Current military issue knife?

D

draftpick

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Jan 6, 2010
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what does the military currently issue? Do they still issue kabar? Or have they moved on to something else?
 
Most Army are issued a Benchmade seat belt cutter and a Gerber multi-tool when they deploy. Anything else will be a unit buy if they need it.
 
My son just got a Gerber multitool and an auto Gerber. It is a "name" design with 154Cm blade but I could not find it on the website so I dont know anything about it. Felt pretty hefty (dont rember blade thickness butabout 4"L) tho and FF seemed good. Anyway that is recent Army NG stuff.
 
ohen cepel said:
Most Army are issued a Benchmade seat belt cutter and a Gerber multi-tool when they deploy. Anything else will be a unit buy if they need it.
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+1 on this, it is exactly what I recieved. Knives both fixed and folding are usually personal purchases with some units buying blades with their own funds. Most units are not issueing bayonets, mostly because there is a pervading fear that joe will do something stupid with them.
 
i have been issued many different knives, spyderco, boker, crkt, benchmade, kershaw. and a gerber multitool 600.
 
The m9 is the issue bayonet, and the M11 is the issue EOD knife. It is not "issued" to everyone, and issue of anything is based largely on a units TO&E. Anything with an NSN number can be issued on a unit level, and that literally includes hundreds of possibilities. None of my friends and family in the military were issued a knife, some unit purchases of Benchmade AFO (2 friends in the airborne). All my brother's blades, I bought for him.
 
It seems like it varies between branches and even units. When our first deployment rotation came everyone was getting Benchmade AFOs. The year before last they got the new top of the line Gerber Autos the one with 30V steel. Last time they got the newer Benchmade Nimravus the one with T6 handles. I'm sure in certain branches and units the Ka Bars and multi-tools are being issued.
 
I'm sure this is no longer the norm, but my pop was issued an Ontario 498 Marine Combat Knife after Ranger School.

This may have been only his unit, or maybe all the Rangers at that time were given that knife. I'd have to ask him.
 
It varies greatly from unit to unit and service to service. Some units didn't allow large fixed blades...some units required them, etc. I hauled guys (everyone from cooks to Delta) around the planet for 30 years and saw dozens of different knives that were issued or purchased privately. When I got out 10 years ago, the most common "knives" were Gerber and Leatherman multi-tools. Big blades were rare and hardly anyone carried a bayo.

I was issued an Ontario pilot's knife when I started flying in the early 70's at the tail end of our festivities in SE Asia. I didn't receive another knife until 6 months before I retired and it was a Gerber MT. I left the Gerber on the plane after my last flight. I had no use for it. I kept the Ontario. It stays in my truck.

Along the way, I found a few knives here and there that got left behind, but most of the time I just used one of the hundreds of cheap box cutters that accompanied the ammo crates.
 
From what I've seen, some of the DEVGRU guys are issued benchmade auto axis partially serrated. Sorry not sure of actual model, but I'm sure there are others given their budget constraints or lack thereof
 
Infantry marines that are issued rifles are issued a ontario I believe is the brand. Guys that were issued m9 were issued a ka bar. Often on deployment you get a random benchmade gerber or multi tool individual units buy these with funding and are a one time issue that you get to keep. My experience is the benchmade and gerbers are generally autos.
 
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