Speaking of Ka-Bar, its fighting knives are still quite available, and most products, such as the military blades, are U.S.-made. It does, however, import some knives under its brand name that are made to the company’s specifications in China. If you found a model you liked that was made in China under the Ka-Bar brand or other known maker’s brand, then go ahead and buy it. Ka-Bar and others wouldn’t allow their name on it if it was junk, it would hurt their entire lines.
Buck is operating in a similar fashion these days, with some of its knives made in the USA and some off-shore. It’s easy to discern which is which simply by the difference in price—most of the offshore stuff is in the mid-$20 price range—and also by the fact that the USA-made knives are marked with an American flag next to the lifetime warranty marking (which all Buck knives have).
Your fixed-blade knife should be one marked “tactical” or specifically designed as a fighting blade. But, if you have a Buck Pathfinder hunting knife, for example, don’t feel like you need to trade it off for another brand, like Ka-Bar. The Pathfinder, as its name implies, will serve you well, since most combat knives have hunting or outdoors blades as part of their heritage. While the pommel of the Pathfinder isn’t designed for pounding, the rest of the knife will do everything one of the fighting blades will do.
Columbia River Knife and Tool has a huge line of knives of mostly overseas manufacture. CRKT has consulted with a number of custom knife makers in the design of its knives and has come up with some of the most innovative blades and tools available. Some of the fixed-blade survival knives, including the fine MAK-1 Rescue tool that I did a bit of consulting on, have a flat, chisel-style point designed for prying. While I prefer a pointed tip on a survival knife, since there is a possibility it will be used for a stabbing thrust, a chisel prying tip can come in handy when it comes to foraging for food, and the carbide pointed tip makes short work of breaking window glass found on vehicle side windows without endangering the person doing the breaking. The MAK-1 was the official fixed-blade knife for our 727 Counter Terror Training Unit when it was in operation.
Ontario Knives are made in the USA and come in a wide variety, but the company also has a distinct and separate military knife category where you can buy versions of the M9 Bayonet in OD green or black (available on Amazon.com for less than $100), the ASEK Air Force Rescue/Survival Blade, and the M7B M16 bayonet with the upgraded rubber handle. There are a number of other very cool fixed-blade knives in this category, such as the Tanto bayonet, which has a great penetrating point, and is otherwise configured like the M7B, and the OKC3S Marine bayonet.
The Marine bayonet brings me to a point about blade style. Part of the Marine blade is serrated, which means that you need a special sharpening tool (another damn thing to carry), to keep it operationally sharp. I would stick with a standard edge. They can be sharpened on a rock in an emergency, with much less time and effort involved.
Under Ontario’s Spec Plus Next Generation line are several models that are updates of the original Ka-Bar fighting knives, as well as a tactical machete and its SPAX tomahawk-based rescue tool.
This last was designed for fire and rescue crews, but would also work for S.W.A.T. This brings me to another desirable form cutting tool that may be good to have along, the tactical tomahawk. The tomahawk is a very old combat tool (one very different from a hatchet), that disappeared from active combat basically at the end of our Indian wars. It was resurrected in a slightly modified form for use in combat and as a multi-tool during jungle warfare in Vietnam. Not long ago, tactical knifemaker SOG updated the Vietnam-era ’hawk in its Tactical Tomahawk and other variants, including a bright satin-finished version and the shorter handled, updated Voodoo Hawk. In the world of S.W.A.T., these ’hawks are often called “breaching ’hawks,” since their primary function is to help break through light to moderate barriers during an emergency entry.
The ’hawks are one SOG product that is made in China, and they are priced under $70. I carried my full-size version on several S.W.A.T. missions. It is nice to see that SOG upgraded the holster from a basic ballistic nylon model to a hard nylon model, which should allow it to attach to MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, pronounced like the girl’s name Molly), armor or a belt more efficiently. As I’ve said, anything you’re going to pack along with you should have more than one purpose, and, obviously, the breaching ’hawk does, as it is also a devastating combat weapon for CQB. There are a number of tomahawk models and brands out there, but I think SOG fields one of the best and at a very reasonable price.
Machetes can be a candidate for inclusion in your survival bag, being very useful for hacking your way through brush or jungle. But, for a machete to be of real value in clearing it needs to be long, and that means it takes up a lot of room. If you feel you need one in your emergency evacuation gear, it should be attached to your pack. And, if you aren’t planning on getting to your shelter-in-place site by hacking through undergrowth, you won’t need one, and it will end up being extra weight that doesn’t get used much.
If you want to split the difference between the supportive tools like the chisel-pointed MAK1 rescue knife and the machete or tactical tomahawk, take a look at the BLACKHAWK! Small Pry rescue tool. The Small Pry is short enough to carry MOLLE’d onto a tactical vest or armor, but thick enough to handle most prying chores. It also has a fixed cutting blade portion that can be used for chopping, as well as emergency defense. BLACKHAWK! Also has some excellent fixed-blade survival/tactical knives under the $200 price tag. All its products are winners and good investments.
One other area I want to touch on briefly falls into the small pocket variety, tools that are really, well, tools. While the pocket tool has no combat utility, they will prove vital to making life easier. Obviously you can’t pack your tool box with you if you have to evacuate, so you do need something of quality manufacture to fulfill this role. Again, don’t rely on a no-name brand of tool that is pre-packaged in a survival kit. Instead, select and pay for your own tool separately.
There are just two types of pocket tools I wish to mention, the genuine Swiss Army Knife (Wenger versions are less expensive than Victorinox), and the plier multi-tool as first made by Leatherman. In either category, go with the middle range of tools on each type. If you go full bore, then the tool no longer is a “pocket” tool, and if you get too few tools, you are really only equipped with either a pocket knife or set of pliers. For the Swiss Army Knife, I like the model that has scissors, awl, and Phillips and two sizes of flathead screwdrivers, in addition to the bottle and can opener. I favor the Gerber Multiplier for a multi-tool. It has some of the same tools that the Swiss Army knife does, plus needle-nose pliers and Fiskars-brand scissors.
Less-Lethal Options
So far we’ve been discussing only deadly force options in terms of firearms and the support tools that could be used to deliver lethality in CQB situations. But there may be times when using deadly force is not the most desirable way of dealing with the situations.
Two great survival knives. On the left is Smith & Wesson’s Search and Rescue fixed-blade knife. High quality at a very reasonable price, the sheath also holds a sharpening stone. On the right is the Columbia River Knife and Tool MAK-1 Rescue Tool. Designed by Canadian firefighter James McGowan, the chisel-shaped end is designed for prying, while the pommel is designed for undoing battery cables on automobiles and for breaking out car windows with its carbide tip.