M9 bayonet review request

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wadly

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Was thinking of getting an m9 bayonet...not sure brand but was hoping for a general review... thanks
 
A general review of the M-9 bayonet? Well it generally sucks:) In all seriousness though when the military set out to make the M-9 they wanted something that would perform as both a general field knife and a bayonet and they ended up with a POS that doesn't perform either function well. As a bayonet the M-9 is to wide and thick to penetrate very effeciently. As far as being a functional field knife, the blade is too thick and the angles too obtuse to be take or hold a descent edge. For the price you could get a lot better knives IMHO.
 
I like it. It is one tough blade IMHO. Are there better, I'm sure there are. That being said the M9 was thoroughly tested before being deployed. Nobody wants to send troops into battle with inadequate equipment. My son is an army ranger captain. He spent 18 months in Baghdad with a recon platoon in Sadr City (N. side of Baghdad) as well as a few side trips to other cities. He is a big fan of the M9 using it for all kinds of activities. I would have sent him anything he wanted but he said the M9 was just fine for him and his men.

Here are some links that may be of value.


http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/reject_articles.htm

www.M9bayonet.com

http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=486

I would be curious to here other's opinions including what they think are better and why.
 
well.....lets just say we had them in the military when I was active duty from 88-96. we, well most of us preferred to use the old m7 bayonet comapred to it. The M9 made a better "anchor". It was not a bad knife necessarily, but it was heavy and the blade steel at the time was poor, I believe it was 420? But its been so long ago I cant quite remember? I think it was made by phrobis, I do remember one thing, on the civilian market it was well overpriced at 99.00
 
I've owned an M9 (Buck/Phrobis) since 1988. It was my first "tactical" knife, so I have a soft spot for it in my heart. It'll cut (sort of) and chop (sort of) and saw (sort of); and it fits (loosely) on an M16 rifle. It's not a great knife, and it's not a great bayonet; but it will serve as either or both. I'm not sure it was designed to fit a human hand, but one can hold onto it reasonably well.

Like I said... it was my first, so I'm hanging onto mine. I'm not sure I'd buy one now. Actually... I'm sure. I'd never buy one now knowing what I know now.
 
I have one of the Phrobis M9 bayonets. My general opinion, it's very large and heavy. The wire cutter tool is interesting, and overall the knife seems indestructable.

-Bob
 
I tried to like it, really I did.
It looked sinister on my Mossy 590A1 but that's about all.
I re-profiled the edge as it was very DULL from the factory.
it was/is too heavy to strap on an LBE with EVERYTHING else a trooper must carry these days.
Wirecutters were somewhat effective.
Better than a M7 but not as good as a KaBar. I really think (testing included), Uncle Sam missed the boat on that one.
 
It's important to remember that it's a bayonet and not a knife. In some branches of the military you are not allowed to even sharpen them.

It's not pratical to compare one to a knife that's designed for cutting. I wouldn't carry the M9 as a knife if you payed me and I'd toss out that anyone who's done so and thought it was a good knife needs to try more knives!

A decent military "knife" is the Kabar and it's counterparts by Camillus and Ontario Knife.

Collecter
 
It is a POS in every sense of the word except for the bayonet function that it is designed to perform. Yeah you can fix it to your M-4 and stab someone, but other than that it blows. My squad leader asked me to sharpen his for him while we were in the desert last year and the steel was so soft and crappy that I couldn't get an edge on it if I tried. I was carrying a Strider DB that would get scary sharp. BTW I used a Spyderco Sharpmaker if that helps. If that sharpener doesn't work well on the M9 I don't know what does. If you are collecting military memorabilia, then get one, if you are looking for a knife to use, you would be better armed with a butter knife from your kitchen.
 
Well thanks, i went to try it out a few days ago after a few mintues of shop handleing i did'nt like it and it was also super overpriced at AU300
 
hmmmmmm...no I disagree, I liked the m7 better. We had both and the m7 was more useful, and weighed much less.

Which branches collector? We sharpened it ours (AF).
 
I noticed some negativity regarding the M9 bayonet. Okay, it was and is primarily a bayonet, however, with proper sharpening and some modifications, I think it can be "tickled" into more utility. For example, by disassembling the bayonet, you can add a bicycle handlebar grip to the shank and the knife characteristics are improved. I went to a medium-sized bicycle shop and purchased an Oury grip pair, for $9.99. Look on the net for Oury Mountain Grips (Black) HT6300 / BKMT. You need to carefully punch thru the end of the grip so you have a thru hole (the original grip has a blind hole). I felt cutting off the plugged end shortened the grip unnecessarily. I wanted all the length I could salvage. I used a fresh razor knife but using a short piece of 1/2 inch water pipe and chamfering the INSIDE edge, results in a I.D. beveled one-time punch that leaves a clean hole thru the grip. A good chunk of hardwood can be used to punch thru to. It took some filing to make the bevel or chamfer unless you have a lathe and can really dress up a super punch. We all know patience is a virtue, right ? Here comes the hard part or at least it was for me. To assure the grip doesn't slide around during use, I chose not to lubricate the grip or the bayonet hand piece before I sleeved on the grip. A marine told me he used hairspray to lube the handle. Once you do that, it is difficult to recover if it doesn't work. Besides, I need occasional reminders that my thickheadedness is working as designed. While watching a horror movie, I massaged the grip onto the plastic bayonet handle from the FORWARD end of the handle to the aft end, and I put the "non-punched" end on first so the ridge on the end of the grip ends up on the rear of the handle. This is your call of course. It took me about an hour of vigorous massage to get the grip all the way on. My reasoning was, the butt of the handle is the largest end and I wanted the ridge ring to cushion my hand when thrusting the knife. This is the reverse of the grip as it was intended on a mountain bike handle bar. From my knothole the grip is good and "grippy" , cheap and gives you better torque on the blade. Looks cool too. Bye the way, I did not sharpen the forward 2 inches of the blade much. Remember, that part is the wire cutter (when used with the sheath).
 
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