What knife gift would you give to a friend in military/law enforcement?

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DangerZone98

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Dec 7, 2019
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Bit late for the holidays, but what the heck. Any day is a good day to gift a knife. Just out of curiosity. The knife in question here would be a general-purpose utility tool, not just a potential defensive implement. Let’s also assume (just for the sake of discussion) that a knife would be a welcome addition to your friend’s kit. If you had to pick a reliable cutting tool your buddy can use in 2022 and ahead, what would it be? If you already had an experience like this, feel free to share. Or if you are or were in the service, tell us what worked for you.

For fixed blades, I’d probably pick one of the smaller ESEEs like the ESEE 3 or 4. Handles that fit just about everyone, the simple blade shape, and the stellar warranty should have him just about covered. Unless a big blade is explicitly called for, a compact sturdy knife would be practical I think. For folders, definitely something along the lines of a Recon 1 or Voyager Large. For a super lightweight, carry-everywhere-with-me cutter, I’d go with the ESEE Izula or Morakniv Eldris.
 
Cops are not necessarily knife guys....

While most police officers carry a knife of some sort, they are simply tools that will be abused far more often than a knife should be. Think of the guy that always wants to use a knife as a screwdriver - that would be most cops.

Also, weight/space is a big consideration. Consider that most officers' duty belts are already full of gear. There is not a lot of real estate left in most cases when you think about their sidearm, spare mags, handcuffs, comms, taser, baton, flashlight, glove holder, etc. so trying to add a fixed blade into the mix may be difficult.

A solid, relatively lightweight, relatively inexpensive folder is my recommendation, as it can clip to a pocket on the vest or pants. I would suggest Spyderco.

I have never worked with or seen any LEO that had a fixed blade on his belt. But most have a folder somewhere.
 
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I carried this while on active duty. Served me well. Most people aren’t running around stabbing terrorists (guns are better) or breaking metal straps off of boxes with their knives. Just enough blade to do the job, but not so big it’s slapping off your leg while your clothes are soaking wet during a 12+ mile ruck march, or falling out of your pocket while crawling through the woods during field exercises.

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In the military, the the knife I and many of the guys I knew used the most was a Leatherman or Gerber multitool. Honestly that’s by far the best knife for a service member regardless of the job they have in the military. Everyone gets standard issued some kind of combat knife so that’s already covered.

For a specific model you can’t go wrong with a Leatherman Wave. A Supertool 300 is also a good option. If you can get it in black that’s usually preferred but not a requirement
 
Silvanus said:
In the military, the the knife I and many of the guys I knew used the most was a Leatherman or Gerber multitool. Honestly that’s by far the best knife for a service member regardless of the job they have in the military. Everyone gets standard issued some kind of combat knife so that’s already covered.

For a specific model you can’t go wrong with a Leatherman Wave. A Supertool 300 is also a good option. If you can get it in black that’s usually preferred but not a requirement
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They use the multi tool because they are issues it but I can tell you if I needed to cut something, I wouldn’t want to have to open a multi tool to do it, and most people don’t carry their multitool on them unless they’re at the range or in the field.

I say carry both the multi tool and a knife.
 
Silvanus said:
In the military, the the knife I and many of the guys I knew used the most was a Leatherman or Gerber multitool. Honestly that’s by far the best knife for a service member regardless of the job they have in the military. Everyone gets standard issued some kind of combat knife so that’s already covered.

For a specific model you can’t go wrong with a Leatherman Wave. A Supertool 300 is also a good option. If you can get it in black that’s usually preferred but not a requirement
Click to expand...

I didn't see my first Leatherman until I was out of the military.

First thing I thought was "Man, I wish I had one of these when I was in the military!"
 
Marine combat vet here.. 98% of the time the knife will be used to either cut para cord or the MRE bag. the other 2% is probably finger nails. We were only issued a ka-bar in country or random field ops, and even then we packed it away because we didn’t want to be liable for losing the stupid thing.

just about anything with a pocket clip will be lost as some point, just a matter of when.

i’d suggest anything cheap, i used a $15 gerber i could put in my breast pocket, i bought it at the PX. Some buddies of mine used cheap CRKT flippers, and maybe the rare rare benchmade.

Youtube videos suggest for LEO, they prefer Ultratechs or Spyderco Paramilitary 2 or similar easy opening knives.


edit/. if the military person is a POG, you can probably splurge and get them a sebenza, when they go on field ops it’s usually like a camping trip where they sit around drinking coffee and sing Kumbaya
 
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Benchmade presidio of some sort or an AFO2. I had both when I was in the Army, they worked well. A Cold Steel Recon 1 would be great too, I like the drop point.
 
I’ll toss in my .02’s worth and say a Spyderco military or police. With those two a seat belt cutter tool is a great second have. The seat belt tool can easily be placed in shirt pocket. If one is not concerned with defense than a sheepsfoot blade works great.
Fixed blades are great ,, love mine :-) But some agency’s won’t allow you to carry that on your duty belt.
No matter what you get them , I’m sure they will appreciate it !!!!
 
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