Posted: 10/8/2008 6:19:20 AM EDT
 The founder of the U.S. Army Combatives is creating a new fighting knife designed specifically for hand-to-hand combat. Matt Larsen, who is the director of the combatives program at Fort Benning, Ga., has teamed up with knife makers Bill Harsey and Chris Reeve in a private venture to produce the LHR Combat Knife, a project that will be marketed by Gerber Legendary Blades next July. The current prototype features a 7-inch blade designed for thrusting and a molded plastic sheath with a custom "weapons retention" thumb release. The sheath will allow soldiers to access the knife quickly but prevent an attacker from snatching it away in a fight. The majority of soldiers purchase and carry their own fixed-blade knives into battle, but few if any, have ever used one in a fight, Larsen said, based on 900 documented accounts of hand-to-hand fights in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I have been training people to fight with knives" as part of the combatives program, but most knife-and-sheath combinations soldiers carry aren't designed for close-in fighting, Larsen told Army Times on Oct. 7 at Association of the United States Army's Annual Meeting. "There is not a knife out there that fits the bill. The knife didn't exist; the sheath didn't exist." This realization prompted Larsen to team up with Harsey and Reeve on the effort three years ago. Harsey and Reeve are well-known in the knife community and have designed other custom blades such as the Yarborough, a robust sheath knife awarded to soldiers after they complete the Special Forces qualification course. While it is intended as a fighting knife, the LHR's 3/16 inch thick blade is robust enough to hold up to field use. "It is primarily designed for thrusting, but soldiers being soldiers, it has got to be designed for some utility," Larsen said. The blade material will be a special alloy made by Crucible Specialty Tool Steel in Syracuse, N.Y., that's designed for rugged use, Harsey said. The knife will also be available in a 5-inch blade model. The main goal of the project is to make a quality knife that most soldiers can afford, Larsen said. The plan now is to market the knife for $150 to $200. |
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Cool. Looks like a good design. Harsey is a good guy, I talked with him briefly on the Internet once a few years ago. If I were going to design a knife, it would look something like this: i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll141/Bob1984_photo/knife.jpg Or like this: i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll141/Bob1984_photo/Bowie3.jpg I'm not a knife maker. I just used a MS Paint-type program and came up with these just now. |
Agreed. Plus, there's a little known knifemaker by the name of Mad Dog that probably has a couple of blades that are also good for fighting and everyday soldier use. |
pretty but there is nothing to protect your fingers |
Not so little known since "the rogue warrior" started referencing them in his books, and definitely not economical. BOT, I like it. Reminds me of an Entrek design. |
There is a long tradition in this country, and in its fight for independence, of individual soldiers outfitting themselves. But can someone explain why, with all the f***ing money thrown around for weapons systems development, WHY we can't send our soldiers out with a decent fighting knife? Or is this just marketing hype? ETA: not capnrob97, the company that wrote the copy capnrob97 quoted. |
I brought my tanto blade KA-BAR to Iraq. The cheap button on the sheath had came unbuttoned and it fell out somewhere. I'm still pissed that I lost it.  But I'm not seeing anything about that knife that would make it better than the tanto blade KA-BAR. Except maybe the sheath. |
Knives and bayonets just aren't considered important as weapons. As mentioned in the article, the vast majority of knife users will never be in a knife fight. I haven't seen very many knife designs that I would consider to be much of an improvement over the tried and true Ka-Bar for military purposes. I would imagine that the military tends to think the same way. I know that the military often won't stop using an item unless they find another item that is dramatically superior to the current issue item and available for an equal or lesser price. A lot of things are issued just because there isn't anything better available for the same price. This is the reason, by and large, why the M16 and the M9 (pistol) will be issued for a long time to come. |
| I don't see the point behind expensive ass knives other than the collecting/craftsmanship. I carry a $150 Benchmade folder which is bordering on absurdly expensive. If/when I lose it I'll probably replace it with a $100 Benchmade which to me seems like the most you should spend on a folder. If I wanted a fixed blade I'd buy at most something like a Benchmade Nimravus, Gerber LMF II or a Sog Seal Pup or similar cheapish fixed blade. Why spend a shit ton of money on a knife that you're likely to destroy or lose in field use. |
The handle is plastic and will slip out of your hands when there is but a little water/blood on them, the blade is cheap chinese steel that will break easy and will lose its edge easily. You wouldn't want to jump out of plane with a chinese parachute, so why would you want to defend yourself with a chinese knife? |
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Combat Gurus of various sorts have been making special knives for hundreds of years Here's one from the first half of the 20th Century. |
That looks like some kind of folding knife with no way to open it quickly. Beats a popsicle stick but a lot can go wrong trying to get something like that open. |
Something old is new again.  The RBD is the knife the Fairbain-Sykes replaced. www.gotavapen.se/gota/artiklar/fs/fs_knife1.htm
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1. Needs to be at least partially serrated. 2. Needs semi-large protruding pommel for hooking and hammer strikes. 3. Partial edge on back. 4. Blade need to be long enough to reach the heart from the subclavian stroke. 5. Textured grip for surehandedness and as importantly it needs to work in a up or down grip. Minor tool options like wire cutting would be a plus. |
Gerber MK II |
What's the point of serrated edges ? Most of my knives are plain-edged because I find serrations to be annoying to sharpen. |
Cook a steak then try to cut it with a letter opener. Should articulate itself pretty clearly. |
A good sturdy machete with a slight weight imbalance towards the blade side would serve you better. Something like a pole arm is actually best in a melee. Stabbing, range, hooking, prying, and hammering all in one. |
IIRC, The original MKIIs were smoothed edged and were popular in Vietnam. But after a while PX refused to carry them because they were "too brutal". So Gerber added the serratons and turned it into a "survival knife" instead of a "fighting knife". The PX started selling them again. As far as serrations in general, they add more cutting surface to the knife edge. |
Better than a machette Pole arms? |
The factory serrations on mine were pretty ineffective, I could see them being just for PX approval. A dremel tool with a cone shaped grinding stone bit on it works great for sharpening serrations BTW, |
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I was actually mostly joking, but you bring up an interesting point. I'm not too keen on getting into a West-Side story dance with some bad guy armed only with a K-Bar. I want something with some reach to keep me out of his slashing range. The machete might fit that bill...plus it's intimidating as hell. It won't just cut you, it'll take off a limb. |
It works well for the Philippine Marines. |