Army says no knives?

When I was in there was a regulation against having any civilian equipment (other than watch and some jewelry) visible. That means no knives hanging off the belt. It may or may not be enforced. There are often length limits depending on location and who is in charge.

I was never hasseled for violating either even when others in my unit were. For some reason no one in the chain of command wanted to bother me.

ron
 
sounds like whoey to me :barf: :D
some of you remember the folder My son and I made for him not so long ago, for him to take on his deployment (air force) they told him he had to have a pocket knife as part of his gear.. that was an order..

is that guy trying to get his money back or something like that?? :confused:
 
Hmathews said:
Interesting thread. The last knife we sent over to Iraq was a 10 inch filet knife. We are still trying to figure that one out. A lot of what has been ordered from us by people (either military or contract) stationed in Iraq has been smaller hunting knives; 3.5 inch drop point, stag scales, that sort of thing.
We make a field/combat knife, for people who might need a good knife, that we received help on from some guys that currently do that sort of stuff. It has a 5 inch blade, is light weight, with no corners or skull crushers and sharp as...... well, as we can get it. .
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i bet all the hunters and such are more food prep or even gettign a good knife while they have the extra money in pocket so they will have a great knife when they get back home

and thank you for making a good field/combat blade with out all the doodads adn junk that most the time dont work well or get used

5-6 inch drop/spear point that can dig chop and pry is where its at :thumbup:
 
son_of_bluegrass said:
When I was in there was a regulation against having any civilian equipment (other than watch and some jewelry) visible. That means no knives hanging off the belt. It may or may not be enforced. There are often length limits depending on location and who is in charge.

I was never hasseled for violating either even when others in my unit were. For some reason no one in the chain of command wanted to bother me.

ron
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Back in the mid 90s Ft Hood had a rule that you could only carry a pocket knife. No Kabars or bayonets on your LCE. It got ignored a lot, especially if your 1SG or CSM didn't mind.
 
Hmathews said:
...The last knife we sent over to Iraq was a 10 inch filet knife. We are still trying to figure that one out...
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I had a friend in college that was a Vietnam War vet. The 'big knife crowd' was arguing about the appropriate size of combat knife and he was about to fall off his chair trying not to laugh at all the "uninformed."

He finally told us that when he first went in country he had a 14" Colt. Time passed and his company got into a nasty knife fight with Charley. He grabbed his guy from behind and in short order pinned this particular Charley to his own chest. He was out of the fight until because he couldn't pull his knife out of his own body after it passed through the smaller Vietnamese soldier.

He said that they found the best combat knife to be a 6" Rapala filet knife. He said that they rarely needed to stab anyone but that they often slashed at who they were fighting. He said the filet knife held an incredible edge and was just fine for slashing.
 
I'm all for them just getting a good knife for when they get back home. I really kind of hope that is what they are doing. We still give the discount and priority treatment to the troops and we don't care if the knife is a trout and bird with ivory handle or the combat/field knife. We appreciate what they are doing.
 
Keith_H said:
now that doesnt make sense! I think this should go in current events, or another forum like that. I wonder why that is, If they arent trusted with carring a knife, why a bomb or rifle?
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Hmmmm...good point...maybe with the shortage of soldiers in Iraq they are worried about soldiers slipping and falling on there knives and stabbing themselves.

My best guess
 
f22raptor92 said:
Hmmmm...good point...maybe with the shortage of soldiers in Iraq they are worried about soldiers slipping and falling on there knives and stabbing themselves.

My best guess
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Sighhhh Reasons a Commanders, CSMs or 1SGs have issues with non-issued equipment:

Someone higher up said no, as a former SFC I'll tell you that if I get a directive from on high, no matter how much I disagree with it (and you can bet I've fought hard about it) that when I present it to my troops, I present it as if it was my own idea and it's the best damn thing on the planet.

They've had a problem in the past with equipment of that genre. Snagging upon entry and exit of vehicles (THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS MATTER IN THE EVENT OF AN AMBUSH!!!) and too many past incidents of soldiers being stupid with said gear. I had a CO that hated jungle hammocks because he had someone in his past that broke an arm falling out of one. He'd tell you once, next time he'd just cut one end off the tree and drop a $20 on you.

Weight and just looking unprofessional. I'm sorry but there is nothing I hate worse than seeing a young troop toting a "crew served knife" weighing 4 pounds with a bad sheath. It doesn't present the image of a professional soldier and he's bound to make a poor decision with it at some point, "Hey guys, let me use my ninja death monkey steel slayer 9000 on that," he's been toting that Walter Mitty knife of doom so he might as well try to use it emulating something he saw in a movie or on a youtube video.

The fillet knife? There is fishing over there, I sent several of those "pocket fisherman" things over to some buds. Most likely soldiers buying the "pretty knives" are doing like I did on deployments and buying the quality toys and telling Momma that they bought it in a bazzare/flea market/took it off of a dead insurgent.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump
 
While I was in Iraq (No, I'm wasn't military anymore and I'm not a civilian gun-bunny) I made the mistake of ordering an RTAK online. I love the knife, don't get me wrong, but I thought it would be a LOT smaller than it was. Talk about the ultimate crew served knife... Anyway, it promptly went into a long pocket on my ruck and that is where it stays today. There is NO WAY I woulda worn that thing around in public.

I know that command can and sometimes does regulate what soldiers can wear and/or what gear they can carry. Doesn't usually happen in a war zone; but, as stated by those before me, it is at the discretion of the CO, SGM, 1SG, etc.

Bob
 
While I was in Nam I had my dad send me a bowie I had made a few years earlier. Never had the big dogs say I couldn't have it but ended up tossing it off a chopper cause it was just to big to be packing. A smaller knife would have come in handy.
 
I have a grandson in Iraq for the second time. He is a warrant officer and has been a Blackhawk pilot, but is now in a Unmanned Vehicle(drone) unit. When I first saw this thread, I contacted him by email and asked him what the policy is where he is. He answered me last night and said that the only thing he has seen or heard, is they will not allow them to have non issued guns. Nothing about knives.
 
That would be a shame! I am sure it is a localized thing. I would hate to think that these boys are out risking their asses and can't have a knife of their choosing! I mean within reason of coarse. There would be no need for a soldier to carry anything too large or cumbersome I doubt he would even want to lug it. Uncle Sam should have more common sense than that.
 
I am in Iraq and have never heard such a thing. It might be this guys or girls particular unit has made this rule, which is absurd IMO.

Thank you for serving our country, and god bless the USA.
 
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