Why A New Survival Knife?

[Yorkshire Boy]

Perhaps they're more instructors knives? Built to cope with the day in day out stuff which they have to show their students.

As an aside, I watched CH4 news where they had a US ex-SERE instructor talk about waterboarding and what it felt like. He was a black fellow, done many years service, the description of what it felt like to be waterboarded was chilling. He talked about the type of US personnel he'd trained. He said that the journalists who'd had it done had only felt the tip of the iceburg. The feeling of the water going into your lungs sent your body into spasms. You could see it in his face while he was explaining the procedure that he'd had it done to him. Interesting tv program....

 

[Horn Dog]

Perhaps they're more instructors knives? Built to cope with the day in day out stuff which they have to show their students.....

That's what they say about the RC-5, "Designed by SERE instructors for SERE instructors", or some such. Maybe it's the cold weather that makes things different. AF SERE school is up in Washington. I just hammered a D2 RAT through some of the hardest maple I have ever seen with no damage. Since Rowen's heat treat is better and 1095 is tougher, I can't see the RC-6 breaking doing the same chore. But it isn't cold down here in coastal GA.

 

[saylorbrand]

cpl punishment
"I thought the whole idea of SERE was to NOT get caught?"

Thats a large part of it, but before the course is over you get captured and roughed up a bit. They want to see how you react, can you take it. That is part of what sere stands for, survive, evade, resist, escape. I've had buddies come back with some nice shiners from the interigation part. You see, the knife is great during the survive and evade part. But the resist and escape is set up as if your a pow. I'm talking bags over heads, water bording type of crap, and of course getting knocked around a bit. Of course you dont get to have your awesome "savior" knife, your a pow.

 

[Fritz24]

Since virtually all of Jeff's designs could be classified as "survival" knives, and none are 1/4" thick with saber grinds, we can only assume that those elements of the design were required by the SERE guys. I still wonder exactly what tasks they are performing that a TAK, RC-4, or RC-6 could not do without breaking. They must be doing a lot of heavy prying. In fact, it takes a fair amount of lateral force just to break the old "bolt knives".

Perhaps they figured, if you had to, you could strap your RC5 securely to a solid stick and make a field-expedient club that would knock-out a charging Rhino!

 

[Cpl Punishment]

cpl punishment
"I thought the whole idea of SERE was to NOT get caught?"

Thats a large part of it, but before the course is over you get captured and roughed up a bit. They want to see how you react, can you take it. That is part of what sere stands for, survive, evade, resist, escape. I've had buddies come back with some nice shiners from the interigation part. You see, the knife is great during the survive and evade part. But the resist and escape is set up as if your a pow. I'm talking bags over heads, water bording type of crap, and of course getting knocked around a bit. Of course you dont get to have your awesome "savior" knife, your a pow.

K.

I was always under the impression that "Resist" was along the lines of possibly having to kill the guys trying to capture you, and the "Escape" being from the danger area.

I understood the reason for capturing us and giving us a little beating was to show us what happened if SERE failed.

I was never much for getting captured. Seems no one we ever fight follows the Geneva Accords (only we do), so I'd rather avoid being captured.

But then, I think differently. Just ask Mrs. Shotty