Need advice in a hurry, Combat fixed blade

U

USMCvet89

Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
5
My Son will deploy soon to southern Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. He has asked me to get him a good combat knife. This will obviously be a purchase I will make with a great deal of care. I have spent many hours at knifecenter.com looking at various options and reading reviews. I think I have narrowed my choices down to 3 knives and I was hoping that someone could give me some solid educated advice. I am looking for a knife in the 7" blade range + or - and USA made. My Son's only real criteria is a good solid knife with a strong, secure sheath that offers multiple attaching options. The 1st option I am considering is the KA-BAR D2 Extreme with Kydex sheath. I'm not sure weather to go with plain blade or combo. I am familiar with KA-BAR quality from my own years in the Corps. My only real concern with the D2 is the thickness of the handle. My Son is built alot like me, 5'7" ht, 150 lbs, probably slightly smaller that average hands. My 2nd option is the Gerber LHR. My very real concern here is the locking sheath. The last thing in the world I would want is for my Son to be in a situation (God forbid) where he needs his knife in a hurry and has even a slight hesitation getting it out of the sheath. My third option is the Cold Steel Recon Scout 7 1/2". Any advice here would be most welcomed and appreciated.
 
I'm gonna beak from what you were looking at and say esee 4. Great blade, bag the molle back with it and he's set. Smaller than what you were thinking of, but a lot of folks deploy with these.
 
Last edited:
colocowboy55@yahoo.c said:
(( don't post links to live auctions )) -- (( quoting a violation just gives me more to clean up ))
Click to expand...

That would be more for a collector, not for deployment. Much better knives and sheaths available at a better price. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Look at the ESEE-5 from ESEE (used to be RAT Cutlery). Mack truck of knives. They have a MOLLE sheath option, too. A bit expensive, but he'll never need to buy another. Not to wave the flag for anyone so to speak, but the Knife Center has better prices than most.
 
I'm going to break away a little as well,

Busse/Swaprat/Scrapyard are some of the toughest knves you'll find. And you can get a sheath for it that matches your (or your son's) needs better because they do not come with sheathes.

There are plenty of kydex sheath makers and some of them fit into a Spec Ops sheath quite nicely.
 
The LHR is more of an offensive weapon as opposed to a general field knife, if he needs the knife for more for chores etc. the LHR is going to be somewhat less capable. I have one and i can deploy it in the literal blink of an eye, reliably too it just takes some practice and natural coordination. I also did read some reviews about probs with the sheath but i have none such, maybe those guys are just a bit butter fingereds. Also the steel is good don't let anyone dissuade you on that point.

I had a RAT 5 [ESEE now] but didn't like it at all, it felt cheap - not as in flimsy but more like there was minimal design and a "less is more" result didn't materialize also the handle got stained immediately with some grease which proved impossible to remove even with gasoline so it's also my 2 cents that even though a stained handle is quite usable it can lower morale. Also didn't like the blade coating it seemed cheap too. Alot of guys love these blades but i'm just not a fan.
 
Last edited:
rpn said:
I'm gonna beak from what you were looking at ans say esee 4. Great blade, bag the molle back with it and he's set. Smaller than what you were thinking of, but a lot of folks deploy with these.
Click to expand...

USMCvet89, have to second the ESEE-4, or even the ESEE-5. Great knife, even greater warranty, you could not go wrong with this choice. A lot of reviews are on this forum, check some of these & the pictures or video of the "tests". Another choice would be the Entrek line of knives by Ray Ennis. I gave a fellow co-worker one of his 2 years ago on his re-deployment, & when he come back the knife looked like it had been through a grinder. He said the knife did everything he tried with it & did not fail once. Ray makes excellent knives, a large selection of different type blades & various lengths.
By the way, welcome to the forum, great bunch of guys with a lot of ideas & experience, and some "interesting" pictures once in awhile.
Please tell your son the JUST1MOR home thanks him for his service & sacrifice for allowing us to have the freedoms & way of life we have today . . . :thumbup:
I hope he & the knife make it back home safely, even if he is a Marine . .:)
Godspeed,
Be safe.
1st/9th Air Cav
 
