Best knife for harsh military use?

I'd recommend a Bravo 1, made by Bark River. That's a knife I'd trust to stand up to anything I demanded of it.
 
Strunk101stAbn said:
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.
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What kind of work do you expect to be doing with the knife? How much do you want to spend?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Buy yourself any Busse, Swap Rat, or Scrap Yard knife and you will have a knife that is as close to indestructable as any knife can be! Any of these will stand up to mere military use! Go to knifetests dot com and view the destruction videos of some of these knives! I promise you will be impressed!,,VWB.
 
the buck strider fixed blade series are designed and field tested and specially hardened to be abused jsut for your job...give em hell
 
Whatever knife you choose, thank you very much for your service.

In my home, you guys are thought of every day.

God Bless,
Jon
 
Thanks to you and your family for your service, stay safe and come home in one piece...
 
Hey, where did that post from 1998 come from :)
Used, is the operative word when it comes to the SRK.
Soldiers who used to use the SRK has upgrades to Bark River, Fallkniven, Ranger or Strider ages ago.
Cold Steel are cheap, so are Mora knives. They look combat and som does knives from Walmart. They are crap.
If you really want a knife like the SRK, get a Fallkniven A1 instead.
 
nodh said:
Hey, where did that post from 1998 come from :)
Used, is the operative word when it comes to the SRK.
Soldiers who used to use the SRK has upgrades to Bark River, Fallkniven, Ranger or Strider ages ago.
Cold Steel are cheap, so are Mora knives. They look combat and som does knives from Walmart. They are crap.
If you really want a knife like the SRK, get a Fallkniven A1 instead.
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OK there are many "better" knives, you can buy for 100, 200, 300 $ ... but ...

A good trained soldier with an SRK have more chance to survive in the field than a "common" (don't take me wrong) soldier with a 300 $ knife

SRK are good enough for the job. Spend your money to learn how to use correctly ANY knife if your life is in danger and train so hard you can !!! It's just my 2 cent...









Do you think you'll really see a difference

Fallkniven are good knives but an A1 cost twice more than a SRK. If you use your knife like a knife (not like an axe or a showel, or ...), you won't see any difference between a SRK and a A1.
 
If you want a stainless steel blade, I suggest looking at the Buck 890TX Strider. There were some interesting statements about it in an article on stainless steels in the Jan 06 Blade magazine:

"A steel that Paul [heat treater Paul Bos] has been working with on the new Buck 890TX Strider fixed blade is 420HC. A modified 420 with higher amounts of carbon and chrome to boost hardenability and corrosion resistance, respectively. 420HC is one of the lower-alloyed steels that some might call inferior--but don't tell Strider that. "the Strider guys took some of the knives out to several soldiers to use and got some good reviews on them, Paul observes. "It won't hold an edge like ATS-34, but these knives are more for heavy use, prying and things like that. Of course, the quarter inch material will take the abuse. With a heat treat of 57, they hold a good edge and seem to be pretty tough knives." Bos is one of those guys who does extensive experimentation w/ heat treating rather than just using the receipe from the steel maker.

An chart w/ the article compares various steels, and shows that 420HC is best in terms of toughness, much better than steels biased for wear resistance like VG-10 and S30V. The 420HC will not hold an edge as long as, say S30V, but I have an old Kershaw w/ 420HC blade and it takes a razor sharp edge and holds it quite well.

The model 890 has a 6 5/8" blade that is coated black and I believe is offerered in tanto and spearpoint.

For a shorter blade, I agree with those who suggest the ZT 0100 fixed blade. It is CPM 3V (carbon, not stainless) and should be very tough. Although the edge is subject to corrosion, it has the advantage of the super-hard DLC (black) coating on the blade.

The Mission titanium knives would be the toughest, but do not take a great edge. But for most cutting chores, like say cutting an MRE, it would work, and it would certainly be ok as a weapon, so it's something to consider. No black blades available to my knowledge, however.

The 1095 carbon steel knives would certainly give fine service, but they are not the best. There is better stuff out there now.
 
Ontario Rat 5 or 7 or RC6. From there I would consider either a Kabar or Ontario offering. If it comes out in time, the Benchmade 158 looks promising. Fallkniven makes excellent stainless knives. This is a highly subjective choice. I for instance love my pilots survival knife which is an old design that many lampoon, but it works for me. Good luck.
 
Thank you for your service, be safe.

Many suggestions, but few of them meet your requirement to be easy to sharpen with the stones you purchased, even after you mentioned 55 hardness. Keep in mind that most guys on this forum don't field sharpen their blades, and that when they recommend a knife they tend to choose their favorite. Look around for a 1095 steel blade (high carbon cutlery steel) from a factory with a reputation for decent heat treat. Full tang for strength, finger guard for safety. Put a few in your hand, in the stores. Read the sharpening instructions. You don't need custom, or expensive. When you take one home, find an expert to show you how to use your stones, not easy for a beginner.
 
I do not know what you guys put in the concept "field sharpening" but how often do you need to sharpen a knife smack in the middle of an operation?
You check your gear before you go out, you check it when you get back.
There is no reason to go down in "quality" of the knife just so you can sharpen it on the nearest rock.
I guess that you will be very popular if you learn how to sharpen knives well and then help your buddies sharpen theirs :)

I know there are lots of people asking what to bring into combat. There are however very few people letting us know what they actually used over there.
 
Get a Busse! These knives are really awesome users. Go to bussecombat.com and send them an e-mail explaining what you do and where you're going. I'm positive they will help you to get the knife you want. I would recommend a Batac - awesome knife and very strong.

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Thank you for your service! And if you meet any Polish troops there give them my best!:thumbup:
 
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