Why no military / combat knife forum?

DeadboxHero said:
God, that would be mall cop heaven wouldn't it? hahaha
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If limited to the types of knives I mentioned earlier, I don't see why it would be, and there were active subforums at "other" places devoted to exactly that subject. Frank Trzaska kinda thing.

That said (and I know the OP is talking about having part of the Exchange devoted to "military/combat" knives) I think BRL's forum is really the place here to discuss knives commissioned/issued by governments for their armed forces.

Modern "combat/military knives" is a meaningless/marketing term. Like "bushcraft" or "survival." Everything would be "game."
 
There are a few posts where a forum member asked people who are or were in the military about what knives they preferred. IIRC, the majority preferred a SAK or Gerber multi tool. Although there were a few knife aficionados that would carry more substantial knives while in service, it seemed like the "combat knife" was more for people dreaming what it would be like if they were in the service, rather than those with actual military experience. I know that's not always the case.

You might be able to find one of those threads if you search enough. There might also be mission specific knives, or different favorites for divers, airborne, etc. It might be interesting to see the different priorities for different groups.
 
I don't know about y'all, but I'd like to see a subforum and place on the exchange dedicated to zombie knives, and instructions on how best to use them in a deadly mall ninja situation.
 
Knock off the trolling guys, it's getting old.

Jack_Burton said:
I'm sure it's probably been asked several times but...why not? It would also be nice to see a military / combat knife thread in the individual sales section of the knife exchange.

Just a trial balloon :cool:
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Yes it has and a general answer would be, "Almost every company makes some knives that are used by the military, among other knives that are used day to day in everyday life. Those brands are mostly represented here, Emerson, Spyderco, Benchmade, Ontario, Becker, Busse, etc. to name a few. The reason other manufacturers are not represented here is because they have not requested a forum. Bladeforums does not run 'fan forums', there must be an employee of the company willing to moderate and have a presence here in order for there to be a forum." Hope this helps clear up any confusion. IN addition, there really doesn't need to be a "Military/Combat Knife" forum because there are already hundreds if not thousands of threads already dedicated to the topic. Just search for what interests you and I'm sure you will find it. These forums have been around for almost 20 years.
 
SpySmasher said:
I think a historically-issued military knife forum would be the way to go, and quite interesting, but I can't imagine that the current level of traffic on the topic warrants it. :/
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Couldn't agree more.
Case in point, the military knife sub forum
in a recently defunct rival cutlery forum...
 
I think some pics of guys deployed, or on active duty with their knives would be cool to see. :thumbsup:
 
Hickory n steel said:
Because there's really nothing that makes them different than any other fixed blade, and because many companies who make them already have their own sections.
Why not just start a thread about it.
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That is not true. While there are many companies which market tactical or military style knives, there are also true and historical military knives which have been issued by the governments of various nations. A forum, where we could develop and concentrate our skills at identifying these artifacts, while learning about the frequently encountered acceptance, inventory, manufacturing, procurement and unit markings would be interesting and helpful. At the moment, we have threads on the subject scattered all over the forums.

Again, I see the primary focus for such a sub-forum as helping to place the knives within its correct historical context. As such, the focus would be very different from Practical Tactical or even Levine's Knife Identification sub-forums. It would be a place for those who are interested in military history.

n2s
 
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Hickory n steel said:
Because there's really nothing that makes them different than any other fixed blade, and because many companies who make them already have their own sections.
Why not just start a thread about it.
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I would disagree. Large lettering and black paint on the blade indicate "tactical" knives. :D
 
There would be a lot of Randalls in the Op's request from the old days of course. I'm talking Vietnam era and back. My brother-in-laws model 14 that got stolen coming back from Vietnam with his name on the blade would be a nice military knife that seen action and I'm sure a lot of model 1's were also seen back in the day. Pre multi tool days though I believe.
 
Not a bad idea not2shap . A historical military knife /bayonet/ sword forum would be quite interesting .;)
 
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not2sharp said:
That is not true. While there are many companies which market tactical or military style knives, there are also true and historical military knives which have been issued by the governments of various nations. A forum, where we could develop and concentrate our skills at identifying these artifacts, while learning about the frequently encountered acceptance, inventory, manufacturing, procurement and unit markings would be interesting and helpful. At the moment, we have threads on the subject scattered all over the forums.

Again, I see the primary focus for such a sub-forum as helping to place the knives within its correct historical context. As such, the focus would be very different from Practical Tactical or even Levine's Knife Identification sub-forums. It would be a place for those who are interested in military history.

n2s
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I figured the op was talking about modern " military " type " combat " style knives.
The historical stuff is a different story, for example ( if I knew ) the knives my grandfather and the rest of the US Army 4th armored division carried during the liberation of bastogne would be an interesting topic.
As would so many other blades which have no doubt had influence on today's knives in some way or another.
 
d762nato said:
There would be a lot of Randalls in the Op's request from the old days of course. I'm talking Vietnam era and back. My brother-in-laws model 14 that got stolen coming back from Vietnam with his name on the blade would be a nice military knife that seen action and I'm sure a lot of model 1's were also seen back in the day. Pre multi tool days though I believe.
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In my entire year in Vietnam, 1967-68, with the 39th Combat Engineers, I saw one Randall. One. And it was on the hip of a rear area supply officer, the type known as a Chairborn Ranger. The overwhelming knife carried by field personnel was the Buck knives sold at the PX. Every single swinging Richard had a Buck 110 on his hip, or the Buck special in lesser numbers.

If there was a close runner up to sheer popularity of a knife, it was the MIL-K-818D, other wise mistakingly called a 'demo' knife. Made by Camillus, it was a basic all steel scout knife with one blade, can opener, screw driver/bottle opener and awl. These "boy scout" type knives were prized by troops and supply rooms were hard pressed to keep them in stock.

I know the knife magazines all talk about the Randall's, but one was all I saw in my tour.
 
Per an earlier request.

NCDU_200_1944_Fort_Pierce_Later_UDT_15_vo13wt_zpspi5bkkkg.jpg

reportedly U.S. Navy UDT.

337Q%20ranger%20forward%20artilary%20observer_zpswzphqzg7.jpg

Army ranger forward artillery observer.

file_zps7ad744d6.jpg

Marine pre-1968 Vietnam
 
Excellent pics ST! The first and last are powerful images.
Thanks for posting them.
Joe
 
Thanks, the first two pictures are from Frank Trzaska's image files on his web site. The last one is from a friends personal photo's taken while he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. in Vietnam. He didn't think he ever knew the name of the fellow Marine guarding those prisoners.
Ironically the picture in the middle, that guy is probably crosser to being in harms way at the time of the photo than the people in the other two photo's are at the time the pictures are taken.
Here's another photo from Frank's files from Vietnam that kind of makes me pause.
Same type of knife, (Western W49), different guy, time, and place.

file_zpsdd0ca91f.jpg
 
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Damn.

sac troop said:
Thanks, the first two pictures are from Frank Trzaska's image files on his web site. The last one is from a friends personal photo's taken while he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. in Vietnam. He didn't think he ever knew the name of the fellow Marine guarding those prisoners.
Ironically the picture in the middle, that guy is probably crosser to being in harms way at the time of the photo than the people in the other two photo's are at the time the pictures are taken.
Here's another photo from Frank's files from Vietnam that kind of makes me pause.
Same type of knife, (Western W49), different guy, time, and place.

file_zpsdd0ca91f.jpg
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