Best knife for harsh military use?

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Strunk101stAbn

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Mar 7, 2008
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Ok so im about to deploy to Afghanistan... I bought myself some good sharpening stones and im looking for a knife that is going to be used and abused. I need a very strong material knife, im guessing a very good quality knife would have a hardness rating of 55 or lower? Im really not sure... that's why im here. I need to know what kind of knife I should be looking at that I can sharpen myself and it will be dependable to keep its edge. I was looking at some of the CR knives but I don't see any I like. I need a knife that has a black blade, considering I don't want it to have any reflection, and I need a knife that is a fixed blade around 5-6 inch blade length. Can anyone give me advice on what I need to look at and how much it will be? This knife also needs to come out of box pretty damned sharp.
 
The Gerber LMF II was designed for soldiers. It has a black blade of 12C27 Sandvik steel and a built-in sharpener in the sheath. Just one of many that come to mind.
 
very good quality knife would have a hardness rating of 55 or lower?
no a higher hardness rating is usually considered better.

I would consider a fixed blade for sure.
 
MISSION Titanium knives. They were designed for the work you do, soldier. Thanks!
 
billstevens said:
very good quality knife would have a hardness rating of 55 or lower?
no a higher hardness rating is usually considered better.

I would consider a fixed blade for sure.
Click to expand...

I think he means that a lower hardness rating would make it more chip resilient and subjective to more abuse (softer steel = more flex, less breakage).

However, most modern steels are pretty good for that at higher RCs.

I would suggest a KaBar (either D2 or 1095) or maybe a cold steel SRK or Recon Scout.
 
fallkniven, busse, swamp rat, Ranger knife, and fehrman to name a few
 
Fallkniven S1 ~ 103 USDhttp://www.fallkniven.com/S1new.html

Fallkniven A 1 ~ 150 USD ( but blade is 6 3/8 inch long) http://www.fallkniven.com/a1f1/a1_en.html

Ontario Rat 5 ~ 82 USD http://www.ontariorat.com/rat-5.htm
I would recomend this knife why ? :
- Good carbon steel(1095) that will be strong enough and it sharpens easily
- Full Flat grind will cut really well, besides you can have also serrations that are really useful when cutting rope, plastic bands etc
- Price
- Micarta Slabs ( resistant to cuts, abusing)
 
Strunk101stAbn: I really like the Bark River Bravo 1...really tough, but the blade's a little shorter than you specify (4.5") and there's not a black-bladed version (that I know of)...:)

Edit: I forgot about a couple of others I really like from Zero Tolerance...the ZT0100 meets your criteria, while the ZT0121 is a little short at 4.5" but is still a great knife!

Good luck, and thanks for your service! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
The Scrap Yard knives Scrapper 6 is the toughest 6" combat knife I know of, but they usually sell out pretty fast when they are offered.
 
I would choose the F1 or S1 over the LMF II.
I have both and the LMF feels to heavy and definately too bulky to drag along.
I also dont like the handle on the LMF II.

The difference in the knives are that the F1/S1 are for survival and the LMF II are more made for combat.
If I were to use a LMF II I would cut off the bottom one of the two straps that holds the handle and file off the the part on the sheath with all the holes. This way it gets lighter and easier to carry around.
I would still prefer the F1. either with an old kydex or the new zytel sheath.

Anyway. Good luck with your choice.
Get three knives: one multitool, one 4" really good and sharp knife and one cheap pry bar like knife.
 
Look at Ranger knives, tough as nails, and thank you for your service to this country, be safe.
 
dont do the gerber lmf. that thing is ten times heavier than my RAT-5 and not even full tang. id go for an ontario/rat for the price. ka-bars tried and true and of course the busse group that everyone seems to love.
 
I found the LMF II to be a bit bulky, too. It is quite rugged, though. It is good to have so many good choices as the ones mentioned so far are. The Ontarios are proven performers at reasonable prices. I'm a fan of the Swamp Rat Ratmandu. It's a tough knife that really feels good in the hand.
 
Let me tell you from personal expierience and the expieriences of my two brothers. Get a decent sized knife 5 to 7 inches and keep it on your IBA. This will be your abused prybar. I used a Becker BK 7 my brothers both use Cold Steel knives a Recon Tanto and UWK. All 3 of us carry RAT 3s on our person constantly and SOG multitools. I recommend the 1095 version of the RAT 3 or even better the new RAT Cutlery RC3. I also carried a Spyderco Manix and one brother carries a Spyderco military but the other feels a folder is redundant since his RAT 3 handles most of his day to day cutting tasks. The RAT 3 and the multi tool are must haves. The larger blade may not be unit allowable. I was and one brother currently is, in the Infantry, the other is in the Calvary so we have never been told we could not carry large knives. Good luck to you and be safe.
 
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