Vietnam Vets:What knife or knives did you carry in Vietnam?

Oh, and one of my best friends brought a hunting knife in Vietnam (I believe he said it was a Buck). Unfortunately, he dropped it on patrol in the jungle and was long gone.
 
helobite said:
A bud of mine was Special Forces and was “collocated” in the mountains with the montagnards. Back then Special Forces was very elite, very picky: at the time you had to have a college degree to be in Special Forces. There was even a hit song at the time about Special Forces, I have buds who joined just because of that song.

This is his seven inch recon knife. It is actually the second, the first broke its tip chopping saw grass in the high lands. Bud got this replacement but never really liked the thing.

Notice, it is unmarked.

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You can find more information on real SOG knives here

http://www.militaryfightingknives.com/collection.html

So what did fire eating Bud carry most of the time?, this commercial knife made by Kabar.

Bud said, it cut the bread in the can well. That is why he carried it. He also said it would put a real hurt on someone, but I did not follow up to find out that meant.

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I always find it funny to see the short swords and pry bars that some folks proclaim they need, and then think of Bud's bread cutting knife that he carried under fire for some part of the three tours he spent in Vietnam.
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That first knife is a PERFECT example of Vietnam era SF going in sterile during clandestine missions. Awesome
 
I would suggest looking at a copy of Mike Silvey’s book “Knives of the United States Military in Vietnam” The book is now out of print and buying a copy can be quite expensive. But maybe if you have a good library system they can come up with a copy that you can look over.
There really would be a wide variety of knives used and carried as people who have already responded to this thread have demonstrated.

Here are the various Mark 2 combat knives that where correct for the Vietnam time period.

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US Air Force Survival Knives where popular and carried by ground troops through out the war. According to Frank Trzaska it was the most popular fixed blade knife with the covert special operations forces.

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There were a lot of private purchase knives either brought from home or many where available thru the PX/BX system. It wouldn’t be possible to ID them all. Here are some for the time period.

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Left side are two Westerns 8 and 6 in blades.
Middle top is a KBar 1209, there was a similar knife the 1207 that was bright finished. Both were popular PX purchases.
Middle center is a Buck 119, below that is a Finnish Hackman folding knife said to be distributed by the CIA in operative packages. (?)
The knife on the right is a Buck 120 8in blade.

Also the Western Bowie (W49) was a private purchase knife that found it’s way to Vietnam. These were also purchased and inscribed as presentation knives but there seems to be more variations than there are documents about them.
Heres one next to a Western W46-8 for comparison.

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A lot more stuff out there than this thats for sure.
 
I was too young for RVN, but have lots of friends who were there. Some as pilots, and back seaters, some as grunts and some as SF in Laos, and Cambodia. I will ask them what knives they carried. I know pilots carried, standard issue survival knives mostly made by Camillus, and some by Marbles which I believe were older, Korean War era.
 
Being an airdale, I had no need for a fixed blade knife. I carried a Case 6265 that my dad (a WWII carrier sailor) gave me before I left for my first cruise. I still have it. It could use a trip to the SPA, but then it wouldn't be the same knife. I also picked up my first SAK at the China Fleet building in Hong Kong. It was a Fisherman and I think I used the can opener more than any of the other blades.

One of our pilots gave me his issue switchblade and survival knife just before I got out. I still have those, too.
 
I took a Puma White Hunter over in March '68. It was useful in the rear but too shiny everywhere else. I left it with another Marine when I left.
 
Pilot1 said:
I know pilots carried, standard issue survival knives mostly made by Camillus, and some by Marbles which I believe were older, Korean War era.
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The pilots knife most likely to be encountered during the Korean War would be the folder shown on the right. It came out during the last months of WW2 and that’s why I included it in this picture. The one shown is the AAF/USAF version. The Navy had the same knife with a bail/clevis attached. They were made by Colonial and United (out of Grand Rapids Michigan). There are also some sterile versions of these knives. Collectors aren’t sure if they where part of a military contract or commercial.

