Marines - Leatherman Wave?

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pinetree

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Jun 24, 2005
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Watching "Marine Survival School" on the military channel. Missed most of it as I my daughter had a boy over for a sleep-over, they are four, while all the local mommies ad a girls night out. But, it seems to me they were carrying Leatherman Waves and KABARS. It may be a Charge? Do the Marines issue Leathermans?

tjg
 
I have known a unit to hand out the Leatherman FUSE, but this was likely a GSA or IMPAC card unit purchase, not CIF issue.
 
That was one of the neatest "survival" shows I've seen, of the ones around. The LM's seemed to be getting a lot more use than the kabars.
 
I thought I saw a Core, a Wave/Surge (couldn;t tell which one it was), and I thought a SOG. It is a very cool show.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if a multitool gets much more use than a fixed blade knife. A knife is a good general purpose tool, but modern (for the last 100 years or so) military depends on lots of mechanical gear requiring at least some moderately specialized (screwdrivers and stuff) tools. Th good old Kabar is OK as a knife, but makes a poor screwdriver or plier, and isn't even a particularly good slicer.
 
shecky said:
I wouldn't be surprised if a multitool gets much more use than a fixed blade knife. A knife is a good general purpose tool, but modern (for the last 100 years or so) military depends on lots of mechanical gear requiring at least some moderately specialized (screwdrivers and stuff) tools. Th good old Kabar is OK as a knife, but makes a poor screwdriver or plier, and isn't even a particularly good slicer.
Click to expand...


In the two episodes I watched, the LM saws were getting used a lot for firewood and shelter poles, and the blade for rabbits. I only saw a Kabar come into play once to chop at some standing branches.
 
Leathermen Wave for a marine? Sounds a little wimpy.

I thought Marines carried big Macho Tactical Survival knives.
 
At MCB Quantico many of the Marines carry some type of Leatherman. Units do not usually issue a mutli-tool.
Some special units may issue but not as a usual issue.
 
Just proves what I always thought , Marines are savy ! None of that Gerber crap for them ! If God carried a multitool it would be a Charge Ti .

Chris
 
So, our army and when I say Army is ll the forces USAF, Marines...etc does not have a standard issue multitool?

I tought that Gerber was the standard issue?
I think that a Surge on black oxide finish will be the right tool to carry.
 
There isn't a universal multi-tool issued to the American .Mil as a whole. As I understand it certain units in certain branches will get certain items. Thus, some folks could get any variety of tools; Gerbers, Leathermans or SOGs seem common fare.

There has been at least one contracted multi designed and sold to the military made by Gerber. It was called the MPT#5 (Military Provisional Tool#5) and was issued to certain units in certain branches.

The MPT was an odd duck and has been discontinued for quite a while.

Ken C. give some good info in this thread.

Here's some pictures of an MPT I found. Link!
 
[digidude];5271019 said:
Leathermen Wave for a marine? Sounds a little wimpy.

I thought Marines carried big Macho Tactical Survival knives.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? 100lbs worth of standard issue crap and you think a grunt wants to carry big honkin tools on top of everything else? LESS IS MORE.
 
"spoonrobot"
The Gerber MPT was kinda like The Original Leatherman PST.
With one huge difference, in that it was built a little stronger than the original PST.
(Handles were at least).
The rims on these sheet-metal handles were folded-over and hence gave a postively sweeter feel than it's competitor's.
The big plus factor was it having "nut 'n bolt" pivots; which means you can actually get to adjust all "the loose play" you want (just like an SOG Paratool).
The drawback as with most Gerbers, was it's short screwdrivers tool blades.
But back then Gerber probably deserved that hard earned contract for trying to come out with a product improved PST...
 
It's great that this topic has so many replies from people with military experience.

There's not much info on the net but Frank Trzaska's U.S. military knives site lists (at the bottom of the page): Gerber, Kershaw, Leatherman, SOG, and the Red Cross Knife. Not to be confused with the Swiss army knife, the Red Cross knife is a multi-tool pliers with a built-in flashlight (similar to generic multi-tools found at discount stores) that was given to troops by the Red Cross. There's more information on the following page: http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/knife_knotes_10.htm
The knife notes are dated 2004.
 
I was with 2d Recon Bn in 2006 and was issued a Gerber multitool for deployment. I don't recall the model, but it was black and had sort of a spike on it for putting holes in C4 to place blasting caps. Probably some sort of EOD or demo model.
 
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