What knife would you carry if fighting in Ukraine?

Is this a real question? Obviously I would have two Busse Anorexic Fusion Battle Mistresses on my Microtech belt. With a two CRK Green Berets in Magnacut strapped to my back. An Oz Rosie for opening boxes, and a ZHunter to lighten the mood. Don't forget the Benchmade 87 for style kills and fidget toy factor. Throw in a Medford Praetorian just in case I lock my keys in my vehicle and need to pry open the door, also great as a blunt weapon. This is 2022 so I will be posting all my war time selfies and knife beauty shots to my instagram, so I gotta have a Sebenza, or maybe another expensive knife that looks good to get likes with. For the older crowd, I'll bring along my GEC Whaler to get their likes that way. Bring my Spydiechef to make some food with, a Mora Garberg to make my fires with, along with an ESEE Junglas for batoning. I know what you're thinking, why not just use the Green Beret or the Busse? Well, ESEE is way cheaper, can't decrease the resale value on the others unless it's for a COMBAT SITUATION. Lastly, I'll bring along my Victorinox Swiss Army Spatan that will pretty much do everything and I'll most likely use this 99% more than any other tool in this post.
 
A "good" Knife won't do you much good. So I'd go Leatherman Wave or Surge (or at a pinch a SAK) and a Cold Steel shovel which would be far superior to a knife in close fighting but also excellent for digging (obviously) and a decent enough chopper etc...
 
King of the Cheese said:
This isn’t WW1. This is drone warfare, thermobaric weaponry, rockets, etc. Most people killed in the war, or “special military operation”.. won’t even see it coming. So my vote is for a basic swiss Army knife, something like a cadet.. maybe a Spyderco Delica or Benchmade Bugout in addition. Just something to open up the packaging of a meal or cut some 550 cord. Forget any dreams of stabbing the enemy with trench knives and bayonets. Not the way wars are fought today.
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If I was in any type of a military job where a firearm is essential, or things are at AK ranges (No, they aren't using AKs, I know) I would not go there without at least a Police 4 LW, but more like a 6~in fixed blade with a focus on being light~, tough, accessible, and thinnish, or a sharp spade, at least.

If I were a drone operator, safe, I'd probably want an Opinel for my food
 
A Delta force bud of mine, when I asked him about knives, he wanted "throw away" knives. He did get blowed up in Afganistan, and not everything was tossed on the stretcher. He was in Germany asking his buds in the field for some of his favorite gear. And, I think they still lose stuff, even if they don't get blowed up. He also wanted something he could sharpen in the field. It used to be this was what GI's had access to as sharpening stones

2CHtFrQ.jpg


try restoring the edge on your big, honking, head chopping knife with a RC 60 edge with this. Your deployment might end before you get your knife sharp!

And, actual GI's can tell you, what you carry, depends on your unit commander. You become US property once you enlist, and your property owner may or may not agree with your choice of fearsome blade. You have to get permission. I am sure many will chaff against the restrictions, you will want to bring your toys to the battlefield, and find out, nope, you can't.
 
helobite said:
A Delta force bud of mine, when I asked him about knives, he wanted "throw away" knives. He did get blowed up in Afganistan, and not everything was tossed on the stretcher. He was in Germany asking his buds in the field for some of his favorite gear. And, I think they still lose stuff, even if they don't get blowed up. He also wanted something he could sharpen in the field. It used to be this was what GI's had access to as sharpening stones

2CHtFrQ.jpg


try restoring the edge on your big, honking, head chopping knife with a RC 60 edge with this. Your deployment might end before you get your knife sharp!

And, actual GI's can tell you, what you carry, depends on your unit commander. You become US property once you enlist, and your property owner may or may not agree with your choice of fearsome blade. You have to get permission. I am sure many will chaff against the restrictions, you will want to bring your toys to the battlefield, and find out, nope, you can't.
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I may be totally off base, but for the most part I hear most unit commanders issue multi tools and not dedicated pocket knives or even fixed blades.
 
Slice O Life said:
I may be totally off base, but for the most part I hear most unit commanders issue multi tools and not dedicated pocket knives or even fixed blades.
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Multi tools are very common issue. And they have a knife blade. What you get issued depends on your job (MOS). If you are a radio technician, you don't need a flame thrower or a Gatling gun. Someone else decides that for you.
 
