Practicality for Combat?

runningboar said:
I have it, and carry it every day since 1998 including 3+ years in swa, a Benchmade AFCK, a leatherman wave and my M4. I am not trying to be an "internet warrior" I am just trying to be honest.
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I'm not calling you an internet warrior, brother.
 
Does anyone else remember what Carlos Hathcock wrote about his "combat" knife? If my memory is correct, he used it for cutting roots and spreading peanut butter on his crackers. (Hopefully not at the same time)

When ever I see the term "fighting knife" I think of two knives wearing boxing gloves duking it out. The only thing more comical is some of the knife designs being sold as fighting knives. That useless POC that Darkops sells comes to mind.:jerkit:
 
runningboar said:
I have it, and carry it every day since 1998 including 3+ years in swa, a Benchmade AFCK, a leatherman wave and my M4. I am not trying to be an "internet warrior" I am just trying to be honest.
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funny I actually carry a benchmade folder (bent the tip all to shit) and a leatherman charge:D having only recently been able to buy a 300 dollar blade.
 
My Father in Law was in the Navy CBs (Construction Batallions) and he told me that he used his issue Ka-Bar everyday, when I gave him one he went nuts, he did not knew that they still make it. I guess it depends on the unit. But still I'm interested in knowing more of the day-to-day of a soldier's knife, so please any utility anecdote will be welcomed.
 
I have seen a knife wound in combat, one of my team members borrowed my knife to peel an orange christmas of 2003. He slipped and cut the meaty part of his thumb, if I remember it rook about 15 stitches to close. I still remember the look on his face when he dropped the knife and the orange and exclaimed "Damn your knife is sharp" It was an old choate stinger that I carried on my LBV. :D Chris
 
runningboar said:
I have seen a knife wound in combat, one of my team members borrowed my knife to peel an orange christmas of 2003. He slipped and cut the meaty part of his thumb, if I remember it rook about 15 stitches to close. I still remember the look on his face when he dropped the knife and the orange and exclaimed "Damn your knife is sharp" It was an old choate stinger that I carried on my LBV. :D Chris
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well that doesn't really fall under the term "combat" , now does it, soldier?
 
I don't know? that was a pretty tough orange.:D

I have PT at 0630 I gotta go to bed, talk to yall later. Chris
 
A fellow in my scout platoon took a gerber applegate about 2.5 inches into his gut. Dumbass thought the other fellow wouldn't stab him and walked right into it. Sent him home about a month early. Not combat either, but chalk another one up to "combat zone accidents."
 
runningboar said:
John feeder of trolls,

Very good picture, what type of knife is that?
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Here is a link to the story of a knife being used in modern combat.
Salvadoran Knife Combat



Semper Fi Corporal Toloza!
"We never considered surrender. I was trained to fight until the end," said the 25-year-old corporal...
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salvadoran20knife20fight.jpg

4 May, 2004 - Cpl. Samuel Toloza of El Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion displays his bloodstained knife that he used to fend off Iraqi gunmen in Najaf, Iraq, last Saturday.
(AP)
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I still don't know what brand knife it is, but looks like it might be a Busse-folder prototype being combat tested.... Awful cagey of Boss Hog, doncha think!?!
 
Depends on theatre. In the jungle group in Colombia, I used a knife quite a bit and always made it a point to carry a capable blade. I spoke to a good friend of mine who operates extensively in Bolivia and on one operation they encountered a casuatly. Their options were to:
1) hump their injured buddy approx 14 kilometers to the next designated landing zone....or
2) cut their own LZ with the tools (carried knives and machetes) they had on them.

It took them four days to cut the LZ. I explained to him what a battle mistress was and he told me that he sure would have wanted one.

A knife is a tool, more than a weapon. But it is a very useful tool.
 
As my former boss, Col. James "Nick" Rowe, told us soon to be S.E.R.E. instructors (enough bonofides?)-- A knife will be used 90% of the time as just a tool but if you ever need to use it as a weapon the other 10% it must not fail.
BTW, I know a young soldier in the 101st who will FOR A FACT be using a Tan/Tan SJTAC in the Box in about 10 days;)

My .02 worth

Bob Mills
 
This is the point ' A knife is a tool first and a weapon second'. Quite simpaly, it is a good bit of kit to carry, and should be there when you need it.
 
Rat-30 said:
I hear ya, BootmasterGeneral... :thumbup:

Quick, somebody tell this Salvadoran Grunt that his knife was unneccessary on that patrol in Iraq, and he shouldn't have been so brutal as to use it when he was out of ammo and his squad was still under fire...

