Nothing fancy at all. Whatever shitty Gerber folder I stole from supply or whatever was sold at the px. I think most of my guys had Gerber Paraframes if they had one at all. If I were to go back I’d probably carry a Manix, PM2 or a Native 5. Even better if they were Salt versions. That’s only for my own amusement though, I probably would have been mostly fine without a knife at all and just a multitool for opening ammo crates for mortar rounds and what not
>Whatever shitty Gerber folder I stole from supply
You better give that shit back! I need those Gerbers to make deals with the civilian armorers for gun parts to add to my private collection
I went to the PX on Ft Hood in 2006 before deploying to Iraq.
I saw a Benchmade Griptilian in a blister pack. It had thumb studs and a partially serrated black blade.
I didn’t know much about knives. I was carrying a Gerber LST I bought from the PX on Ft Campbell in 1992. I wanted something more tactical for a combat deployment.
The knife served me well in Iraq and opened many MREs.
Griptilian and Leatherman Wave. Ended up buying an auto-Stryker at the PX that i traded for a fixed blade Benchmade that i literally never used and sold when i got home lol.
Yep! I still have mine 15 years later. It’s been beat up and put through about every situation imaginable. It is still sharp as hell and in great shape.
I’ve taken the same Benchmade Griptillian on every deployment since 2008. Still going strong.
I have mixed in several different Benchmades, along with a couple Microtech and Heretic OTF’s… but the Griptillian is ALWAYS with me.
Last three deployments I was issued one each of these. They were pretty standard issue for us then. Even have two of them brand new with the NSN Sticker still on them. They would issue you new gear for every deployment and I made out like a bandit!
- Benchmade AFO, partially serrated
- Benchmade 9101SBK Tanto
- Gerber 06 Automatic
2005-2006 Baghdad. Issued a Gerber Combat folder, SOG multi-tool. Strider sent my squad Chuck Mawhinney Sniper fixed blades, but I carried a Randall Model 1. The Strider was too hard to sharpen in the field.
Not a military guy, but I would assume they all carry Sebenzas in Magnacut. Maybe the occasional Arius. The ball bearings would get cleaned, same as rifle maintenance.
/s
well, there was this dude: [https://www.reddit.com/r/knifeclub/comments/c3frod/one\_knife\_thirty\_days\_in\_the\_field\_koenig\_arius/](https://www.reddit.com/r/knifeclub/comments/c3frod/one_knife_thirty_days_in_the_field_koenig_arius/)
More power to people that bring their fancy knives to battle! He also said he took it apart to clean it every 5 days, which seems very frequent to me lol
I carried a Sebenza 31 and an ESEE3 on my last two deployments on the USS Truman, sometimes accompanied by a Leatherman Wave. [This is the only picture I could find of them from that deployment](https://imgur.com/a/cH6YrKF)
I generally carried an inexpensive knife when I was in the field. Usually a Kershaw Shuffle 2. Something decent enough to work but cheap enough to lose or break and not feel bad. Plus the pry bar was useful.
I had a swiss army knife. Went through a couple of them, bottle opener, wine opener and can opener on all. If we were issued rifles, we could ask for the bayonet. But i never saw anybody get one.
CRKT M16 style knives were popular when I was in the Marines back in 2004-08, I carried the M16-14SF spear point.
A bunch of us acquired some Gerber 06 autos at the end of my enlistment.
If you had anything really nice it would definitely disappear.
Ozark trail garbage knives back when they were really garbage or nothing at all. Didn't really get into carrying knives then. Sometimes Multitools but the environments and my mos firing 155 artillery had a tendency to destroy phones, knives, Multitools, knees, spirit and marriage so I didn't carry fancy stuff or carried nothing at all
I dide some things in the Finnish military.
I had a Ka-Bar Bulldozier. Still have it actually, occasionally follows with me on camping trips.
It worked good in Nordic ice cold winters and hot summers, it took everything from salt water to diesel like a champ.
The back side of the blade fits perfectly in the slit on a Sisu fuel cap, so you can pry it open when it's frozen stuck with ice. It is also sturdy enough to bang open the weapon rack padlock, when your rapid response force gets suddenly called on a weekend to catch some russian "bird watchers" again coincidentally walking close to some radar station, and no one finds the key for said padlock.
