003747 (but there are outliers).
 
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