KNIVES: Fighting vs. Survival?

2020-09-20T01:39:35-04:00

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.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Sep 20 at 2020 2:05 AM

2020-09-20T02:05:45-04:00

Jake Lang I'm a Military Spook by Profession. No Weapons Expert but I Probably was Considered a Street Hoodlum. Once Upon a Time. My Weapon of Choice was a Filet Knife in My Boot. That is Just the Way it Was,

Response by Maj John Bell made Sep 20 at 2020 7:21 AM

2020-09-20T07:21:03-04:00

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.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 20 at 2020 8:09 AM

2020-09-20T08:09:43-04:00

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...

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Sep 20 at 2020 5:03 PM

2020-09-20T17:03:42-04:00

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.

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