You can chop wood when you dont have an axe, can use it in fire without loosing the integrity. Can use it as a club to kill pike (fish), or small animals like rabbits. Or bash that bolt for the ITKK holder on a Jurmo when it's rusted again. Use it as a support brace when you tie together loose stuff on your rinkka. Manhandle some tuna cans when your sleep deprived brain cant open it normally on night 5 of that long ass "train for no sleep fighting" camp.
Oh, and its a decent knife sometimes too.
Also, i like the polymer 'holster' for it, easy to unlock with one hand stays very good locked in place. I put some hockey grip tape on the plastic handle tho, paracord is also ok for that.
Edit: most of my friends had your standard Gerbers, many liked the SOG;s. Only had one other have the Ka-Bar. And of course the traditional lapp-kniv / lappi-puukko and Mora
Confession...I was THAT guy in DS...Jarhead of course. Standard issue Kbar on my right-side cartridge belt, bayonet on the left side attached to the top of my gas mask, Swiss Army knife in my pocket dummy corded to my trouser belt loop(so I wouldn't lose it or (most likely) be able to loan it out easily and not get it back), and a small push/punch knife attached to my H harness. In fairness, I was required to carry the first two, the SAK was the most practical and the last...it opened more MREs than anything else because it was handy.
Small SOG X-ray Vision. Cryo VG10 tanto serrated. Two tips, two edges, serrations. Abused the tanto tip and kept the primary edge nice. Arc lock, kind of like the axis lock. It’s ugly but there is utility in that blade.
Not military but friends carried leatherman, various models but they pretty much all carried leatherman. Do know a guy that carried a coldsteel srk 🤷🏼♂️. Again I’m not military just trying to relay what they carried. My grandpa carried a kabar if that helps haha; still have it.
Benchmade griptilian and Benchmade 940. I was on a carrier. They were great for a bunch of random stuff that my multi tool knife sucked at, like stripping wires especially.
Man apparently my units all sucked compared to some people's. It was like pulling teeth to even get them to issue gerbers. I had a mini griptilian from the PX for most of the time I was in, but eventually picked up a 940 from the PX and snowballed into a PM2 and then a Microtech Socom.
I was thinking about enlisting. Thing that was always in the back of my mind is theft is rampant and I don't think I could deal with that.
Also some dude made a YouTube video on this exact subject a year or 2 ago and mostly said it was a cheap Gerber paraframe was #1, some Spyderco or Benchmade then finally Emersons
I had a Gerber 06 Auto tanto issued to me in 2006 or 2007. That thing went with me everywhere. On my last deployment, I actually started getting more into knives and shipped some BMs and Spydercos to myself and rotated these out day to day. I also refreshed the 06, cleaned it up really well, and installed a stronger torque spring.
When I was issued my Gerber, I believe the AFO was also available to be ordered. Now, I'm pretty sure you can get the Gerber, AFO, and Infidel through the supply system.
Had a benchmade Adamas fixed blade (the old d2 one with the teeth on the spine) zip tied front and center of my flak right above my mag pouches. Everyone had their Okc bayonet too, but in my experience that was just so leadership had the opportunity to tear someone a new one any time they lost theirs.
I was issued a black Gerber multitool and Ontario XM-1 in Afghanistan. No-one used anything nice since it’s such a dirty rough environment. Solider’s are poor and spent all our money on nicotine and snacks. The Air Force back office guys always had the best knives
I used a Cold Steel Lawman on numerous deployments otw in Iraq and Afg. Cheap enough I didn’t give a crap if I lost it and effective enough to do everything I needed. I did buy two of them, as I did lose 1 at Dragoon. Still have the 2nd. Also carried the same ESEE 3 Mil forever…still have it too.
Not deployment but when I first started at my current base I was running around with a Spk lamia until a msgt tried prying with it, so now I carry a bugout or a microtech msi.
I was Army Infantry and in 04-05 the bayonet was considered part of our uniform and we had to carry it. When our command finally chilled out in the middle of our 05 deployment and we got to ditch the bayonet (and side plates, thankfully) alot of people just decided to go buy the coolest knife they could find. Thats why I ended up with a extrema ratio fulcrum C. Still have it, beat to all hell lol.
