I bought one a while back for $69 at a gunshow but I gave it to a friend as a present and now I want another one but everyone wants a bunch of money for them.Where is the cheapest source for these things?


Thanks

Where do they put the makers mark? I have one with a black blade that is marked "US" on one side of the blade and "M9 UTILITY" on the other. The sheath is marked "US" below the sharpening stone.

SOPMOD I'd stay away from LAN-CAY. Heard that they break under normal use. Check out Buck Knife forums for the history of M-9

Actually just the opposite is true the Lan-Cay is the PI(product improved)M9.It was the Buck and Phrobis with Buck blades that broke over and over again because they were too brittle/The Lan-Cay used radiused angles instead of right angles and has a less complex grind as well as doing away with the hollow ground edge which all make for a stronger bayonet even though it's thinner and takes an edge more easily.You need to go and read up on the M9 on some of the Army websites and Bayonet collector's pages and get the real scoop.Buck M9s are only worth more money because they are collectable but they are inferior as a fighting instrument.If you like I'll try to find the article that detailed all of the genreations,variations and improvements made on the M9 over the years so you can read up on it.

Always willing to learn more.thanks for info
Should have realized the Buck BB would be swayed.

I don't know much about the Bucks or Phrobis.  Only that they are damned expensive if you can find one.  

I went car camping early this spring and forgot to bring an axe (among other things) to cut fire wood.  All I had was my Lan-Cay M9 bayonet.  I used a large log as a hammer and the bayo as a wedge.  It split everything that I needed for two days and there isn't any noticeable damage to the blade.  I did have to resharpen it when I got home though.  I think you can trust it.

Yup,I thought the Buck would be the best one as well until I had a friend of mine talking about how M9 bayonets were crap and that they broke about half of the ones that were issued to his unit doing things like prying open crates and dropping them on the deck accidentally.This freaked me out because I couldn't believe that the US Military would issure such a piece of crap to our soldiers and I couldn't believe that if it sucked that bad that so many SF people would carry them as their primary fighting/utility knife.I researched it and found  several pages about the history of the M9 and all of the improvements and  corrections that were needed over the years to make it serve it's original purpose.It was very interesting to note that just adding radii to the tang blade juncture and reducing the hardness made the bayonet 3 times as strong and that the latest versions are thinner than the original buck and phrobis models but are much tougher and sharper because of seemingly minute design changes.It's pretty interesting.The Marines are testing a full tang variant of the M9 with a larger blade right now and I would really like to see one of those end up in on my LBE if they ever get adopted.Anyway it's always good to share info amongst the "bruthas" here on AR15.com.

Back to the original question...

Is there a source for these that is relatively inexpensive?

Also, I see that Ontario and LAN-CAY split the last M9.  Has anyone heard how they compare to LAN-CAY?

Thanks

Sometimes you will see them sell on Ebay cheap.

I've heard (not seen) that the Ontario M9s are a funky color green.  Not that it makes a lot of difference or anything, just that they're even uglier than the others.