military issued knives

M

ml100

Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
766
Current Content: Glock Field Knife, Ontario ASEK, Fällkniven F1 / A1, Ka-Bar USMC, Victorinox New Soldier, Hirschkrone Pilot Knife, Gerber Mark II, Camillus Jet Pilot Survival Knife, WWII M3 PAL Cutlery Knife

How about a thread on knives that are or were officially issued to service men all over the world. Post pics of military issued knives, what you like and dislike about them, what you use them for (survival, bushcraft...) and modifications that you did. It doesn't matter when a certain knife comes up several times.

Glock FM-78 / 81


Austrian Army, spring steel,
length: 16,5cm
thickness: 6mm
hardness RC: 55

The knife is on of my all time favourites.
pros:
-extremely though
-light
-excellent sheath
-cheap

cons:
-factory finish is poor (so you have to put an adquate edge and tip yourself)
-not ideal for finer tasks


The Glock makes a wonderful survival knife.

The FM81 comes with a (pretty useless) saw on the spine.
Here's a pic of the 81 where I modified the tip to a clip point.
 
Last edited:
Ontario ASEK







US Air Force

Hardness 50-54 HRC
Overall Length 10.25 in (26.0 cm)
Weight 1 lb 2.6 oz (0.527 kg)
Blade Length 4.95 in (12.6 cm)
Blade Material 1095 Carbon Steel
Blade Grind Flat
Blade Angle 60 Degrees
Blade Thickness 0.184 in (0.47 cm)
Blade Color Black
Blade Finish Zinc Phosphate


The knife comes with an additional tool (belt cutter, screwdriver, ceramic sharpener), which actually works well.

My ASEK is always in the car, next to the driver's seat. Would make a wonderful urban survival knife.
Love the hammer / glassbreaker feature.

Not very suitable for bushcraft though.
 
Last edited:
Fällkniven F1
(the sheath in this pic is custom made, not issued)



Swedish Air Force

Total length: 210 mm (8.3")
Blade length: 97 mm (3.8")
Blade thickness: 4.5 mm (0.18"), tapered
Tang: Broad, protruding
Weight (knife): 150 g (6oz)
Steel: Lam. VG10
Blade hardness: 59 HRC
Handle: Thermorun
Sheath: Zytel sheath

pros:
-everything:D

cons:
-nothing:D
actually, the coating is crap and wears off easily.

A perfect small outdoor blade. Whenever I go hiking etc, the F1 is with me.
Together with the Glock FM 78 it's my standard outdoor combo.
 
Last edited:
if only real world duty knives could talk!
would they say,"been there done that?"
thank's for sharing the pictures.
soldier on...
 
Victorinox Soldier Knife




Bundeswehr (German Forces) and Swiss Army (of cause with the Swiss having the Swiss Cross instead of the German Eagle on the scales)

Typical Victorinox, high quality, excellent finish.
Blade: liner lock, 85 mm long

however tragic: the tooth pic and the tweezers in the scales are missing


BTW: please some support to that threat, there must be more military issued knives around.
 
Last edited:
The good ole' Mk2 fighting/utility knife. Commonly known as a KA-BAR for the most famous maker of this knife though several companies produced it during WW2.
S1QWWBD.jpg

Issued to United States Marine Corps and United States Navy

7" Clip point blade

1095 Cro-Van steel

Like the glock but with full length tang pinned onto steel pommel at the bottom.

Pros: Everything

Cons: Leather handle can rot

*Kabar also produces a modern version of the knife with a rubberized synthetic handle.*

Can't believe I'm the 1st to mention the KA-BAR
 
Last edited:
the victorinox model 3.0224.3CCH - Spirit-X BO CC
spirit "X" black-oxide coated with basting-cap crimper
apparently the militarized version of the spirit
officially in use by the swiss and who else?
i understand that black coating is not actually black oxide
but some kind of burnished finishing?
which explains why it leaves slight dark stains on palms and fingers...
so ml100, u have some pictures for that?
 
The Norwegian Army and the Australien Army are using a black oxidized Swisstool.
But sorry, no pics, I still have a Leatherman Wave, that served me over more then a decade.
 
Last edited:
ml100 said:
Your aged Ka-bar looks cool. How old is it?
Click to expand...

This particular one is not mine, grabbed from google, however I do have one identical to it.

The knife photographed is a WW2 issued Navy Mark2 F/U Knife made by KA-BAR.

All the old WW2 issued ones look pretty much the same in better or worse condition. I really like the sheath this one comes in compared to the standard leather sheath you see on KA-BARs. That sheath is also WW2 Government Issue and is some type of hard plastic with nylon webbing for the belt loop.
 
Btw if you want to buy a modern produced KA-BAR and like the sheath photographed, the sheath is also reproduced nowadays but not by KA-BAR. I believe Boker reproduces this sheath for their U.S. Army Mk3 Fighting Knives also used in WW2.

It was a double edged dagger type knife constructed in the same manner as the Mark 2.
 
@GIRLYman. Thank you for the link. Guess it takes some time reading through all that.

In the meantime I hope someone will add some pics to this thread. I have two more knives to show.
 
Last edited:
Hirschkrone Pilot Knife



German Air Force

Steel: usually 1.4116 stainless, the one shown in the pic is C64 carbon steel version
Blade length: 6.3 in.
Blade thickness: 0.22 in.
Hardness: 58 HRC
Full tang.



Initially the Pilot Knives were made by PUMA, later Hirschkrone took over.

Compared to other issued pilot knives, the Hirschkrone knife is a beast:

Detailled review will follow.
 
Last edited:
Here's my Fallkniven A1. Adopted by the Swedish Army as their official survival knife. This thing is incredible. It holds an edge like no other knife I have. As for the coating, I actually like the way it looks when it wears. I mean, how cool does that look??

a12hd.jpg
 
The Al Mar was specially designed for Special Forces (don't know if it was ever issued), the Gerber MKI my father acquired as a gift from a SEAL he rescued (more than a few years ago).
DSCF1207er.jpgDSCF1177.jpgDSCF1178.jpgDSCF1180.jpgDSCF1181.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top