What do police officers (or military, or whatever your service was) ACTUALLY use, from what you've seen?

I haven't taken a poll, but of the knives I've seen on officers (which really isn't that many), I'd guess mostly Spyderco and Benchmade, with the former having a slight edge (as it were) over the latter. I'd bet more serrated edges than plain edges, too.
 
killgar said:
The "electricians" knife is designated TL-29, the all-stainless camp-style knife is a "DEMO" (model 1760).

My father was a civilian employee at North Island Naval Base here in San Diego for around 25 years. He worked in supply and these two knives were abundant and lying around all over the place (they used them to open boxes). Over the years my father brought home maybe a dozen of each. He'd drop one in his pocket at work to use, forget that it was there, bring it home, and then forget to bring it back to work, then just pick up another, and so on.

My first "big" knife was a TL-29, and I first learned to sharpen a knife with a DEMO.

In grade school I made some money selling both knives to my school mates. Between the size of the knives (they were considered big) and the military connection, they were very popular.

The TL-29 was often paired with a set of electricians pliers, and they came with a special leather sheath with a top compartment for the knife, and a bottom holder for the pliers.

The problem with the DEMO knives was that it was hard to find an all-around good one. The majority of the ones that passed through my hands had serious issues. Either the blade had serious play, side-to-side or front-to-back, and/or the screwdriver was so stiff they were near impossible to open, even with the little peg/stud. The TL-29's that I had were of higher, more consistent quality.

Today I have one TL-29 (from my father), and I have a set of the electricians pliers (also from my father). I've used the pliers extensively, including just last week doing some custom wiring on one of my motorcycles.

I had a few more TL-29's, and a half dozen DEMO knives prior to my last move, but they were all junky, so I left them behind. I had one of the leather sheaths for the TL-29/pliers, but I sold that.

You didn't ask me, I just felt like sharing😁.
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And I love taking in the info, my man! These stories and experiences are always what I'm trying to get down to.
 
When I was in the military I saw mostly multitools. The PX must have had a lot of them on sale, they were ubiquitous. People referred to all multitools/pocketknives as "a Gerber" since that is what everyone always had (I had a Leatherman instead from the PX because the Gerber multitools pinched your hand and the slide out pliers always kind of sucked). No fixed blade tactical knives or anything. To be fair though, I was never sent anywhere scary (scratch that, Washington DC is full of thieves and criminals! They don't even bother with taking your wallet, they take your money straight out your paycheck too!) so maybe in a combat unit everyone actually had Rambo knives. I don't know.
 
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Carried this bad boy for almost 20 years. My present to myself after graduating the academy. First good knife really
 
I have seen may guys carry many knives over the years. Most people carry the standard stuff you get at Academy, Walmart, cop supply store stuff. Kershaw's, CRKT, stuff like that. But there are some who carry good stuff. A leatherman or other multi-tool is pretty much a must for pulling license plates if you work out on the road.

The newer guys at my department all seem to be carrying fixed blades on patrol these days. I see lots of Cold Steel and SOG.

I carry all kinds of stuff. I am a knife guy, haha... Today it's a Hinderer 3" Skinny with custom Carbon Fiber Scales.
 
Hashishiin said:
This reminds me! Now that I am into knives, I gotta ask my Navy bud what knife he carries, and if I don't like the answer, I'm gonna send him a knife. He works in a nuclear sub. One of the best people I have ever known.

How has your carry changed, though? Downsized?

These are nice. Solid choices. I'd love a T-88 or whatever that Electricians knife is called. I love TIMELESS designs. Case, Opinel, Higonokami, Laguiole, K55 Mercator, Douk-Douk... I own all these knives, want all the versions, and there are more yet to add to the list, like this piece of classic Americana. What is the top one called again? I remember it had a simple name like Soldier's Knife or something.

Oh, and Stanley still makes knives or, those cutting boxtool things, to the best of my knowledge? Some Brit was complaining about finding a Stanley boxcutter package in a park on Twitter not too long ago. Ierno. Never used a Stanley but I did want to give the Milwaukee Fastback a try, just cause I bought a pair of useless cutproof gloves that I sliced through with a half-dull Mora, and they're known to do random lil exchanges like that.
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Now I carry several different types. I have an SAK Classic on my car keys and my work keys. Also an automatic in my left front pocket, because I can open it with my non-dominant hand. There are a couple of others also. I usually carry 4 or 5 every day.
 
Four close friends into knives, 2 cops and 2 firefighters. One cop carries a Infidel and the other carries a Cold Steel Recon 1. Both firefighters carry some flavor of Spyderco.

Lots of other friends in service who also carry one, but they are also the one's who think that Fossil makes "real nice" watches..
 
I was USAF from 02-08 and then USArmy from 09-15. I seemed to be the only one in my units to ever have a knife that I would EDC. Fairly certain it started with a Swiss Army knife of some flavor, can't exactly remember the model. Then onto a Gerber Paraframe, I want to say. But it was once I found Spyderco it started getting more serious. My last deployment, I really found my people though. There was an EOD team that my guys would hang out with a lot. Their team leader showed me his Emerson Commander and that really opened me up to the higher end knives that are really out there. He was able to get his whole team Emersons. I was so jealous. But to echo what has already been said quite a bit, most of the military and even the few LEO friends I have don't give second thoughts to what sharp thing is in their pocket. Whatever is issued is going to do the job. Simply a tool and as tools go, often overlooked. I still can't leave the house without a knife.
 
Hashishiin said:
I was waiting for a Cold Steel mention. Way, way stronger than any ZT knife, I'd expect some cops to rely upon these. And no wonder the carry of tools is proportionate with general readiness!
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It’s really just me and one other officer who got a CS AK-47 folder on my advice.

Oh and one guy actually carries a little framelock Giant Mouse as his secondary folder…
 
1911bphil said:
I carried a Gerber Folding Hunter when I was in the US Navy. Most of my shipmates carried a Buck 110, but I wanted something different. I also carried and used a marlin spike. This was from 1983-1987. I would carry Leatherman if I was in the service now. My edc has changed a lot since those days.
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Funny I should read that, I just did get an original Gerber leather sheath for an old Gerber Folding Hunter off of eBay, something I'd been looking for for a long time.
I started my time with Uncle Sam in '83, and carried something like a Buck 110 from the NEX, and then later a Bucklite 112, maroon handle scales and a "Ballistic Nylon" and "Velcro" sheath. I began carrying a Leatherman after I bought the first black one I ran across, still just a PST. I remember getting butt chewings about having that on my belt in uniform, of course now they issue their modern equivalent. After the Bucklite, I carried a Spyderco Police model for the longest time.
 
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