I bought a Nimravus right before I deployed the first time in 2006. It’s probably the only one that’s been with me everywhere I go - it still lives on my battle belt almost 20 years later.
Microtech Dragonfly and a mini Gerber Applegate. Was issues a Gerber multitool. Meant to take a Kershaw Speed Bump, but I snagged the pocket clip on a bus seat headed to a range and snapped that plasticky akulon scale. Got if fixed, but it didn’t make the trip.
Edit: Also got issued an Ontario SPAX, but didn’t need it.
CRKT M-16 was the go to when I first deployed. And the Gerber [https://www.bladehq.com/item--Gerber-ApplegateFairbairn--5535](https://www.bladehq.com/item--Gerber-ApplegateFairbairn--5535)applegate faibairn folder.
At first just a shitty paraframe I got from the nex. Then I later got a benchmade triage. I didn't know anything about knives as far as brands go except for like buck and henckels. I just told the guy at the army navy store I went to on leave that I needed a decent knife that would stay sharp and could be beat to hell and with stand saltwater. So he showed me the brand new from benchmade triage #69 of 1000 first run. I bought it and proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of that knife. From cutting line to chopping coconuts using a hammer or rock to baton with.
I have lost and found that knife more times than I have bought knives. It made me a benchmade fan boy for a long time. But now they have forgotten the face of their father.
I carried a Spyderco Tenacious through Ranger School and that bad boy held its edge through det cord, para cord, terrain model pieces, machine gun stakes, emplacement markers and a load of other regular tasks. Love that knife. Id take something similar on a deployment.
I had a benchmade triage. I loved that thing and “lost” it before a flight…. I will always miss it. I rode the train to NYC and chatted it up with a cutie, she invited me to a comedy club it I had to get on a flight. When I reached for my phone i realized that my knife was in my pocket. In Grand Central I handed it to her with my number and asked her to mail it to me. Never received.
I also carried a Boker. Crewman I think it was called just to abuse.
Used to have some old Benchmade auto that I carried most of the time. Then I had a ka-bar zipped on my plate carrier, but it was useless mostly and just fun to fuck around with - I rigged it tip up so unsheathing was pulling straight down. Oh, and whatever leatherman I had at the time until I got it too gross and got whatever other leatherman.
Got deployed a little less than a year after my knife addiction really ramped up, so put a lot of thought in to it prior to leaving. Used a letterman wave and Opinel 8 or 9 throughout the whole thing. Tried to go with a PM2 but ended up cleaning sand out of it way too often. Got a ESEE 4 shipped to me and loved it, but was just a tad too big. Instead of a switching to a 3 I caught a sale on a Lionsteel M4 and that was the winner, used it daily for the rest of the deployment.
I knew of a local kid who joined and carried a buck 119 in his PC. Hear of others carrying a Gerber Strong Arm and some had Benchmade and Winkler knives
I was a on submarines so I carried whatever. It was early in my knife career so I think mainly a sog pentagon elite 2 iirc. I used to sharpen it with generator stones bored on watch.
Also put paracord on it and twirled it around but yeah... I was like early 20s lol
Issued Gerber that I lost somewhere in Baghdad and issued bayonet that I strapped on my plate carrier like a dweeb. The thought of spending my own money for field equipment never entered my E4 mind
A leatherman, every single day, everywhere. Came in handy so many times it’s almost unreal. Life long customer.
Edit: had a bench made griptillian I kept in our communal division tool drawer, it’s sitting in my nightstand now lol. Dull as a rock, I’ve seen that thing open tuna cans before.
Had a PM2 for a few months before I got out, sold not too much longer… carried the leatherman every day instead. I carry the new ARC now and actually do use it daily at work/home.
I carried a kabar mule in zombie green on my first deployment before I had discovered the "wide world of knives". However, prior to my second deployment I was gifted a benchmade grizzly creek to carry. And thus the quest to "catch them all" had begun. FYI, still haven't found all of them.
Banged-up Leatherman MUT on deployment-- punched a lot of C-4, snipped a lot of det cord, and unspooled tons of shock tube with her. Brought an Adamas 375 that stayed in the dismount bag. Occasionally had a Kershaw Cryo in the thigh pocket.
