A Cut Above: Knives Fit for Special Forces
.jpg)
by Michael Burnett,
SOTECH Correspondent
Special operators have lots of uses for knives, which can open supplies, cut webbing and stab enemies. But special operations also must travel light and stay hidden, so they need knives that can do the same.
Thus, lightweight knives benefit special forces personnel, who are concerned about being highly mobile and concealing as much of their weapons as possible. That’s why Mission Knives and Tools Inc. of Placentia, Calif., started making knives out of titanium, Bill Love, the company’s founder told Special Operations Technology.
“Titanium is about 40 percent lighter than steel. Special operations people save weight by cutting toothbrushes in half and so forth, so the value to them is very obvious. The alloy used for the blades is a very high-strength titanium alloy that is heattreated to about 200,000 tensile strength.”
Titanium also is totally immune to corrosion, Love explained, and as such does not require cleaning. The sheaths of steel blades exposed to a saltwater environment can collect the water and corrode the blade. After returning from a mission, a Special operator may find his blade worn or dull too quickly. Titanium resists such corrosion, Love said. Because of that, titanium knives hold their edge much better than steel knives.
Love acknowledged that a steel knife would likely cut through hard materials better than a titanium knife, but a titanium knife would last longer under everyday conditions. Titanium knives also are non-magnetic, which is very useful in some military scenarios.
“Originally, the concept was to make a knife that would be superior for special operations groups,” Love noted. “We made some of the original presentations to Navy SEAL groups. The idea was that essentially you have a lighter weight knife that will do everything a steel knife does and more. People like the nonmagnetic qualities. It doesn’t retain magnetism at all. You have situations where that could be a good quality to have.”
For example, Mission Knives and Tools’ MPK Ti, one of its top products, was designed for use by the Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units. As a nonmagnetic knife, it would not trigger any sensitive magnetic mines. As a corrosion-resistant knife, it can withstand long exposure to seawater. The knife’s hytrel/ kevlar handle is tough enough to withstand adverse environments and even function as an extra tool that can pound nails.
The knife blade itself is extremely tough.
“I picked the titanium alloy,” Love said. “Most titanium alloys don’t require heat treating to high hardness. This alloy could be heat-treated to Rockwell C45 level. At that hardness level, it performs well as a blade material.”
SPECIALTY MISSIONS
Benchmade Knife Co., based in Oregon City, Ore., also specialized in tough knives for warfighters. Emily DuPlessis, Benchmade public relations coordinator, served in the Army National Guard and solicits feedback from soldiers and Marines on the Benchmade knives. The feedback she receives is universally appreciative of how tough the knives are and how well they handle.
“We have field reps that go out to different bases and visit and speak with the soldiers and Marines and find out exactly what they need—whether it be a fixed blade, rescue hook or folding automatic knife,” DuPlessis told SOTECH.
Benchmade makes certain to offer knives specifically for its military customers, separating them from their consumer knives. This enables the companies to concentrate on the special needs of military units.
“One of the features that we focus on, for example, is a nonreflective blade,” DuPlessis commented. “If we know the knife is going to be used in a field or theater situation, we don’t want to have any light reflect off. We make certain of that.
“We test the knives to standards that are very high. We use and abuse the knives before we put them in any Marine’s or soldier’s hands. We have product engineers who spend a lot of time making sure that we are giving our military the best of the best,” she added.
The company also ensures that all of its knives are produced and manufactured in its Oregon City facilities. The company particularly prides itself on hand-testing, hand-tooling and hand-sharpening all of its knives in the United States, DuPlessis stressed.
The company has three knives designed especially for military use that carry national stock numbers, making them readily available for ordering by military units. The U.S. Army gave Benchmark’s 7 hook/strap cutter its Rapid Fielding Initiative award in March 2007, providing soldiers with the means to acquire the blades quickly.
Benchmark touts the 7 Hook as a tool that could cut seatbelts quickly, freeing soldiers trapped in vehicles and perhaps helping them to escape improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The 7 Hook also slices quickly through clothing, or other material such as webbing, jackets or boots, to enable medical personnel to provide treatment to injured soldiers as quickly as possible.
The 7 Hook consists of a single piece of pure steel, a guarded cutting surface, and a polymer handle coating that permits an easy grip.
Benchmade also offers the 140 Nimravus fixed combat knife as either a single piece full-tang tanto or modified tanto blade shape. The blade measures 4.5 inches long and the knife weighs 6.2 ounces.
The company’s 5000 AutoPresidio automatic combat knife has a patented bi-directional patter for an improved grip and contains non-reflective components. It has a blade length of 3.42 inches and weighs 5.62 ounces.
