Fixed Blade Knives Archives

Military Knives: Historic Star-Spangled Steel

Steve Shackleford

July 17, 2026

Military Knives: Historic Star-Spangled Steel

Few knives have served America more than those of the U.S. military.

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on the most influential knives to serve the U.S. Military and explores some of the early influences on military knife design.

As what many call the greatest country in the history of countries approaches its 250th birthday, now’s a good time to salute some of the top knives that played pivotal military roles in the forging of the world beacon that is the United States of America.

It is, of course, impossible to recognize in one magazine story every single knife that played a crucial role in the many battles of the wars fought by the USA. However, with the help of some of the knife industry’s leading military authorities—including several of whom have seen the elephant in service to our nation—BLADE® will endeavor to touch on some of the more consequential knives of U.S. military history.

Before embarking on such a quest, the first task is to identify a basic group of the most indispensable knife types over two-and-a-half centuries of American land warfare. At the risk of omitting one or more, five stand out: bayonet, all-purpose utility fixed blade and/or bowie, dagger, machete/chopper and utility folder.

Michael Price recognized that to create a viable knife for self-defense and combat, form must follow function. His solution was to use the full-tang construction method, here on one of his classic mid-19th-century daggers. (Image courtesy of Louis Chow)

“These encapsulate everything that an infantryman used during the 250-year history of our country,” noted Louis Chow, a 24-year U.S. Army veteran who retired with the rank of major and is one of the leading collectors of the knives of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® member Bob Loveless. “The bayonet, of course, from the get-go, from the Revolution to today.”

Louis indicated the all-purpose utility fixed blade/bowie could include privately purchased knives such as the Randall Model 1 and, of course, double-guard bowie types like the USMC fighting utility knife, aka the Ka-Bar. He pointed to the mid-19th-century designs of Michael Price as highly influential on daggers through to today, and machetes such as those made by Collins used in the Spanish-American War and before to Vietnam as vital to U.S. war efforts. Though pocketknives were indeed carried by American patriots during the Revolutionary War, the utility folders to which Louis referred are more of the modern Leatherman/Gerber multi-tool type, not to mention the Buck 110, Al Mar SERE, CRKT M-16 and others. As Louis noted, almost every soldier, male or female, in the modern military carries a multi-tool folder.

Many knife enthusiasts know that bayonets are rarely, if ever, used in combat today, nor have they been for well over a century. “It’s hard to actually find someone who used one in combat,” Louis said. Probably the most legendary American bayonet charge was the eminently successful one by Union forces led by Col. Joshua Chamberlain against Confederate troops down a hill called Little Round Top, a major turning point in the Battle of Gettysburg and, of course, the entire Civil War. Ironically, as Louis noted, “the most famous bayonet charge of all was the last one.”

While bayonets have rarely been used in American combat for many decades, that does not mean they do not remain significant teaching tools in today’s U.S. military. “When I was a company commander in 1990, we trained with the bayonet,” Louis recalled. “There are established bayonet courses on every installation, such as Fort Hood in Texas and Fort Benning in Georgia, and we would go there and train with the bayonet.” The rifles and bayonets have changed over the years but the bayonet training techniques remain the same.
Throughout U.S. and nearly all other nations’ histories, governments have been responsible for the issuance of combat knives in the form of bayonets for their infantry fighting forces. During World War II, the USA issued all-purpose fighters and utility knives to many soldiers, sailors and airmen. However, as Louis noted, privately purchased edged tools and weapons have always been the mainstay of our servicemen. During the earliest American conflicts, including the Revolutionary through the Civil Wars, kitchen, utility, farrier-forged and European-imported cutlery were the sidearms of the multitude of militiamen and patriotic volunteers.