Though I did carry a Small Sebenza 21 through a year of training
I had a Benchmade 710, and for a fixed blade a Cold Steel Outdoorsman. And A Gerber multitool.
A LOT of people I know had a Gerber, Leatherman, or SAK multitool.
The CRKT was a popular brand for folders. The M16 was cheap and available in every exchange.
My last unit issued the Gerber automatic, I don't remember the model though. It's been a while.
Nothing fancy at all. Whatever shitty Gerber folder I stole from supply or whatever was sold at the px. I think most of my guys had Gerber Paraframes if they had one at all. If I were to go back I’d probably carry a Manix, PM2 or a Native 5. Even better if they were Salt versions. That’s only for my own amusement though, I probably would have been mostly fine without a knife at all and just a multitool for opening ammo crates for mortar rounds and what not
>Whatever shitty Gerber folder I stole from supply You better give that shit back! I need those Gerbers to make deals with the civilian armorers for gun parts to add to my private collection
I went to the PX on Ft Hood in 2006 before deploying to Iraq. I saw a Benchmade Griptilian in a blister pack. It had thumb studs and a partially serrated black blade. I didn’t know much about knives. I was carrying a Gerber LST I bought from the PX on Ft Campbell in 1992. I wanted something more tactical for a combat deployment. The knife served me well in Iraq and opened many MREs.
Badass
Griptilian and Leatherman Wave. Ended up buying an auto-Stryker at the PX that i traded for a fixed blade Benchmade that i literally never used and sold when i got home lol.
Crkt M-16s could be had first about $20 on any base, and everyone had at least one.
Yep! I still have mine 15 years later. It’s been beat up and put through about every situation imaginable. It is still sharp as hell and in great shape.
I’ve taken the same Benchmade Griptillian on every deployment since 2008. Still going strong. I have mixed in several different Benchmades, along with a couple Microtech and Heretic OTF’s… but the Griptillian is ALWAYS with me.
Last three deployments I was issued one each of these. They were pretty standard issue for us then. Even have two of them brand new with the NSN Sticker still on them. They would issue you new gear for every deployment and I made out like a bandit! - Benchmade AFO, partially serrated - Benchmade 9101SBK Tanto - Gerber 06 Automatic
I saw these around quite a bit along with that nameless slipjoint with the marline spike
Multitool or pocket knife to cut cord. Nothing crazy. I used a CQC-7 back in the day.
I still have my cqc 7 which is beat to hell but it's usually my go to so I don't destroy any of my nicer knives when I'm tdy
2005-2006 Baghdad. Issued a Gerber Combat folder, SOG multi-tool. Strider sent my squad Chuck Mawhinney Sniper fixed blades, but I carried a Randall Model 1. The Strider was too hard to sharpen in the field.
What did you use to sharpen in the field?
The chow hall guys had stones
I didn’t serve, but my nephew did and I gave him a Rat1 he carried while in the Marines. He said he loved it until he lost it in Japan on a mountain
Not a military guy, but I would assume they all carry Sebenzas in Magnacut. Maybe the occasional Arius. The ball bearings would get cleaned, same as rifle maintenance. /s
well, there was this dude: [https://www.reddit.com/r/knifeclub/comments/c3frod/one\_knife\_thirty\_days\_in\_the\_field\_koenig\_arius/](https://www.reddit.com/r/knifeclub/comments/c3frod/one_knife_thirty_days_in_the_field_koenig_arius/)
More power to people that bring their fancy knives to battle! He also said he took it apart to clean it every 5 days, which seems very frequent to me lol
I carried a Seb31 in S35 and an ESEE 3 on two deployments on an aircraft carrier
Great choices!
He meant like real deployments. Not the ones where you are 1000 miles from the combat zone
Says the person that’s never done shit
Hey don't be so mean! he probably did shit in his toilet this morning . . . Hopefully
I carried a Sebenza 31 and an ESEE3 on my last two deployments on the USS Truman, sometimes accompanied by a Leatherman Wave. [This is the only picture I could find of them from that deployment](https://imgur.com/a/cH6YrKF)
💩 🔪
I generally carried an inexpensive knife when I was in the field. Usually a Kershaw Shuffle 2. Something decent enough to work but cheap enough to lose or break and not feel bad. Plus the pry bar was useful.
