Hey everyone, David C. Andersen here coming
at you from the KnifeCenter and today we're going to be taking a look at the best American
made combat knives, you can get right now in 2020. Let's check them out. [KnifeCenter.com logo] So it's always a good time but now especially
so to buy American and we've got some great American combat knives to take a look at now. Now first before we get into it too deeply
I want to have a word about what constitutes a combat knife versus a tactical knife. Now in my mind there's definitely a distinction. Each seems to carry different connotations. Now in my mind tactical seems to encompass
more things like law enforcement Special Operations SWAT teams that sort of thing. Whereas combat to me connotes battlefield
use, it's much more military and soldier focused. Now there's definitely some overlap between
the two, but sort of like all combat knives or tactical knives, but not all tactical knives
or combat knives, things aren't always clear cut and is hard to truly pin down. And as you can see from my physique I've never
actually seen combat, but I do know a good knife when I see one. We're going to start with probably the most
famous combat knife in all the world it's an American icon, the KA-BAR USMC fighter,
which starts at just 85 bucks. Now this design is also called the Mark II
fighting knife in fact that was its name. When this design was adopted and produced
by many companies during World War Two, but KA-BAR of course is most heavily associated
with this design. It's been popular ever since as a knife that
can handle combat as well as day to day utility needs of our nation servicemembers basically
an evolution of the contemporary hunting knives at the time. The modern day version of this knife features
a seven inch clip point blade. It's made from 1095CV carbon steel with a
black coating. And that black coating is something you'll
see a lot on combat knives, because for one thing, it helps to minimize reflections, although
in the case of this knife in particular it also protects the carbon steel underneath
from rusting. We've got a saber grind on this knife with
flat bevels and an upswept clip point shape with a broad swedge. Now this feature here is called a four this
is not a blood groove as you'll hear some people refer to it as it's designed to take
a little bit of weight, out of the blade, as well as to help with lateral strength you
can kind of think of it like an I beam. It's got nothing to do with with liquid flowing
through there. And the handle itself is a nice oval cross
section fills the hand and indexes very nicely. The stacked leather, of course, is the classic
option, sometimes they can be really smooth but they've put a series of deep grooves around
it so you can still get plenty of positive retention in the hand. Unlike a lot of more Modern Combat knives. This is not a full tang design but it does
have a full length, reduced Tang going all the way to the back. Also, in contrast to a lot of more modern
designs, the sheath on the KA-BAR is about as classic as they come. It's just a simple leather drop sheath with
a snap retention loop at the top for the handle. This knife is still issue to troops to this
day, and it's definitely worth having an any knife collection out there, and it's still
a great place to start if you're just getting into combat knives. Now when I say this knife is probably the
most famous combat knife in the world, as you're about to see the DNA of this knife
is highly influential across the entire combat knife genre it's really baked into a lot of
different options out there, and I'm going to show you a few alternatives to this one
right now. For slightly more affordable option, you can
check out this knife right here it's the SP1 marine combat, which is part of Ontario knife
companies spec plus series, which is a great budget friendly line of blades still made
in the USA. This version I'm holding right here comes
in about $47 coming in right under that $50 price point which is a great place to be. It's still features 1095 carbon steel, but
they've also sharpened the back end of the swedge on this particular one, so it's going
to penetrate even better as well of course as working on the backstroke. The handles are nice grippy krayton, and they're
molded over the Tang itself. So that's definitely a bit of a more affordable
way of doing things which lets them get the price down, and the sheath itself is also
fairly simple. Again, you're going to make a few compromises
for this type of product at that price point if you want American made quality, and it's
still going to be a highly functional piece. Now Ontario also does a higher intake on the
Mark II, but it's still not terribly priced either. They call this the Chimera and it comes in
only about 120 bucks. Got an eight and a quarter inch blade of phosphate
coated 1095, and this knife is a beast. We've got a long straight clip point here. Nice acute tip a bit more acute In fact I
think then the KA-BAR, not sharpened up here though, but we do get some very broad serrations
at the base. We've got a krayton handle again that mimics
the shape of the stack leather of old, and a really aggressive bashing pommel here at
the end. Now the sheath itself is plastic, but it actually
calls to mind some of the old fiberglass or Bakelite, she is that we're using the world
war two era. I've actually got an old Camillus mark two
from late 44 to mid 45, and you can definitely see the family resemblance here. There's some MOLLE compatible strapping on
the back of this which of course the old one wouldn't have had. We've also got a nice ceramic rod here in
the sheath to help keep your edge in tip top shape, and it's even going to help with those
serrations. And you can even see that mark to influence
