In 1978 I was on bivouac with MWCS 28 at Bogue Field when I decided to sharpen my fellow Marines' cutlery as a pass time. Most Marines in those days objected to "charity" so I charged a nominal fee of $1.00 USD. I sharpened at least one of each of the knives on that table except the silly spike contraption. One 1st Lt. brought me a pristine Gerber Mk II in stainless steel that he had just bought from the PX. It took me an hour of steady work to make that blade shave my arm because stainless resists abrasion. But the look on that Lt.'s face was priceless when I gave him my price.

In 1975 I started out with a Gerber MKII. Mine had a brown leather scabbard. Shortly I went to a model 14 Randell. Still have it and a later gerber that I carried in my ruck as a backup. I ran ops for the company. Started out in 101st at 17 then went to the company.

I have one 1910 bolo that came with a metal green scabbard

Great video. I recently sold my entire collection. I kept the Gerber MK two I carried in Vietnam for a nephew

the old M-3' fighting knife had an original leather sheath designated M -6'

Very nice collection. My father as a Marine aviator also had the Western Knife Shark aviator knife, which I carried as a Boy Scout and still have today. Heavy blued blade and leather handle. In addition, another blade that always interested me was the WW2 USMC M1910 Medic Corpsman Bolo Knife, in order to comply with limited offensive weapons, this was a hunk of rounded steel with one sharp edge. It was better suited as a club than a knife. Thanks for sharing, there are so many stories regarding these blades.

Just wanted to let you know what a fantastic and informative video you made! I’m more of a small arms guy, but am branching out to blades. After watching this, I definitely have a knowledge baseline to work with! My first piece was a 1904 hospital corps bolo!

That first one on the left is really cool i love it

My late father made his own Fairbairn Sykes/V-42 from a file and leather washers in WW2 - which I still have. He was an Ordnance officer and actually knew Major (that was his rank then) Rex Applegate. I have my eye on the Fox Fairbairn Sykes (690 steel w/actual edges). For regular use I'm partial to Cold Steel and K-Bar. Not had good luck with Gerber. I had the first or second edition Boker Applegate Fairbairn that was only single edged. It grew legs... I wish Boker still made that exact version because it was, to me anyway, the closest thing to a "one knife" concept - self defense, utility, bushcraft. Enjoyed your video !

Wow Chris just another great great video!! With so much amazing info! Can’t thank you enough! Would love to see more

Awesome collection and super informative. Thank you

The front pocket 13:12 on the M9 was for a spare Berretta magazine. The problem with that is when the magazine was in the pocket it was next to impossible to undo the retaining snap holding the M9 in the scabbard. Usually the pocket was left empty or used for small items.

This was a awesome video, job well done my blade brother 👍

I've got 3 different bolos. They're awesome. I have a 1912 m1909, 1911 m1910, and a plumb 1917

Thank you for this video. You explained each knife and also added reading materials to read about.

Love your work

What a treasure of knowledge… thank you for sharing it with us…

Good display, I have some of those in my collection, I remember the when all the Gerber knives came out in the 80’s, I got a Tac 2 , still have that knife, very good survival/ combat knife. The market really exploded with new knife technology in the 80’s.

Thanks for sharing. Leatned alot about the history of Bolo knives .

Absolutely fantastic breakdown. Great info, thanks for sharing!

Fantastic content! Knowing how to properly use a knife is an art and can be very lethal in close quarter combat. I always respected the knife way more than a fire arm.

Thx for the informative video. Beautiful collection. USMC KABAR still my favorite for its balance/ ergonomics. Kydex sheath, your done! ✌ Col. Rex Applegate and Will Faibirn had a nice fighting collaboration and John Ek's commando knife is deluxe!

Interesting overview! Thx!

Amazing collection of badassery! Those last blades were back when Gerber made quality stuff...now they're throw-away crap, but I think they're starting to see the light & have recently came out with batter materials and qc..so that's good! Thanks for sharing💪😎👍

Thankyou for this fascinating and well presented tutorial. Greetings from Scotland.

Thank you for sharing your expertise.

Excellent presentation! 👏👏👏 Thank you!

Great presentation . Happy trails

Thanks for the history

Awesome collection

Outstanding vid buddy

Really nice collection and very interesting and informative video!

Really informative video. Thank you

Awesome video. Thank you for sharing

One of the best, most information rich videos on KZfaq.

Very interesting vid thanks

Great overview. It seems to omit the Cold Steel SRK (standard issue to SEALs) and the variety of tomahawks that re-emerged during the GWOT.

Great presentation!!

Marine Corps infantryman here, they still teach us to stick a Ka Bar or the OKC bayonet into the enemy's carotid artery. Some things never change

There was also the early"Collin's"1/8 inch thick bolo it was Sharpened on one side ( much like a lawn mower blade) & Also pre Ka Bar was the Cattaraugus 2250.

