What knife for Kosovo?

Rusty

Rusty

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If you are in the reserve, you may wish to make sure you'll have the knife you'd want to deploy with.

Word is that the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot ( in Nevada ) will be putting it's workers on 12 hour shifts.

This may not mean anything by itself, but if it fits in with other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle you've been putting together...
 
I would suggest any of Chris Reeve fixed blades - I'd go for the smaller Shadow IV

Don't forget a good flashlight, Sharpmaker and Marine Tuf-Cloth for maintenance.

 
I recently returned from a 9 month deployment to Bosnia. Had my Cold Steel SRK with me and my ever-present, ever-handy Leatherman Supertool with me. The leatherman was DEFINATELY a necessity!! If you think you might be going, I highly suggest one......saved much time and aggrevation.
-Rhyno
 
I sold a CRK Shadow IV to a C130 reserve pilot and he has been very happy with it. Tough as a tank and just the right size to have on him at all times (he is a pilot so, he needed something he could put IN his flight suit). He likes the security of having fishing hooks, water tabs, etc. in his knife. He does things with this knife he would never have dreamed of before. He even splits firewood in foreign countries with it which he thought was impossible with a knife of its size, evidently he used a second piece of firewood to pound on his knife like a splitting wedge to the amazement of the flight crews gathered around without damage to the knife. He never would have considered with this with his other "survival" knife.

The other knife I would highly recommend is the Mission A-2 MPK's. These knives are a bargain relative to most premium cutlery in the marketplace. A-2 is a great steel for this type of knife and Mission has done their part to complete the package. The handle is very well thought out with a comfortable feel that has obviously been refined with real use by real people with bare hands in various environments. There is a gentle flair at the end to secure your hand and nice big horizontal grooves to enhance your grip without roughing up the skin on your hand. A very well though out package.

The TOPS line is a very good line as well at cheaper price point in 1095 steel that is a bargain as well.

At this point, I think I'm getting a little too commercial and don't want to run down everything I carry so, at this point I think I will close.

Stay sharp,
Sid


------------------
Sid Post
--------
I am a dealer for and stock:
Mission Knives & Tools, Inc.,
Tactical OPS USA from Idaho Falls, ID,
Chris Reeve Knives,
the Krill Lamp from Kriana Corp.,
Underwater Kinetics flashlights and,
Streamlight Flashlights,
with other fine products being added as they are found and time allows

Please call me at 940-241-1291
 
Rhyno, I'm sorry to say that I'd forgotten we had troops in Bosnia. Thank you for reminding me. And thank you also for the 9 months you spent on our behalf. I don't care whether what you did over there did in fact do any good. You and those you deployed with did what you were told to. I'm very glad you guys did. You served your country, as far as I am concerned, and should be acknowledged and congratulated for doing so.

Everyone feel free to say what you want, but I originally posted just to say if there's a chance you might be going, be ready.
 
Don't forget the guys in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. We still hang out there also.

Blades
 
Where else can you think of, Blades and everyone else? Aren't we still in Korea and a lot of other places? If we don't remember you and you're serving out there, speak up and tell us where!
 
We have people in Korea, Japan, Guam, Turkey, Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Norway, Greece, Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Azores, Iceland, Australia, Egypt, Columbia, Panama, Peru, Haiti, Albania,Belgium, Hungary,

We send people to many other locations for short trip such as Israel, Siria, etc to maintain systems.

We are all over.

DaveUSAF (2 tours in Turkey and 1 in the Azores)
 
. . . be realistic here?

If you are in the middle of a war, you need a good knife even more than most of us who are fortunate enough not to be in the middle of a war.

And you'll probably use it for everything but killing. See the Leatherman recomendation, above.

I'll leave suggestions for heavier duty knives to the guys who have "been there".

------------------
- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
 
My recomendations for knives and such to be carried into a potential combat situation is a good multi-tool, a quality one hand opener and a fixed blade knife in the 5.5 to 7 inch blade length. The multi-tool is great for fixing all those little things that need it, the one hand folder handles all the routine cutting tasks and functions as back up to the fixed blade and the fixed blade is for all the heavy duty stuff. Thank you to all of the active duty military staff in any location for performing your duty in the name of freedom. Later
 
How do I say this without causing further offense?

On the subject of being "realistic":

Bosnia is a TDY (temporary duty) assignment. People volunteer for it because of the money and the tax-free status. It has a PX (store) and a snack bar. This is hazardous duty? What do you need a knife for here? And, if you check the history, a soldier "implanted" his leatherman in his brain while attempting to "de-fuse" a landmine. No, he was not qualified to do this, but, he thought he was. Bosnia is not a "combat tour".

