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A fighting knife has a blade designed to most effectively inflict injury in close-quarters physical confrontations.Burton, Walter E., Knives For Fighting Men, Popular Science, July 1944, Vol. 145 No. 1, p. 150Hunsicker, A., Advanced Skills in Executive Protection, Boca Raton FL: Universal Publishers, , , p. 51Thompson, Leroy, Fairbairn–Sykes Commando Dagger, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, , (2011), p. 71Lee, David, Up Close and Personal: The Reality of Close-quarter Fighting in World War II, Naval Institute Press, , 9781591149071 (2006), p. 117: "At the top of the list is the fighting knife. Using this weapon requires the soldier to close right in with his enemy. The fact that its use is going to be bloody and horrible means that only a strong or well conditioned individual is going to be able to use it in anger." The combat knife and the trench knife are examples of military fighting knives.Peterson, Harold L., Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World, Courier Dover Publications, , (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."
Fighting knives were traditionally designed as special-purpose weapons, intended primarily if not solely for use in personal or hand-to-hand combat. This singleness of purpose originally distinguished the fighting knife from the field knife, fighting utility knife, or in modern usage, the tactical knife. The tactical knife is a knife with one or more military features designed for use in extreme situations, which may or may not include a design capability as a fighting or combat weapon.Shideler, Dan, Sigler, Derrek, and Ramage, Ken (eds.), The Gun Digest Book Of Tactical Gear, Krause Publications, , (2008), p. 7 Since World War I, the fighting knife in military service has gradually evolved into a dual-purpose or "fighting-utility" knife, suited for both knife fighting and utility roles. As a consequence, the terms "fighting knife" and "tactical knife" are frequently employed interchangeably.
With the development of steel and simplified forging techniques, the sword became the preferred bladed weapon for most professional fighting men. During the latter part of the 12th century, the steel-blade dagger became popular as a secondary weapon for knights as a standard part of their equipment. This new form of dagger was really a miniaturized sword, featuring a flat double-edged blade and central spine or fuller.
The first fighting daggers to become widely popular in Europe were the rondel dagger and the bollock dagger. The rondel dagger was a fighting knife with a double-edged, tapered blade and a hilt featuring circular guards. The bollock dagger dates from around 1300–1350, and had a distinctive hilt cap formed from two lobes that acted as a hand-stop.Walker, Greg, Battle Blades: A Professional's Guide to Combat/Fighting Knives, Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, (1993), pp. 28, 50-55, 130 It was especially popular with English and Norwegian combatants.Nøttveit, Ole-Magne, The Kidney Dagger as a Symbol of Masculine Identity, Norwegian Archeological Review, Vol. 39 No.2 (2006), pp. 138-150 French and Italian daggers of the 14th century were the first to introduce acutely tapered blades and reinforced points in response to improvements made in armor design and the need for penetration.
As the importance of the dagger declined in military service, the weapon became extremely popular in civilian society as an item of daily wear, being used for everything from personal defense to dinner cutlery. In Andalucian Spain the personal fighting knife was epitomized by the famous ratcheting folding knife known generally as the navaja.de Rementeria y Fica, Mariano, Manual of the Baratero (transl. and annot. by James Loriega), Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, (2005) The navaja was originally used primarily by the barateros of the underworld and the working class, but by the 1800s it had become an accepted personal weapon for Spanish men of all backgrounds, including the wealthy.
In Portugal, the faca, a large fixed-blade fighting and utility knife accompanied Portuguese explorers and settlers during their conquest of Brazil, where the pattern remains popular to this day. From the faca is derived the facón, the large fighting-utility knife of the gaucho. The facón is widely used in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay in an indigenous style of knife fighting inspired by Andalusian knife fighting techniques known as esgrima criolla ("Creole fencing").de Rementeria y Fica, Manual of the Baratero, pp 5-6, 9, 12: The esgrima de criolla method of knife fighting employed by the gaucho and his facón in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, using clothing to protect the weaponless arm, is derived directly from el legado andalúz.
In late 1942, the U.S. Marine Corps adopted the 1219C2, later designated the USMC Mark 2 Combat Knife or Knife, Fighting Utility, but better known in popular terminology as the KA-BAR.Shackleford, Steve (ed.), Blade's Guide To Knives And Their Values (7th ed.), Iola, WI: Krause Publications, , p. 387 The KA-BAR differed from World War I-era U.S. fighting knives in that it was purposely designed as a dual-purpose weapon, adapted for both combat and as a utility knife.Sledge, E.B., With The Old Breed: At Peleleiu and Okinawa, Presidio Press, (2007), pp. 21-22 It also differed from some earlier USMC knives such as the Marine Raider stiletto in that the new knife used a stout, wide blade with clip point that facilitated slashing attacks as well as blade thrusts. MCRP 3-02B: Close Combat, Washington, D.C.: Department Of The Navy, Headquarters United States Marine Corps, 12 February 1999: "Marines use slashing techniques to close with an enemy. Slashing techniques distract or damage an opponent so Marines can close in." Subsequent reports on the effectiveness of the new knife in jungle combat substantiated the Marine Corps decision to standardize the KA-BAR as the USMC's fighting knife for individual Marines.
