Connections to SF etc.

Shing

Shing

Joined
Feb 2, 2003
Messages
2,261
A lot of the tactical knife manufacturers mention their knives are procured, used or designed by elite special forces. How important to you is the fact the knife you're buying is used by Delta Force, SEALS, SAS etc?
 
For me, it's a negative. The last thing I want to do is choose a knife based upon who uses it and be called a poser.
 
I prefer to have information about what a knife is like to use, rather than about who uses it. I buy a knife to use, not because someone stealthy uses the knife.
 
Same here, I dont care who uses what knife. That is unimportant. The Functionality of a knife is important, and to a lesser degree the looks (since everyone has preferences.) The only thing I would be remotely interested in, regarding SF and knives, would be a review by those individuals of the knife in question- of course a review of the same knife by anyone else would be just as good. :)
 
You're missing out. I carry a special EDC JUST for killing people.
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ROFL! That was hilarious :D
Well, I dont have an EDC to kill people so...
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Ah, 'tis a common misconception... from all that I've read and heard from others who would know, military knives, even SF-type knives, are used much more as a multi-purpose tool than specifically as a weapon.
 
The fact a certain group use a piece of equipment doesn't mean it has Mil-Spec status (an official ID #)...it may just be that individuals in that group are free to choose their own example of that category of equipment. If however it is officially procured through govt. channels it CAN mean it was chosen from several examples various manufacturers submitted for testing and usually these tests are for the most part exhaustive and thorough....sometimes the spec.s have little to do with the real world usage and you end up $400 hammers, etc.
So I guess the name can mean a lot in the functionality of the tool.
Hope this makes sense....Correct me if I'm off base in my explanation, but from my experience I think I'm fairly close.
 
Shing said:
A lot of the tactical knife manufacturers mention their knives are procured, used or designed by elite special forces. How important to you is the fact the knife you're buying is used by Delta Force, SEALS, SAS etc?
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That the operators mentioned actually carry a particular knife is of interest to me in the context that these folks are already humping upwards of 100 lbs. of gear on any given mission. Any piece of equipment they carry has to work, and has to be reliable, otherwise it would just be dead weight.

These folks put their equipment, including knives, through more hell in a week, or even a day, than I would in a few months or even a year. So, if a knife was selected by special forces, then to me it means that such a knife is reliable, needs little maintenance, and gets the job done.

Unfortunately, many items selected for military duty are either too expensive, or too extreme in their design compared to civilian use. This isn't limited just to knives, either.

Hummers and Jeeps, both designed for military use, are quite popular on the road today. Does anybody accuse those folks of being "posers?"

Just for the record, none of the knives I carry has been "officially" selected for military use.
 
Interesting post. I had the chance to recently chat with an ex-SF (currently working for the Egyptian Royal Family in Cairo and formerly for Aristid in Haiti) who has truly been-there-done-that. No BS and no Rambolista.
His picks? Southeast Asia was an issue Ka-Bar that was modified simply by bending the top of the guard forward, worn on the belt between mag pouches and canteens and NOT inverted in the LBE as this was a perfect way to LOSE your only fixed-blade knife, also a small SAK of unknown model (probably a Spartan/Camper) purchased at a PX in Saigon and worn around the neck w/paracord.
In Haiti/Cairo, it was a Leatherman or Gerber Multitool of some type. He did stress that ALL the blades/tools be locking, though. Nothing fixed blade or too "tactical" there but a S&W Bodyguard/Centennial in the front pants pocket to back up the SIG/UZI/Galil that was "issued" by the employer.
He did mention that the crimper feature found on current multitools would have been a great asset.
All in all, it looks the KISS principle works best for the real life SF folks!
 
I forgot to add that "Mike" told me he saw very few custom or high-end tactical blades such as Randalls in Vietnam or the new generation of tactical stuff in Haiti/Egypt. Most of the SF folks he worked with carried Ka-Bars/USAF survial knives and maybe a Marble or Western bowie (small) that was purchased in country. he told me the bayonet scabbards held up better than leather but nobody packed a bayonet due to their design as a thrusting tool and little else. He said Gerbers were all over the place in stores/PX's but it was uncommon (for him) to see any trooper carrying one in the field. Hope this sheds a little light on one person's observations.
 
m_calingo said:
Hummers and Jeeps, both designed for military use, are quite popular on the road today. Does anybody accuse those folks of being "posers?"
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I know it was a rhetorical question, but I once saw a woman driving a Hummer that was painted like an old WW II Jeep with a big OD star on it. I just had to laugh.
 
m_calingo said:
That the operators mentioned actually carry a particular knife is of interest to me in the context that these folks are already humping upwards of 100 lbs. of gear on any given mission. Any piece of equipment they carry has to work, and has to be reliable, otherwise it would just be dead weight.
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They carry some of the lowest end knives made.

-Cliff
 
I don't think they put alot of importance in cutlery,and probably use a folder for most small tasks.I think of all the gear they may carry,the knife is least important to them.Alot of companies also will say their knives are SF knives,just because they may have tried them out.In fact I believe Luminox claims to be the Navy SEALS watch,when in fact they actually use Casio G-Shocks as an issue watch.Luminox they tried out,but found them to be too fragile,according to a current SEAL Team member.So it happens with other products apparantly.
 
HI, I'm a newbie to this forum but not to knives.
When I was in SF during the 60-70s I and my buddies used many different knifes, so all those manufac. could say their knives where used by SF. However most of them were not kept very long. So the proper question would be what knife was used and carried for extensive periods.
Surprize, it was not any exotics. I carried several Randall survival knives but none lasted very long. I used several well known fighting knives but found they were not useful for much more than sticking in sandbags when bored.
The knife I used the most was a med. drop point folding knive buy scrade and a Buck 110. If I needed something for chopping I carried a Tomahawk. If I needed something with a long blade I use a machete. In the end though it was a good folding knife 99% of the time.
 
Most of the high speed types I've worked with or trained with use the same type and range of cutlery that we do, for exactly the same type of stuff. I think at one point I could agree with the statement that if a certain knife was "widely used" by SOF types it must be a good piece of kit. Nowadays there is so much marketing BS and hype around every piece of equipment you just have to sort it out for yourself and hope you don't get stuck with a piece of crap.
 
The reality is that most of the people on this forum buy and carry better knives than the average SF, Ranger, SEAL, etc does. As far as what they would actually be carrying, and using? Most likely a Leatherman, Gerber, or SOG multitool. :cool:
 
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