What's the point of a big knife?

[JShirley]

I have carried a 19" kukri in the field, but I was a mortarman in WA at the time, and I got permission from my E5 to carry the kuk instead of the SOP e-tool, and in lieu of the machete that was in inventory.

(For folks who haven't been to Washington, in many places the foliage grows very tall and thick, and mortar crews may have to cut lanes to see their aiming stakes. The kukri was about the same weight as our machete, but more compact.)

I would not have carried a kukri in Afghanistan. A modern US service member carries far too much gear for a large knife to make any sense when in an environment without dense foliage.

 

[jmr40]

My wife and I volunteer on a search team. We are often contacted to assist in searches all over the Southeast and usually on cold cases where locals have given up. In addition to several counties here in GA, I've worked searches in FL, NC, TN and AL. We are going to SC for a search next weekend. Locals have made an arrest in a murder case and we are going to assist them in an attempt to find remains they suspect were dumped in the woods.

Here are some photos from a search last October in Covington GA. The young man was 26 when last seen almost 2 years to the day before we found his remains. We often need to use machetes and large knives to get into areas. When this man walked into this area 2 years ago it was fairly open, but over the last 2 years the brush had taken over.

Lately I've been using this. With a 10" blade it still qualifies as a knife. It is heavy enough for chopping and straps onto a daypack easier than a longer bladed machete.

http://www.amazon.com/Ontario-8628-...ie=UTF8&qid=1465065184&sr=8-1&keywords=rtak+2

The remains are just to the right of the lady on the trail, which we cut with machetes and ATV's.



My pack with entrenching tool and machete's




After most of a day we cleared an area about 1/2 the size of a basketball court where remains, clothes and a cell phone were recovered. LE then came in with metal detectors and dogs trying to recover a handgun that was supposed to be there. We never found the gun. If you look at the brush in the 1st photo and compare it to the last 2 you can see what can be done by about a dozen people and hand tools. And a lot of work.

 

[JShirley]

Yeah, I've cleared a lot of brush with a light kukri, but a RTAK works well, too.

 

[JohnKSa]

If you need to clear a lot of brush then a long machete is an ideal tool. Saw a lot of ~2 foot machetes in South America when I was there and all of them being used heavily.

Don't know anything about this brand, but something like this.

http://coronatoolsusa.com/ma-60042-machete-22-in.html

Actually most of them looked more like this with the plain, black, super-slick plastic handle with a little tab off the end which is supposed to keep it from slipping out of your hand.

https://www.knife-depot.com/knife-140286.html

 

[C0untZer0]

I want to buy a Baryonx machete just because I want one. It just looks awesome. His prototype is on the bottom.

You can tell its a chopper.

 

[Piraticalbob]

I want to buy a Baryonx machete just because I want one. It just looks awesome. His prototype is on the bottom.

You can tell its a chopper.

Looks like a medieval billhook.

 

[22-rimfire]

The Baryonx machete is certainly a chopper supreme. Condor makes them for him.

 

[C0untZer0]

He distributes for Rinaldi, Falci and Angelo B., and they all seem to make a lot of different billhooks:

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/rinaldi.html

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/falcitools.html

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/angelob.html

Is that a Mediterranean thing?

 

[Space Ghost]

I carried a typical 7" K-Bar for most of my 28 years in the Army. On my last two deployments I carried an even heavier MOD Mark V ATAK. Depending on the unit and MOS large knives are not out of place. I can do most everything a small knife can do with a large one, plus it can do things a small knife can't. I never was concerned with one extra pound of weight. You're carrying so much already, you hardly notice it. A big blade also has an intimidation factor sometimes even surpassing an M4. Our enemy respects a blade, and they know you can't shoot unless fired on. Find yourself in a crowded market and it can get dicey, but point a decent blade at somebody, or have a big stick (like 4 feet of bamboo tent pole) and they'll stay away from you and not try to steal things off your truck...

 

[JShirley]

So...you were a trans guy? That's a little different than being light infantry. Also every use of force briefing begins with "nothing in the follow restricts the Soldier's inherent right to self-defense", so saying "can't engage unless fired upon" is not only a sweeping generalization, it is false.

Racial slurs are not allowed on THR.

 

[Space Ghost]

The way you say "trans guy" sure sound like a slam. Almost akin to "POG" (People Other than Grunts, military racial slur)

I have been both "trans" and "Infantry" on different deployments, as well as an Infantry Drill Sgt in my youth. I have both the CIB and CAB. Throughout history those in combat have always had nicknames (not racial slurs) for our enemy. I believe the name of our enemy is not a racial slur, because it is not based on a race, but merely a nickname for the enemy.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I guess I should have known to take "the high road." Can I claim PTSD?

BTW I saw more combat, shot more enemy, got shot at more often as trans, than I did kicking in doors, and wee didn't have so much back up or air support on the road. Once they stop the convoy, it's on.

 

[JShirley]

My point about trans being nothing about combat, but about load...rather like I said earlier in the thread. If you stay near vehicles, what you can carry is dramatically different than when carrying your ruck, weapons system, and mortar rounds...in which case, every ounce counts

"Haji" is only correctly used when refering to Muslims who have made the Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. It's an honorific if used correctly, but a racial slur when used to refer to every LN who lives in certain areas.

