What is your favorite military issued knife

not2sharp

not2sharp

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Military knives have always been an interesting subject. Not only have many innovative and useful knives been issued, but these are often rich in historical lore.

I am going to start this by listing our old forum favorite. But there are plenty of other great knives that have been issued by arm forces all over the world. Lets see some of those knives.

smatchet-002.jpg


It's the smatchet of course! What better knife to start us off.

n2s
 
Another favorite, and still fairly common to find is the US Plumb or Springfield 1912-1917 bolo knives. The 1912 version has the sheath latching mechanism, and they can be found with canvas sheaths or the alternative all metal sheath. The example shown below is the 2017 version.

1.jpg


n2s
 
For me, the M-L-K-808, AKA the demo knife.

I saw to many being used for everything under the sun. Not to mention their trade value downtown Saigon if you liberated a few extra from the supply room.
 
The air force/lifeboat survival kit knife was very impressive. A heavy springback knife with a secondary liner lock on the main blade and a good saw for the secondary blade. The example below was made by United. They were also made by Colonial.

Airforce survival kit knife United.jpg


n2s
 
I was an aerial delivery specialist in an airborne division, aka rigger, and used the good old TL29 extensively. I still own three of them.
 
Then there was the Cattaraugus model 225 "Quartermaster Knife". Easily of of the stoutest knives issued by the US during the war. One story associated with this is that they were wired to supply crates and intended for use in prying them open or hammering them closed. Case produced a similar model 337 knife.


Cattaraugus Q225.jpg

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Then there was the Cattaraugus model 225 "Quartermaster Knife". Easily of of the stoutest knives issued by the US during the war. One story associated with this is that they were wired to supply crates and intended for use in prying them open or hammering them closed. Case produced a similar model 337 knife.
Click to expand...

My dad brought one back with him from the war.

Amusing story, but seems like a dumb idea, even for the U.S. Army (no disrespect to you, of course). Why would you wire a knife to a crate? Crowbars are better.
 
I haven't seen an actual exampled wired to a crate, but I have seen many with the same wire marks impressed on the leather handle. Two of them were wired to each supply box (one at each end) to give the user an immediate field tool with which to open the box.

The marks are easier to see on this image:

4_03e-038-scaled.jpg


n2s
 
Then there is one of the more interesting US military knives, what Cole erroneously called an "OSS Machete". It was actually made in the US by Cruver manufacturing using blades supplied by Collins Machete.

A very interesting bolo design that is nearly 1/2" thick at the tang. These were used in post war USAAF bomber survival kits.

post-61-1324619771.jpg


n2s
 
not2sharp said:
I haven't seen an actual exampled wired to a crate, but I have seen many with the same wire marks impressed on the leather handle. Two of them were wired to each supply box (one at each end) to give the user an immediate field tool with which to open the box.

The marks are easier to see on this image:

n2s
Click to expand...

Evidence is evidence. I retract my statement above. Thank you. :)
 
I can’t believe the 1918 Au Lion trench knife hasn’t made an appearance on this list yet. It’s one of my grail knifes. I love MLK knives and TL29’s. But my favorite issued knife is the Pal MKI USN deck knife.
 
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