Question to all active / veteran Military soldiers. What knife did and do you carry?

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djmundle

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Aug 26, 2006
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Hello,

First of all I would like to thank you for your service to our country.

Next, what knife did you carry while active and what do you carry non-active duty?

Thanks for the images and stories!
 
In Iraq (before I was "into" knives), I carried a smallish no-name folder that my wife bought me, a buddy later gave me a CRKT m16-14zsf. We were instructed to carry a fixed blade when leaving the wire, and as the mobile PX didn't have a lot to choose from, I used a SOG Seal Pup. I would estimate that a good 90% of us carried what was at the PX, mostly Gerber (lmf II, Prodigy) and SOG (Seal Team, Seal Pup) as they were cheap and readily available, thus easily replaced.
 
I had an old Gerber mk 1 that my first sergeant gave me, it was before I was into knives so I didn't really know what I had. That and a SAK.
 
Cheap no name folders. They would get lost easily, often stolen. In country had my bayonet on my flak as well. I feel like Knives were low priority for all of us. Marine Corps infantry, btw. Gear pouches, weight distribution, fresh socks, porn, tobacco. Those were the important things.

Now that I'm out, I'm rocking my only blade, a ZT 550. But that's another story.
 
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I tried a few things, but my go to, constant companion then (peace time, airborne infantry) was a swiss army knife. Now it's a Small CRK Sebenza. More money plus solo backpacking means more knife to me. I still have the swiss army though.
 
I carried inexp[ensive, utilitarian blades--useful but not so expensive I'd get upset in case they went "astray" or broke while in use. That meant the German Army variant of the SAK and the German Army fixed blade field knife (feldmesser).
 
Carried a motley assortment throughout my career. From a simple BuckLite and Pilot's Survival knife in Desert Shield/Storm; a Gerber TAC-II, Benchmades and Spydercos in Macedonia, Central/South America and Southwest Asia; then a custom fixed blade in '95 and two custom folders in '00 that I carried until I retired last year.

Since I retired, I carry the Boye BDC Folder I bought back in '00.
 
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Gerber folder (from PX), and a Tekna dive knife, which I never carried, but it was cool. I was mainly into guns during my military time.
 
CONUS: Didn't carry one. Deployed: a Fixed Blade (probably a Kabar) Times have changed :)
 
One or two SAK's bought at the PX during Basic training.
I had a Cold Steel push dagger (maybe the Terminator model?) that I had set up in my HumV during Desert Shield/Storm. I only used it to slice open MRE's. I got it because I thought it was "cool", and Sgt Barnes had one in Platoon. Other than that, it was overkill for what I used it for. Today, I would never touch a push dagger, they are horrible for utility purposes. After DS/DS, I had a small Gerber folder, the one blade, 3" model, with the zytel like handles. I thought that was a great knife, even had a P-38 attached via paracord, till it was lost or stolen.
 
Couple benchmades, did flight line work, so good for stripping wires, tapping on circuit cards, prying off panels, cutting off excessive rtv, scraping thermal compound where the putty knife wouldn't reach. Still carry Benchmade every day.
 
Carried a a cheap bali my buddy gave me (mre opener and time killer) a gerber multi tool (used the most fixing the 240g with it) and had to carry my bayonette deployed.
 
Two Gerbers, both PX purchases. One a fixed blade with a woodland camo-like decorated handle, the other a basic folder.
 
richard thurman said:
back in the day we where not allowed to have any type of knife, us army.
Click to expand...

My first time on the drop zone de-rigging equipment and vehicles with my fingers was lesson enough. With the amount of 4" cardboard and 1/4" cotton webbing, having a knife was an unwritten rule if you were on jump status in an Airborne unit.
 
U.S. Army Engineers, 51B20MOS, construction duty. Enlisted May 1962, medical discharge September 1971. Mostly carried a Camillus TL-29 until late 1960's when I bought a Buck 301 stockman in the PX. Served in 39th Combat Engineers 1967 to 1968 in Vietnam. Picked up a SAK as well, and those two pocket knves served most of my cutting needs on a lot of construction sites. Discharged after rehab at Walter Reed Army hospital 1971, and still carried the Buck and the SAK for the next 20 something years until bit by knife bug. During the 90's tried a lot of different knives, always went back to a smaller size traditional pocket knife. Worked as a machinist until I retired in 2001. Enjoy fishing, canoe camping, and getting off in the woods, still use a pocketknife for most things. Have very little need of a large knife, but if my pocket knife isn't enough, then a 12 inch Ontario machete is in my pack. My three kids and three grandkids have their own choice of knives.
 
Over 20+ years I went threw a lot of knives but the ones I'd say were ultimately the ones I settled on and carried consistently, while still on active duty were the Benchmade AFCK (Original) and first and second generation 910 Strykers.

After I retired my primary carry knife was the BM Rift and most recently the Contego.

This is not to say I didn't have or carry other knives but the ones I considered my primary EDC of sorts.

On a side note, most if not all the knives that were "issued" to me on a unit level I broke, lost or at some point gave away. A lot of Gerbers, S&W, and other lower end knives they seemed to always give out. Once Benchmade made it into the stock system I made sure to always order them for my shop whenever I could.
 
I carry a Spyderco Military or Paramilitary 2. The name is a coincidence, maybe, but the knives are great unless you want to pry things. I also like an ESEE Izula a lot for a small fixed blade. I don't carry a SD knife, if I need one me and all my comrades have all run out of ammo/guns. I also like a multitool with a file and screwdrivers, and needle nose jaws. I've had a few cold steel large voyager tanto points to abuse. I abused the crap out of them. I never broke one but the pinned pivots did loosen up a bit. It's a well built, sturdy and inexpensive knife for "hard use".
 
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I carried my Buck 110 while I was overseas. Easy enough to replace. My friend went to a few more "hostile" places and carried an old Spyderco Military.
 
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