Whether right or wrong, somones Armed Forces history should not be drug onto a forum, EVER.
That is exactly wrong.
John Kerry tried to pass himself off as some super-patriot and hence deserved every moment of close scrutiny he received.
On that same token, there is a lot of armed forces hucksterism in the knife industry that requires total examination as a guard against puffing and outright lying.
First of all, I really believe that only a very precious few in the armed forces have any special insights into knife requirements for the individual. Their requirements, for a "combat knife" are not appreciably different from those of any demanding user in any context.
Alas, there is then knife "combat." From some, a dubious mantle of knife combat competence or expertise is claimed by makers, designers, or consultants. Very precious few of them can lay claim to being in actual hand to hand combat with someone trying to kill them.
Surely from the Stone Age going forward there have been countless edged weapons made by obsidian chippers, smiths, whomever, where the guy who actually made the blade had none of the experience of the guy who asked him to make it. Now? Now, there seems to be some cachet into being able to claim to walk the walk and actually make a decent and affordable knife.
When I see a maker touting his service history as some advantage to the ELU, I usually run in the other direction. Almost every cutting chore in the military, not requiring a machete, can be accomplished by a humble Buck 110.
People who overpay for poor ergonomics, too thick by half blunted edges, and fancy paint jobs, are paying for the privilege of becoming part of a marketing tall tale that impresses mostly the wannabes out there.
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