Submariners knives

I think any serviceman carries some sort of pocket knife and those in certain MOS's may have a speciality knife issued for a certain purpose
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Metal is metal, and electricity doesn't care which type it is. Engineering or technical spaces on Navy ships/subs are full of equipment with exposed electrical terminals and contacts. Any exposed metal on the body in close quarters (such as a sub's battery compartment) is a risk for contacting such things and short-circuiting them. At least in the modern era, ANY exposed metal on the body or uniform is restricted or forbidden in such spaces, by safety rules/regulations. Technicians doing electrical/electronics work are trained from day 1 against making such mistakes (I did this type of work in the Navy, as an Electronics Technician), though it still happens at times when techs still try to 'bend the rules' or get complacent/lazy about such things. When doing such close-quarters work around electrical hazards, we were always directed by spec'd procedure to remove or otherwise cover/insulate any exposed metal on the body (watches/rings, belt buckles, tools & knives on belts, etc). Similar rules were in place for the training I went through, part of which included training in fully operational submarine-prototype engineering spaces and battery compartments (VERY tight quarters).

Aluminum may not present as much risk for sparking by impact (dropping, hammering, etc.), but that's only a small part of a much bigger picture.

I realize such rules may not have been in place or enforced at some time in the past, but almost all of the Navy's safety regs were 'written in blood' after deadly accidents, as a former Navy friend of mine used to say.


David (USN 1981-'87)
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I'm afraid I have to call nonsense on this one, at least for the submarine I served on. Leaving any live electrical contacts exposed would cost you your rank if you were lucky, and your life if you weren't. As for the battery well, yes it had exposed connectors, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING with uninsulated metal was allowed in that compartment, and only a few highly trained people were even allowed to look in it, much less enter it.

Jack Rich MM1(SS)
USN 1976-1982

P.S. We were not issued knives at all, although many of us purchased them through the Navy supply system. Mostly we carried TL-29s.
 
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yablanowitz said:
I'm afraid I have to call nonsense on this one, at least for the submarine I served on. Leaving any live electrical contacts exposed would cost you your rank if you were lucky, and your life if you weren't. As for the battery well, yes it had exposed connectors, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING with uninsulated metal was allowed in that compartment, and only a few highly trained people were even allowed to look in it, much less enter it.

Jack Rich MM1(SS)
USN 1976-1982

P.S. We were not issued knives at all, although many of us purchased them through the Navy supply system. Mostly we carried TL-29s.
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My own perspective is based exactly on that, of which I was one of those people trained to work on such things (including specific battery well training, and open equipment cabinets with up to 10KV+ power supplies for radars and high-wattage transmitters, etc.); it's inherently a part of that type of job rating (ET, EM, etc). I can see, and would expect to see, others not trained for such things wouldn't come into contact with high voltage and other such hazards in their normal course of their duties, unless someone had messed up and removed or disabled appropriate safeguards (which does happen at times and people do pay a price for it, like being busted in rank or worse).


David
 
We're straying off topic a bit but both Jack and David are correct. Most electrical connections aboard ship were covered or protected in some way; however, connections in parts of the communications spaces were uncovered. I was a Cryptology Technician and worked in communication spaces. Our equipment was for the most part installed in standard 19" racks with all equipment so installed having open connections in the rear of the bays. As David said; only trained ET, Em, M-Branch and other specialized technicians had access to the open bays. As Jack said; most sailors regardless of NEC (job classification) carried the TL-29 type knives on a regular basis and electrical connections in the spaces where a MM would have worked had no open electrical connections except perhaps in the engine room, or other such compartments.

Back to the OP's post - very few sailors carried a fixed blade knife. As I said above, those were the Bosuns of the Deck Department - mostly the line handlers.
 
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I've been hesitating to contribute because I couldn't remember the MOS of the guys that regularly carried a knife for their duties and that was the Boatswain's Mates (Bosuns). Sailors weren't issued a knife when I was in. The popular one at the time was Buck knives (late 70's to early 80's). When I got out, Leatherman knives were just coming out in popularity.

In a submarine, I actually think the main risk of carrying a knife is having it dropped and making noise. I don't see the point of being issued a fixed blade to carry on a submarine unless you're the guy who's tasked with answering the door when someone rings the doorbell under water.

While I was on targets while on active duty, I did work on submarines as an electronics mechanic afterward.
 
Reference ReY HRH last line. Submariners say there are two types of ships, "1. Targets, 2. Subs." My only time on a sub was one Lockout off Coca Beach in Florida, and cannot remember seeing any knives other than in the gally. John
 
Sneak a knife comment in your posts guys.
 
texasshipagent said:
Ahh come on :) the post was about submarines I can handle a little scuttle butt from our Navy vets :)
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The thread is titled "Submariners Knives". If it was titled without the knives reference, it would be in the Lounge. I can still move it there if I don't see some knife references. ☺

By the way, I love the vets. I'm one myself.
 
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Modoc ED said:
I was in the U.S. Navy for 24-years. These are the two most commonly issued knives whether aboard ship or ashore that I saw.

TL-29 style:

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Utility style:

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In fact both of the knives above were issued to me while in the Navy.

The only guys allowed to carry fixed-blade knives aboard any ship I was on were Bosuns Mates and they carried them in sheaths made for the knife and a marlin spike or fid. I did ride a sub for just a short time once (once was enough) - San Diego (Point Loma) to Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) and saw no fixed blade knives on her.

This is a Case folding hunter that I bought at the Navy Exchange the day I graduated from boot-camp at Great Lakes in September 1965 and carried almost every day while in the Navy from 1965 - 1989.

