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IMHO, the knife you describe is too short for serious fighting.
I could see carrying a blade in that length as a skinning or camp knife, but not for combat.
1. IMHO, one needs a tool for cutting brush, splitting kindling, constructing shelter, etc. That is best filled by a machete, small axe, or very large, point heavy knife. This tool can also be used as a weapon.
2. A combat knife could also be carried, something like the Yarborough, a Randall, A-F, etc. This knife would have to be in the 6"-8" range.
3. A skinner, prep, or camp knife in the 3"-4" range could be carried if the situation dictated a lot of that sort of use, one of the best field guys I know uses a blade like that during survival. A folder would suffice if the knife was not going to be subjected to a lot of pounding.
4. A working folder, like the Harsey T2, the Sebenza, the Strider, etc., is a must, I believe. It is convenient without taking up precious real estate or addding excessive weight.
5. Finally, the multi-tool is almost a necessity. I prefer the Leatherman versions, though before their arrival, the Victorinox Swiss Champ was my favorite. Lack of serious pliers and poor steels for the edged blades were always a deficiency. That is why I carried the large folder for cutting and a set of the mini-Vise Grips for pliers.
Given the above list, I would call 1 and 5 necessities, 4 a much desired addition, 2 useful if going into a combat situation where you might use a knife, and 3 handy to have but the least useful of the bunch unless going hunting or in a survival situation. I see little use for the short knife as a fighter, it adds little that the large folders cannot accomplish other than weight, bulk, and duplication of effort.
Just my .02, YMMV.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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