Military-Spec Knives

zfJames

zfJames

Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
273
For those of you who have been in the military or have family members who have served, thank you for your service! I am rather curious, though, what knives served you well during your deployments or even stateside. Do you have any favorite knives or knife stories that you would like to share? For those of you who have military friends, please feel free to share if you know about the kinds of knives used (not just those issued) by the military. Thanks!
 
Dad was a Qualified Electrician on the USS Menhaden, SS377 in the 50s. Carried a tool box instead of a knife. Guys on Kibbutz Dvir in the 80s usually had an SAK for farmwork at home or mechanic chores when deployed (I never saw a bayonet in Israel). A friend who's a CWO in Army intel carries the tiniest locking folder, a Gerber or BM, I think. My buddy who was a flight medic in the AF just carried scissors in his med kit. A prof from college who'd served in OSS carried a smatchet-like blade in Africa (and said it was a great combat tool). A family friend who was at Anzio carried a Cattaraugus 225Q along with his M3 and M1911-A1, but I don't know for sure he used it in combat but he did say it was a good cutting tool. He later went on to fly B-24J Liberators from Italy to the IDF in 1948 and I like to think he had one on his belt then.

I think the takeaway for me is that the tools follow closely on the assignments. It's not like the Chief is walking around the Pentagon with a fighting knife. The AF medic had two scissors, one aggressive enough to cut open a flak jacket. The WWII vets, well, you can imagine.

Zieg

Edit: Liberators were 24s. 25s were Mitchells.
 
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The Zieg said:
Dad was a Qualified Electrician on the USS Menhaden, SS377 in the 50s. Carried a tool box instead of a knife. Guys on Kibbutz Dvir in the 80s usually had an SAK for farmwork at home or mechanic chores when deployed (I never saw a bayonet in Israel). A friend who's a CWO in Army intel carries the tiniest locking folder, a Gerber or BM, I think. My buddy who was a flight medic in the AF just carried scissors in his med kit. A prof from college who'd served in OSS carried a smatchet-like blade in Africa (and said it was a great combat tool). A family friend who was as Anzio carried a Cattaraugus 225Q along with his M3 and M1911-A1, but I don't know for sure he used it in combat but he did say it was a good cutting tool. He later went on to fly B-25J Liberators to from Italy to the IDF in 1948 and I like to think he had one on his belt then.

I think the takeaway for me is that the tools follow closely on the assignments. It's not like the Chief is walking around the Pentagon with a fighting knife. The AF medic had two scissors, one aggressive enough to cut open a flak jacket. The WWII vets, well, you can imagine.

Zieg
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Thank you so much for your input! That's really interesting!
 
marcinek said:
We just have a lot of threads on the subject lately! I think people are gifting those who serve, which is cool.

Leatherman.
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I know, I'm just messing with you.

I was issued a multitool before I deployed, I imagine most deploying units would. I got a gerber mp600.
 
shinyedges said:
I know, I'm just messing with you.

I was issued a multitool before I deployed, I imagine most deploying units would. I got a gerber mp600.
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Thank you for your service, shinyedges! I've got a Leatherman OHT that's my EDC, but I've also heard good things about the Gerber lineup. What did you find useful in terms of fixed blade knives? That's one thing that I would like to get (and possibly gift ;) ) that the threads that I did research (including Mo2's thread, which I had seen before) didn't spend too much time talking about like I had hoped...
 
zfJames said:
Sorry Mo2! I did look, but I couldn't find anything super definitive. I'll keep looking! This thread has been a good reminder to keep searching for other replies! :)
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I think the only current specs in the US military is for the current bayonet. Everything else (even issued at unit level) is COTS ( commercial off-the-shelf)
 
leghog said:
I think the only current specs in the US military is for the current bayonet. Everything else (even issued at unit level) is COTS ( commercial off-the-shelf)
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Right, and I don't really care about issued stuff since it's usually iffy anyway. I was thinking more of the stuff that guys buy themselves and find useful in the field.
 
zfJames said:
Right, and I don't really care about issued stuff since it's usually iffy anyway. I was thinking more of the stuff that guys buy themselves and find useful in the field.
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"Military-Spec" was a term you used.