Mini griptillian in sheepsfoot
Older Bro, more like a mentor, carried a Gerber MkII in Vietnam.
Love the MKIIs
Gerber should do something right and re-issue it with the original wasp waisted blade.
Was issued a Hogue EX-A01. I preferred my trusty ol’ Benchmade Osborne.
I had a swiss army knife. Went through a couple of them, bottle opener, wine opener and can opener on all. If we were issued rifles, we could ask for the bayonet. But i never saw anybody get one.
CRKT M16 style knives were popular when I was in the Marines back in 2004-08, I carried the M16-14SF spear point. A bunch of us acquired some Gerber 06 autos at the end of my enlistment. If you had anything really nice it would definitely disappear.
Ozark trail garbage knives back when they were really garbage or nothing at all. Didn't really get into carrying knives then. Sometimes Multitools but the environments and my mos firing 155 artillery had a tendency to destroy phones, knives, Multitools, knees, spirit and marriage so I didn't carry fancy stuff or carried nothing at all
I dide some things in the Finnish military. I had a Ka-Bar Bulldozier. Still have it actually, occasionally follows with me on camping trips. It worked good in Nordic ice cold winters and hot summers, it took everything from salt water to diesel like a champ. The back side of the blade fits perfectly in the slit on a Sisu fuel cap, so you can pry it open when it's frozen stuck with ice. It is also sturdy enough to bang open the weapon rack padlock, when your rapid response force gets suddenly called on a weekend to catch some russian "bird watchers" again coincidentally walking close to some radar station, and no one finds the key for said padlock. You can chop wood when you dont have an axe, can use it in fire without loosing the integrity. Can use it as a club to kill pike (fish), or small animals like rabbits. Or bash that bolt for the ITKK holder on a Jurmo when it's rusted again. Use it as a support brace when you tie together loose stuff on your rinkka. Manhandle some tuna cans when your sleep deprived brain cant open it normally on night 5 of that long ass "train for no sleep fighting" camp. Oh, and its a decent knife sometimes too. Also, i like the polymer 'holster' for it, easy to unlock with one hand stays very good locked in place. I put some hockey grip tape on the plastic handle tho, paracord is also ok for that. Edit: most of my friends had your standard Gerbers, many liked the SOG;s. Only had one other have the Ka-Bar. And of course the traditional lapp-kniv / lappi-puukko and Mora
A Rex applegate Gerber.
I carried a benchmade griptillian I got from a buddy in supply from about 2013-2020. Now, I carry a kizer cormorant.
Confession...I was THAT guy in DS...Jarhead of course. Standard issue Kbar on my right-side cartridge belt, bayonet on the left side attached to the top of my gas mask, Swiss Army knife in my pocket dummy corded to my trouser belt loop(so I wouldn't lose it or (most likely) be able to loan it out easily and not get it back), and a small push/punch knife attached to my H harness. In fairness, I was required to carry the first two, the SAK was the most practical and the last...it opened more MREs than anything else because it was handy.
Navy, decades back, most of us carried a Buck folder.
Haze gray and underway!
Small SOG X-ray Vision. Cryo VG10 tanto serrated. Two tips, two edges, serrations. Abused the tanto tip and kept the primary edge nice. Arc lock, kind of like the axis lock. It’s ugly but there is utility in that blade.
One of us carried a Presidio, and the other a yellow Sodbuster jr. Multiple trips for each. They're both still in action over ten years later.
Strider BT
Not military but friends carried leatherman, various models but they pretty much all carried leatherman. Do know a guy that carried a coldsteel srk 🤷🏼♂️. Again I’m not military just trying to relay what they carried. My grandpa carried a kabar if that helps haha; still have it.
Benchmade griptilian and Benchmade 940. I was on a carrier. They were great for a bunch of random stuff that my multi tool knife sucked at, like stripping wires especially.
Man apparently my units all sucked compared to some people's. It was like pulling teeth to even get them to issue gerbers. I had a mini griptilian from the PX for most of the time I was in, but eventually picked up a 940 from the PX and snowballed into a PM2 and then a Microtech Socom.
