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Big Army doesn't do fixed blades ever since someone figured out that you can order a gazillion Gerber auto knives and give 'em to Joe and make him feel like a cool guy. I carry a Randall, but that's really more cheese than useful. For a conventional guy like me, about 15 weapon systems will have to fail before I am using a 'combat knife' on anything but an MRE. My multitool sees much more action and abuse.
I think there are two reasons you don't see many big fixed blades in line units. The first is that a big ass, but cheap, knife is often purchased by 11B's straight out of OSUT when the hit up Ranger Joe's before going to their duty station. They are then roundly fucked with, and rightfully so, by their seniors who know that big piece of crap is just one more thing to hump and nearly useless for a budding young 203 gunner.
The second, and more pertinent, is the risk adverse attitude of many commanders out there. When we first went over the berm a weapons discharge was nothing to report. Before long, though, we were doing 15-6's anytime you lit a guy up. I actually had a knife fight go down in my BN and the shitstorm that arose after that was amazing. I watched an O-5 actually question an E-6's tactical plan that allowed an enemy to get that close. Never mind that the dude was supposedly dead and they were doing a to standard EPW search before he started to struggle. But that's another story.
And yeah, the fixed blade Fobbit ninjas give knives a bad name, too. The fueler guy with the no shit sword on his back at CSC Scania was awesome.
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