KNIFE FIGHT
Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) of Wilsonville, Ore., prides itself on making blades that serve many purposes. But when push comes to shove, warfighters may want a knife that stands up in combat, Douglas Flagg, CRKT vice president of sales and marketing, told SOTECH.
“Military personnel want knives that will hold up and that they can rely upon in the worst conditions. They want something solid and strong and something that is not going to break,” Flagg remarked.
The most popular CRKT knife is the M16 series, designed by Kit Carson, Flagg said. The knife comes in different models with various blades, sizes and handle materials. The best selling model has a 3.5 inch blade, which generally meets a wide range of military needs.
“It’s popular because it’s good for everyday use, not only for a defensive knife but also for opening a can of rations or anything you use a knife for,” he noted.
After opening its doors in 1994 for sporting knives, CRKT quickly expanded into the military market, seeing a need for quality specialized knives for warfighters. A popular CRKT military specialty knife is the Hissatsu, designed by James Williams, a well-regarded military trainer. The Hissatsu has a fixed blade version that came out about five years ago and a folded blade version introduced just last year.
“The Hissatsu is designed for one purpose, and that is penetration,” Flagg declared. “The blade is specifically designed to penetrate. It is unbelievable. You can take the Hissatsu and punch it through plywood that a typical so-called military knife could not even penetrate. You can bury the blade all the way through half-inch plywood.”
CRKT also has developed a lock system called AutoLAWKS for its knives. Many folding knives come equipped with liner locks, which prevent the blade from folding. Warfighters can generally open and close a liner lock with one hand quickly and easily, Flagg commented, but grease and dirt can cause the locks to slip, which can cause the knife to fold suddenly.
AutoLAWKS turns a folding knife into a fixed blade knife, Flagg stated. AutoLAWKS automatically places a secondary safety in a folding knife’s open blade to ensure that it cannot possibly fold on the warfighter. AutoLAWKS is based on the Lake and Walker Knife which enables forward with knife lever. the release under the But consultants requires the the thumb could easily of sudden design to automatically metal bar from releasing.
FIXED VS. FOLDING
SOG Specialty Knives Inc. of Lynn wood, Wash., on the feedback from its inception. SOG Specialty Knives, named for the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), a covert opeations group during the Vietnam War, developed its first knife based on a knife used by those special operators, Chris Cashbaugh, SOG marketing director, told SOTECH.
"The founder of our company tracked down sources and one of the guys who made the original [SOG Bowie] knife and we reproduced the original. That was the founding of the company," Cashbaugh explained.
Since then, the company has developed fixed blade and foldign knives for multi-mission purposes, while specializing in meeting the needs of military warfighters. Its best-selling knife is the fixed blade Field Pup, which has a 4.75-inch blade. Navy SEALs have adopted the Field Pup as their knife of choice since its introduction about 15 years ago Cashbaugh said.
"The Navy SEALS put out a request for bid to all of the significant knife makers in the United States with specifications and testing,” Cashbaugh recounted. “We ended up tied as the winner for that. The other winner was a small custom knife maker who could not fulfill their request for product. We ended up being the official Navy SEAL knife for a while. Then they transitioned from that SEAL knife, which was a 7-inch blade, to the Field Pup. That knife has gone on to become our best-selling product.”
SEALs also like using folding knives under certain circumstances. SOG’s bestselling folding knife, the Trident, was codeveloped developed by an active-duty Navy SEAL who had an idea after a training exercise incident.
The SEAL was participating in an early training exercise where he parachuted out of an aircraft and into water, where he and his fellow trainees were to retrieve their gear, which was strapped to a Navy Zodiac hybrid boat. The Zodiac relies upon an inflatable hull to make it light and fast.
“He landed right next to the boat and he thought he would be a hotshot and pull out his knife and cut away the rigging,” Cashbaugh said. “A wave came up and he punctured the hull of the Zodiac and put his team at a disadvantage for the rest of the training exercise. He obviously got harassed for that quite a bit.”
Thinking there had to be a better knife for such a job, the SEAL cut away part of a handle from a SOG knife and discussed the design idea with the owner of the company. The result was the Trident folder, which has a groove in the handle that exposes the knife blade just enough to cut through webbing or similar material.
“You can cut the webbing without having the knife blade out. It works well for cord, fishing line, seat belts and things like that. That’s our best-selling folding knife,” Cashbaugh commented.
Overall, Cashbaugh sees folding knives used for such delicate closeup work like cutting rope or opening rations. Fixed blades, being heavier and studier, are best suited for chopping and tasks that occur at an arm’s length from the warfighter, he concluded. ♦