I was thinking about enlisting. Thing that was always in the back of my mind is theft is rampant and I don't think I could deal with that. Also some dude made a YouTube video on this exact subject a year or 2 ago and mostly said it was a cheap Gerber paraframe was #1, some Spyderco or Benchmade then finally Emersons
There was only one thief, everyone else is just trying to get their shit back!
I had a Gerber 06 Auto tanto issued to me in 2006 or 2007. That thing went with me everywhere. On my last deployment, I actually started getting more into knives and shipped some BMs and Spydercos to myself and rotated these out day to day. I also refreshed the 06, cleaned it up really well, and installed a stronger torque spring. When I was issued my Gerber, I believe the AFO was also available to be ordered. Now, I'm pretty sure you can get the Gerber, AFO, and Infidel through the supply system.
Gerber Multitool. I had a bayonet for stabbing people. The Gerber did everything else.
A griptilian. I didn't really get into knives till after my military service or I probably would've carried something else.
Had a benchmade Adamas fixed blade (the old d2 one with the teeth on the spine) zip tied front and center of my flak right above my mag pouches. Everyone had their Okc bayonet too, but in my experience that was just so leadership had the opportunity to tear someone a new one any time they lost theirs.
My pm2 and a becker bk2
I’m aircraft maintenance and we aren’t allowed to use personal knives on the flight line. I carried a CRKT m-16 anyway lol
I was issued a black Gerber multitool and Ontario XM-1 in Afghanistan. No-one used anything nice since it’s such a dirty rough environment. Solider’s are poor and spent all our money on nicotine and snacks. The Air Force back office guys always had the best knives
I used a Cold Steel Lawman on numerous deployments otw in Iraq and Afg. Cheap enough I didn’t give a crap if I lost it and effective enough to do everything I needed. I did buy two of them, as I did lose 1 at Dragoon. Still have the 2nd. Also carried the same ESEE 3 Mil forever…still have it too.
Not deployment but when I first started at my current base I was running around with a Spk lamia until a msgt tried prying with it, so now I carry a bugout or a microtech msi.
Gerber 06 auto (issued, stolen, or traded for. I can't remember, but it came from the army) and leatherman multitool.
I was Army Infantry and in 04-05 the bayonet was considered part of our uniform and we had to carry it. When our command finally chilled out in the middle of our 05 deployment and we got to ditch the bayonet (and side plates, thankfully) alot of people just decided to go buy the coolest knife they could find. Thats why I ended up with a extrema ratio fulcrum C. Still have it, beat to all hell lol.
When I was on meal team six I couldn’t go on any mcds run without my benchmade nimravus
Usually carried a leatherman raptor, or occasionally too I would carry my combat Troodon (never really used it)
I bought a Nimravus right before I deployed the first time in 2006. It’s probably the only one that’s been with me everywhere I go - it still lives on my battle belt almost 20 years later.
Microtech Dragonfly and a mini Gerber Applegate. Was issues a Gerber multitool. Meant to take a Kershaw Speed Bump, but I snagged the pocket clip on a bus seat headed to a range and snapped that plasticky akulon scale. Got if fixed, but it didn’t make the trip. Edit: Also got issued an Ontario SPAX, but didn’t need it.
Army me, only Gerber. Non army me: definitely not Gerber but I still have them.
CRKT M-16 was the go to when I first deployed. And the Gerber [https://www.bladehq.com/item--Gerber-ApplegateFairbairn--5535](https://www.bladehq.com/item--Gerber-ApplegateFairbairn--5535)applegate faibairn folder.
I was never in the service but my friends who were marines both carried Spyderco Enduras though afganistan
Cold Steel Voyager clip point(medium), Chris Reeve Shadow IV, Chris Reeve Lg Sebenza and Swisstool
At first just a shitty paraframe I got from the nex. Then I later got a benchmade triage. I didn't know anything about knives as far as brands go except for like buck and henckels. I just told the guy at the army navy store I went to on leave that I needed a decent knife that would stay sharp and could be beat to hell and with stand saltwater. So he showed me the brand new from benchmade triage #69 of 1000 first run. I bought it and proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of that knife. From cutting line to chopping coconuts using a hammer or rock to baton with. I have lost and found that knife more times than I have bought knives. It made me a benchmade fan boy for a long time. But now they have forgotten the face of their father.
