For Iraq/Afghanistan Vets - What Was Your Most Useful Sandbox Knife?

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I had a good friend that used to send pocket knives to our troops in Iraq as he knew they needed knives. He did this for a while until he was told by our govt. to stop. Maybe some of you received one of his knives. His name was Bill Lankford.
 
I'm trying to resist but I want a stainless endura or delica. Any suggestions on which is better?
Staying on topic, how did the endura handle the sandbox?
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Given the choice between those 2, given my uses for knives at the time, I prefered the slightly bigger Endura.... However I will say that I EDC an all stainless Dragon Fly these days which is signifigantly smaller that both of them. Really it comes down to intended purpose and personal preference... The Endura seems fit my hand better. Now that i'm a DOD contractor the Endura seems a bit large and heavy to be carrying around in Kaki's so I bought a Dragon Fly... When I need it - it does the job, when I don't - I don't even notice it in my pocket.

As to how well my old Endura held up... The Sand Box was no big deal for it... As far as I could tell it was just another few months of pocket carry, cutting slash wire, opening boxes, MRE's ect.... The "Moon Dust" there gets in everything including all over my knife but it never caused any problems and every once in a while I'd scrub it out with an AP brush.

My 2005 tour in OEF was CJTF HOA, based out of Djibouti Africa.... Things were alot different than Iraq. Alot of maintaining, inproving and building infrastructure going on there... I can't count how much wire I stripped, many CAT-5 cables I made with that Spyderco or boxes I opened... Those actions were an everyday occurance 7 days a week.... The AO is nothing but rocks and hard pack sand that turns into rocks and a slick clay like material when it rains. BRUTALLY HOT and HUMID.... You sweat like a pig 24/7 there... Honestly even after that clown broke the lock I still carried and used that knife daily.... it always cut (Spyder Edge) and never rusted.

I don't know what else to say about it, other than it's got to be the best knife that I have ever owned. Back in 97 when I bought it (I think it cost like $55), I thought it was a pretty expensive knife... looking back now, it was just $$ well spent.

Spyderco will fix that, I imagine.
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I thought about sending it back to them.... I'd be nice if they could fix it, as that knife and I have been thru and done alot together.... I honestly have a brand new Endura 4 also all stainless but I've never even carried it... because it's just not the same....

Will
 
Will,

Call them at 800-525-7770 and tell them you're a vet with a stainless Endura that you need to have the lock repaired. Tell them you have a new one, but you'd like to get your's repaired instead of replaced because of sentimental reasons. Can't hurt.
 
Hey rklessdriver, thanks for the rundown. I've held both and the delica fits my hand better, tho maybe not with gloves. I have a bit of spare cash right now too. Hmmmmm?
Right now I'm edcing an all steel dragonfly.
 
I used Spyderco Military folders. I had the same two for about forever. One of them was stolen out of my luggage, and the other is in my pocket right now. Plain edge, stainless.
From Kosovo in 1998 to Somalia four months ago.
 
I HAD three when I was in Iraq 06-07

One was a larger fixed blade tanto that I only carried outside the wire, then while on R+R it decided to take a vacation as well. I didnt really miss it so I never replaced it, cant remember the make / model but I want to say ka-bar.

One was a small 3-4" folder that wasnt fancy, straight blade with a drop point. With a regular strip down and cleaning it stayed functional at all times and I still have it today.

Lastly was a Leatherman Wave, blade easy accessible along with a plethora of other useful tools readily at your disposal.
 
Steve,

Do you mean you have a Spyderco Military with a stainless handle? I'm not aware of that version.

John
 
I carried a CRKT M16, and a Gerber Multi Tool on me and I had a S&W boot knife that was about 6" long and 1/2 inch wide that I clipped on the sun visor in my HUMVEE. They were all used nearly every day.

But that was back in 03-04
-Afghanistan-
 
OIF 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and OND 2011.

I think at times I had 4 blades on me, which seems absurd but hell, it's a dangerous environment.

Gerber Mk II on my IBA in 2008. Too large. Switch to the Gerber Prodigy starting in 2009. Same knife but smaller.

Had a designated seatbelt cutter on my IBA, which is critical to have.

Had a smaller folder knife for quick use for utility cutting.

And of course a multitool on my belt - rarely used the knife but it was there if needed. More for plyers, openers, etc.
 
Well smaller folder, larger fixed blade, and multitool seems to be the consensus. I thought that the favorite fixed blade length was about 3" to 4" but I'm not sure now. What do you folks think is the perfect length? Ok, maybe it's easier to answer what is the max length before it starts to get in the way or too long to use effectively?
BTW thanks for all the replies, it's great info.
 
Ok, maybe it's easier to answer what is the max length before it starts to get in the way or too long to use effectively?
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Probably worth reiterating the 4" maximum allowed in garrison. If it is important to you to be able to carry this blade wherever you may be, you'll need to choose something at or under that limit.

'Course, the better question might be, is there something you CAN'T do with a 4" blade that you can do with a 5" blade? Obviously most would agree that a 6-7"+ blade is unwieldy for a lot of utility tasks. Maybe a 5" blade is just perfect, but if you have to leave it in the locker sometimes, maybe that 1 extra inch is hurting more than helping.
 
I had a small folding knife and a Leatherman.

I kept the bayonet in the truck. With all the other stuff I carried it served no purpose, it wouldn't mount due to the 203.
 
Also probably worth noting that 3" is the longest blade you're allowed to carry on your person on military fixed wing aircraft in theater. Longer blades will be carried in your checked luggage. Yes, it's silly (especially since you HAVE to carry your loaded mags on you, and you have your weapon), but that doesn't change the reg.

John
 
If 3 inches is the largest we are allowed to carry on a military flight, I broke that reg every time I went somewhere. I never had an issue carrying as large as a 7" blade in country. Even allowed loaded mags, just not in the weapon.

Now on civilian birds, all knives that were "mission critical" were allowed in our carryon. Otherwise they went in the belly.
 
You may have indeed broken it. I took something like 40-50 fixed-wing flights during my recent deployment (I'm still on leave from it). At least 90% of those flights were prefaced by telling us that automatic knives and blades over 3" were only allowed in checked luggage. You'll note I mentioned the contradiction with loaded mags in post #91.

It's also worth noting that most large terminals in Afghanistan have gone, or are in the process of going to, metal detector and x ray scanning to verify compliance. I don't want to give undue information away, but RC SW, RC S, and NKC are already there.
 
Air crews never told me that little tidbit. I took around 15-20 FW flights during OEF 2010 and the only security checks were at BAF on the way out checking for war trophies, drugs, stuff like that. BAF had better scanning equipment than most stateside airports I've been through. I had a unit patch in my back pocket that I had forgotten about and they made out the writing on it.
 
OIF 2008-2009 OEF 2009-2011
SOG Trident
Gerber Multitool.
And the Ka Bar that my great grandfather went island hopping with in the 40s, his brother(my great uncle) carried with him in Korea, my grandfather had it on his hip when he landed in Da Nang. It went with my dad in the first gulf war and bosnia, I took it with me on both my deployments and it will continue to go with me. I type this as I am in the hospital as my wife and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first son. When the time comes this knife shall be his.
 
It will be a couple of days before I can get to the house they are inducing her Wednesday.
 
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