Military Survival/Extraction Knife

M

mormonsniper

Joined
Feb 23, 2003
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83
The story indicates it can be had for less than $50.00.
mormonsniper



Army developing new aircrew survival knife

By Spc. Petersi Lui

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (Army News Service, July 28, 2003) -- Army aviation crews will soon have a new tool to help them escape from a crashed aircraft.

Maj. Stephen Long brought a prototype of the Aircrew Survival Egress Knife with him when his Army Reserve unit was mobilized and deployed to Kuwait.

The Army's Directorate of Combat Development at the Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Ala., developed the knife specifically for aviators, Long said.

Long is the executive officer of the 356th Quartermaster Battalion and works for the directorate in the civilian sector.

"There was an incident of a Black Hawk crashing in to the water. Fortunately, the depth of the water was only 50 feet, and the crew chief could hold his breath long enough to struggle loose and get to the surface. But it was a close call," Long said. "With this special seat-belt-cutting blade, pilots can escape from downed aircraft faster."


Story

ASEK_9.jpg
 
Interesting story at the U.S. Army Public Affairs site. Here is the link for commercialy sales if any one cares to check it out. This is a damned ugly knife if you ask me, of course performance is not always elegant now is it. :D

ASEK knife commercial site

The sheath looks kind of cool.

The site below states they are indeed made by Eickhorn in Solingen. I thought that squirrel looked familiar. I have seen similar one on bavarian sabres on ebay.

Here is another site mentioning this one.

Knife notes
 
It seems remarkably short sighted to me that airmen will be issued a blade so singluar and specialized in purpose, and so severely handicapped for other, ordinary knife uses.

--Mike
 
The handle design looks similar to a knife a had when I was in the army ... I think the knife is made by Eickhorn based Solingen, Germany. If you are interested ... www.eickhorn-solingen.com

Regards

Mark23
 
I count 4 seperate edges on it - top "sawback" which doesn't really look sharpened, rear spyderco-style 2-step serrations, the tip, and the inset blade behind the hook. Wonder what the rationale is for each piece. As well as why the blade looks like it's put together with allen screws.

Too bad we don't have a downed aircraft. We could pit a pilot vs. copilot, one with that thing, the other with a Busse and a Benchmade Rescue Hook and see who go out first. :p
 
I'd take the Busse and the rescue hook! At least then when I get outta the immediate vicinity I have a tool I can use for survival, etc... but then maybe you could harpoon something with this?
 
I know looks dont count....and I havent handeled one...but....looks like a piece of crap to me!!(IMHO)
 
Those 4 edges threw me for a second, I thought Schick finally broke into the "tactical" market:barf:
 
No freakin way would I have used that. I have spent many rides in the egress simulator in Pensacola and Cherry Point. The last thing you want to do is pull out a knife when the helicopter is inverted and other crewmen are kicking, crawling, or fighting their way out of it.
 
Here's a clear case of the blind leading the blind. How hard is it stick a 99 cent seat belt cutter somewhere on your gear, just like every other aircrew member I know has? Common sense... Then your knife can be a knife. Sure, the aviator survival knife could use some modernization, but that, sir, is not it.
 
Is that a joke? You hook the belt and pull, and the sharpened front edge cuts your suit and possibly your body? And there are two portions of the blade attached with screws?? Whoever designed this knife, and whoever approved it should both be fired.
The funny thing is, if they just came here to BF and posted a thread stating their needs, 48 hours later they would have a near perfect design for real world use. For free. Instead they paid some idiot god knows how much for that design.:confused:
 
Originally posted by Matteo Escobar
You hook the belt and pull, and the sharpened front edge cuts your suit and possibly your body?
Click to expand...

quote:
"The ASEK comes with a crushed diamond disk for precision sharpening."

The Edge is probably as dull as the inventor of this knife, but unlike him it can be sharpened...
 
"With this special seat-belt-cutting blade, pilots can escape from downed aircraft faster." Maj. Stephen Long :rolleyes:

Excuse me, but this thing is about a foot long. You want a pilot in a high stress situation trying to unsheath it and attempting to cut free of the seat belts? While possibility hanging from said seat belts? And, of course, not cut him/herself, which would attract sharks if it was a water crash. :eek:
Wouldn't attaching a $5 brightly colored seat belt cutter to each set of seat belts make more sense? It would certainly be easier to use. Same cutter, same place, on any set of seat belts. You could train with it and know that it was always in the same place no matter what type of aircraft you were in.

Thank you, no thanks. :(

edited for spelling - I forgot to spell check before posting
 
But I think you guys said it all. How are you supposed to keep from killing yourself while trying to save your life. Any way you point that knife there is a sharp edge aimed at you.
 
I have to add that helicopter restraint harnesses (seat belts) are very thick. And depending on model of helicopter, the harnesses are 4 to 5 straps to a buckle (4/5 point harnesses, like race cars). I don't think that a rescue hook would work very well due to the thickness of the straps. And the flight gloves would cause dexterity loss trying to grab such a small piece of metal in a water crash, expecially at night.

Depending on the unit, or stan team, you are not allowed to attach unauthorized equipment onto your flight gear. The reason for this is that you need to be streamlined in order to egress from an inverted helicopter in the water. The survival vest worn by crews were tested for this exact reason; no projecting equipment to get hung up.

Granted, we were issued the Ontario/ Camillus Pilot's Survival knife, but we only carried those on our winter flight coveralls on the right leg. Now crews wear dry suits ( like scuba divers)during winter/cold weather operations.

The only crewmembers allowed to wear knives (strapped to thier legs) were the Rescue Swimmers. I heard that they are now issued the Benchmade automatics.
 
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