Last edited:
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/s...eqCATE CODEdatarq=rem&eqWWWCAT_1datarq=sheath

Remington seems to have some molle compatible sheaths ^ -fyi, in case you find something needing a sheath,
like a Scrapyard S.O.D. [i recommend this knife but they are hard to find, can get them on the BF exchange
sometimes or at a blade show, Swamprats are great too but take a long time to get from the maker].

here's a nice 1 from TOPS knives:http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=296

Zero Tolerance 0100:http://www.knifeart.com/zetomo01fibl.html
I believe the handle on this one will fit well in his hand and ZT has a great reputation.

Chris Reeve Pacific:http://www.knifeart.com/pacific.html

Strider [also hard to find some of their models]: http://www.knifeart.com/stmk1mod10.html

if you end up going with serrations the Pacific seems to be a good one, you can also try to find a bladesmith
around here who can cut some for you if the knife your son likes doesn't have them.
1 inch or so of blade seems to be a good amount for serrations...more than that and they take up too
much blade in my opinion.
 
Last edited:
Get him an Esee Rat 5 and the optional front pouch and Molle back and a good multitool. The Rat 5 is 1/4 thick and made from 1095 like the Kabar knives that were issue for a century. Tough and easy to sharpen to a razor edge. You can do the whole package for $200.00. From what I have heard the multitool will get just as much use.
 
Thanks for your sentiments and wishes. I'll pass them along to my Son when he comes home in a couple weeks. This will be his first deployment, and as you can imagine, his Mom and I are not looking forward to it nearly as much as he is.
Semper Fi
 
out of what you said, i would go with the kabar, just because the cold steel seems fairly heavy and gerber.....well i just dont like gerber. may i also suggest you take a good hard look at the esee5,esee6,
 
There is always the Becker line to consider. I don't own one personally but always hear great things about them being awsome hard use field knives.

Wish your son Godspeed and well wishes. Stay safe over there Marine!
 
Out of those three my preference would be the Kabar. D2 is a very good steel. It's semi-stainless and holds a good edge. Gerber doesn't have a great reputation for quality and I don't have a lot with Cold Steel. I checked out the Recon Scouts steel and it was SK-5 or something which I haven't heard of. Check out ESEE knives, particularly the ESEE 4,5,and 6. ESSE offers both Kydex and molle compatible sheaths.

If you really want to go all out, Check out Busse Combat and their family companies: Scrapyard and Swamprat. Those companies use INFI, SR-101, and SR-77 blade steels respectively and are much tougher and have better edge retention but also costs more. If you can find a Scrapyard Regulator still (might be available from their site) that would be my first choice. It's about $110 with sheath.

Best of luck in your hunt and for your son.
 
I think any of your choices would be fine. I'd probably pick the Kabar in a different steel simply because D2 can be a bit harder to sharpen.

The Entrek and Becker suggestions are good ones IMO. Both are well made knives that would serve him well. I can't speak for the ESEE knives as I've never used one. Another option would be an older Effingham or Richmond Ek knife - that's what I carried when I was in your son's shoes.

I wish him good luck on his deployment and tell him to keep his powder dry...

Semper Fi
Scott
Wpns Plt, Bravo Co, 1st Bn 5th Mar, 1986-88
 
Not USA made but the SOG Gov-Tac is nice.

Becker handles may not be comfortable with smaller hands.

The SOG Sealpup Elite is aboit an inch too small on blade length, but the handle is probably perfect.

Hope you find the right knife and I pray your son comes back safe.

Kudos to you and your wife also for rasing the kind of young man that accepts the challenge and hardship to become a US Marine.

Semper Fi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top