Recommended combat knives?

The Strongarm and the SRK are both great tools in a very reasonable price range. I have the SRK C, and it surprised me how compact it actually is (i.e., you may want the full-size version).
I also think a Gerber LMF II would be a solid option.
 
Drop bear said:
You are doing it backwards.

All those knives are going to knife. They will all be durable and sharp.

What they may be is too big or too small or the wrong blade shape or not sit on your gear or rust or something like that.

So you are better off breaking down what you want the knife to do. And creating a selection from there.

Otherwise I was eyeing off the civivi midwatch. That is a smaller thinner knife in stainless steel. With a tec lock that is easy to attach to gear. Let compare that to the gerber strong arm which would be as good a choice. If you wanted different things.

The midwatch has a clip point that means you can combine a bit of defensive stabbing (there is a whole clearance style of defensive knife that appeals to some military)with a bit of cord cutting and packet opening. It has a ring that theoretically means you can grab a gun with the same hand you grab the knife.(but I have never really tried this)

The gerber has a spear point. Not as precise cutting. Hard to say break in to a blister pack. It has a bigger handle and a glass breaker. And you probably can't do the gun knife thing. But you can break a window.
But you can't really pry, baton or chop with it to any great success.

The Midwatch handle and the blade are quite wide. Which is good for use but is going to take more space on your gear.

The strongarm will be a lot longer but probably as wide. Both have webbing attachments. The strongarm has a secondary retention clip. ( Which you may be required to have.)

the midwatch is a lot lighter and more nimble than a gerber strong arm. But you get less length. This means this will be easier to get to in a confined space.

The gerber seems to pass some extreme torture tests. But technically the Steel isn't great.
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Yeah, the Gerber is only running 420HC. In the current market, 420HC is considered a "cheap" or low-level steel. While Buck is often excused for using 420HC, that's because they get the most out of it with an excellent heat treatment. I can't say the same for Gerber. On the plus side, 420HC does have excellent toughness.

Meanwhile, the Civivi Midwatch uses N690. That's a more highly regarded steel with much better edge retention. While certainly not as tough, N690 is used in a wide variety of outdoor fixed blades from the Bradford Guardian to the Brisa Trapper. I don't see much in the way of complaints.

As far as combat, the OP will hopefully be at least a thousand times more likely to use this knife for basic cutting needs. In most of those cases, the thinner N690 blade of the Midwatch is going to be better. If the OP is extremely unlucky and does gets stuck using a knife in real combat, the Midwatch has a lot going for it there too. Even with an inch less in blade length, it'll draw better and faster from the sheath. I think you're right about the nimble shape and that finger guard could be a good thing.
 
Nowadays you could go custom for the price of a production knife, or even less.

For example, I would not want someone being combative against me using this custom:

img_4554-jpg.2433138
 
MrkSRT said:
Hi again, thank you all so much for all the replies, I'm glad to find such a pleasant and supportive community!
Lots of you said to check out the knives of my fellow comrades, and I did before I wrote the first post, I tried some of them and I'll list the ones I like shortly,
It's just that they are not much of knife experts, lots of what one friend told me contradicts with what another friend said,
Some even said completely different things about the same knife!
That's why I reached out to this forum, to hopefully be able to try and make sense of all the info I'm getting.

I would like to ask you about the following knives:

- Buck Ground Combat knife
- Gerber Strong Arm
- Cold Steel SRK (the regular and the compact versions)
- Cold Steel Razor-Tec 5
- SOG Seal Pup
- SOG Recondo FX

(Currently the Buck GCK is the front runner)

If any of you have One of those knives and could share your opinion on them it would help me wonders with my decision!
once again if you can think about other models to suggest please feel free to do so

Thank you all very much for your replies!
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If you find yourself interested in the SRK in particular, I recommend the regular version. IMO, it ‘feels’ and handles smaller than the six inches of blade would suggest, which I like. The rubber handle is comfortable in the hand. The SRK compact would be too small for me personally, but consider your own needs and uses as well. If you’re already packing tons of gear, a smaller lighter knife may serve you better.

My only gripe with the SRK is that I had minor problems with small spots of rust near the edge, but that could be just lack of maintenance on my part. There’s also a bit of humidity here in the tropical Philippines. On the upside, the SK5 steel should be straightforward to sharpen using readily available stones or whatever.

Keep your carbon steel knives dry and reasonably oiled.
 
MrkSRT said:
Hello everyone,
I am a soldier currently on active duty and it has come to my attention that everyone in my platoon except me has some type of knife, I have decided to get one for myself.
I don't know a lot about the brands or the types, I would thank you all if you could help me out on this one.
I saw the cold steel SRK as an option, also I have been looking at gerbers (strongarm) and SOG (seal pup) knives but I have learned that the knives community does not recommend those companies.
Also feel free to suggest any other brand or knife model
Thank ahead to all those who answer!
(Apologies for any typos)
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Seems to me, that you are on the right path. Gerber strongarm or CS SRK is a great way to go. Becker Campanion is in that size realm and tough and strong.
 
norcalAF said:
You would be amazed at the amount of porn soldiers and Marines were lugging around in Afghanistan. Full disclosure, I had to go through all the patient's bags and gear looking for guns, ammo, explosives, and of course porn when I was part of an air expeditionary team back in 2012. 😄
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Shhh don't tell CentCom, they don't think there's any.
 
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