What Spyderco if you were in the Military?

[Doc Dan]

In honor those of us who served in the military, I thought I'd make this thread. If you were in the military still, or are in the military, which Spyderco would you want to carry and why?

I think I'd want an Enuff Salt and an Endura, or perhaps a Moran and an Endura. The Enuff Salt and Moran are light weight and the military already loads a ton of stuff on their people. Building shelters, cutting roots, opening metal cans, and etc. are normal fare. The Endura is a good sized folder that carries small in the pocket. It could get put to the same abuse, but it is easy to carry.

[Mrj]

A 15v shaman and any larger salt knife.

[ladybug93]

this pair!

[Danke]

I think an Endura would be my pick also after casting my mind back to how we treated knives.

[dan31]

From my service experience, a pacific salt se is about perfect. I carried a Mariner se and it took a beating and could always cut

[Hopsbreath]

Somebody once asked Sal a similar question…

[navin johnson]

Good multi-tool

[aicolainen]

Ohh..
It’s been a while, but I think my priorities would be pretty similar to my current outdoor and SAR situation.
I’d want a utilitarian folding knife that could do a variety of tasks from food prep to assisting with first aid work and be as lightweight, unnoticeable and maintenance free as possible when not in use. A Salt 2 would be very close to a favorite folder choice. Very light and compact, yet large enough for most folding knife tasks. Unfortunately it’s just a tad too small for easy manipulation with certain gloves. So to cover all bases I’d probably go with a PE ffg pac salt. CE if I had the option.

The fixed blade has to cover everything else, including the tactical aspect, so here I’d probably opt for the Street Beat or Street Bowie. Blacked out, a substantial finger guard that improves safety when pushed into sketchy situations and Bowie style clip point that has a pretty significant track record for …survival. I haven’t had the pleasure of trying either, but I imagine I’d run into the same dilemma as with the folders. Intuitively I think the Street Beat should suffice for almost every fixed blade task, except when it doesn’t.

[kobold]

Military camo / DLC & Vic Explorer SAK. :-)

[Mrj]

Maybe one of these. Speaking for the Air Force

[The Mastiff]

LC 200n Salt SE . I'm not a stainless guy but I recall being outdoors and wet for weeks at a time in the army. Weighed down like mules as well. I didn't have time for sharpening and probably would not have carried any sharpening equipment.

[Dazen]

I carried SE Endura’s while I was in and lost all of them, and I would choose the same again.

It was the perfect gateway Spyderco that got me hooked. Not too expensive, a work horse and plenty rust proof in ocean.

[Manixguy@1994]

Left hand Military for me , second choice would be Pacific Salt SE Black . Dan

[James Y]

Probably a H1/H2 SE Pacific Salt. Tough, light, good-sized, highly useful, easy to maintain, and not too "cool-looking" or expensive.

I've heard from a few guys who served that, in the military, nice, expensive/highly sought-out knives sometimes have a tendency to "grow legs and walk away."

Jim

[Brock O Lee]

That's a no-brainer for me! Military DLC, camo or black.

[Naperville]

No doubt a Spyderco Darn Dao. If I was going into battle and my rifle failed me, I'd want another weapon ASAP.

[elena86]

Military with black blade or SE Pack Salt with black blade.

[Blades]

I carried the same fully serrated G2 blade steel Endura from 1992(I think) until 2016. I almost lost it to airport security while passing through Germany in 1996. My wife and I vacationed in Colorado and we visited the Holy Place in Golden. I bought a fully serrated Salt 2 to replace it in 2016. I still carry the Salt 2(along with my CPM-M4 Military and PM2), and the G2 lives an easy life in a drawer. I was on active duty from 1986-1997.

[wrdwrght]

I’d probably carry something like what I carried during 1968-1969 (as here, while an Artillery FO with the ARVN 36th Ranger Battalion).


Just like one below, it’s a Camillus fixed-blade (which quickly replaced the ridiculously-limited Gerber Mark II I had naively bought in a stateside PX).



I beat the **** out of mine, stabbing (C-rats, not people), prying, digging, and sawing, as well as slashing (light vegetation, not people) and cutting. And it kept coming back for more.

I would not carry a Spydie folder into combat as my only knife. Too delicate and finicky for combat’s brutish demands.

Based on my experience with an Enuff Salt, I would consider carrying an Enuff2 drop-point, provided the blade’s thickness is carried almost to its point, provided the blade is SE if H2 or PE if MagnaCut, and provided the handle and blade are a dull black.

[Tristan_david2001]

I don’t like military’s, but, g10 calypso.