Leaving for Iraq soon - knives for me(?):

C

cmart

Joined
Dec 11, 2005
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5
Hi there. I'm brand new to the forum and as luck would have it, the search function seems to be failing me for some reason. To get the ball rolling I'll ask my main questions here, and hopefully you kind people will help me out while I manually search all the stuff you've already posted.

I'm a Navy Seabee in comm's, and this is my first deployment.

I want a boot knife, a deadly folder, and a very durable multi-tool.

So far, the ones leading the race are:

boot knife: Smith & Wesson HRT - the one that's black teflon coated, both side of the blade sharp, and has a "T" part (duh, I don't know the proper name) at the top of the handle to keep my fingers from slipping onto the blade in a bad situation.

deadly folder: Spyderco Civilian. I simply cannot find a folder that looks like it will do damage like this knife. It's cool and unique.

durable multi-tool: Leatherman Crunch. It's got a vice grips as well as the screwdrivers and stuff. I figure that will come in handy. I can grab something with that while I tackle the big pliers jobs with my Lineman's pliers.

I have practiced knife fighting for three years in the martial arts school I attend (Kali), and would do just fine with a K-Bar, but I don't really want to carry the weight, and there is some talk that some units are discouraged from carrying large, fixed-blade knives because they intimidate the locals. So that kind of knife is not in the running. Please don't suggest I carry anything like that; I simply cannot. The knives must be stealthy and light.

I do not expect to use the boot and folder knives at all. They are for security and peace of mind. I'll cut rope and stuff with the multi-tool knife, and sharpen that when it gets dull. The others will be left factory sharp.

I appreciate your suggestions, whatever they may be.
 
Welcome to the forums, cmart. You are definately on the right track with the Spyderco and the Leatherman. I would steer you away from the S&W. Their knives are not of the "bet your life on it" variety. Check out the Kobun from Cold Steel. I think that it would better fit your needs.
 
good choices. But I would question your choice of the civilian. I have one and IMO it wasn't worth it style wise. If you expect to get into a fight with another expert grappler, then maybe this will come in handy. Or if you expect to sneak up on someone it might. However, for general self defense I would pick something like the spy Military, which is light and very easy to open.
 
cmart said:
How about the Kershaw 4351 for a boot knife?
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The Kershaw looks pretty good, too. My only concern would be that the handles look a little slippery.
 
I agree on Smith & Wesson, but the model you mention is a relatively decent fixed blade knife and will give you a decent edge -- actually, two -- for what it's intended for. The best folder for deadly use I know of is the Cold Steel Voyager in the 5-inch configuration, serrated. If you can carry a 6-inch, that's even better, but that extra inch is a little more difficult to haul. The Vaquero Grande, or any of the smaller Vaqueros are worth looking at, too. Spydercos also have been used with deadly results and from what I understand are very dependable.
 
How about the Fallkniven Garm fighter?. Its doubled edged VG10 steel. Its an awesome knife.:)
 
jeepin said:
How about the Fallkniven Garm fighter?. Its doubled edged VG10 steel. Its an awesome knife.:)
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I totally agree with that comment!! It is an EXCELLENT knife!! I also agree about staying away from S&W knives!!!
 
The Fallkniven Garm is a good hundred buck knife, but a boot knife may end up being a throw-away weapon. While I certainly have not been impressed by the Smith & Wesson line, the HRT isn't a bad little knife. The one I have was sharpened only on one side, but that took me about 20 seconds to fix. Cold Steel has a nice little item called the Mini Culloden that's also inexpensive and deadly. The point is sharp enough to remove splinters and the cutting edge will never need sharpening. CS's FGX (Nightshade) series' Skean Dhu might be worth a look in addition. Reinforced fiberglass, it's cheap, dark and you can buy a bunch of them for almost nothing.
 
Point taken -- S&W is no longer in the running for the boot knife. I appreciate the advice, keep it coming.
 