Regarding what guys buy themselves and find useful in the field ---- SAKs and multitools will get more use than anything else.
 
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zfJames said:
Thank you so much for your input! That's really interesting!
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The AF medic vet says the flak jacket was vulnerable at the seams but that it was still pretty rugged. I guess the other scissors were more like shears. Just like in an ER trauma situation, those guys show up and just start cutting away anything that's in their way. It's the patient, not his or her gear or clothes, that matters. As a horseman, I heard of a jumping accident in which a rider broke his tibia. He was wearing tall formal boots. That boot wasn't coming off in one piece. They managed to cut a nice straight line, but cut it they did. I can't imagine being able to pull a tall boot off with a broken leg!

Oh, I had a lodge brother back in DC who was in the Coast Guard and he used to carry a sheepfoot blade rigging knife with a shackle opener and a marlinspike. Now, I can't imagine he used it a lot, but those things will cut. I never asked him how much use he got out of it, but I imagine it was, for him, a kind of sentimental accoutrement of his service. It was even on a braided line in his pocket! He was an officer and no one was going to give him any grief, I guess.

My dad served on troop carriers before sub school, so he might have had a deck knife then. I'll ask him.

Zieg
 
The Zieg said:
The AF medic vet says the flak jacket was vulnerable at the seams but that it was still pretty rugged. I guess the other scissors were more like shears. Just like in an ER trauma situation, those guys show up and just start cutting away anything that's in their way. It's the patient, not his or her gear or clothes, that matters. As a horseman, I heard of a jumping accident in which a rider broke his tibia. He was wearing tall formal boots. That boot wasn't coming off in one piece. They managed to cut a nice straight line, but cut it they did. I can't imagine being able to pull a tall boot off with a broken leg!

Oh, I had a lodge brother back in DC who was in the Coast Guard and he used to carry a sheepfoot blade rigging knife with a shackle opener and a marlinspike. Now, I can't imagine he used it a lot, but those things will cut. I never asked him how much use he got out of it, but I imagine it was, for him, a kind of sentimental accoutrement of his service. It was even on a braided line in his pocket! He was an officer and no one was going to give him any grief, I guess.

My dad served on troop carriers before sub school, so he might have had a deck knife then. I'll ask him.

Zieg
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Please do ask him, Zieg! That would be really neat to hear more about. Thanks for sharing some of this history with me. I love it! :)
 
zfJames said:
Thank you for your service, shinyedges! I've got a Leatherman OHT that's my EDC, but I've also heard good things about the Gerber lineup. What did you find useful in terms of fixed blade knives? That's one thing that I would like to get (and possibly gift ;) ) that the threads that I did research (including Mo2's thread, which I had seen before) didn't spend too much time talking about like I had hoped...
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I never used a fixed blade overseas. I bought a coldsteel recon 1 with the old ultra lock, and had that for awhile. I will say about the gerber mp600(which I still have) the inserts broke out of the cutters but otherwise still functional. I just never replaced the inserts. If you do get a fixed blade make it something small and stout, more likely to be carried and used.
 
My dad had a Buck 503 in his pocket and that was it, according to him the only other blade he saw than what he would eventually use in the kitchen was a bayonet.
He served in the US ARMY from '78-'86 then in the US ARMY reserves from early '87-'91 till his unit was shut down and through the various MOS and ranks he had, he didn't end up deploying in desert Storm to drive a supply truck like he was supposed to because of developing vision problems.
The 503 was all he needed until he let a friend but it off of him.
I imagine most men only really need a utility folder as their bayonet will do everything combatively they would need it to do, especially now days when many things are made to be easy open.
 
I had knives when I was in, but never used them.

Thought I'd get a bunch of mileage out of the Cold Steel Recon Tanto. I liked it, but didn't use it.

Didn't see my first Leatherman until I was out of the military. My first thought was that I wish I'dve had one of those when I was in the military.
 
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