On the subject of SEAL knives . . . .

[D R E]

I was watching the Discovery Channel that featured a program on BUDS training and noticed the students were using Cold Steel SRKs for their dive knife. Does anyone know if the SRKs are private purchase by the students or issued at the school?

Seems like an ok choice. Kydex scabbard, nice sharp subdued blade. Handle would work well for water soaked hands. Cheap to replace. Only drawback would be major corrosion of simple carbon steel. Oh well, the kabar hung in there for many years with a lot worse problems to contend with. Any ideas?

 

[Crayola]

On other forums I read that the SRK and Recon Tanto were often issued. But, I bet that most SEALs, if not all, get some form of private purchase knife. Striders, Mad Dogs, and many other custom makers have made blades for SEALs. Then again, there are probably missions where they take SRKs or Recon Tantos, knowing that they might get lost, lef behind, or break on the mission. And you don't want any of the three happenning!

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The mystique of the SEALS being what it is, there's a lot of "official SEAL knives" out there that no SEAL was ever issued, and few SEALS ever bought on their own

But the SRK is tough and cheap, what more can the government ask for? The best??? You know what they say, "Your weapon was supplied by the lowest bidder." It's a good knife. Every now and again we get a thread asking all the real military among us, "What do you carry?" We get answers like, a Spyderco, a Gerber multitool, a SAK. In other words, tough and cheap, effective and disposable.

There's also a lot of great knives that the real special operators need when the mission is above and beyond. I'm glad we've got the knifemakers to supply that, too.

By the way, the coating on the SRK is there specifically to protect the blade against rust, and I understand it coats the tang under the Kraton, as well.