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This is how I carried it while aboard ship and on base.

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When ashore on liberty I carried it rubber banned to my ankle under my sock (without sheath). Most of us also carried our smokes on the ankle under a sock too.

Carry on
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Beautiful Case folding hunter! We're the handles bone or delrin (looks more like bone, but had to ask)?

Jim
 
Peregrin said:
The thread is titled "Submariners Knives". If it was titled without the knives reference, it would be in the Lounge. I can still move it there if I don't see some knife references. [emoji5]

By the way, I love the vets. I'm one myself.
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Well I did find the dialogue in respect to the electrical concerns in relation to knives and tools carried on subs fairly interesting :)
 
Gary and I tend to ignore one or two non-knife posts. If it starts becoming a series of posts, we remind folks that this is a knife forum and that post content should be appropriate for the venue.

As moderators, Gary and I kind of have to read all the threads, whether that specific topic interests us or not. (Most topics actually do interest us. We are both knife knuts.) Howsoever, members have the freedom to skip threads that don't interest them.

Now about those submariners' knives....
 
James Y said:
Beautiful Case folding hunter! We're the handles bone or delrin (looks more like bone, but had to ask)?

Jim
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Actually, it's neither. ;)

The handles on these knives are what Case calls 'Staminawood', which is their trade name for jigged laminated wood. By 'laminated', that means it's in very thin layers sandwiched together like plywood and impregnated with a resin. Makes them extremely durable and essentially waterproof. They are frequently mistaken for jigged bone, and often advertised as such on the 'auction site' and other places. The resin in the laminate tends to fill up the grain that would otherwise make it more recognizable as wood, and it takes on a shinier finish, almost (but not quite) as smooth & shiny as polished bone.

BTW, Case DID handle some older Folding Hunters in bone, especially back in the 1940-'64 era and earlier. Pretty sure none of these Mariner Set knives were done with it, as they've all featured the 'standard' knife with the Staminawood handles.


David
 
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I've been interviewing veterans since Carter's initial presidential run, and while I don't have all the interviews transcribed I have gotten around to putting some data from my notes into a spreadsheet. Of 109 sub vets who served between 1928-1954, 89 remembered carrying a pocket knife (most still had them). About half thought they were issued the knives, the other half said they were private purchase or couldn't remember the source.

Of those 89, 71 carried TL-29s or "radio knives". The remainder carried the issue EO or private purchase folders. None said they carried a fixed blade on the sub, but a couple mentioned carrying them while loading supplies etc (for rope-cutting, mostly).
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Actually, it's neither. ;)

The handles on these knives are what Case calls 'Staminawood', which is their trade name for jigged laminated wood. By 'laminated', that means it's in very thin layers sandwiched together like plywood and impregnated with a resin. Makes them extremely durable and essentially waterproof. They are frequently mistaken for jigged bone, and often advertised as such on the 'auction site' and other places. The resin in the laminate tends to fill up the grain that would otherwise make it more recognizable as wood, and it takes on a shinier finish, almost (but not quite) as smooth & shiny as polished bone.

BTW, Case DID handle some older Folding Hunters in bone, especially back in the 1940-'64 era and earlier. Pretty sure none of these Mariner Set knives were done with it, as they've all featured the 'standard' knife with the Staminawood handles.


David
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See? I just learned something new today. :D I didn't know all this. Thank you for sharing your knowledge David. :thumbup:
 
I would arguably state in my opinion the TL-29 was the most carried work knife in the sea going services, then it appears many sailors also bought Case Hunters as were popular in that era but might of been just for personal use, not so much on the job, just as the Camillus army knives were pretty popular for soldiers in the decades after Vietnam until more advance and tactical pocket knives and pocket tools like leather man became more popular, I know in the current military at least for soldiers and assume sailors also, pocket tools like SOG, Leatherman and Gerber are by far the most commonly carried utility knife, the exchanges sell boat loads of them and now can even get a few with special EOD and weapons cleaning tools included
 
texasshipagent said:
I would arguably state in my opinion the TL-29 was the most carried work knife in the sea going services, then it appears many sailors also bought Case Hunters as were popular in that era but might of been just for personal use, not so much on the job, just as the Camillus army knives were pretty popular for soldiers in the decades after Vietnam until more advance and tactical pocket knives and pocket tools like leather man became more popular, I know in the current military at least for soldiers and assume sailors also, pocket tools like SOG, Leatherman and Gerber are by far the most commonly carried utility knife, the exchanges sell boat loads of them and now can even get a few with special EOD and weapons cleaning tools included
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I agree with that totally.

When I was in the army, the supply room had boxes of TL-29's, and to a lesser degree the MIL-K knife, and handed them out like lollypops at the doctors office. If you treated it like an idiot and broke it, you just handed in the pieces and they gave you a new one. If you were buds with the clerk, you got extras to trade in town. The all steel scout knives were a common trade item with civilians in Vietnam.

But in all my time in the army, what I saw was most soldiers just took whatever was issued to them. They didn't really care. I think the military dislike the population in general; most are not knife people. Most people will like whatever they get for free from the supply room. A few, that want something they perceive as 'better' may spend the money at the PX for a Buck or whatever.

Times hasn't changed much as I checked with out niece who has just got out of the Navy. She was a electricians mate and served on the U.S.S. Blue Ridge. She was issued a tool kit that had among other things, a Gerber multitool. Some got the Gerber, some got the Leatherman. Luck of the draw. Ally didn't really care, and she said she just used the Gerber. She still carries the Gerber in her glove box.
 
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