Cool video, thanks for sharing.

Fascinating

Nice video. I've always liked the V-42 stiletto and its history.

I need to look up those books. Nice video 👍

V-42 combat knife would have been a good item to hear about

I really enjoyed that, as a knife collector from the UK.

very interesting and informative vid

Very well presented

Impressive , Thank you

When I was in the army I bought used and still have a Gerber mark II that I purchased from the PX.

Good stuff

Navy gunboat gunner in Nam in 71-72. Issued a KaBar marine Bayonet. Great knife. Wish I still had it.

I had one of the 1st Gerber shown on the box back in the 80's,it was a very good throwing knife. I still carry Gerber today.

Awesome display and discussion of your Combat Fixed Blades. :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)

Cool video!

I was wondering if you were going to have a Randall in your collection. Glad you mentioned them.

The M9 was pretty impressive...thanks for the talk.

Thanks for the education

...thank you for the post, absolutely appreciated. ...that 1918 one caught my attention absolutely, my grandparents on my mother's side were both born in 1918. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII and I wish I could have been old enough to ask them more about their service. There's one photo I have of my father's father fresh "home" from the war and that's one of those photos that holds more than a thousand words. Depending on the words anyways. ...thanks for the post again, absolutely appreciated.,...

Subbed💯✌🏾 great video.. The knife at 12:45 the M9 i believe. Is the exact same knife Lincoln Clay uses in the game Mafia 3. Highly recommend if you haven't played it aha.

I have a few of those. Some I didn't know the names of. I also possess a K-Bar because I'm a Jarhead '82.

At the 9:10 minute mark I have that Airforce pilot knife , same leather handle and sheath dated 1985 , I bought it brand new in 1985 and had it ever since .

It's interesting that you mentioned the machete not being meant to be a combat weapon. One thing about the US military is the ability to adapt. The entrenching tool was also not intended for combat but personnel learned early that it could be used effectively in that role.

In times of combat any edged tool can be a weapon like the shovels carried in WWI. Cold Steel special forces shovel is a great copy of them. I own several modern versions of knives/bayonets you talked about and feel very confident about the purchases. Thank you for the information you shared.

I have a USMC Hospital Corps knife in its Boyt 1944 sheath. Didn’t see one in this display. I understand these massive choppers gained a following in WWII, though the knife has a very rounded “point.” We just used it as a trail machete in forested western Washington.

I have both the Army M9 and USMC OKC. Both are neat. The USMC is a better fighting knife and 1/2" longer with a thinner blade. The Army is a thicker blade and a better overall survival knife. Historically, the Army wanted knives to be general-purpose tools for various tasks such as opening ammunition crates .

My favorite combat knife was and still is the Gerber Silver Trident. It was robust, big, very sharp, double edged and well balanced and not too heavy. Prefers it to the No II, the M-9, Airforce Survival knife and the Army version of the La Bar.

Very interesting

1988, Camp Casey, R.o.K. I bought both of those Gerbers. a Ka-Bar, and a SWAK. Also bought a pair of Danner Mattahorn boots and some Gore-Tex gloves. Man, they all served me well for 5 more years, in Korea, Japan, Panama and Kuwait-Iraq. 6 years, 3 wars......and the knives I ended up carrying were the Ka-Bar, the SWAK, and a $5 machete made in Brazil.

Nice knives good history lesson

nice he has a few of my blades in his collections

I really enjoyed this video. Some of it was like a trip down memory lane. 👍🏼 I had the Gerber Mark II in 1987… broke it in 1989. I guess I’m hard on my cutlery, because I’ve broken three KaBar Fighting Utility knives including the one issued to me by the Marine Corps in 1977. I have one now, and the Big Brother, but I don’t use it. It’s just for looking at. I’ve been carrying TOPS knives for the last eight or nine years, and have yet to break one. 🇺🇸

My Collins machete is very similar to yours but the stamp seems to have been laser etched??

Nice

Ok that mark 1 trench knife is awesome I just ordered a KA-BAR single mark but I think im going to order one of the mark 1 trench knife reproductions from ima-usa next month they seem to be made just like the old ones!

I believe you missed the Model 1904 Hospital Bolo. An interesting tool. I used one for years removing suckers from trees in our orchard not really knowing what it was. After all that is what it had been used for for decades.

I bought a Gerber mark 2 used decades ago and when I was messing with it, The blade flopped out from the handle (No wonder it was 20 bucks). I had a bolo and everyone who looked at it said it's the real deal, Until I looked at a fine stamp, Made in Japan. About the early sixties.