Leatherman MUT, Leatherman Wave, or Victorinox Spirit. Multitools are going to be a lot more handy when you're regularly fixing up the latest captured vehicle or scouring through abandoned Russian ordinance, in between showing off the latest in NATO fashion.
 
strategy9 said:
Love this.
End of the day, simply having "a" knife is better than having no knife, always... a Mora and/or a small Dozier would be better than having no blade at all when something needs to be cut.
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I can't think of the downsides to a mora combat knife.

They are light, stainless and quick to access.

I am not sure what a high end knife does especially better.
 
King of the Cheese said:
This isn’t WW1. This is drone warfare, thermobaric weaponry, rockets, etc. Most people killed in the war, or “special military operation”.. won’t even see it coming. So my vote is for a basic swiss Army knife, something like a cadet.. maybe a Spyderco Delica or Benchmade Bugout in addition. Just something to open up the packaging of a meal or cut some 550 cord. Forget any dreams of stabbing the enemy with trench knives and bayonets. Not the way wars are fought today.
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The US Army has dropped bayonet training.

I endorse the utility-over-combat emphasis. As you said, this is not WW-I, nor is it WW-II Korea, or Viet Nam. Ukraine is not one of the asymmetric sand-box conflicts either. Yet, if spending extended percids in a trench, as has been the case in Ukraine, a warfighter would find a durable belt knife useful for "camp knife" sorts of chores.

In the end, if giving a knife to a fit young soldier, rather than me waddling around with it myself, I'd include a good belt knife and let the recipient decide to keep it or ditch it.

Such a gift for such a purpose has to be given without strings.
 
VorpelSword said:
The US Army has dropped bayonet training.

I endorse the utility-over-combat emphasis. As you said, this is not WW-I, nor is it WW-II Korea, or Viet Nam. Ukraine is not one of the asymmetric sand-box conflicts either. Yet, if spending extended percids in a trench, as has been the case in Ukraine, a warfighter would find a durable belt knife useful for "camp knife" sorts of chores.

In the end, if giving a knife to a fit young soldier, rather than me waddling around with it myself, I'd include a good belt knife and let the recipient decide to keep it or ditch it.

Such a gift for such a purpose has to be given without strings.
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Good points. Also something people might not understand is that there are thieves everywhere in the military, and it’s easy to misplace things with all the moving around that goes on. As important as radios and weapons are, Soldiers lose those ALL the time. When a Soldier loses a sensitive item, everyone will gather and spend several hours if not DAYS looking for it.. and knowing that some manage to STILL lose things. I guess long story short, knives can be lost so I never recommend anything expensive. I had a dragonfly and two Delicas with combo blades, and a CRKT M16-SF throughout my time in. I lost both the delicas and someone borrowed my dragonfly and broke it. I wouldn’t spend more than $100 on anything I gave to a Soldier and anything you can’t get from the counter at AutoZone is going to get looks from jealous Soldiers.
 
King: thanks for that.

Thankfully that is all over now.

Our son deployed to Iraq in 2004 with both a Randall #16-1 and a Reeve Green Beret. I got him those premium knives (and several others) in the hope that doing so would help me sleep at night. It DIDN'T! I have written a thread about that on this board, titled: "Anxiety . . ." Too long to repeat. The CRK knife was lost while operating outside the wire. He made it home along with the Randall and a chunk of shrapnel that lodged in his water bladder instead of his back.

I consider that a fair trade for the CRK
.
 
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VorpelSword said:
King: thanks for that.

Thankfully that is all over now.

Our son deployed to Iraq in 2004 with both a Randall #16-1 and a Reeve Green Beret. I got him those premium knives (and several others) in the hope that doing so would help me sleep at night. It DIDN'T! I have written a thread about that on this board, titled: "Anxiety . . ." Too long to repeat. The CRK knife was lost while operating outside the wire. He made it home along with the Randall and a chunk of shrapnel that lodged in his water bladder instead of his back.

I consider that a fair trade for the CRK
.
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See that’s why I would bring two
 
I was allowed to carry my Seki Seal Pup and Leatherman Wave. The Seal Pup did come in handy for cutting small limbs to use for concealment.
 
Way back in 2004, I hank the USMC unit our son was in required enlisted to carry a big belt knife, specifically their issue OKC bayonet. Don't know what wrinkle in the regs then allowed him to carry his non-issue knives.

BTW, fixed bayonets were useful in local crowd control, through intimidation I am told. Another practical application for a fixed bayonet was direct use against feral dogs when on foot patrol.

His unit operated from the eight wheeled LAV-25, so daily kit weight was less an issue for them.

All that is long past now. The Lt made Capt and got out. Now he is married with two kids and a cat, and is paster of a mid sized church.
 
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