High end military knife help?

V

Valte2003

Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Messages
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Hello people, I'm undecided about my first truly high-end military combat utility knife... so I ask for your help again, so far I found out about this knives:
Winkler II Belt Knife: http://www.winklerknives.com/knives.asp?id=206;
Extrema Ratio Col Moschin (military): http://www.thefinalimage.com/extrem...-special-forces-law-enforcement-version.html;
Extrema Ratio Supressor: http://www.extremaratioknivesdivision.eu/english/index.html;
Treeman Ultra Phalanx or Original combat bowie: http://www.treemanknives.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=73;

and that's pretty much as I know regarding high end military knives, if you know other models, or if you have some of those can you please reccomend me?
 
You need to remove the semicolons from those URLs.

Winkler II Belt Knife: http://www.winklerknives.com/knives.asp?id=206
Extrema Ratio Col Moschin (military): http://www.thefinalimage.com/extrem...y-special-forces-law-enforcement-version.html
Extrema Ratio Supressor: http://www.extremaratioknivesdivision.eu/english/index.html
Treeman Ultra Phalanx or Original combat bowie: http://www.treemanknives.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=73

I don't know anything about those makers but going by price alone I would classify those as (decent) mid-grade rather than high-end. When I think "high-end" I picture a Randall.

I remember your post back in December. I guess you didn't get very many good suggestions? Maybe more details on your specifications would help. Are you active duty and if so, what is your MOS? Are you looking for a knife to use or are you just starting a collection? Do you have a specific budget in mind? From your list above I would guess something under $500.

Maybe narrowing things down will get more suggestions.
 
I believe in practicality more than in "high end". I believe a tool should fill it's purpose and that's it.

A high end blade isn't going to solve all your problems just because of the pricetag. For instance if your going to be in or around a lot of salt water you'll need your tools to be able to deal with that.

If that's not the case are you looking for a survival / bushcraft type blade? Or a full on tactical blade? I think that's the first thing you need to sort out. The role you want your knife to fullfill

The ER knives you mentioned certainly aren't bad knives. But know the handle on the Moshin offers little to no comfort. Longer hard use will hurt your hands. I handled the Fulcrum and I'm never going near it again if given a choice. The surpressor looks good but is both horribly overpriced and quite specific in it's intended use. It's designed for penetration and not much else. It's a slender dagger.

A good allround and much cheaper option would be the Böker Plus Striker. A very nice straightforward and functional design. I've handled 440C steel and in my experience it's very competent performer, it's not going to win any supersteel contests but I'd have no problem taking the Striker to war. It offers excellent value and is about as much knife as you'll ever need in realistic scenarios.
 
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Boker Plus Striker seems decent, might give it a try and the wilkins knife also looks solid enough, might give this a chance first... but anyway, if you know any more outstanding blades for military (combat use mostly) please post them
 
Definately hold a Terzuola designed CQB-1. Camillus (or CUDA) used to make it, but it is now made by Meyerco. Once you hold a CQB1, you have a good base to compare any other fast handling fixed blade to.

If you don't mind a heavier blade, look at the Bark River STS-5. It must be held to be appreciated. It's thicker than an ESEE-5, but is balanced properly so it feels much lighter in the hand. It also has a very unique handle designed with a longitudal scoop out of the bottom so that it self-rights itself in your hand - no matter how you pick it up, the blade wants to face your fingers. It also has a propper swell so that it's easy to keep hold of in reverse or forward grip. It's the only fixed blade I've ever had that was fast enough for Kali drills, but stout enough to hammer through a log to make a fire or build a shelter.

If you want to be special, you can get an actual Fred Perrin custom Bowie for around $250. You'll have something very few people will, and once they hold it they'll be jealous. It's also thin enough to wear EVERYWHERE and long enough to do anything that would be expected of a knife.
 
Out of those you linked to I've got some experience with Extrema Ratio and Winkler. ER was a bit disappointing to me, we ordered a few for a friend's gun store and a couple had QC issues with the handles and sheaths. I'm not too fond of hollow grinds on big fixed blades, either. Plus, I think that they are too expensive for a regular production knife.