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The next version of a pilots survival knife came out in 1953. They were made by Schrade/Walden, Imperial, and Camillus.
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In 1957 Marbles convinced the Navy that they had a knife design to upgrade the current pilots knife. They presented it as a 5” blade but the Navy wanted it to be a 6” blade. Early in production Marbles lost out to Camillus for the production of these knives. Marbles continued to produce this knife in a commercial version until they closed. Also when the present people restarted the Marbles brand they produced a commemorative (my choice of words) of this knife. Rumor has it that they found a supply of the unfinished blades when they took over the company and built the knives from these blades. (?).
The original Marbles issued pilots knives are quite rare today. They were made with steel guards and pommels. The commercial versions had some brass parts.
In 1962 the blade length for the Jet Pilots Survival Knife was changed to 5 inches.
In 1967 the spec for marking the knives was change from stamping the blade to putting the information including the month and year of manufacture on to the pommel.
 
great thread guys thanks for all of the stories and most of all thank you for serving your country and risking your life for it
 
I grew up in the Viet Nam era, in Fayetteville, NC, next to Ft. Bragg. Came to know several guys that served in the green hell. Some of the "Sneaky Petes" (Special Forces) guys carried private-purchase Buck 119's, and wore Zodiac watches. Officers and guys with some spending money would sometimes get a Randall. Average guys just used whatever was issued.
My Pop was career Army, and Vietnam was his last overseas tour. He carried an old Boker stockman and a pump shotgun.
 
My Father served during the Korean "war" and I didn't get into basic until 1977. I do know that all my Drill Sgt's carried Buck 110's and could get them out quick.
 
I know a Vietnam Vet that showed me a Kukri blade he took from a dead vietnamese soldier. it had a wooden handle and the blade was stained,he said it was blood stains and that he cracked skulls with it....I think the blade was maybe 11 or 12 inches.
 
sac troop said:
I would suggest looking at a copy of Mike Silvey’s book “Knives of the United States Military in Vietnam” The book is now out of print and buying a copy can be quite expensive. But maybe if you have a good library system they can come up with a copy that you can look over.
There really would be a wide variety of knives used and carried as people who have already responded to this thread have demonstrated.

Here are the various Mark 2 combat knives that where correct for the Vietnam time period.

DCP_1358.jpg


US Air Force Survival Knives where popular and carried by ground troops through out the war. According to Frank Trzaska it was the most popular fixed blade knife with the covert special operations forces.

DCP_1425.jpg


There were a lot of private purchase knives either brought from home or many where available thru the PX/BX system. It wouldn’t be possible to ID them all. Here are some for the time period.

IMG_0043.jpg


Left side are two Westerns 8 and 6 in blades.
Middle top is a KBar 1209, there was a similar knife the 1207 that was bright finished. Both were popular PX purchases.
Middle center is a Buck 119, below that is a Finnish Hackman folding knife said to be distributed by the CIA in operative packages. (?)
The knife on the right is a Buck 120 8in blade.

Also the Western Bowie (W49) was a private purchase knife that found it’s way to Vietnam. These were also purchased and inscribed as presentation knives but there seems to be more variations than there are documents about them.
Heres one next to a Western W46-8 for comparison.

100_0137.jpg


A lot more stuff out there than this thats for sure.
Click to expand...


sac troop,

My Dad gave me an 8 inch Western just like you have in one of the above photos, I can't remember what I did with it about 20 years ago, It and the sheath were just like the one you show above, I wish I still had that knife. Thanks for posting the great pics.
 
The real CISO Recon knives were all sterile. Here's mine:

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Note that "SOG" wasn't really an operative term back then. MACV sure as hell was, though.

The Buck was a biggie, most everybody had one. The Randalls were considered the "snotty" knives - sure, everybody wanted one, but only the guys with money had one. Everybody hated them for that.

The knife that everybody really wanted, though, was a Gerber Mark II.

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That was everybody's wet dream.
 
For christmas in 1965 my dad sent me a Case fixed blade skinner with stacked leather handles he bought at the PX at Tan Sanuht AFB. (very similar to the knife below) I still have the knife and other than a few very light scratches on the blade from being handled over the years it looks like a new knife.
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This Gerber (ignore the strider) was all over the area and a favorite of lots of folks. Many of the guys had Randall knives as well.

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i have always wondered if the one i have saw any service cause of its age ........SN 003062 an if my memory serves correct thats a 1967 number ..........i found that knife at a yard sale in a garage in Kensington Phila area a few years ago an paid about $10 for it with an axe as well............

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