POG, FOBBIT, pencil-neck geek, etc, have nothing to do with "race", but MOS or disposition in theater.

 

[scaper]

I got it the first time I read it, and thought it was funnier than hell!

 

[herrwalther]

I have carried a 19" kukri in the field, but I was a mortarman in WA at the time, and I got permission from my E5 to carry the kuk instead of the SOP e-tool, and in lieu of the machete that was in inventory.

(For folks who haven't been to Washington, in many places the foliage grows very tall and thick, and mortar crews may have to cut lanes to see their aiming stakes. The kukri was about the same weight as our machete, but more compact.)

I would not have carried a kukri in Afghanistan. A modern US service member carries far too much gear for a large knife to make any sense when in an environment without dense foliage.

Haven't been stationed in WA but have gone to other areas with brush such as Polk, Sheby, and McClellan. In those places, some of the soldiers used to the area would have a large machete or Bolo knife for brush clearing or shelter building. The mortar teams often went off to do their own thing but 240 gun teams build similar firing positions.

My first time at McClellan I carried my always carry knife, Benchmade Adamas folder. Shelter building and brush clearing was not in the plan but happened anyway. The Adamas held up well for a folder outside it's role, and there were a few instances I had to borrow something bigger.

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[C0untZer0]

I was in the 5th Infantry Mech (non combat arms), at Polk, and the serrated edge of the issue e-tool is pretty effective at chopping saplings, roots and brush.

When I was at PLDC our 1st Sgt discovered a nest of copperheads in what was going to be our site, he called me over to the "nest" gave me an order "Take your e-tool and kill all these snakes. Then police the whole area continuing to kill all the snakes you find until there are no more snakes."

So the serrated edge of the e-tool is good for that too...


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[JShirley]

That is a specific and clear order.

 

[Slamfire]

I like freaking big knives for the weapon aspect. Other than cleaving helms, they are impractical. Ever tried to slice carrots with a trailmaster?




Sure, sure I have used machetes and khukuri's for clearing brush and reducing tree branches, and they work very well in those applications. I never tried slicing an apple with a machete, I think I tried a khukuri for kitchen applications and it did not work well. For serious heavy cutting, I want an axe, chain saw. For light chopping I use a tomahawk, which is a much better chopper than a knife for the same weight. I purchased this in 1974 and I have taken it on all my camping trips. Worked great, light weight.



People who want to "batton" ought to get a nice froe:



These have been used for centuries to split strakes, and they are the tool for it. Low carbon or medium carbon steel, heat treated to a tough edge. I think people beating on the back of high carbon knife blades tempered to a high rockwell are crazy. Knives are not wedges or froes.

A small knife has its limitations, but you know, you don't need a large knife for most things. I took these pictures of a shooting Bud's Case Canoe. He has owned this since 1964, just the weekend previous he used it to field dress a deer.



He had not cleaned it yet, yuck!



Even though this Nesmuk is much prettier and all, it also would make a fine deer knife.

 

[JShirley]

For general outdoors use, I prefer the "big knife, little knife" model. The size of the big knife can vary, depending on how far I'm traveling on foot, how long I'll be out, and the weather and terrain.

The big blade can be any of a number of larger blades, and a hatchet/hawk or even an appropriately shaped small shovel can be used as a substitute.

In general, modern combat troops are best served with a 3-5" bladed knife. I am probably one of the more dangerous US troops with a large blade, but any firearm beats a blade if the threat is more than 5 feet away, and we just carry too damn much gear to make a large blade practical except in certain specific situations. My time on a gun crew being an example of such a situation (note that our official military issued gear for the gun included a very large blade).

 

[macgrumpy]

If it's sharp enough you can cut carrots with a broad axe, not being able to chop small veggies with a knife says more about how little the user knows how to use/sharpen the knife than anything about the knife.

I'm in the same camp as some of the others here, I believe in the big knife/small knife combination, how big the knife is depends on what I expect to do. I still stand by my use of a big Bowie type and a smaller skinning/general duty knife. Just the other day I took a hike and had to cut some limbs from a blowdown that was in my path. I cut limbs an inch in diameter and over, most with one blow from my 9" Becker, the job got done quickly and with very little effort on my part. The combination works the best of anything I've tried over the years, if it doesn't work for others then so be it - either they have different needs or different circumstances.

 

[CraigC]

I love big knives, bowies in particular. Sure, you can skin and quarter a deer with a 2" pen knife but where's the fun in that? Seriously, a 4" blade is plenty for most chores but I've processed game with 8-10" knives and it works just fine. Particularly with a svelte and well-balanced custom like this 10" by Russell White, next to a much beefier and heavier 12" Cold Steel Natchez.

Bowies were primarily designed for fighting but they can also be very useful for other things. The 8" primitive bowie by ML Knives (top right) is actually a very practical knife but the drop point below it is more sensible.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Love those knives Craigc!

 

[kamagong]

I like knives. Despite my best efforts I haven't been able to find one that does everything well. So I have a bunch, and choose the one appropriate for the task at hand.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I like knives. Despite my best efforts I haven't been able to find one that does everything well. So I have a bunch, and choose the one appropriate for the task at hand.

Could I please know the name of maker of the puuko design in the bottom right of the picture?

 

[kamagong]

That's a Tommi puukko, made by Mikko Inkeroinen.

 

[Barry the Bear]

It sure is a beautiful one!