04-23-2011, 08:11
|
#1
|
|
Asset
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Eastern NC
Posts: 0
|
Gerber Mark II in Vietnam
Group
I was told years ago by a SF vet that the Mark II was the unofficial "official" knife of SF- that after the Q course "everybody" went to the PX at Bragg an bought a Mark II, with a few getting Randalls, but the Mark II was the knife going to Vietnam with SF. Was this the norm?
Thanks
Rick
|
|
dkr02 is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 08:15
|
#2
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DFW Texas Area
Posts: 4,741
|
Yes. I got one, carried it and gave it to my interpreter when I left. I still have the Browning Hipower that I took!!
__________________
Martin sends.
|
|
Ambush Master is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 08:46
|
#3
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 547
|
I wore one (with the grey handle) on my kit when I was in Afghanistan. Good knife but they are getting to be just as expensive as Randalls for the older ones.
|
|
Papa Zero Three is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 09:01
|
#4
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,780
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkr02
Group
I was told years ago by a SF vet that the Mark II was the unofficial "official" knife of SF- that after the Q course "everybody" went to the PX at Bragg an bought a Mark II, with a few getting Randalls, but the Mark II was the knife going to Vietnam with SF. Was this the norm?
Thanks
Rick
|
The Search button is your friend.
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=31725
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
|
|
The Reaper is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 14:38
|
#5
|
|
Asset
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Eastern NC
Posts: 0
|
Yes, I read that thread, but was hoping to get more first-hand feedback from the Vietnam troops. Also, how did the knife hold up in Vietnam? Did it work OK as a general duty knife(like a Kbar), or was it limited in this role by its design? Just curious from a historical standpoint.
Thanks
Rick
|
|
dkr02 is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 15:35
|
#6
|
|
BANNED USER
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Monterey California
Posts: 392
|
I carried one on my second tour and it was great. The third tour, some ARVN Ranger (BDQ) stole it and I couldn't figure out who!
|
|
f50lrrp is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 16:13
|
#7
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Potomac River
Posts: 925
|
Quote:
Yes, I read that thread, but was hoping to get more first-hand feedback from the Vietnam troops. Also, how did the knife hold up in Vietnam? Did it work OK as a general duty knife(like a Kbar), or was it limited in this role by its design? Just curious from a historical standpoint.
Thanks
Rick
|
I'm going to go out tonight and see if it is a full moon.
__________________
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
SFA M-9545
|
|
Buffalobob is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 18:00
|
#8
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Nashville
Posts: 956
|
The Man sticker....
Nick named "Gerber Man Sticker", it wasn't considered a general purpose knife as the K-Bar. Could stab or otherwise cut tissue  , but by design not so good with work related/survival issues.
I had one, loved it, used it once, and then sent it home to my brother...
Wouldn't mind having another for collection.
__________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
|
|
Blitzzz (RIP) is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 19:35
|
#9
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Fayetteville NC
Posts: 3,533
|
Bought one in the PX on Bragg in 68, carried it and lost it on a jump over Sicily before I ever got out of Tng Grp. 
Day jump with the then new MC1. My first in that canopy. Cost me a knife instead of beer. 
Agree with Blitzz, it sucked for field work and I have learned that a little sticky knife sucks for chopping shit in th field.
__________________
Hold Hard guys
Rick B.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing it is great on a hamburger but not so great sticking one up your ass.
Author - Richard. 
Experience is what you get right after you need it.
Author unknown. 
|
|
longrange1947 is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 19:58
|
#10
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Harmony Church
Posts: 2,634
|
Back in the '80s I remember a number of soldiers buying them before we deployed to Mackall for Phase I of the SFQC. Agree with the others that they weren't a perfect field knife. If I were going to use a Gerber in a hand to hand engagement I would probably chose the Mark I. A smaller knife is quicker and easier to wield in a fight. For field work I would chose something along the lines of a KABAR or Randall.
Last edited by mojaveman; 05-29-2011 at 00:01.
|
|
mojaveman is offline
|
|
|
04-23-2011, 20:01
|
#11
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Fayetteville NC
Posts: 3,533
|
Me, I like bigger, so I can cut the arm off or make it feel like I did. 
It is amazing how fast a big knife can be.
__________________
Hold Hard guys
Rick B.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing it is great on a hamburger but not so great sticking one up your ass.
Author - Richard.
Experience is what you get right after you need it.
Author unknown.
|
|
longrange1947 is offline
|
|
|
04-24-2011, 00:20
|
#12
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 1,159
|
Mark II
Quote:
Bought one in the PX on Bragg in 68, carried it and lost it on a jump over Sicily before I ever got out of Tng Grp.
Day jump with the then new MC1. My first in that canopy. Cost me a knife instead of beer.
|
Ditto.
Bought one while in 7th Group in 1975~1976. Why? Because it was so phallic.
Looked lean and mean, but damn near worthless since -- to be honest -- I didn't get into any knife fights where I needed such a lethal dagger.
My knife is somewhere vicinity Sicily North, when I started the operation it was tucked inside my boot (looked really cool) but when the operation was over the sheath was still inside my boot but the knife was long gone.
|
|
CSB is offline
|
|
|
04-26-2011, 14:17
|
#13
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orange, Ca.
Posts: 4,941
|
One of my friends got one when we were assigned from SFTG to the 5th at Ft Bragg in 1971. He thought he was really cool because he could flip it and catch it by the blade without looking. When he did look, his hand looked like he tried to catch a spinning razor blade...
|
|
mark46th is offline
|
|
|
04-26-2011, 14:31
|
#14
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
|
RE: Gerber Commando knives - I saw quite a few young guys buy them and take them to the field...one time...and then they went and found a worthwhile knife to carry other than the demo knife in their pants pocket. The older SF guys used to get a kick out of watching the younger guys go through the process of learning how to select a knife you could actually use and want to carry.
Richard
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)
“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
|
|
Richard is offline
|
|
|
04-26-2011, 14:40
|
#15
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
|
I got mine back around '76 on Sicily North. It just fell out of the sky and landed next to me. I don't have a sheath, though!
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
Last edited by ZonieDiver; 04-28-2011 at 16:01.
Reason: Changed "I" to "It" - even though I, too, did indeed "fall out of the sky"!
|
|
ZonieDiver is offline
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 18:39.
|
|
|
Linear Mode