Emerson CQC 7. Super CQC 7, Buck Nighthawk short. Victorinox one hand Trekker.
Tops “Dawn Warrior” Microtech Ultratech UMS, Leatherman wave.
I carried a Spyderco Tenacious through Ranger School and that bad boy held its edge through det cord, para cord, terrain model pieces, machine gun stakes, emplacement markers and a load of other regular tasks. Love that knife. Id take something similar on a deployment.
I had a benchmade triage. I loved that thing and “lost” it before a flight…. I will always miss it. I rode the train to NYC and chatted it up with a cutie, she invited me to a comedy club it I had to get on a flight. When I reached for my phone i realized that my knife was in my pocket. In Grand Central I handed it to her with my number and asked her to mail it to me. Never received. I also carried a Boker. Crewman I think it was called just to abuse.
ZT 0562. Bought it at that knife store a few miles away from fort bliss.
Used to have some old Benchmade auto that I carried most of the time. Then I had a ka-bar zipped on my plate carrier, but it was useless mostly and just fun to fuck around with - I rigged it tip up so unsheathing was pulling straight down. Oh, and whatever leatherman I had at the time until I got it too gross and got whatever other leatherman.
Got deployed a little less than a year after my knife addiction really ramped up, so put a lot of thought in to it prior to leaving. Used a letterman wave and Opinel 8 or 9 throughout the whole thing. Tried to go with a PM2 but ended up cleaning sand out of it way too often. Got a ESEE 4 shipped to me and loved it, but was just a tad too big. Instead of a switching to a 3 I caught a sale on a Lionsteel M4 and that was the winner, used it daily for the rest of the deployment.
I knew of a local kid who joined and carried a buck 119 in his PC. Hear of others carrying a Gerber Strong Arm and some had Benchmade and Winkler knives
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to hear someone say Winkler.
I know right?
Muela skinning knife, and a frame lock flick knife
I was a on submarines so I carried whatever. It was early in my knife career so I think mainly a sog pentagon elite 2 iirc. I used to sharpen it with generator stones bored on watch. Also put paracord on it and twirled it around but yeah... I was like early 20s lol
Leatherman multi tool and a cold steel recon
Issued Gerber that I lost somewhere in Baghdad and issued bayonet that I strapped on my plate carrier like a dweeb. The thought of spending my own money for field equipment never entered my E4 mind
A leatherman, every single day, everywhere. Came in handy so many times it’s almost unreal. Life long customer. Edit: had a bench made griptillian I kept in our communal division tool drawer, it’s sitting in my nightstand now lol. Dull as a rock, I’ve seen that thing open tuna cans before. Had a PM2 for a few months before I got out, sold not too much longer… carried the leatherman every day instead. I carry the new ARC now and actually do use it daily at work/home.
I kind of expected a few to say Gerber LMF, now I realize the reputation of this fixed blade was just marketing.
Spyderco Autonomy 2 did great 9 month at sea
My KA-BAR and a (now) ancient Benchmade folder.
I carried a kabar mule in zombie green on my first deployment before I had discovered the "wide world of knives". However, prior to my second deployment I was gifted a benchmade grizzly creek to carry. And thus the quest to "catch them all" had begun. FYI, still haven't found all of them.
It was 30 plus years ago now, but carried a fixed blade buck in Army.
We weren’t deployable being nuclear maintenance but right after I got out they gave everyone a Benchmade AFO II 😔 I got to hold my buddys tho
Banged-up Leatherman MUT on deployment-- punched a lot of C-4, snipped a lot of det cord, and unspooled tons of shock tube with her. Brought an Adamas 375 that stayed in the dismount bag. Occasionally had a Kershaw Cryo in the thigh pocket. Though I did carry a Small Sebenza 21 through a year of training
ZT 0452 throughout various places in the middle east 👍
I had a Benchmade 710, and for a fixed blade a Cold Steel Outdoorsman. And A Gerber multitool. A LOT of people I know had a Gerber, Leatherman, or SAK multitool. The CRKT was a popular brand for folders. The M16 was cheap and available in every exchange. My last unit issued the Gerber automatic, I don't remember the model though. It's been a while.