Rifles are my surgical instruments. A handgun or shotgun is a blunt instrument to be used only when a rifle is not available. A knife is needed when everything else went to hell.
During the Monk Marathon, I skipped a couple of eps I had already seen, and went back to work on those Camillus knives. I noticed the thong hole in the handle. The inside was "fuzzy" from drilling the micarta. I ran a reamer through the hole of each knife, and breathed a sigh of relief that I spotted something less-than-perfect that was corrected.
This should not be considered as an endorsement for putting a knife on a wrist thong or lanyard. The last thing I want is a blade I sharpened bouncing back at me if I dropped it. Baaaad tactical practice to have a blade tied to you.
While puttering around on the knives, I realized these were the first Hobbit Hole weapons going out to the troops. Although they will be listed as "utility knifes" on the customs form, they're not really practical for slitting open an MRE package, and there are very few tent pegs that need whittlin'.
I don't care if I have my trusty rifle and handgun with me. If I have to go out into badguy land, I'd feel positively naked without a good blade, even though the circumstances when I needed it were exactly zero.
Didn't we get an e-mail from a soldier who had used his to 'encourage' a bad guy to cooperate, when the guy wasn't intimidated by the other soldiers' guns?
I'm not much of a knife person, although an AG Russell (which I think is not a great knife) with a 3" blade lives in my pocket. I like it because, even folded, it is so slim that I hardly know it's there.
Favorite knife is my Forschner Victorinox filet knife with 8" curved blade, it can really cut up some fish, easy to sharpen, holds its edge, great piece of equipment, IMO.
Morning, everyone.