The original Applegate-Fairbairn Folder was a collaboration between Col. Rex Applegate and knifemakers Bill Harsey and Butch Vallotton. Harsey stated that a Gerber official said the Army ordered 50,000 of the knife at one time for the troops. At bottom is the original prototype and at top is a first-production Gerber version autographed by Applegate. (From the collection of Michael Janich)

The knife carried and made famous by Cutlery Hall-of-Famer James Bowie in the 1820s and 1830s was copied in various forms by makers worldwide and served as inspiration to any number of fixed blades carried in the U.S. military. Another large fixed blade that met with success in military circles was the Rifleman’s Knife made by the Ames Mfg. Co. circa 1860. Ames also made the Dahlgren Bowie Bayonet around the same time. Collins & Co. made a variety of bowies/machetes, the most famous probably being the No. 18, also incorrectly called the V-44 by many (according to D.E. Henry in his book Collins Machetes and Bowies 1845-1865, V-44 was the real name of a 1944 Case Survival Knife, not the No. 18).

Generational Blades

Circa the mid-19th century, Michael Price was considered one of the premier cutlers in the western United States. He was best known for exquisite presentation knives that incorporated marine ivory and a variety of beautiful shells. However, as Louis wrote, to create a viable knife for self-defense and combat, Price recognized that form must follow function. His solution was to use the full-tang construction method. And for a century and a half, some of the most notable American cutlers adopted the full-tang method that significantly improved a knife’s dependability and durability.

Early in 20th-century Michigan, Cutlery Hall-of-Famer William Scagel began forging axes and knives of various sizes and styles. He made most of his utility, hunting and bowie knives via the hidden-tang method. Though some of his combat knives were also hidden tang, many others employed the full-tang method.

“It was purported that the Scagel hidden-tang fighters with stacked leather washers were made for the European theater, while the full-tang fighters with wood-slab handles were made for the Pacific theater,” Louis wrote. “It was believed that stacked leather washers would be too susceptible to the humidity, high temperatures and salty air” of the applicable Pacific region. As a testament to Scagel’s outstanding craftsmanship and exceptional design, many of his fighters survived the war in good condition.

William Scagel’s hidden-tang fighters with stacked leather washers reportedly were made for the European theater during World War II, while the full-tang wood-slab fighters were made for the Pacific. The stacked leather washers were thought to be too susceptible to the humidity, high temperatures and salty air of the applicable Pacific region. (Image courtesy of Louis Chow)

In 1937, Cutlery Hall-of-Famer W.D. “Bo” Randall observed an older man scraping the bottom of a boat with a knife that appeared undamaged by the abuse. Intrigued by the improvised tool, Bo purchased it from the owner and contacted its maker, who just so happened to be Scagel. Randall eventually became Scagel’s student and soon opened his own shop, making Scagel-style knives.

“At the onset of World War II, Randall designed and produced some of the most recognizable combat knives ever made,” Louis stated. “Nonetheless, all were made with the hidden-tang method. It was not until the early 1960s that Randall introduced the full-tang Model 14-Attack and the Model 15-Airman combat knives.”
Continuing the generational theme, Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Bob Loveless read a magazine article about Randall knives in 1953. He corresponded with Bo and made his interpretations of Randall knives before experimenting with and then making his own full-tang models.

From the mid-1960s through the early ’70s, Loveless accepted many orders from service members awaiting assignment to Vietnam. He also received bulk orders from units stationed there. One bulk order in early March 1967 from a unit commander in the 1st Cavalry Division was for 37 fighting knives.

“The unit commander and his troopers were stationed in Saigon and were supporting Operation Junction City, one of the largest airmobile operations in the war,” Louis wrote. “As a patriot and former veteran himself, Loveless would temporarily halt all other orders and place top priority on knives destined for combat. As for those 37 fighters, he worked day and night and completed the order in less than a month. For the next four decades, the Loveless full-tang designs were copied and reinterpreted by countless knifemakers and knife companies in the United States and abroad.”

In addition to the foregoing cutlery legends, the full-tang method was also preferred by many other U.S. World War II knifemakers. Among them: Alfred Bimson, John Ek, Taylor Huff, A.R. Kephart, Kennedy Arms, Bob Riggs, Ernest Warther and Cutlery Hall-of-Famer M.H. Cole. Cole also authored the comprehensive U.S. Military Knives, Bayonets & Machetes series of books and has been dubbed the “Sage of Military Knives” by Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Bruce Voyles. Continuing Cole’s legacy is knifemaker/author Michael Silvey through his reproductions of Cole’s designs and his lavishly illustrated books on the knives of the United States military in World War II and Vietnam, and other works.