I have an M9 bayonet and like it very much. I can hone it razor sharp. Heavy enough to chop small trees and I tested the wire cutter by cutting a nail. It will cut any wire you encounter very easily. My gripe is the glass filled plastic sheath. When I withdraw the blade I have to make sure to keep the back edge of the knife against the sheath because if the sharpened edge touches the fiberglass in the sheath the sharp edge will be gone. Not good if you need it to defend your life, although I would not want to be hit by even the dull edge.

Left out the US Navy pre-WW II general purpose knife, which looks a lot like a K-Bar's shorter, older brother. Clip point with false edge, blued steel, no fuller, leather handle, bakelite (?) pommel is asymmetric, attached with a split nut, made by Cammilus. My wife's uncle gave me his from before WW II.

Great Video!!! I love your watch, can I ask what kind it is ? Thanks!

Commercial tang is a rat tang I would guess? OKC =Ontario knife company, great value, still in business today.

I have heard that UK special forces used the trench knife and called it a 'fanny'. No idea why .

06:35 they weren't "junk" ... they did exactly what they were designed to do. it was meant to be just a "stabber" ... that was the point. stabbing is the quickest way to dispatch the enemy. just like early rifle bayonets. and daggers used by commandos, etc. they are specialized tools for a specialized job. in the trenches of ww1 there was not room to get into a knife swinging brawl. you jump in and begin stabbing. ww1 was primarily a static war. so the soldier could have a more specialized knife ... and it did exactly what it was meant to do ... penetrate heavy clothing in the most efficient manner. the reason the government sold them off (just like all their other military equipment) was because ww1 was so terrible it was supposed to be the "war that ended all war." (little did we know) also ... "left hand use" in the military is irrelevant. 90%+ of people are right handed ... the military makes gear for the majority. the minority have to adapt. it is the same today. ww2 was primarily a mobile war. so ground soldiers carrying equipment preferred to have equipment that can multitask. thus a knife that can stab and cut developed later.

Recently I’ve become interested in the different knives/ edged weapons that where packed in USAAC/USAF survival kits. The folding machetes and different knives that have been used in individual personnel all the way up to modern ejection seat survival kits. I know they used a lot of BenchMade knives in some of the kits a decade ago. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with the brand.

I've been looking for a Smatchet for a while. Used to be available. Not anymore.

There are other knives as well. My dad had one in Korea (Air Force bomber crew) made by Remington that was similar to the Kabar. I still have it.

Lol price tag said $37 on the Gerber. Their like $200-$300 now. P.X. is cheaper but not that much cheaper. Cool collection. Loved the SA bolo's nice looking tool. Now days everything is cheaply made even if it is expensive unless it's a Randell 👍

Thanks for a fascinating history. I was wondering about the Smatchet Fighting Knife that seems so closely related to the US Bolo design. A relative had one from his time in the Pacific theater during WW II. Like the Fairbain Sykes dagger it was developed by Colonel William Fairbairn for the OSS. Supposedly on a design carried by the Royal Welsh Fusilliers in the WW I. However, since Fairbairn spent many of his formative years in Shanghai it seems more influenced by the Bolo design to me. Were these ever issued to regular US troops or airmen besides the OSS?

Thank you. Interesting presentation. I am surprised there is no knife for the Navy.

very nice, I have a Machete marked Ontario Knife Co. U.S. 1943. the blade is true and appears to still have the factory apple seed edge, (not ground down flat).

CORRECTION! It was "a rolex, a randall, a chevy truck, and a divorce". I was a rebel and didn't get the divorce. Still have the randall, the rolex and a later model truck.

Western bowie knives were also used by Marines in Viet Nam just like Kabar's.In many cases marked USMC on the sheath by their owners.

Show me a dam randle please ...love the four things an operater has...did u ever run into Paul vunak in knife culture.. I throw m7 Vietnam bayonet... beleive it or not the fly vary well for military half spin throwing... Also check bayonet is excellent for throwing...cheers

Wow no mention of the mk1 knife and the "kabar" is the mk2 fighting/utility knife kabar just had the largest markings/ branding Camillus actually made more in WWII.

If I recall correctly, the outer pocket on the M9 scabbard housed a fire starter that could be struck against the knife to create sparks and start a fire for survival.

Lot of discussion on the Gerber MarkI & II. However , I was surprised that the narrator did not discuss the variation, Vietnam era, that had an off-set (i.e. not centered on the middle) to enhance a front stab into the pressure point behind the collarbone.

Good words friend

Good stuff. Thank you. Would the M1915 bolo bayonet fall under the category?

Nice video ! 🌯

That’s a sweet collection, it would be amazing if you had a V42 lol but wouldn’t it be amazing for us all lol but again amazing collection 👍🏻