on knives with more modern styles of construction, including this half breed large infantry knife. In fact, you take a look at those two blades
side by side, and that's about as close as you can get without going for the original. He's got a full tang D2 blade here, the blade
itself has a bit of a broader swedge again something else that reminds me of my old,
my old camillus mark two. We've got some partial serrations here as
well as a very subtle for the guard on this knife is a little bit more subtle on the backside
which is going to make certain grips a little bit easier if you need to choke up on the
spine of the knife just a little bit, rather than krayton or stack leather handles we've
got G10 bolted onto the scales, again a very modern way of doing things. And instead of a buck cap, you get a protruding
Tang here at the back, and it comes down to an apex to concentrate your force on when
you want to use it for smashing the sheath itself is also more modern kicks in with positive
retention and it even comes with a large tek-lok on the back so that you can carry this all
kinds of different ways. Now, even when the direct influence is a little
more hidden the USMC fighter still throws its weight around like you see in this knife. The Becker BK7. Now in conversations I've had with Ethan Becker,
he told me that this knife actually arose from a conversation about how he would go
about redesigning the classic Mark II, and the BK7 is what he came up with. Now despite being a little bit larger overall
the weight is pretty much the same, because of course a soldier is going to be very conscious
about the amount of gear they are carrying since they have to schlep it around so much
shape itself of interest further from the archetype but you still get that seven inch
clip point blade and a guard at the back at least for the index fingers. The handles are also bolted on their synthetic
contoured very nicely and back to the blade itself, it's also 1095CV, because in a twist
of fate, even though this was designed when the Beckers were being made by Camillus the
modern BK7s are also made by KA-BAR, the sheath on the Becker's a little more plain, it's
just a simple nylon piece. We do have MOLLE compatible webbing on the
back as well as a Velcro and snap attached belt loop here at the top features a hard
plastic insert on the front with a nice loop for the handle, as well as a Velcro pouch
at the front for stashing some extra gear or sticking with some more modern overbuilt
stuff. We're going to start seeing some things that
stray a little bit further away from the USMC fighter formula. This first one is from Spartan knives, which
is a veteran owned and operated company. This is the Difensa. This was designed by Bill Harsey who actually
famously co designed the Chris Reeve Green Beret, which is another great combat knife,
but I don't have one to show you today because they've been getting really hard to get ahold
of lately Spartan of course is a smaller, more boutique company than the big KA-BARs
of the world, and as such the price is going to be a little higher here this one comes
in at about 425 right now the blade. This is actually the first knife that's not
a clip point that we've seen so far we've got a very versatile drop point shape. In addition to combat it's going to be nice
and strong and pointy enough for those roles, but I think it'd be great in the outdoors
as well I would not hesitate at all to take this knife camping blade itself is a bit over
six inches long and we've got S35VN steel definitely premium stuff. We've got an FDE coating, as well. There's a few different colors available. It's got a flat grind for versatility and
a nice choice here for choking up this definitely provides a better fine control than some of
the other knives we've looked at so far. Taking a look at the handle itself you can
definitely tell right away that it's a Bill Harsey design. It's got a very signature looking shape. They're made from micarta and it grips and
orients very well, like the Becker we just looked at we've still got a substantial guard
here on the front side, whereas the back is a little more neutral. Got a nice wide thumb ramp here with some
deep jumping that's going to work well, even if you're wearing combat gloves. Now the sheath for the Spartan is actually
kind of similar to the Becker as well. It's nylon but we've got MOLLE compatible
stuff here on the front rather than a pouch, so you can attach any of your other MOLLE
compatible gear there instead on the back. We've also got MOLLE webbing as well as a
bunch of paracord, as well as a Velcro loop here at the front, for taking on and off your
belt. All right, next up we've got the benchmade
Arvensis which is a Shane Sibert design coming in at $238 right now blades about six and
a half inches long, we've got 154CM steel which is a solid choice, and it's certainly
thick enough to be quite durable, similar to that Chimera from before we've got a long
straight clip point profile. This knife has a black finish and the main
bevels are flat ground, and it's even got some partials formations here at the back
edge, but a satin finished plain edge variant is also available if you prefer that type
of profile. Again with this design we've got a nice choil
for choking up, and they up the fine control, even further by adding a pair of thumb scallops
here that allow for a very nice pinch grip. Although I will say them when it comes to
that Harsey even though you don't have thumb scallops because of the design here at the
front. It also does a pinch grip very well. Back to the benchmade though you can see we're
back to dual guards but they are kept fairly small, you're not going to have too big of
