Best combat knife

[John_Wayne777]

I want to buy a nice fixed blade knife suitable for light field and utility work, but mainly to be used as a secondary or tertiary weapon.

I want to be able to use it in the field, but I don't estimate that I would need it too much in that capacity.

What would you blade hounds reccomend? I was thinking of getting something like a Trailmaster Bowie from Cold Steel...

[EXECUTION STYLE]

I am not a BTDT guy, or "operator", but I know what I like.

WWW.BLADEFORUMS.COM is a better place to ask.

Any of the Becker line of knives will suit your need(s) I believe.

Also SOG makes some excellent knives. Their SEAL series is awesome. I have the SOG SEAL 2000, Tigershark, Pentagon, and Desert Dagger.

I also use a Chris Reeve Green Beret knife A.K.A. The Yarborough.

I have a Gerber Silver Trident laying around here somewhere as well.

I guess it all depends on what you think you'll be needing it to do.

When you decide to purchase, you may go to WWW.KNIFEWORKS.COM and talk to Roger, or go to WWW.1SKS.COM and speak to Kevin. Both have helped me out several several times.

[CZ]

For a KISS (keep it simple stupid) knife you might give the Cold Steel SRK a try? It's good quality knife for the money!!

Keeps an edge very long and is very strong. It also comes with a nice kydex sheath.

Take care!
CZ

[Grant]

A good affordable combat knife is the tried and tested Kabar knife. Tough high carbon steel thats easy to sharpen.

Other good choices are the SOG Seal 2000, but the best choice for a below 200 dollar combat knife is the Buck Strider Solution, great steel, great heat treat, great grind, and an excelent sheath.

You cant get the SBS at 1sks.com youll have to goto www.tadgear.com or www.bladeart.com or you can find them on ebay.

[Kletz]

I'd second the KBar for all around use. I've had $200 knives and they weren't able to do anything a $38 K-Bar could. And as he said, they are easy to sharpen and keep a good edge. I have fell small trees and split firewood with my Spec plus 10" survival bowie. It is more of a machete/ hatchet and keeps a great edge. I've only sharpened it seriously maybe twice in the last 8 years and I keep my knives sharp enough to work. Other than that it has just been run it on a steel to revitalize it. Buy some folks may feel better about a high dollar knife. I still have one, but I use my Spec Plus for hard work. In fact I ran it over with my truck a number of times (I dropped it on a trail and was driving over it going back to where I thought I saw it last ) and while the blade was slightly bent at the handle, I straightened it up in a vice and have been using it for the last 4 years that way.

[booniedawg]

Kletz is right! Try one of the Spec Plus knives I've owned several over the years and they are all great. They sharpen easily, hold an edge, are extremely durable and reliable. The best part is that they are inexpensive. Right now I'm useing a Spec Plus Task Force as my carry blade in my kit.

[adamallen]

Re: Best combat knife

A good affordable combat knife is the tried and tested Kabar knife. Tough high carbon steel thats easy to sharpen.

Other good choices are the SOG Seal 2000, but the best choice for a below 200 dollar combat knife is the Buck Strider Solution, great steel, great heat treat, great grind, and an excelent sheath.

You cant get the SBS at 1sks.com youll have to goto www.tadgear.com or www.bladeart.com or you can find them on ebay.

+193 on Kabar USMC knife. You can't beat the leather handle, leather sheath, and carbon steel.

[RT]

Re: Best combat knife

There are a lot of better sheaths out there for the Kabar, and if you actually carry one a lot you will find yourself wearing out the original sheath anyway.

You are not wrong to go with the USMC Kabar design, even the IDF uses them. A surprising number of Russians consider them top shelf private purchase knives within their military also.

As for other knives out there being "better" sure, there are plenty, but they are often designed with a particular fighting style in mind and optimized for that particular fighting style. If you are not very adept in any of those fighting styles, then you are less likely to be able to beat a modestly trained fighter who uses a Kabar.

Remember, the Japanese were often highly trained blade fighters compared to US Marines, but Marine Raiders had extra training, and then regular Marines had some training, but not years of it. The IDF has similar philosophies. The Kabar is a gunfighter's knife, not a knife fighter's knife. It can level the playing field against a lot of specialized knife fighting opponents, but not all of them. For example, I would have no desire to go up against Ernest Emerson with a Kerambit, but with a Kabar, I would probably still be hosed, but not as badly hosed as I would be trying to use a specialized fighting knife that I am not specifically pretty highly trained with.

I think some mention should be made of the commando daggers of WW2, but the key to those is keeping them extremely sharp and not using them for anything else. By not using the knife for anything else, it requires more specialized training to employ it, where the Kabar is a general purpose knife that one would expect to use frequently in the field, which builds familiarity with the way it handles and cuts, thus making fighting with it feel all the more natural.

[jefferson101]

Re: Best combat knife

+1 on the KaBar.

I'm not a big "knife" person, as far as it goes, and if I pick up something that's point heavy, or that has a strange balance, or whatever, I'm not going to use it well.

But I have used standard knives plenty enough to know how to handle one, if it's built and balanced like what I'm familiar with.

If you want to use an exotic knife, go for it, but practice with it enough to know how it is going to work. Otherwise, dance with the ones what brung ya'.



The KaBar is that, for me. It's a big, well balanced, knife. It works just like a knife ought to, without having to think about it.

What more could I ask for?

[kARL]

Re: Best combat knife

Old British Commando Knife.
Not as good as the K-Bar for a field knife. You can cut down a small tree with a K-bar. : )
But the British Commando is the best specialized fighting knife that I know of.

karl

[paintballmagnet]

Re: Best combat knife

Going against the grain, I'd go with one of the Becker models, regular Kabars are weak at the tang and can be broken fairly easily is abused.

[Mannlicher]

Re: Best combat knife

There are a lot of knives out there that FAR outclass the K Bar. Busse Combat, ESEE, and a host of customs.
This old Randall #14 would be more my choice for a combat knife.

[RT]

Re: Best combat knife

I still have the prototype OSI subhilt Bowie that I designed and had made by Lowell locket of lockett custom knives. That's the one which is usually within reach in my bedroom.

[Artful]

Re: Best combat knife

I have several knifes, but if I intended to go in harms way ...

Gerber Guardian Mk 2 - 11-7/8" overall with a 6-3/4" blade
Designed by R.W. Loveless
This series of knives was designed and started production before the Gerber company was acquired by Fiskars in 1986
I should probably have a Kydex Sheath made for it as the mine (not pictured) is a little worn out.