Almost every civilized military on the planet requires their troops to be equipped with standard issue military knives.
We are going to dive in head first and look at several of the different types of modern combat knives that have been used in the past and present day that have helped protect millions of people during warfare. There are many modern combat knives that were made specifically for the art of modern combat. Many knives like KA-BAR and Buck have been around for over a century.
Fixed blade knives, survival machetes, tactical knives and some of the newer models of survival knives that have been made in recent years are hands down the best options for a survival knife in today’s knife market in almost any era – and these are all just variations of classic types of knives that have been used for centuries.
You could argue that certain types of pocket knives could be the best in this category as well but most combat knives have traditionally been fixed blade knives due to the need for having them in direct combat. Let’s look at some of the more classic types of knives that we can credit in use during modern warfare over the last two centuries.
Trench Knives: Trench knives were designed specifically for enemy combat at close quarters and made especially popular during World War I. Most early trench knives were created specifically for dispatching other sentries during trench raids. Many people would even say that the trench knife is where the modern day Bowie knife got the design.
Theater Knives: Theater knives were created as casualties of war. Often times theater knives were created out of shrapnel or broken bayonets. Soldiers in the field would fashion a knife out of something that was “knife worthy” and use it as a knife in close quarters combat.
Machetes: Machetes do count as knives and not swords, believe it or not. Made popular by commandos in South America, the machetes are not only standard issue for many military personnel, they are required for local residents to use when they need to get through some of the thicker brush and jungles.
Daggers: Daggers are some of the earliest forms of knives and have been used for centuries. Daggers are blades that are double edged and very tapered in width, making them some of the best weapons to exploit weaknesses against combat protective armor.
USMC Fighting Utility Knife: The Ka-Bar military knife has been the standard issue military blade since 1942. This knife has protected the USCM members since World War II and it continues to serve in a long line of wars including the most recent Iraq war. While nobody today may qualify as the type of man that Jack Churchill was, fighting with just a sword and one of the best recurve bows he could find in World War II, the United States Military Members will take solace knowing that they will continue carrying a knife that’s been used for generations.
Conclusion:
These are just a few of the greatest types of knives that we have seen in use, and of course we are partial to the USMC Fighting knife due to the plain fact that it protects our soldiers here in the United States and abroad.