a problem choking up over the back if you need to. The G 10 handles may seem a little squared
off but they're actually quite comfortable I've found. You've even got a set of flared tubes going
through it, which is going to give you a few different lashing options. We've also got a protruding tang at the back
but rather than coming to a point as sort of a tread pattern here that's going to work
well for bashing. As far as the sheath. It does click in with positive retention but
you do have an extra snap strap there just in case the sheath does come with its own
belt attachment hardware in the box, but thanks to these slots next to the rivets you should
be able to also use the popular tek-lok hardware. All right, one more premium big option, the
RMJ Tactical jungle combat, which comes in about 395. Now like the Mark II the USMC fighter we do
also have a seven inch blade here, but this might feel a bit more like a big buoy knife
rather than the hunting heritage of the USMC design. Of course you could make the argument that
a bowie is nothing but another type of big hunting knife and we're going to avoid that
for now, the way they sit today, they certainly have a different character. We've got Nitro-V steel here which, like the
last two knives we looked at is a stainless option, but it's still nice and tough, like
the last two knives. This is also coated we've got a tungsten cerakote
finish. But of course, since it's a stainless that's
not for corrosion resistance. That's just to bring the reflections down. We've also got a signature RMJ element, these
subtle milling lines on the main grinds, you can certainly see them but you can't really
feel them too much they're not going to really introduce too much drag at all. The handles we've got flared tubes again on
this one, but coyote brown G10 on this particular one, but there are a few different options. I think the handle actually works very well
the way they've designed it, it's got a neutral shape but it flares towards the back a little
bit, and that allows you to get some pretty good retention if you want to use this knife
for some light chopping. We've also got a dual guard against slightly
shorter at the top, but the choil on the front of this one is a little short for my fingers,
you can kind of get in front of there on the guard if you need to pull this out, which
is actually the way most old school bowies were made, but this is not quite as good for
choking up for fine control, unless you have really small fingers, the sheath is kydex
snaps right in quite well. It does come with its own hardware but these
holes will fit a tech lock. But one of the nice things here, you can see
on the back. These straps here are MOLLE compatible and
they come with what's called a pull the dots snap. What that means is that these are only going
to unsnap in one direction and that's straight up. If you're pulling from the side. These aren't going to come loose on. Alright, even though that seven inch blade
length is proven and popular not all combat knives have to be quite that large, a lot
of Modern Combat knives do come in a smaller size, perhaps one of the most famous of those
is the Gerber LMF II. Now this was originally designed as a pilot
survival knife that sub five inch length that you see here, it's going to be easier to control
and cramped spaces and just as easier to control in general. This is actually available in a couple of
different versions for about $150 you can get the whole ASEK package which is aircrew
survival egress knife that version comes with a full featured sheath that even has a pull
through sharpener in it as well as an extra strap cutter that can be used as a gut hook,
as well as some other survival applications. But if you don't want some of the extra guns,
you can spend less than 100 bucks for just the knife and a sheath. The blade itself is 420HC stainless a drop
point shape with a nice switch to keep the point a little more acute partial serrations
are also great for those rescue type of needs that a pilot survival knife might be pressed
into service with cut through strapping a little bit better if you don't have that extra
knife with you. And the handle is rubberized and nice and
grippy at the back you can see we have an apex pommel as well, which is going to be
great as a glass breaker for those escape needs as well as the more combat oriented
tactics you might use with it. And one of the neat features with this handle
in addition to just being quite comfortable, is the butt cap and the Tang of the knife
are actually separate elements. They do this for two reasons one, it's going
to help to absorb shock from hammering on this knife if you really need to beat on things,
but also the shock that you might get from electricity. That's something that's especially going to
be useful again original mission was pilots escape and survival tool. If you're needing to cut out of your cockpit
somehow there's certainly going to be electricity running around you, but it's also going to
work well for demolition crews and the like. As the LMF II is a quote unquote survival
knife, you do see some holes here that you can use for lashing this to a stick to be
used as a spear. Now I'm not always the biggest fan of recommending
this as a technique, but for pilots who have had to eject there certainly is a chance that
their gear might get trapped up out of reach in a tree, in which case strapping this to
a stick could allow you to reach that and get your gear back on your side. Now if you want a similar vibe to the Mark
II but you want a plain edge without the serrations, you should check out the strong arm it's got
similar specs us made 420HC blade nearly identical in shape but it is a little bit smaller. This guy comes in at 70 bucks. It also comes with a nice sheath that is ambidextrous
