I need help to find a suitable knife for military/campsite use

I'm gonna second the Strongarm, it's an amazing knife for not a lot of money and it's got that special something where you know you can use it hard without any worries. It's got a comfortable handle, good steel thats easy to get sharp und the sheath is superb. Welcome to the forums btw, greetings from Austria!
 
There are ton of options and most of them are probably impractical for military use, but most of what I own is impractical:D. The Cold Steel Drop Forged Survivalist is a great Bowie style knife. It's one piece of 52100 carbon steel and can be found for less than $80 US dollars. Its extremely tough but slices well. Its very pointy as well. Here's mine, which I stripped and cold blued. It comes from Cold Steel with a gray paint finish that is perfectly functional, but not "pretty."

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Thank you for the help. I think Im gonna try the esse 6 because I couldn't find a bad review about it and the sheath is awesome but I have fallen in love with the looks and strenght of the buck 119 so that is on my knives to own someday list too along with the Gerber strongarm. The esse 9 was a tough choice because the Becker bk9 was also quite promising
 
I was gonna say a strong arm and a leatherman. If you like the bowie look, get a cold steel recon scout. If your budget is higher, a ZT 006 would be sweet!
 
It's doubtful knives see much use in combat these days. Mora offers a broad range of very affordable knives that would suit your purposes.
 
If infantry and humping gear - weight matters; the Mora is cheap, easily replacable when it gets "re-assigned" and punches above its weight.

I do like the SRK knives and have them in both SK5 and 3V; they are really good but be warned that the handle material may not stand up to certain types of uses and abuses as well as other handles.

That being said, there are great choices here in this thread - no really bad ones in my opinion. I am partial to Becker Knives as they have served me well and like Ethan Becker. I am also partial to carbon steel over stainless - reasonable care is all it takes to keep carbon steel in shape. The BK-7 was designed as a military knife. The heavier, though shorter, BK-2 however is a beast of a knife and I doubt that there's anything you can do with a knife that would hurt a BK-2 ... even things you probably shouldn't be doing with a knife.

Happy Hunting.
 
I think it's important to point out that a "combat knife" is not intended to fight people with; that would be a "fighting knife." A "combat knife" is meant more as a general blade for tasks that a soldier is likely to run into, and typically built a little heavier and longer than knives designed primarily for fighting.

Since you mentioned that weight isn't an issue but length is, and you want a hard use knife, I'd recommend something thick and tall with a lot of cutting power for the length. Something like the Becker BK-2, ESEE 5, or Scrap Yard Regulator are popular options that would fit the bill. Personally, I'd throw in a suggestion for something a little off the beaten path, the Halfbreed Blades LBK-01. The D2 steel is a little more resistant to rust than carbon, and the combination of the hollow grind with the tall, thick blade does a great job at balancing fine cutting tasks with harder ones.

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Drop bear said:
The gerber strongarm would probably be the budget friendly vanilla option. With stainless steel and a heap of mounting options.

It is a reputable knife you can't easily kill.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Since it comes with either of two blade types -- (a) partially serrated, and (b) not serrated -- you may wish to do a bit of considering. I personally do not like blade serrations because it seems that, no matter where on the blade they are, they're always interfering with one key task or another.

Not that it really matters to you, but Gerber Strongarms were the best-selling knives I had on my tables at gun shows.
AgentSteel said:
Great choice, also unfortunately one of the most counterfeited model. So buy from a reputable shop.
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Also agree with this.
 
OP, bear in mind also that your less-prepared teammates may ask to "borrow" your knife to (mis)use. Hence the suggestion of a less expensive and easily replaceable knife such as the Hultafors. A Mora HD Companion is also extremely stout for its light weight, and if you're hauling a load on your back, ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain.

I'm also trying to bear in mind exchange rates, VAT nonsense, and import duties, thus you may be happier getting something from the EU rather than imported from the US.

Just some thoughts. Whichever way you roll, best luck, troop.
 
T Tafkaag
A Strongarm is about 130€ over here in the EU, I read somewhere that you can find them for 55$ in the US somewhere, so it's not a cheap knife for us over this side of the big pond, but I've put mine through some pretty rough stuff and it's held up phenomenally
 
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