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Hello RallyPoint, hope everyone is doing well. While talking about knives with some veteran friends of mine, we struck a bit of a difference in opinion on the types of knives and if we can only bring one type, which would it be? Some of my friends said a fighting knife, saying that a knife’s primary purpose should be to get to a knife (thus points for the fighting knife) while the other half argued that knife fighting is more rare than a unicorn and that a knife’s main purpose should be in woodcraft, spark-starting a fire with ferrous rod, or hammering away with the pommel on a stake (thus points for the survival knife as well).
Now granted, I know that in a rural areas of our country, a survival knife is ideal (the utilities of a survival knife may outweigh the purpose of a fighting knife there) Whereas if I was to be deployed out on the edge of the frontlines or going forth in an expeditionary unit, I might want a fighting knife, but at the same time, can’t help but feel that a survival knife would do fine as well. To be honest, I just don’t quite know.
So I figured what some folks who most likely have been in such situations (like in the special operations community or the military as a whole) would think. What are your thoughts guys? Hope you are all doing well.
Now granted, I know that in a rural areas of our country, a survival knife is ideal (the utilities of a survival knife may outweigh the purpose of a fighting knife there) Whereas if I was to be deployed out on the edge of the frontlines or going forth in an expeditionary unit, I might want a fighting knife, but at the same time, can’t help but feel that a survival knife would do fine as well. To be honest, I just don’t quite know.
So I figured what some folks who most likely have been in such situations (like in the special operations community or the military as a whole) would think. What are your thoughts guys? Hope you are all doing well.
Knives
Survival
Outdoors
Hunting
Weapons
Edited 4 y ago
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 4
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Gerber and K-Bar make good knives that fit the survival role. Marines love the B-Bar going back decades. Good for fighting in the military? Why bring a knife to a gun fight? asking for a friend...
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Cpl Benjamin Long
LTC Charles Blake You just have to stay out of third line of sight because they would certainly have ammo
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Cpl Benjamin Long
Cpl Benjamin Long Thier*
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Cpl Benjamin Long - hahaha, best point of the discussion!
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I just bought a fixed blade Damascus blade. It's a beautiful blade.
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Barlow pocket knife with a 2.75" sheep's foot blade and a marlin spike.
Please. Don't use a knife to pound on things. It's not engineered for that. You're just loosening it up. A good knifes life is measured in the generations that it is passed on, not years because it was used as a multi-tool.
Please. Don't use a knife to pound on things. It's not engineered for that. You're just loosening it up. A good knifes life is measured in the generations that it is passed on, not years because it was used as a multi-tool.
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Cpl Benjamin Long
Maj John Bell You should always wear a leather glove when handling a tool.. It helps with the callouses
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Maj John Bell
Cpl Benjamin Long - You made the assertion "combat blades are always full tang... Because you are going to be pounding on things" I made it pretty clear a knife, any knife, was not a my choice for an expedient pounding tool.
I disagree with you on gloves. I wear gloves when there is a danger of cutting, gouging, scraping or burning the skin on my hands; or if I will be at a repetitive task long enough to blister. The rest of the time I prefer the increased control and manual dexterity of bare hands. I find callouses more useful than nuisance.
I disagree with you on gloves. I wear gloves when there is a danger of cutting, gouging, scraping or burning the skin on my hands; or if I will be at a repetitive task long enough to blister. The rest of the time I prefer the increased control and manual dexterity of bare hands. I find callouses more useful than nuisance.
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Cpl Benjamin Long
Maj John Bell those thing constitute combat targets... you should have asked for clarification
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Cpl Benjamin Long
Maj John Bell the gloves also stops their teeth from gouging your hands when smash them in the face
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Starship Troopers (1997) Disable His Hand
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Jake Lang
A knife, like a firearm, is a tool. What tool is best, is determined by what the operator is intending to us that tool for. Many knives have multiple areas where they are very functional, some have very limited uses. Knife fighting is very rare in our World, this is not to say that it always will be but the likelihood of it changing any time soon is remote.
IF you are going the pick a knife for fighting, what kind of knife fighting are you looking at actually doing? Are you in a fight with another person armed with a knife? Are you using a knife to take out a sentry? It would theoretically matter. Just like Paul Hogan pulling his knife in Crocodile Dundee, that was a knife. On the survival side of the equation, there are even more variables to consider but it all comes down to what is right for you. While I have a number of knives, the Ka-Bar BK9 checks off a lot of blocks to me.
"An enemy cannot push a button if you disable his hand!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B203twyaMfM
A knife, like a firearm, is a tool. What tool is best, is determined by what the operator is intending to us that tool for. Many knives have multiple areas where they are very functional, some have very limited uses. Knife fighting is very rare in our World, this is not to say that it always will be but the likelihood of it changing any time soon is remote.
IF you are going the pick a knife for fighting, what kind of knife fighting are you looking at actually doing? Are you in a fight with another person armed with a knife? Are you using a knife to take out a sentry? It would theoretically matter. Just like Paul Hogan pulling his knife in Crocodile Dundee, that was a knife. On the survival side of the equation, there are even more variables to consider but it all comes down to what is right for you. While I have a number of knives, the Ka-Bar BK9 checks off a lot of blocks to me.
"An enemy cannot push a button if you disable his hand!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B203twyaMfM
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Jake Lang
If I may ask, is that to say the chances of fully utilizing a survival knife far outweighs the very rare possibility of ever utilizing a fighting knife as it was intended for?
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Maj John Bell
Jake Lang - In my opinion, yes. If you are in the field, you are definitely going to need to perform some basic utilitarian tasks. I think the combination of a good, but simple light pocket knife paired with a good light hatchet is well worth the small increase in weight.
I suspect, (only a guess) that in knife fights slashing is a much more frequent cause of injury than stabbing. Even a blow with the back side of a hatchet has the potential to disable.
I suspect, (only a guess) that in knife fights slashing is a much more frequent cause of injury than stabbing. Even a blow with the back side of a hatchet has the potential to disable.
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