The WK II Belt Knife, on the other hand, is a custom by a very reknowned maker with excellent steel (and the guy knows how to get the most out of 52100). The design is very practical, it isn't huge or too small, thick enough to be stout but not a sharpened prybar. Just a well thought out (and executed) knife, the sheath is very nice as well.

I'm not a soldier, so I can't tell you if the Winkler knife is perfect for military use, but it's been pretty much ideal for most stuff I use a medium sized fixed blade for.
 
thanks alot people, you've made me aware of several great knives i had no idea about so far, especially that Terzuola CQB 1, it looks really wicked... and if you know other high end military knives oriented for combat/light utility, please let me know, so far i got quite a few options to choose from :)
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
Take a look at my Basic Military Model, it is tough and lightweight and I have two different steel types to choose http://wilkins-knives.com/basic-military
Click to expand...

I'll vouch for this one. I have it in olive micarta with the black specops sheath. Awesome, awesome knife.
IMG_3740_zpse0cd1722.jpg
 
Winkler is good so is treeman I'd skip the extreme ratio knives. Add Busse knives, Swamp rat, Chris Reeve's fixed blades,
Spartan knives, Martin knives, Randall's, and tons of other custom makers.
 
I Like this one.:thumbup:

HILL KNIVES (S.O.K.)SPECIAL OPERATIONS KNIFE,from The netherlands.

Model:
SOK (Blade Titanium Coated)

Steel

ATS 34 59 R.C.

Blade Thickness

5,0 MM

Blade Length

190 MM

Total Length

320 MM

Handle material

Polycarbonate

Sheath

Polycarbonate

Price incl. 21 % VAT

€ 395,-

Remarks

The blade is vacuum hardened and deep cooled. Weight is of the knife 340 gram / 0.75 pound Total Weight including sheet 525 gram / 1.20 pound

Remarks

Knife is left as right to wear.
included Eze Lap Diamond sharpener.

SOK02.jpg
SOK03.jpg
SOK01.jpg

thx
Dutchtracker
 
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I think anyone looking for a "combat utility knife" should always start with the good old USMC KA-BAR fighting/utility knife. The basic model with leather handle and leather sheath. You can get a decent price on them. Use that for at least 6 months. If you break it in that time, you can adjust accordingly, but stick with the KA-BAR for 6 months or until it breaks. At that point, sit down with pen and paper and make a list of the things you wish the knife did better

here was my list:

Clip point and stick tang are weak (while I never broke it, I did baby it because I was worried)
Round leather handle was slick and too symmetrical.
Leather sheath stretches out and looses integrity.

So, taking these things into consideration, I bought a Strider BN-SS and was very happy with everything about it. Full tang, tanto point, very strong. Cord wrapped obling/rectangular handle, very secure. Nylon sheath, well made and secure. Then I stopped going to poo-hole countries where people tried to kill me daily.

I reevaluated again, and here's what I came up with:

Full tang is heavy.
Strider's cord wrapping is hard on bare hands (work nomex flight gloves in the Corps).
Nylon sheath is ugly and bulky.

So, always moving forward I began my hunt again. I made the rounds, and wound up with a Strider DB-L with the CSM nylon sheath which is much more basic than the Eagle that comes with the larger Striders. Though it was only lighter because it was smaller, it solved all of the problems. I also tried the BRKT Bravo 1.

Then I started using them for typical knife tasks. Found that they were too thick for me, and decided to see what else was out there. Finally decided on a Winkler WKII, but which one? After weighing the options, I decided on the Field model. I'm not a fan of thumb ramps (thanks to the Bravo 1 for letting me know), so the belt knife was out. The Utility Knife could have been an option, but I didn't much like the guard. The Spike and Striker were both too heavy for my preference. I've been using the Field knife for some time now and absolutely love it. I doubt I'll ever NEED another knife in my life time for this role. That doesn't mean i don't have any more, and won't be getting any more though ;)

Hope this helps someone.
 
Try just pm'ing Big Chris or one of the other custom makers, ask what kind of steel would be optimal for your application. I personally would never buy an ER, customs are better and actually cheaper....
 
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