Need some "gift" advice

[Jim Lapenta]

Did not know who else to ask without giving it away. My son is USAF heading to Iraq mid December. His birthday is November 14th. He is an aircrew member (Air Borne Linguist/Tactical Sensor Operator). I want to get him a knife to take with him. He and I are both into blades. Problem is when I brought up the subject he seemed to indicate that the type I had in mind would be too big for him to carry? I was looking along the lines of a fixed blade Tanto but I'm getting the idea that a folding pocket type tactical would be better for him. Problem is I don't know which one would be most useful on an aircraft or God forbid in a situation where he would need to leave the plane for some reason before it landed(parachute). I also would like it to be useful in a hand to hand or hand to throat or kidney situation. Easy or relatively easy to conceal as well would be a plus. Willing to spend up to $125-150. Looked at the Randall Airman but at 500 bucks it's out of my range and it's a fixed blade. Any advice especially from former SO personnel very welcome. Thanks. And a source would be nice as well.

 

[Froid]

Jim,

I called one of my family members that is a former SO and a current Government worker. He rotates between Iraq and Afghanistan. His group is made up of all former SO of different military branches. Here is his and his groups response to your question. please keep in mind, they can be blunt.


1) If your son is not a SO, He will not need a knife for fighting, make sure he is carrying a gun. If he is in a knife fight without a gun, the best thing to do is run away.

2) There is a need for 3 different types of knives/ tools that we carry. But knife is a personal thing. Our hands are all different and a knife's feel is different for each person.

Here is our suggestions.

Get a tanto blade Strider. Randall, Reeve or K Bar off ebay/Amazon. That is where a lot of us buy them. If your son is airborne most of the time, he must ABSOLUTLEY have a Kydex sheath for the knife. If he has to jump, a leather or Cordura sheath can either allow the knife to stick into his or his partners body. We all carry an a fixed blade knife. This is far more important than a folder. we use it to dig, pry, eat, and of course cut.

We carry a folder for the following: Cleaning our nails, cutting our MREs open. If you must have a folder, go with an Emerson CQC-6.

The most important thing you can get him is a leatherman wave. I think we use this more than anything we carry, including our guns. Do not get him the kind with the square shaped handles, it will pinch your hands.



Lastly,

Be glad he is up in the air. It is better to be there than on the ground.

 

[MBD0607]

Jim,
Gerber makes an Auto Folder that would fit the bill very nicely. Also check out Benchmade, as they have an Auto Folder that is kick ass, but you will pay for it.
Fixed blades are nice, but they are a pain to store and carry on you (anything hanging off your belt or body armor is a pain). As far as a multi-tool, check out Gerber, Leatherman, or SOG.

If he absolutely wants a fixed blade, the SEAL Pup from SOG is a good design, and it won't break the bank. We were issued some Fixed blade knives, and while they were very nice, they were also impractical for what we were going to be doing. Mine ended up in my gun safe, and I took a cheapie K-Bar with a synthetic handle (one I could be the crap out of, and not wig if it got trashed).

Hope this helps