so you can use it on either side. We've also got an apex tang at the back but
this is a full tang knife it's not electrically insulated. So just keep that in mind with your needs
before you purchase this one right now let's look at a more premium smaller option to Hogue
EX-F01, which was designed by Allen Elishewitz coming in just over $200. This knife has a crazy tough blade, it's almost
a quarter inch thick made from A2 tool steel with a gunkote finish. It's about five and a half inches long, although
there is also a seven inch version available now to me this knife actually has a similar
vibe as the LMF II from earlier but I think it's a sexier shape overall, it's got that
shorter more controllable blade but it is a nice shape for all around use got a flat
grind with a nice wedge for a little more efficient cutting for things that are back
here on this side of the blade. And it doesn't have a choil, but it does have
a wide enough ricasso that you can choke up for finer work, like the LMF. We've got a few different holes for your lashing
needs as well as a protruding tank at the back for smashing, but again this is not an
insulated handle like the LMF. Instead, this is very nicely contoured g 10. This particular pattern is called gmascus. They are Bolt-on as you can see, and this
knife, even comes with its very own torques wrench right there, embedded in the handle
if you need to do any adjustments. As far as the sheath goes it's kind of similar
to the Becker and the Spartan we looked at from earlier. It's got some MOLLE webbing on the front as
well as the back and the belt attachments, up here are Molly compatible and they feature
a set of three snaps this Hogue is definitely a premium option and I've got to say they've
got a phenomenal factory edge, just about like every Hogue I've ever handled there at
the top of their game in the sharpening departments highly refined and razor sharp. Alright, we haven't actually talked about
daggers much yet, and they certainly have got a place in history, and the Fairbairn
Sykes is perhaps the most influential today, but we don't have any that are made in America
nowadays. This however is the Gerber mark two, which
is heavily influenced by the Fairbairn Sykes. This is certainly a very famous design, this
was carried through at least Vietnam by our troops. You can see it in a lot of movies over the
years as well this was actually used by Mel Gibson in the Road Warrior film, but in fact
I've even heard it said that this knife is second and renowned only to the KA-BAR itself
in terms of American made combat knives, for all that it's not too bad a price though either
comes in just under 100 bucks right now got almost seven inches of steel 420HC blade double
edge with serrations on each side, got double upturned guards for protection and you're
not really gonna have to worry too much about choking up past those because not really something
you want to do on a double edged blade anyway. We've got a wasp waisted handle of cast aluminum
definitely fits into the hand very nicely sheath itself is fairly simple you've got
a retaining strap and this is reversible to either side so this is an ambidextrous sheath
about a little bit of MOLLE strapping on the back as well as your belt. But the mark two is certainly a solid knife,
but it is pure combat definitely fewer crossover uses than the other knives we've seen so far
built for maximum penetration. Next we've got another KA-BAR, because the
USMC fighter is not the only famous fighting knife in their roster. This is the Ek Model 4 coming in at $105 right
now. It was only a couple of years ago in fact
that KA-BAR acquired the Ek Commando knife company, and with it, they're aggressive blades
that have been in service since 1941 with special forces, all the way through to the
modern battlefield today. Again, being a KA-BAR combat knife we see
a 1095 CV carbon blade with a black finish, about six and a half inches, double edged
with a nice s guard and a full tang construction. We've got jfn handles in this case which are
actually held on with traditional ex head fasteners rather than more modern stuff. And that way, these are going to be very field
expedient to adjust. Now the Tang actually extends beyond the end
of the handles just a little bit. You can use that as a pry bar for opening
things like ammunition crates and also protects the scales when you're using it as a Thumper
and can even be used as an additional point for an offensive strike. The sheath itself i think is pretty clever
on this. It slides in, and the positive retention is
actually provided by a few plastic tabs that are integrated onto the belt loop itself. When you go to draw simply push that back
to release and you're able to take it out no problem, but it's not going to fall out
on you, unless you truly want to bring it out of the sheath. Now you can also get the Model 4 in A luxed-up
presentation grade version with walnut handles and polished 440 steel or as the Model 5 version
which comes with a clip point bowie blade for a little bit more versatility. So that's it for our list of the top American
made combat knives, you can get your hands on right now, be sure to let us know your
favorite combat knife down in the comments and to get your hands on one of these cool
knives. We'll leave links in the description to take
you over to knifecenter.com and make sure you've signed up for our knife rewards program
while you're there, because if you're going to buy one of these cool knives, you might
as well earn some free money to spend on your next one, David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter,
hope you're all staying safe sane and sanitary out there, see you next. [KnifeCenter.com]
