Combat knife

"F-S Fighting Knife", the famous Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, developed for Commandos during World War 2 and adopted by numerous Special Forces post-war.

A combat knife is a fighting knife designed for military use and primarily intended for hand-to-hand or close combat fighting.[1][2][3]

Since the end of trench warfare, most military combat knives have been secondarily designed for utility use (clearing foliage, chopping branches for cover, opening ammunition crates, etc.) in addition to their original role as close-quarter combat weapons, and may be referred to as "fighting-utility knives."[4][5] On the other hand, military knives that are intended primarily for use in a role other than combat are typically referred to by their primary role, such as "utility knife" or "survival knife".

  1. ^ Peterson, Harold L., Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World, Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-41743-3, ISBN 978-0-486-41743-1 (2001), p. 80: "Right at the outset trench knives were introduced by both sides during World War I, so that the common soldier was once again equipped with a knife designed primarily for combat."
  2. ^ Burton, Walter E., Knives For Fighting Men, Popular Science, July 1944, Vol. 145 No. 1, p. 150: A combat knife is specifically designed for military use, and is thus a more restrictive category than that of a fighting knife or tactical knife, either of which may include knives designed for civilian use. Thus, a bowie knife designed for civilian sale and use may be termed a fighting knife, but not a combat knife, while the U.S. Army's M3 trench knife, designed specifically for the military for close-quarters fighting, is both a combat knife and a fighting knife.
  3. ^ Catalog of Standard Ordnance Items, Washington, D.C: U.S. Army Ordnance Publications (1943)
  4. ^ Walker, Greg (1993). Battle Blades: A Professional's Guide to Combat/Fighting Knives. Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-87364-732-7.
  5. ^ Pacella, Gerard (2002). 100 Legendary Knives. Iola, Wis.: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-417-2.