I remember he was *very* effective with it...

salvadoran20knife20fight.jpg


My hands go where I go, my folder most places, my pistol some, and my rifle few. You should have a plan for each.

All the best,

John
Feeder of trolls
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If this is the same Salvadorian from the Blackwater/Ramadi (Correction, it was NAJAF) incident, he earned a CRK Green Beret (From a SEAL no less) for that stunt. Among other merits... I'm sending out for confirmation right now. Confirmed 28Aug06.

My heaviest knifework in Iraq was with a Battle Mistress. The idea that you don't need a big knife in combat is for little people with weak hearts and minds. The flagship model is called a "Steel Heart" for a reason, right?
The fighting in Iraq is a bit different than our esteemed collegue on page one refers to. He's right, if he's suggesting that carrying a FSH or FBM on your web gear is not a very bright endeavor. But more often than not troops are fighting from platforms that can carry more than just them and their rifles. I carryied my Battle Mistress in a medical pack everywhere I went when I was mobile, and a Natural Outlaw or CRK GreenBeret on my web gear when I was on foot or forsaw the imminent possibility of transitioning to foot. In the trunk I had a custom Gingrich/Ranger Knives S-7 tomahawk, regardless of whether or not my vehicle carried the DeWalt rescue gear.
Between a Hawk and a Battle Mistress, I would consider the FSH and FBM great possibilities for mounted patrol.

I've since narrowed my selection for web-gear carry to 6" blades, but I don't recommend leaving the wire without at least a 4" utility. Even if they aren't for killing people, they can still do things that will wear your fingernails out in a hurry.

Most of the gear we carry is for the what-if situations. I know plenty of guys who've gone long periods of time without firing a shot in anger. They still haul their rifles around.

Finally, the idea that a troop can't have a big-ass knife in his room is simply pathetic. I understand that it is a reality, I'm not denying it, but it says something extremely negative about our military climate when commanders are more concerned about their troops killing or injuring eachother than they are about them being mission prepared. If you're in one of these units, and are more than a little aggravated, consider changing your beret color one more time.

edited for spelling.
 
Rat-30 said:
I remember he was *very* effective with it...

salvadoran20knife20fight.jpg


My hands go where I go, my folder most places, my pistol some, and my rifle few. You should have a plan for each.

All the best,

John
Feeder of trolls
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Here's one perspective, cut and pasted from an email I just received from a friend who was there.

First Email (I asked him if he took the picture):
Nope but thats him... crazy bastard;)

Second Email, requesting some background info:
Najaf. April 4,20004 He ran out of ammo and charged a mob of savages that were beating his buddy down taking prisoner for the Mahdi Army.

These motherf---ers had GUNS.

And when that lil brown devil came rippin threw them? They s--t their pants.

Balls the size of Texas boy.

Yeah, I threw an award ceremony for him in front of his BN. Presented him with the Chris Reeve GB. Man he was so fucking proud. Sec. Rmy went to El Slvador in 2005 and awarded him the Silver Star. Not common for anyone let alone a foreighn national.

Chris Reeve read about the story and sent me a replacement for my GB. Its in my kit bag ready for work.

But that Benchmade folder you gave me is in my pocket right now.

Miss you brother.

"B"


That's from my friend who was there, that's not wikipedia or google. Just the straight facts as I know them.

OOps! edited for spelling!
 
Although none of us likely know someone to ask personally, I am sure if you did ask anyone who has ever faced a Ghurka with a khukuri, they would not discount the blade in combative situations. An unwillingness to carry the extra weight or spend your hard earned cash are lame reasons to say a blade has no field purpose.
 
dante said:
I read a story about a group of Rangers (I think they were) that had to fix bayonets and charge because they ran out of ammo. So it's although very rare looks like knowing the basics it's still handy.
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Any chance you can actually site an article or a web link? I'd like to read it because that Salvadorian Cpl is about the only "real" knife fight I've read about in Iraq.
 
In just the last six months think of the number of Military overruns that have been available, and all in Tan/Tan or Brn/Tan with the exception of the MJ. Regardless of what is said here, and there are a lot of good points, there is obviously a whole lot of Busse's going to sandy places.
 
While we’re at it.

I was thinking about climbing the “nose” of El Cap in Yosemite next fall. Do you all think a FBM-LE is too big to bring on a multi day big wall assent? If so what else could I use to hack handholds into a granite face?
 
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