 
If it bugs you so much, just read the title as "what knife fro being in the service." A soldier should always have these items, it's just that the potential of a combat deployment makes people start double-checking their equipment. I'm not saying that Kosovo will be such a situation, but as the Boy Scouts say, "be prepared."

I haven't served, but I'd like to second the recommendation for a "team" containing a multi-tool, a tough, handy folder, and a 5 1/2 to 7 inch sheath knife of utility design (meaning not a dagger).

And don't mess with mines if that's not your job
wink.gif


-Corduroy
 
Well said, Corduroy.

I finally figured out what I wanted to say from the beginning (so it took me a while, work with me here)......

The soldiers who might / might not deploy to Kosovo should look at it this way. If they haven't carried and/or used a knife in their everyday line of work, they do not need to worry about getting one now.

This was not an attack, just an observation from a fellow soldier who's seen way too many "Skilcraft rangers" who buy cr*p they will never need.
 
If my unit is alerted to go, I will take my usual: SAK Fieldmaster, SOG Power Pliers, CR Sebenza, and my Randall #14 or MD Arizona Hunter (if it gets here in time).
 
Look guys, several years ago I was on the rez next to NAS Fallon. We'd have navy planes all over for several days, then a few days lull and another group would come in to train. We had an extra long lull, then one morning a single plane was out buzzing everything. Extra low. Deliberately. And it was not navy. It was an ANG F4 recon jet. In navy airspace? I suddenly felt sick and blurted out "Oh sh**, we just went into Panama." And we had.

Anyway, lately they are cranking things up at the ammo depot. Make what you want of that.

(( Corduroy, Tobii3, and the others - thank you for good food for thought. ))


[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 02 May 1999).]
 
I'd like to start out by saying that all of you have made good, valid points on this one. I can't say that I disagree with any of you. But, I think there is only one correct answer to the question of which knife would be best for Kosovo (or anywhere else for that matter). Regardless of the task at hand, be it killing an enemy or slicing the brownies that you got from home, the best knife to use is the one you have. It's a matter of preparedness.

I doubt if any of the members posting to this thread would deploy ANYWHERE without sufficient blades to cover every possible scenario. It takes only a heartbeat for the most neutral of situations to turn into a full blown nightmare. This can happen in a war zone or at your local grocery store.

I believe my self preservation is my own responsibility and I prepare accordingly. It's not what you face that matters, it's what you're prepared to face that counts.

My choices for Kosovo would be my Leatherman, GH Khukuri, and Benchmade Emerson 975.

"It is a doctrine of war not to assume the enemy will not come, but rather to rely on one's readiness to meet him; not to presume that he will not attack, but rather to make one's self invincible. When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side". - Sun-Tzu 400 BC



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Una salus victus nullam sperare salutem. -Virgil
 
In '91, faced with orders to the Gulf, my personal choice was a M5 Ek (Richmond, VA) Bowie with a customized handle. If faced with the issue presented here I'd opt for a Mission A2 MPKS in 10" or 12" as a cost effective service blade. Both are/were production knives of good sturdy practical design that are reasonably priced.

[I'd always have a SAK or multi-pliers along too.]

-=[Bob]=-

[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 02 May 1999).]
 
The times I spent overseas(Korea, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia) I had my knives. The "knives" that saw the most use were my muliti-tool, and Delica. I probably could have left my SRK home, but why chance it. (You know the saying
smile.gif
.) I wouldn't travel with anything more expensive then $75.00 though. I almost lost my SRK twice. Plus some places I've been nothing was secure. Anyone could have stolen it.

Blades

[This message has been edited by Blades (edited 03 May 1999).]
 
Wheter or not in combat is not the discussion here.....what is is potential for the use/need of a durable and functional knife for a variety of reasons and situations from opening MRE's to defending your or a fellow soldiers'life. Yeah, PX and snack shop....real comforts of home, that is if you never leave the basecamp. However, when staying on an observation post in a bombed out building or on the side of a mountain for 10 to 15 days out of every 25, you might be using your knife/multitool alot more than expected. Being a soldier I also have seen plenty of "PX Rangers" waste money on things they will never use. I'm only suggesting that selecting reliable tools will help if the need for them arises. I recall and old phrase, "It is better to have and not need than to need and not have".
 
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