How tactical has a "Deployment Knife" to be?

Hello Guys!

Let´s say... someone goes into a deployment overseas etc. and it could be he comes into typical field use of a knife and / or combat situations.... which knife would be the way to go?

My choices would be something like:

Cold Steel SRK
Esee 4 / Esee 3
Tops Dawn Warrior
Some Pohl Force Knifes
Gerber Strong Arm

+ some back up like the SOCP Dagger or Ka Bar TDI

What do you think about these choices?

Thanks to you all!

 

Mostly they will just be cutting stuff. My buddies that deploy prefer a folder like a ZT or Benchmade along with a multitool.

 

Its really job dependent... Some people use Leathermans type tools all day long. Some cut stuff like strap, para-cord or other items and don't require anything to highly tactical.
What i would HIGHLY recommend is nothing that you wont cry if you loose! To many factors including customs, Security, Jealous bosses etc make it hard to justify carrying anything terribly expensive. I would recommend nothing over say $100 if you are sure it wont get lost. If there is a lot of travel, Physical activity or "action" potentially involved i would drop that figure to maybe a $50 max cost. IMO you cannot go wrong with a under $100 well sheathed Kbar non serrated version. It can always pass as a "Issue" knife and have been reliable in deployments for a very long time!

 

Thanks for your answers!

Leatherman etc. is already packed. Now the choice for a knife must be made ;-)

 

I personally like the looks of the Kabar Mark1

https://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/122

But I can guarantee that a full-size KaBar with rubber grips makes a great beltlooped and slide into pocket carry knife!

I agree with @Andy the Aussie simple is really better!

I can also guarantee that a CRKT M16 folder will do most (probbably 95%) of what you need when combined with a multitool. I personally own one that combined has spent a few years in a deployed setting and held up to everything that was thrown at it...
Cuts all day long!

The knife below plus a leather mans supertool 300 is the perfect combo ever! But all the other ones I mentioned work great also

 

Thanks for all your input.
But what I was thinking about (too much time...) is, does a knife that could be used in tactical situations have to be somewhat tactical? Like blade shape, handle etc. If so, what do you think it should have? Or does the "normal" Outdoor Knife do the Job as good as the "tactical-what-ever-blade"?
What do you think its a good all-round blade for, let's say Outdoor use AND tactical? ESEE 4? Cold Steel SRK? Other mentions?

 

I say multitool, tough folder like a ZT AND an ESEE 3 or 4

 

Speaking as one who was in service when John Rambo made his debut, unless I was sure I had the probability of needing to SERE or cut my way out of fuselage my Esee 4 would be joining me.

That being said, a Wenger SAK rode with me much more than a big knife ever did. I would replace that with a leatherman wave nowadays.

 

I'd like to make it clear that I personally have no military experience. No tactical experience. I'm just an outdoorsman, wilderness rescue tech, and knife nut.

That said, when I want some insight into the tactical mindset, I go to "Flannel Daddy", a.k.a Garand Thumb. Active duty US military and SERE instructor, and YouTuber.

So I'll just drop this here.





In my own opinion, I personally love my 4 for the added strength over the 3 (for things like splitting kindling in the event I don't have a larger tool). However, if I was in a position where heavy work was going to be less of a priority, I'd happily take a 3 for the weight savings.

Weight is huge, even in my field. If something like a knife is too heavy, it doesn't come with me. I assume the same goes for the armed forces, and is likely amplified a magnitude or two.

 

Thanks for your answers!

So, except for the handle which should be of course something with good grip and good grip when wet etc. You guys don't think there is a difference between an "tactical" to a "non tactical" blade? I found a good example, the ESEE 6 vs. the ESEE 6-CM. In reality, no difference? Or gives the little blade modification a real advantage in stabbing or what ever? Or lets say an ESEE 5, because it´s pretty heavy, could it get the Job done too? (Just knife-philosophy haha)

 

I was watching a video where someone was discussing differences in sword tips. Piercing VS Slicing tips, and how people regard them as being limited to their specialty. So he paused, and said something that has stuck with me since (paraphrased) "It's important to remember that a slicing tip will still stab someone; because sword points are made of metal, and human flesh...isn't."

In the same vein, I heard a compelling case made for why hand soap is a scam because "soap don't know what part of the body it's going on."

Point is, a knife is just a knife made of accumulated features. It cuts meat, zip ties, and puts notches in wood without being the wiser on whether it was marketed for those tasks.

Ultimately you're carrying whatever makes you feel good. Whatever features fit your expected environment, and gives you confidence in its ability or your ability with it. When it all comes down to it it's a sharpened flat of metal with a grippy bit.

Regarding price, you're always going to have the divide between people that say "I have a good chance of damaging my knife, I better get a knife that's cheap to replace," and the people that say "I better get an expensive knife that I feel definitely won't break." It's a difference in perspective that'll never go away.

 

Pretty good points!

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Just to throw that in... Some experiences with knifes from the Vietnam War: http://www.thehistoryreader.com/contemporary-history/portrait-ranger-young-lrrp-warrior-vietnam/

 

What ever knife you end up choosing I would just say discrete is key.. I’ve been to some pretty deep holes in the world... I was always amazed by how concerned people were about the little things like what other gear others had... No matter how many pea shooters you carried and no matter how much boom boom you were packing around people always seem to want to tell you what you can and cannot have.. And conveniently always wanted to take it from you....

 

Something else to consider (and this falls in line with what my bro @HelRaiser said), is that even the humble Finnish puukko was used to great effect during the Winter War, including by my own great grandfather.

Perhaps one of the least "tactical" blades out there, pushed into service as such.

It's about the hand holding the blade, more so than the blade itself.

And a big +1 to what @RocketmanDane said above. Discrete is definitely key.

 

I personally know someone in a the field. His choice is a CS Folding Bushman. How do I know this? Because he's on his second one, after he dropped the first, point first, into the plate deck of an un- named vessel in a faraway place. It clips onto his web gear, is unobtrusive, and plenty strong for "tactical operations". I have the first one in a drawer less than 10 ft from me, minus about a 1/4" inch of the tip. I might regrind/reshape it and give it back to him one day..

 

An Esee 5, dropped point first onto the deck of an unnamed vessel, would not have broken. It would have caused the unnamed vessel to be named on a list of vessels sunken due to taking on water.

Just sayin'...

 

@ Reno Lewis: Just to say that... I got the Peltonen M95 Sissipuuko in the Big and the small and I really love this blade. Then handle is awesome and it´s one of my all-time-favorites. I don't know how well known this blade is here, so I throw this in:

http://northernbush.com/review-peltonen-sissipuukko-ranger-knife-m95/

 

Here's a good suggestion. The Varustelka puukko 110. Good steel, grippy handle, and even with a Kydex sheath I have less tha a $100 in it. I have used it a swim/skin diving knife ( non-military ) it's small enough and plain Jane looking so as not to cause bleating of sheeple when entering or exiting the water in the public view. . They also make a 140 (mm in lenght) if you wanted something slightly longer.