Best Fixed blade for Army Deployment

If you're set on a fixed blade, an ESEE will probably fit the bill pretty nicely. Downrange, unless you are a fobbit, you will likely have to use your knife for some pretty unconventional tasks. It's nice to know that if you snap it in half, you can get a new one for free.
 
oguruma said:
If you're set on a fixed blade, an ESEE will probably fit the bill pretty nicely. Downrange, unless you are a fobbit, you will likely have to use your knife for some pretty unconventional tasks. It's nice to know that if you snap it in half, you can get a new one for free.
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It's also nice to know that something like an ESEE 4 is not hard to carry and using it for some pretty unconventional tasks will probably hold up just fine.
 
Another vote for a multi-tool or SAK. But if you're set on getting him a fixed blade, the ESEE Izula 2 is hard to beat: small, light, tough, very portable...

izula01.jpg


Good luck,OP! :)

-Brett
 
I'd opt for the ESEE-3-MIL Sharpened glass breaker pommel. Includes MOLLE Back and Clip Plate
 
sd550 said:
I'd choose one from the following; ESEE 3 or 4 , Becker 16 or 17, or a Rowen made HEST. There are a lot of others out there, but these few can be had at a good price and the availability of all of these are good.
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+1

I'd also recommend the ESEE Izula II. It's a tough little knife with a lot of carry options.
 
is desert sand as corosive as beach sand? if so i'd say stainless something or another. i hate even a slightly rusty edge.
 
Many from the "been there, done that" crowd, me included, will rightly recommend a SAK or a Leatherman or both. The Victorinox Soldier or GAK is what I'd give him. PX has the Soldier for 39 bucks.

opplanet-victorinox-soldierolive-knife-53945.jpg



Before and during my deployments I was given several knives from several people. Situations required I graciously accept. Used one for a bit. None where knives I'd have bought myself, and most were knives I'll never use. I'm stuck with off-loading most of them now, and these were not cheap knives.
 
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Another +1 on the been there done that and no fixed blade here either. I did have a Gerber multitool (not sure which model but the exact same looking one is in the pay it forward thread now) that I used the bajeebus out of. I did end up snapping the blade off so it would have been nice to have a "SMALL" backup blade. Knives are not meant for prying but sometimes they are all you have. The BK-11 / 14 / Izula /any little necker would not be a bad choice in conjunction with a good multi.
 
Personally, and speaking from experience, I would wait until he's assigned to where ever, and see what the AAFES Exchange on base sells. Typically, if it's sold their, you can use it; command policy of course is the rule, and it may just be MOS specific who can carry what, why, and what for.
 
Been there too, a SAK with scissors is the first choice, keep that in the shave kit. In the field, a decent folder under 4" inches. No fixed blades as real estate on web gear is at a premium with all the required items attached. After that, just lugging 45 pounds of gear, plus a vest, plus weapon, plus helmet, plus a share of the team's gear, it adds up. A big one pound knife with a huge sheath (as marketed to all those who don't go) is exactly what nobody actually carries.

First of all, the M4 is the primary weapon, even up close and personal, it has more reach and impact than a knife. Second, most of what the soldier sees daily doesn't need a knife. MRE's open by hand, ammo crates are wired and open by untwisting by finger pressure alone, etc. There really is very little to cut, usually paracord that was strung up inside the hooch to dry your socks or position a fan at the right angle.

2001 was an interesting year, two weeks in training, two weeks in the box at Polk, two weeks in Egypt, and the next February, three weeks in Dix followed by 7 months in GTMO. I used the SAK scissors more than anything. I left the larger blades behind simply because I already new I didn't need them, and as it turned out, I didn't. The only time I needed a multitool was filing off the rivets to open up a Master padlock that was protecting the only key for it.

The only soldiers I've seen in the last twenty years who choose to carry a large blade or hawk do so because they are a small elite unit with unusual missions - they tailor their gear each time to the specifics of the mission. Joe Grunt doesn't get that option, he carries what he's told, and anything extra is usually small and out of sight. Most of the time it's dead weight. Put some miles on your moccasins, and the idea of a fixed blade is casually dismissed, just the same as it was in the Civil War - all those pre campaign photos show prop knives, not what was actually carried and needed.

Streamlight Microstream AAA, a SAK Pioneer, and Benchmade Risk in all black would be a better set than any fixed blade he can't or won't carry.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
A multitool or SAK is about the only guaranteed useful style. He may not even be allowed to carry a big fixed blade where he's going. Wait till he gets there and finds out.
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I agree, as from what I have heard it's different these days than it used to be.

That said I carried a KA-Bar 90% of the time I was in (82-86).

Saw a lot of Buck 119's also, very few folders and zero Multi-tools....
 
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