Short Glock Field Knife review

J

judge

Joined
Dec 20, 1999
Messages
584
As a byproduct of another thread, here´s a short review of the Glock Field Knife (standard issue for Austrian army):

The Glock knife was designed for the Austrian army (as far as I know), which basically means one thing: It had to be foolproof. It is a sharpened prybar, heat treating is on the soft side, so it is very tough. As the blade is on the softer side, it looses its edge rather quickly, but is sharpened quickly as well. The factory edge is at a wide angle, meaning not very sharp, but durable. For a sharp edge, you have to rebevel the blade, which is quite narrow, obviously designed for use as an emergency stabbing weapon. Definitely not a great cutter. The blade coating looks like that used on Glock pistols (tennifer), the edge rusts quickly (probably high carbon content in the steel). I think I once read the steel used is some AUS series, but I might not remember exactly. The guard doubles as a cap lifter (the most used feature in the Austrian army
smile.gif
) Handle is ok, kinda like a ka-bar handle, but rounder and in polymer. At the butt of the handle, there´s a steel insert inside, a bit like a hollow handle, that is covered with a polymer plug. Take off the plug and you can fasten the knife to a wooden staff with matching diameter, driving a steel pin thru the lanyard hole to fix it - voila, a spear. The sheath is very well-constructed, knife can be used by left- and right-handers, strong side or cross-draw. The integral retaining clip holds the knife very securely, you can use the retaining clip plus a piece of string to fasten the knife very easily upside-down to a combat harness (standard mounting with Austrian army). Sheath is fastened to the belt via a belt loop, large enough for military web belts.
There are two blade versions: straight single edge, and single edge with sawback (not very functional).
Overall summary: A rather cheap (at least in Austria, approx. 25-30 USD) bash around tough knife. Never saw someone being able to destroy it during my Austrian army service.

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"Peace is not without conflict; it is the ability to cope with conflict" - Leo Giron

[This message has been edited by judge (edited 05-17-2000).]
 
I had one. They are not too expensive, say $25-$30 here in the USA. I thought the sheath (scabbard?) was excellent. The knife itself is OK. Keep in mind it is not expensive and it is an army knife. Don't get the sawback. It is useless. I'd rather have a regular spine to put my thumb on for some cutting chores.
 
Judge what other knives did you see in the service? Are all of them of similar design - favoring durability at the expence of cutting performance?

-Cliff
 
Cliff,
the Glock knife is the only officially issued survival/fighting knife for Austrian military personnel I know of. Regulations forbid the carrying of fixed blades except on combat gear, so you see a lot of privately bought folders and especially Leatherman type multitools. I suppose Jagdkommando units (Austrian Ranger/Special Forces) do use personally purchased combat blades, I remember seeing a Gerber MkII carried by a Jagdkommando guy once. The Jadkommando units do have lots of special issue equipment, it is possible that they are officially issued a more combat worthy knife, but I don´t think so, as I have seen them with Glock knives as well.

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"Peace is not without conflict; it is the ability to cope with conflict" - Leo Giron

[This message has been edited by judge (edited 05-17-2000).]
 
Would the Glock Field knife be the only blade you are issued as part of your gear, or do you get a finer cutting tool, or is the latter not actually needed?

-Cliff
 
The Glock knife is the only issue knife. I was always astounded by the absence of better official issue cutting/fighting edged tools, but this has two main reasons:
Firstly, Austrian army service is compulsory for every male Austrian considered suited for service, so there´s lots of bored, unwilling and ignorant recruits who don´t give a .... about high cutting performance in knives.
Secondly, the Austrian army is on a very low budget, so nearly every issue item has to be as durable and lowcost as possible, often sacrificing performance. Those people who care about knives and feel they need something more potent than the Glock Field Knife simply buy them privately, and they tend to choose folders, as they aren´t allowed to carry fixed blades except on combat gear, but probably want a knife they can use indoors as well as out in the woods.

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"Peace is not without conflict; it is the ability to cope with conflict" - Leo Giron
 
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