Did/Do you carry in the military? Story time... ;)

Chapp said:
That's what 20$ sak are for. That's the one you give to people.
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Not really sure I would do that.

Maybe a simple locking Gerber of some sort, though. One step above a Paraframe or what ever that POS is called.

Do they have something called an Air Ranger? How about that?

Or an LST?
 
I enlisted in the USAF in 1976 - had a small schrade folder in my pocket for a couple of years... then a Gerber LST... then an early Spyderco 'Economy' (which was pretty expensive to a A1C...) after discharge in 1985 (to go to college) I started collecting... but to this day I have a Spyderco with me most of the time...
 
sabre cat said:
I feel your pain. I really do. If you have no plans of ever using it again, don’t bother to repair it.

However, let’s look at the bigger picture... when you are gone it probably will get thrown out unless it is a working tool.

I personally have the M3 Trench Knife that my father was issued in WW2. I will never use it but, it is one of my most cherished possessions of my fathers belongings. Having a knife that my grandfather used would also mean a lot to me.

You know, now that I have had time to think about your dilemma, I have to say repair it. Set it up to be passed down in your family. It may not mean anything to your offspring but, to their children it could be priceless. I love a knife with a story to tell. Always more interesting than just a plain knife. I use the knives I received from forum members more often than the ones I purchased for that very reason.

So, you have a picture of your knife?
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Pic is back in post #61. Highly doubt I'll use it. Chances of anyone in the family wanting it is close to zero, most have no interest in knives or firearms or even family history. I fully expect most of my "stuff" will go to an estate auction for disposal.

And to keep on thread topic... as a crew chief we weren't issued knives, many of us had a belt knife like a Buck 110.

I wasn't issued a knife until retraining to aircrew and it was the orange hook-knife that was supposed to be used for cutting parachute lines if needed. The ones we had were pretty crappy, and mine opened in the knife pocket multiple times, and then the blade release broke. And on those, instead of the hook blade being the spring-release, it was the main blade. The hook should have been the spring-release to allow for one-handed opening and line cutting. It didn't take long for me to decide to just carry a SAK.

Our survival vests had the old-style survival knife. Most that I am aware of carried a knife of some sort in the flight suit knife pocket, some of us carried multi-tools either as primary or a secondary, and some also carried a fixed-blade of some flavor. Some of us took the advice to have a personal survival kit with us whenever we flew, and had a decent fixed-blade in that.

Lost or stolen knives. A few. Multiple 110s. A nice survival knife walked away one day (not the cheap easy-to-break mall store, it cost a few bucks and I can't remember the brand). A couple of Gerber fixed-blades. Not counting the knives that seemed to come up missing during/ after a PCS.

Found knives. None. I never found anything, let alone anything nice. We had a loadmaster find a Randall in the cargo compartment after a paratroop drop. Where it was found it could have been there a while and finally worked its way out. He tried to do the right thing and contacted the group that had been dropped, but no one was missing a knife.
 
sabre cat said:
No. And, when you loan a knife, most people will not even consider offering to replace it when they screw it up. You might get, “Sorry” at best. Might is the key word here.

Just another reason to think twice before loaning out your favorite knife.

Oh, And most soldiers won’t think twice before using your favorite blade as a screwdriver or pry bar
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I have honestly never had to loan someone my favorite knife. (Although I usually do the cutting, so they don’t miss use it.)
 
I used the larger fixed blades for things like cutting the points into sector stakes, or for improvised stakes for a poncho hootch. and that one time at Campbell when we were stuck in the field in the worst ice storm in 50 years because there weren't chains for the 5 tons or humvees. I also had a cheap kukhri that was used a lot for cutting wood for fires, and an NCO in another platoon was sought after because he had his Gerber hatchet with him.
I found that the larger serrations like the Spydercos sucked for cutting 550 for me.
 
Halfneck said:
Army Medic - served 2 years in a Reserve Hospital Unit, 4 years in an Active Duty Infantry Unit. 1993 to 1999.

Victorinox Huntsman
Spyderco Delica
Spyderco Remote Release
Benchmade/Emerson CQC-7
Kabar
Ontario Spec-plus Pilot's Knife
Dozier Agent
Gerber Multi-plier
SOG Multi-tool

Couple others at various times, but the above were the main ones I remember.
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Which battalion were you in? I was in B Co 1/187 from 93-Feb 95. I'm presuming you were a Rakkasan.
 
sabre cat sabre cat That's why you carry two! Something cheap like a RR or S&W to loan out. Keep your good ones to yourself. Seems like nobody outside of the knife community will respect a good knife.
 
90-100% of soldiers who carry a knife nowadays have a leatherman or a gerber MT. Sometimes you'll see a Spyderco, Kabar, ect. but it is rare.
 
I'm too young to be in the military myself, but my dad carried a Leatherman Wave + during his last deployment in the UAE. He saw a unit come through his base where the NCO had bought them all Benchmade SOCPs. Pretty sure those were the only fixed blades he saw there. Thank you all for your service!
 
Asher Sympson said:
I don't mean to get off topic, but how popular were the western boot knives? for military carry that is.
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I've never seen anyone in the military with a boot knife. So I'd have to guess pretty unpopular given the quality of the blade and less than optimal carry. Maybe you got the name wrong but if I google "Western Boot Knife" it leads to a bunch of results that are Franklin Mint fodder.

I'm sure there are photos of pilots with a knife on their leg etc but not that knife.
 
D Danke42 yeah, nowadays very few carry a fixed blade period. That comment was more directed at guys who served in the 80s-early 90s. Google Western W777 or W77 boot knife and you'll see which ones I'm referring to. It was mentioned a few times earlier in the thread and that is what prompted me to ask.
 
Western did make several boot knife variants. They were bought out at some point by Coleman IIRC.

Some AF crew members did carry boot knives, but it wasn't in massive numbers.

Photo of my barely used W77:
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edit - adjusted exposure so the metal is less washed out, and reloaded the images.
 
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Asher Sympson said:
Those rosewood ones are gorgeous! I may be getting the blackout version soon. You were in the Air Force?
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Yeah, they did a really nice job on those. Compared to the black versions I have personally seen, I think the stainless were a slightly better build. Then again, it might have just been the feel of the handle material. I really like the wood handle's feel.

Yes, AF. A bit over 20 years, been retired now for longer than I was on active duty. o_O
 
Asher Sympson said:
D Danke42 yeah, nowadays very few carry a fixed blade period. That comment was more directed at guys who served in the 80s-early 90s. Google Western W777 or W77 boot knife and you'll see which ones I'm referring to. It was mentioned a few times earlier in the thread and that is what prompted me to ask.
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I was in during the 80s. For us it was a demo knife, a Grohmann Army knife if a knife was part of your job or something tactical from Gerber like a Mark II or Mark I.
 
OldHercDude OldHercDude my dad has been in for 20-30 years, and still in the reserves as an MP TSGT. He is hoping to finally get his MSGT stripe before he retires. I try to get him to carry more blades, but to date the only one he carries in uniform is a gerber mt that has a blade tip missing. I got him looking at a couple of Benchmades for private use though ;) D Danke42 those old Gerbers seem like good blades. Thank you all for your service!
 
Danke42 said:
I'm sure there are photos of pilots with a knife on their leg etc but not that knife.
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I know a few of the older pilots still carry a boot knife, usually something like the SOG Pentagon, with serrations on one side and plain edge on the other. I had never met anyone who actually carried a boot knife in their boot until now.
 
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