Me, My Knives and I: The Army years
When I joined the Army, I assumed correctly that I wouldn’t be able to take the Gerbers with me to basic training. My time in basic was one of the longest times I had spent without a defense knife since carrying one in high school. I did carry a Swiss Army pocket knife, but that was far from being practical as a defense knife.
It was either during basic or during my first duty station at Ft Bliss Texas when I began reading about the carry of lock blade knives as defense weapons. Until that time, I had shunned them as a knife only a farmer would carry. I found out shortly after arriving at Bliss the Army isn’t as supportive of personal weapons as I assumed. When I was being processed into the unit, the personnel sergeant asked if I had any weapons. I replied honestly, “only a few knives and BB gun” The sergeant told me I would have to keep them in arms room. I don’t know if the surprise showed on my face, but I was amazed that even a BB GUN had to be kept in the arms room.
When turning in the Gerbers into the arms room, I found, that just because a person is in the military doesn’t mean they know crap about weapons. The armorer (a lying, back-stabbing worthless puke, who’s name isn’t worthy of mention) called my Gerber Guardian a “throwing” knife. I corrected him and told him it was NOT a “throwing’ knife, and that a throwing knife has a heavier and sturdier blade. (The Guardian’s blade and indeed most Gerber boot knives have weak, brittle blades) the dumbfounded dunce insisted it was a “throwing” knife and listed it as such in the inventory.
It wasn’t too long afterward that I bought a new Mark I. Once on a field training exercise, I had it clipped to the strap of my LBE. A lieutenant (who else) asked in a somewhat irritated voice what I used the knife for. I told him I used it for cutting rope and he replied, “Hopefully you don’t use it for anything”. While I’m generally disgusted by people who don’t want me to carry a weapon, knowing there were people in the military like that really disgusted me.
A year later when my knives were returned to me, I saw they had fingerprints on them. When I mentioned that to the armorer, he told me to just wipe them off. The prints had been on the blades for several months and wouldn’t just “wipe off”. (I’ll get into blade types and blade care in a later post) I promised myself from then on, unless I had no other choice I would NEVER keep a weapon (and especially not a pellet gun) in an arms room.
Anyway, it was during my time at Ft Bliss I purchased my first lock blade. I don’t remember for sure but I think it was a Buck 110. The down side to folding knives at that time was they’re slow to open and get into action. (This was in the pre-Spyderco years) I tried to follow the law and kept the knife in a sheath.
I had one particular incident where I didn’t do that. I was walking home from a shopping center with my roommate (An even bigger dunce that the armorer, and a snitch to boot) at night. Taking into consideration it was at night and getting out the knife fast was a bigger concern, I took the 110 from the sheath and carried it in my pocket. My roommate (Remember, I told you he was a dunce?) grew wide-eyed and told me I was violating the law, that a knife can’t be carried concealed in a pocket. I argued it was perfectly legal. A police car was making its way through the parking lot and the dunce threatened to alert the officer. I told him to go right a head as the knife was legal. The cruiser passed us and the dunce remained silent. Needless to say, it was the last time I went anywhere with the punk.
While reading Soldier of Fortune (SOF) magazine I saw an ad for the solution to my problem with folders. The answer was a device called a Flicket, a metal device which clipped onto the blade and provided a stud for the thumb to push the blade open. I purchased one and put it on my 110. I later bought a Gerber Folding Sportsman II (FSII) and a Flicket for it as well. Filing down the Flickets to make them flush with the knives handles made them near perfect. The FSII had a blade nearly as long as the 110, but was about half as thick.
I bought several knives of various makes and models during my time at Ft Bliss, but those two became my favorites and my constant companions.
****Next, Me My Knives and I, Fischbach Germany****
It was either during basic or during my first duty station at Ft Bliss Texas when I began reading about the carry of lock blade knives as defense weapons. Until that time, I had shunned them as a knife only a farmer would carry. I found out shortly after arriving at Bliss the Army isn’t as supportive of personal weapons as I assumed. When I was being processed into the unit, the personnel sergeant asked if I had any weapons. I replied honestly, “only a few knives and BB gun” The sergeant told me I would have to keep them in arms room. I don’t know if the surprise showed on my face, but I was amazed that even a BB GUN had to be kept in the arms room.
When turning in the Gerbers into the arms room, I found, that just because a person is in the military doesn’t mean they know crap about weapons. The armorer (a lying, back-stabbing worthless puke, who’s name isn’t worthy of mention) called my Gerber Guardian a “throwing” knife. I corrected him and told him it was NOT a “throwing’ knife, and that a throwing knife has a heavier and sturdier blade. (The Guardian’s blade and indeed most Gerber boot knives have weak, brittle blades) the dumbfounded dunce insisted it was a “throwing” knife and listed it as such in the inventory.
It wasn’t too long afterward that I bought a new Mark I. Once on a field training exercise, I had it clipped to the strap of my LBE. A lieutenant (who else) asked in a somewhat irritated voice what I used the knife for. I told him I used it for cutting rope and he replied, “Hopefully you don’t use it for anything”. While I’m generally disgusted by people who don’t want me to carry a weapon, knowing there were people in the military like that really disgusted me.
A year later when my knives were returned to me, I saw they had fingerprints on them. When I mentioned that to the armorer, he told me to just wipe them off. The prints had been on the blades for several months and wouldn’t just “wipe off”. (I’ll get into blade types and blade care in a later post) I promised myself from then on, unless I had no other choice I would NEVER keep a weapon (and especially not a pellet gun) in an arms room.
Anyway, it was during my time at Ft Bliss I purchased my first lock blade. I don’t remember for sure but I think it was a Buck 110. The down side to folding knives at that time was they’re slow to open and get into action. (This was in the pre-Spyderco years) I tried to follow the law and kept the knife in a sheath.
I had one particular incident where I didn’t do that. I was walking home from a shopping center with my roommate (An even bigger dunce that the armorer, and a snitch to boot) at night. Taking into consideration it was at night and getting out the knife fast was a bigger concern, I took the 110 from the sheath and carried it in my pocket. My roommate (Remember, I told you he was a dunce?) grew wide-eyed and told me I was violating the law, that a knife can’t be carried concealed in a pocket. I argued it was perfectly legal. A police car was making its way through the parking lot and the dunce threatened to alert the officer. I told him to go right a head as the knife was legal. The cruiser passed us and the dunce remained silent. Needless to say, it was the last time I went anywhere with the punk.
While reading Soldier of Fortune (SOF) magazine I saw an ad for the solution to my problem with folders. The answer was a device called a Flicket, a metal device which clipped onto the blade and provided a stud for the thumb to push the blade open. I purchased one and put it on my 110. I later bought a Gerber Folding Sportsman II (FSII) and a Flicket for it as well. Filing down the Flickets to make them flush with the knives handles made them near perfect. The FSII had a blade nearly as long as the 110, but was about half as thick.
I bought several knives of various makes and models during my time at Ft Bliss, but those two became my favorites and my constant companions.
****Next, Me My Knives and I, Fischbach Germany****
posted by ROBOT at 16:27
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