Tactical Fixed Blades: EDC With An Edge

Les Robertson

January 5, 2026

Don’t overlook small tactical fixed blades for everyday carry.

When most blade fans talk everyday carry (EDC) knives, they usually mean folders. The two main EDC advantages of folding knives are they are convenient to carry and, except for that pesky pocket clip, easy to conceal. Of course, while many overlook the clip, others know it indicates you are carrying a knife.

Folders are designed primarily for smaller everyday chores—opening a box, peeling fruit and so on. This is especially true of slipjoints, which rely on you cutting away from yourself—which you should always do with all knives—and a half-stop as a safety device. Granted, when slipjoints were popularized long ago, lockback, linerlock and framelock folders were unavailable. The problem with both slipjoints and lockbacks is most take two hands to open and close, which, if you are trying to cut something you simultaneously must hold, can be inconvenient at the very least.

The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw a boom in the commercial availability of manual folders that could be opened and closed with one hand. Utilizing the flipper opener and the roller bearing system made the blade deploy quickly and smoothly, often even quicker than an automatic. With the perfection of linerlocks and framelocks, unlocking and closing the manual folder with one hand was no longer a problem.

Kydex sheaths can be molded to fit the blade and, over time, will not deform, providing a safer carry option. Rafal Kolakowski uses Kydex® for the sheaths of his Ridgeline set of small tactical EDC fixed blades.

Even with these technical improvements, the folding knife still has its limitations. A small blade can do only so much before it bends or, in some cases, breaks. Some tactical folder makers tried to address this issue by making folders with 5-inch blades of 1/4-inch stock. This was done primarily for cosmetic reasons without addressing the folder’s primary weakness—the pivot. The very nature of the pivot means it must allow some side-to-side movement of the blade, no matter how slight. If the folder is used for an unintended purpose or put under undue force, the blade can be moved off-center.

On top of that, folding knives require more regular maintenance than fixed blades. Locking folders with back straps and slipjoints with backsprings collect dirt, lint, etc., during daily use and must be cleaned. What’s more, using a folding knife beyond its capabilities and failing to perform regular maintenance can affect its opening and closing ability. Lastly, a folder cannot do anything until you first deploy the blade.

Fixed-Blade Pros

Fixed blades, on the other hand, offer several advantages. As already suggested, larger fixed blades can do tasks that smaller blades either can’t perform or do so with difficulty.

Finger/thumb serrations on the blade spine of Al Polkowski’s Boot Fighter help with controlling the knife in use.

One of the fixed blade’s most significant advantages is full-tang construction, providing added strength and durability. A full-tang fixed blade especially is better suited for heavy cutting and repeated hard use, and safer for use with a heavy load.

A fixed blade also has a superior mechanical advantage. Unlike the folding knife, there is zero chance of mechanical failure under stress. Locks and pivots can fail, especially when using the knife for tasks for which it is not intended.

Another advantage is the style and size of the blade. Fixed blades can feature longer and thicker blades that will perform better under the rigors of hard use.

Full-tang fixed blades such as the Trailhead set by Tomasz Dziubinski are better suited for heavy cutting and repeated hard use, and safer for use with a heavy load.

A fixed blade typically will have better handle ergonomics. Its handle is usually designed for prolonged use, featuring a more comfortable grip that also aids in balance and is ready for immediate deployment. While many folders can be opened with one hand, not so slipjoints. If your hands are cold, wet, injured or gloved it can present a problem as many, if not all, slipjoints require two hands to deploy the blade or blades. On the other hand, with the correct sheath combination, a fixed blade can be rapidly deployed under almost any circumstance.

Sheath Concerns

Top material options for EDC fixed-blade sheaths are leather and Kydex®. Kydex gained popularity because it provides two main advantages over leather.

First, most makers can build at least a rudimentary kydex sheath. Leather sheaths are more of a challenge. Second, Kydex does not hold moisture and does not require tannic acid, which is used in the processing of leather. This is very important for EDC. Tannic acid in the leather can cause carbon steel to discolor. Leather, once wet, can shrink and/or deform, allowing the blade to accidentally cut or poke through it.

