25 July 2018
That Fighting Knife
The US Army developed the M3 fighting knife in 1943 because they felt the troops needed a combat knife.
The M4, M5, M6 and M7 bayonets are simply M3 fighting knives with attachments for their respective guns.
The troops broke them by the case-load.
Why?
Because the troops also needed utility knives.
The USMC acknowledged this by issuing the Ka-Bar. It's kind of a mid-point between a utility and fighting knife.
The M9 bayonet appears to have dropped all pretense of being a fighting knife in favor of utility functions, even to the point of compromising its functionality as a fighting bayonet. It's function as a pointy thing on the end of a rifle to prod prisoners is uncompromised.
The USMC OKC-3S is more optimized for fighting. Kind of the philosophy of the ka-bar applied to a bayonet. Good as a fighting knife, good as a fighting bayonet, good for utility. That it was best at some of the categories is a plus, but not part of the goals.
I don't know if the Ka-bar is still issued alongside the bayonet or not. I know I've seen lots of pictures of Jarheads toting both.
The M4, M5, M6 and M7 bayonets are simply M3 fighting knives with attachments for their respective guns.
The troops broke them by the case-load.
Why?
Because the troops also needed utility knives.
The USMC acknowledged this by issuing the Ka-Bar. It's kind of a mid-point between a utility and fighting knife.
The M9 bayonet appears to have dropped all pretense of being a fighting knife in favor of utility functions, even to the point of compromising its functionality as a fighting bayonet. It's function as a pointy thing on the end of a rifle to prod prisoners is uncompromised.
The USMC OKC-3S is more optimized for fighting. Kind of the philosophy of the ka-bar applied to a bayonet. Good as a fighting knife, good as a fighting bayonet, good for utility. That it was best at some of the categories is a plus, but not part of the goals.
I don't know if the Ka-bar is still issued alongside the bayonet or not. I know I've seen lots of pictures of Jarheads toting both.
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I was not issued a bayonet by virtue of having a -203. But I carried a USMC marked Ka-Bar that my Jarhead cousin took with him when he was a FAC for 1st Mar Div in 2003.
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