Spyderco ATR in (comes black or silver) either full serrations or plain. Easy to maintain as its all steel (too heavy/slippy?) This is a fair sized folder, good steel (VG-10) all steel makes it easy to see crap stuck in it, throw it in the sink with an old toothbrush, shake, towel dry & WD40 and you are done.

The Fallkniven is beautiful, great choice if funds permit. How about the Gerber Guardian (cheaper than dirt . com) have them sometimes for about $38.00

I have the crunch, its slower to use (read, a lot slower) and you are limited with the number of tools. To be honest I would get a Surge or a Charge from Leatherman instead. There is a Bit kit available that weights next to nothing and will give you a great choice of flat, phillips, hex & Torx. IIRC about 20 bits come in the pack so that should be 40 chocies as they are double ended.

Hope this adds to the confusion :D

Bit Kit
bitkit.jpg


Surge

Surge.jpg


Charge

Ti.jpg


ATR

ATR_STAINLESS03.jpg
 
I am now giving the Surge serious consideration. Looking into the Gerber Multitool as well, and currently checking out the Gerber Guardian.
 
Does Leatherman make a sheath that'll hold both the Surge/Charge AND the bit kit?

FWIW, cmart, I'd go with a plainer folder than the Civilian. Something you could press into use in the case of a survival situation. Military, Paramilitary, Police, Manix are all good choices. They'd be more useful in terms of EDC as well.

Good luck in your travels. I, for one, appreciate your service and hope God watches over you.

Edited to add: cmart, you might pick up one of the Salt series as a backup blade or EDC, especially since your Naval duties might involve being around salty, corrosive environments. Word is, the H-1 is unbeatable in terms of corrosion resistance and holds an edge well.
 
Guyon said:
Does Leatherman make a sheath that'll hold both the Surge/Charge AND the bit kit?
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Yeah it should squeeze in there, the standard nylon sheath has a bit of 'give' in it. Besides you would probably only use a couple of strips. The bit kit is 2 strips and you get another as standard that is half full. I recon just 2 fully loaded strips would cover most of your needs.

Failing that, one of the after-market makers like Maxpedition have decent pouches.
 
Another thought re: boot knives is the mini pentagon from SOG, the handle is super grippy, enough so that I don't think the lack of guard is ahuge factor plus its that much easier to tuck away and access without getting it caught on gear. Also perhaps the smaller of the cold steel peacekeeper knives, gurad, double edged etc.

I would stay away from the civilian, if you want another SD knife then I would look at small fbs, Hide away, tdi, lagriffe etc. Or consider a folder that will do some double duty, lots of options but IMO the civilian is just to specialized, not good for utility and ya can't stab with it. THe chinook and voyager recs are good you might want to stay away from metal handled knives as they tend to be slippery and will get hot as heck.
 
Guyon said:
Does Leatherman make a sheath that'll hold both the Surge/Charge AND the bit kit?
Click to expand...
Why yes, yes they do! ;)

The sheaths for each have a pocket behind the tool for the bit strips. I generally EDC just one strip; seems like 1/3 of them are for Robertson (square hole) screws, which I never ever run across. I carry a mix of phillips, slotted, hex and torx. The sheaths also have double thicknesses of elastic on the sides, which form an elastic sleeve on either side; I find this handy for carrying a small light (Nuwai 0.5W AAA or Peak Matterhorn 3LED AAA) and a mini-Sharpie marker.

I prefer the "leather" (man-made, I'm sure) sheaths. I'm not fond of velcro, hate that ripping sound; the nylon/cordura sheaths use velcro, the "leather" ones have a snap.

On problem I've had: the Surge sheath is *very* tight. No matter how much I've tried to stretch mine out, it's a royal pain to get the Surge in or out, and it's even worse with a bit strip in place.
 
For a folder I would go with the Benchmade Skirmish. Titanium handles, S30V steel with a blade length of 4.30" and a blade thickness of .160". It is a framelock which should be easier to keep clean. To me it feels like a tank.
 
Cant add much to your questions as they have been answered ,
But I hope you dont get into a knife fight .
STAY SAFE .
 
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