Conversely, Kydex does not hold moisture and does not require tannic acid. Kydex can be molded to fit the blade and, over time, will not deform, providing a safer carry option. Finally, the clip attachment on most Kydex sheaths can be adjusted to wear in either a vertical or horizontal position.

They Have The Edge

With the right sheath combination, a fixed blade can be rapidly deployed under almost any circumstance. The Street Scalpel by Rafal Kolakowski with Kydex® sheath and breakaway chain is a classic example.

I’m not suggesting that folders do not have advantages as EDC knives; they do. They are usually more comfortable and concealable to carry than fixed blades. They are more socially acceptable and usually have limited legal restrictions. They can provide versatility for light tasks such as opening letters, boxes, cutting cord, etc.

It is in fact the EDC folders’ size that is its biggest disadvantage. The smaller blades and less ergonomic handles limit the number of tasks folding knives can perform. Also, their moving parts provide a mechanical disadvantage when compared to EDC fixed blades.

The majority of this story’s featured tactical fixed EDCs have a 4-inch or shorter blade. Many tactical EDC folders also have 3.75-to-4-inch blades. When open, they are about the same length as the featured fixed blades.

With perhaps the exceptions of concealability and some legal restrictions, fixed blades have the edge. Depending on what you are using it for, you may want to consider a knife that has the mechanical advantage, requires less maintenance, can be easier to deploy in difficult situations or environments, and is more comfortable in the hand: fixed blades, the other EDC!

Rebel Specs
Knife type: Small tactical EDC fixed blade
Blade Length: 4.25”
Blade Steel: Elmax stainless
Blade Finish: Two-tone satin and bead blast
Handle Material: Textured black Micarta® w/OD green Micarta liners
Overall Length: 9”
Sheath: Custom-built by the maker; Kydex®
Author’s Comments: “Excellent all-around knife … the tip is ground to give the knife extra penetration … the texture of the black Micarta on the handle gives the user additional traction … primarily designed for belt wear, the clip can be configured for additional carry options … serrations along the top of the blade enhance the knife’s ability to handle small chores … a great knife that provides lots of user options.”
Maker’s price: $430

Ridgeline Specs
Knife type: Small tactical EDC fixed blade
Blade Length: 4”
Overall Length: 8.75”
Blade Steel: Becut stainless
Blade Finish: Satin
Handle Material: Black G-10
Sheath: Custom-built by the maker; Kydex®
Author’s Comments: “Double-hollow-ground blade with a fuller for added strength … full-tang construction … sculpted handle material for enhanced ergonomics … stainless-steel-tube-lined thong hole.”
Maker’s Price: $350 each

Boot Fighter Specs
Knife type: Small tactical EDC fixed blade
Blade Length: 4”
Blade Steel: 154CM stainless
Blade Finish: Bead blast
Handle Material: Black and green G-10
Overall Length: 8.25”
Sheath: Custom-built by the maker; Kydex®
Author’s Comments: “Great little back-up knife … it features a double-hollow-ground double edge with an extended tang that features a thong hole … quick and light in the hand.”

Trailhead Specs
Knife type: Small tactical EDC fixed blade
Blade Length: 3.5”
Blade Steel: Sleipner stainless
Blade Finish: Black Cerakote®
Handle Material: OD green G-10
Overall Length: 8.25”
Sheath: Custom-built by the maker; Kydex®
Author’s Comments: “Flat-ground, upswept utility-style blade … full-tang construction, excellent handle ergonomics … small knife built for hard work … stainless-steel-tube-lined thong hole … perfect knife for camping, a hike and everyday carry.”
Maker’s Price: $280 each

Street Scalpel Specs
Pattern: Tactical fixed-blade neck knife
Blade Length: 2”
Blade Material: 80CrV2 carbon steel
Blade Finish: Black Cerakote®
Handle Material: OD green G-10
Overall Length: 5.9”
Sheath: Custom-made, multi-position in Kydex® by the maker w/ball-bearing breakaway chain
Author’s Comments: “Perfect for utility or self-defense … the attachment holes on the sheath allow the knife to be carried however you like.”
Maker’s Price: $280

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