Are "Rambo" type knives practical?

SpySmasher said:
What in the holy heck are those spikes for? I've always wondered.
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Those spikes are actually for frogmen to use the knife as an anchor for attatching their gear, hidden, at a point under water. Using a knife as a grappling hook would risk damaging the blade too much I imagine.

So apparently their main use is anchoring gear.
 
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The reason is for divers to use as an anchor point in swift currents, the urban legend is so it can be used as a grappling hook.
 
panoz77 said:
The reason is for divers to use as an anchor point in swift currents, the urban legend is so it can be used as a grappling hook.
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If it's an urban legend, how do you explain the patent documents supplied earlier in this thread which explicitly indicate it was designed as a grappling hook?
 
Just a tic off topic SS, but every time I see your sig I crack the hell up brother!!
:D
Joe


SpySmasher said:
If it's an urban legend, how do you explain the patent documents supplied earlier in this thread which explicitly indicate it was designed as a grappling hook?
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Not a very good design for an anchor or a grappling hook! :D
 
No it isn't a very good design for either. The knife didn't have much success in the grappling hook role. (probably why we don't see the feature around today)

The reason the documents describe it as a grappling hook is because a device used to anchor your supplies underwater against the current IS a grappling hook. The mistake comes from the fact most people think of grappling hook and think of the thing you spin around your head and throw over something to climb up. This is ALSO a grappling hook. Another grappling hook use is retrieving items from a lower position. Say you climb up a little cliff and leave your bag down at the bottom. Then you lower the hook, pick up the bag and pull it up. There are many uses for a grappling hook.

However from what I've read the grappling hook on the knife was mainly used for anchoring. That doesn't mean it couldn't be used for other things.
 
Lapedog said:
No it isn't a very good design for either. The knife didn't have much success in the grappling hook role. (probably why we don't see the feature around today)

The reason the documents describe it as a grappling hook is because a device used to anchor your supplies underwater against the current IS a grappling hook. The mistake comes from the fact most people think of grappling hook and think of the thing you spin around your head and throw over something to climb up. This is ALSO a grappling hook. Another grappling hook use is retrieving items from a lower position. Say you climb up a little cliff and leave your bag down at the bottom. Then you lower the hook, pick up the bag and pull it up. There are many uses for a grappling hook.

However from what I've read the grappling hook on the knife was mainly used for anchoring. That doesn't mean it couldn't be used for other things.
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Exactly. As soon as I "grappling hook," the inner ninja takes over and it's all about scaling castle walls under cover of darkness!
 
I would be pretty upset is my squad mate was spinning a knife around his head in an attempt to throw it over a wall while I was standing right next to him.
 
A man can't have too many grappling hooks. Sort of like a Leatherman; you never know when you might need it. ;)
 
I mean, listen -- it's obviously a horrible idea but if you read the patent it talks about throwing the damn thing. It was clearly designed to be a fully functional grappling hook of the ninja climbing variety. My personal guess is that the true urban legend is that those grapples ever had any practical value whatsoever, whether above or beolow the surface of the water.
 
SpySmasher said:
I mean, listen -- it's obviously a horrible idea but if you read the patent it talks about throwing the damn thing. It was clearly designed to be a fully functional grappling hook of the ninja climbing variety. My personal guess is that the true urban legend is that those grapples ever had any practical value whatsoever, whether above or beolow the surface of the water.
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"With this said, it is generally accepted that using the knife as a grappling hook, which implies the act of tying a rope to the pommel and throwing the knife, could be very hazardous! In fact, the last of the BUCKMASTER knives came with small flyers saying that using the knife as a grappling hook would void the warranty."

http://www.buck-184.com/

Even as a dumb teenager with a Buckmaster clone, I knew that using it as a grappling hook was an astoundingly stupid idea.
 
SpySmasher said:
I mean, listen -- it's obviously a horrible idea but if you read the patent it talks about throwing the damn thing. It was clearly designed to be a fully functional grappling hook of the ninja climbing variety. My personal guess is that the true urban legend is that those grapples ever had any practical value whatsoever, whether above or beolow the surface of the water.
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But do they have practical value above or below treeline.
 
If your name is John Rambo then yes. Otherwise a most swiss army knives are all one really needs...
 
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