In contrast, in 1941 Great Britain introduced one of the most famous "pure" fighting knives designed specifically for military use in combat, the British Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife (F-S).Fighting Knives: An Illustrated Guide to Fighting Knives and Military Survival Weapons of the World (1985), Frederick J. Stephens, A traditional single-purpose fighting knife, with an acutely pointed, stiletto-type blade designed to emphasize thrusting strokes (puncture wounds), the F-S was based on the concepts and ideas of William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes, two renowned former members of the Shanghai Municipal Police who trained countless soldiers in the art of close-quarters fighting. The Fairbairn–Sykes knife inspired several similar knives of the era such as the V-42 stiletto designed by Lt. Colonel Robert T. Frederick, who commanded the joint US and Canadian First Special Service Force and the Marine Raider stiletto designed by Lieutenant Colonel Clifford H. Shuey. Capt. Fairbairn would later introduce a much larger fighting knife, the Smatchet, based on the traditional Welsh Fusiliers trench knife of World War I. The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, retrieved 29 July 2011: Contrary to popular legend, the leaf-shaped Welsh Fusiliers fighting knife was not based on a traditional Welsh fighting knife, but instead was taken directly from a patented design created by Felix Joubert, a knife collector and arms restoration expert.
The U.S. Army adopted the M3 Fighting Knife in 1943 as its standard fighting knife. The M3 replaced the earlier World War I-vintage Mark I trench knife in combat service. The M3 was primarily designed as a purist fighting knife, though some compromises were made in the design to conserve strategic materials. Catalog of Standard Ordnance Items, Washington, D.C: U.S. Army Ordnance Publications (1943)Cassidy, William L. (1997), The Complete Book of Knife Fighting, , (1997), pp. 47-48Whitman, L., New Army Trench Knife, Army & Navy Journal, Vol. 80, 6 February 1943, p. 649 When adapted to utility tasks such as opening ration tins or ammunition boxes, the limitations of the M3 pattern quickly became apparent.
In the United States, Knifemaker Bo Randall began production of the "All Purpose Fighting Knife" giving it the designation of "Number 1" in his catalog. Between 1942 and 1945, Randall Made Knives produced 4,000 of these knives for battlefield use by US troops, with approximately 1,058 knives additionally subcontracted to another firm to meet wartime demand. In the 1950s Randall would adopt the general pattern of the Bowie knife for several of his fighting knife designs.Pacella (2002)pp. 130-131
During the Vietnam War, the Gerber Mark II, designed by US Army Captain Bud Holzman and Al Mar, was a popular fighting knife pattern that was privately purchased by many U.S. soldiers and marines serving in that conflict. In the 1970s and 1980s a student and protege of Fairbairn, Colonel Rex Applegate worked with knife designer Bill Harsey, Jr. to design the Applegate-Fairbairn Combat Knife, so named because it was designed as an improvement on the Fairbairn–Sykes based upon discussions Applegate and Fairbairn had during World War II to eliminate the weaknesses of the F-S knife (e.g., weak blade point, inability to determine orientation of blade merely by grip). While the Applegate-Fairbairn combat knife had a blade design that was more versatile than the F-S fighting knife, the former remained primarily a single-purpose fighting knife design. The first of these knives were made by Al Mar Knives, based on Harsey's designs.Pacella (2002) p. 145
Folding knives are rarely if ever designed primarily for use as fighting knives or combat knives. However, many armies and military organizations have issued folding "utility" knives that were not intended to be used as weapons, but which had tactical features that appealed to military personnel as well as civilians. This includes the German Mercator "Black Cat" folding utility knife, The Origins of the Mercator K55K German Knife , retrieved 30 July 2011 the German Luftwaffe gravity knife, the British Ibberson World War II gravity knife, and the U.S. World War II M2 switchblade pressbutton utility knife, also intended for use by parachute troops and flight crews.
Many civilian folding knives also have been privately purchased by both civilians and military personnel for use as general-purpose utility knives. Among these is Buck Knives' Model 110 Folding Hunter, a lockback folding knife. Originally marketed as a hunting knife, the Model 110 saw use with military and naval personnel as a utility or emergency knife for cutting rope, strapping, harnesses, rigging, and a variety of other tasks. Custom knife makers began making similar knives intended for private purchase use by both civilians and military personnel. The earliest production company to make a tactical knife was Al Mar Knives with their SERE model designed for the military with input from Special Forces Colonel James N. Rowe in 1979.
By the 1990s, tactical folding knife sales had risen sharply, and new designs were being regularly introduced at many large gun and knife shows. The trend began with custom knifemakers such as Bob Terzuola, Michael Walker, Mel Pardue, Ernest Emerson, Ken Onion, Chris Reeve, Warren Thomas and Warren Osbourne.Walker, Greg, Battle Blades: A Professional's Guide to Combat/Fighting Knives, Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, (1993), p. 130 These knives were most commonly built as linerlocks, although McHenry & Williams introduced the Axis lock, which is used by Benchmade Knife Company, under license. Blade lengths varied from 3 inches to as long as 12 inches, but the most typical models never exceeded 4 inches in blade length for legal reasons in most US Jurisdictions. Knifemaker Bob Terzuola is credited with coining the phrase "Tactical Folder".
In response to the demand for these knives, production companies offered mass-produced tactical folding knives Companies such as Benchmade, Kershaw Knives, Buck Knives, Al Mar Knives, Gerber Legendary Blades and Spyderco collaborated with tactical knifemakers; in some cases retaining them as full-time designers. Tactical knifemakers such as Ernest Emerson and Chris Reeve went so far as to open their own mass-production factories with Emerson Knives, Inc. and Chris Reeve Knives.
Critics of the "tactical" folding knife point out that the design is not well suited for individual combat when compared to a purpose-built fixed blade combat knife or fighting knife. The very nature of a folding knife means that it will usually have to be retrieved and its blade deployed during a fight – an impractical maneuver during a fight. Students of knife fighting also point out that any locking mechanism can fail and that a folding knife, regardless of lock strength, can never be as reliable as a fixed-blade combat knife. Lynn Thompson, martial artist and former CEO of Cold Steel pointed out in an article in Black Belt magazine that most tactical folding knives are too short to be of use in a knife fight and that even though he manufactures, sells, and carries a tactical folder, it is not ideal for fighting.
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