What knife is on your Molle Vest?

I have the seal pup and can attest to it being pretty rugged. The first one I had I left in the rain, threw at trees, dropped it out of my tree stand, missed trees and hit rocks with it but the thing just kept taking and edge and trucking on.
 
A good folding knife might work as well. When you put all of your ammo mags and maybe a pistol on your rig room and weight might become an issue especially if you don't wear it all the time.
 
Thanks everyone. Some good recommendations here. Doesn't seem to be much love for Gerber here. Is there any specific reason why?
Gerber makes a decent blade, but I'd stay away from their Bear Grylls stuff. For a fighting dagger, the Gerber Mark II is legendary, but it ain't good for anything besides that, and a little big to be attached on a vest. But if that is what you are looking for, go for it. Their LMT is ok as well.
 
I own a K-Bar and a Cold Steel ODA. The ODA is lighter than the K-Bar and my preferred knife for vest or backpack carry.

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Seal pup elite, although it still looks perfect, I've yet to use it. Bought it based on reviews online etc and reasonable price. I've been nothing but happy with SOG stuff I've had in general though, considering it's not top of the line stuff. I've been using a mini trident as my edc for quite some time now, and that thing I beat to hell, (cut holes in drywall with, use as a screwdriver etc), you name it, and it holds up.
 
Any problems trying to shoot weakside with it mounted that way? I would think it would be a hassle.


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You can see in the pic (post linked above) that the strap and knife can be displaced to get a good stock position for weak-side... it isn't perfect, but it works. Honestly, I'm such a bad shot weakside that my plan is to only approach buildings and cover from the right. [rofl]
 
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I might choose a rescue style Spyderco with serrations. If it's on your vest, likely to be useful to cut away clothing or straps quickly, but you could defend yourself with it if necessary.
 
As well I would suggest against point up carry with a larger knife without a kydex sheath. Even with the added retention, it could fall out, and makes one handed use in and out difficult.
 
It depends what you plan in using the knife for (fighting or utility) and how much you want to spend.

Gerber knives are kind if cheap, but ok if you don't have much to spend. If you are looking for a good fighting type knife, I would look at the cold steel line. You can get a decent cold steel for about 50 bucks or you can get one for 300 plus if you want to go crazy.

ESEE makes a great knife also but they are more utilitarian in design rather than being a fighting type blade.

You can't go wrong with a bench made either. They make a few great fixed blades
 
As well I would suggest against point up carry with a larger knife without a kydex sheath. Even with the added retention, it could fall out, and makes one handed use in and out difficult.

I carried my Kabar "point up", for six years with no issues, including rotations through NTC at Ft. Irwin and CMTC in Hohenfels, Germany. Any decent sheath should have multiple retention straps/clasps to prevent a "wardrobe malfunction". As far as one-handed use, I never had an issue deploying my knife quickly with my strong hand or weak hand when it was mounted vertically. The motion to go across the chest and pull down is quicker and more natural than to go down to the waist and pull up, not to mention the easier access from the chest than the waist with most short-handled knives and all your utility and mag pouches.
 
I carried my Kabar "point up", for six years with no issues, including rotations through NTC at Ft. Irwin and CMTC in Hohenfels, Germany. Any decent sheath should have multiple retention straps/clasps to prevent a "wardrobe malfunction". As far as one-handed use, I never had an issue deploying my knife quickly with my strong hand or weak hand when it was mounted vertically. The motion to go across the chest and pull down is quicker and more natural than to go down to the waist and pull up, not to mention the easier access from the chest than the waist with most short-handled knives and all your utility and mag pouches.

Which is why I suggested kydex. It allows you to carry pommel down and draw and sheath the knife one handed. I carry my Rat 3, Izula, and becker necker this way on my rucksack.
 
Which is why I suggested kydex. It allows you to carry pommel down and draw and sheath the knife one handed. I carry my Rat 3, Izula, and becker necker this way on my rucksack.

My Kbar came with a Cordura sheath that has been adequate. The Kydex sheath is nice, but not necessary as long as there are grommets on the sheath to provide for various mounting options. This is especially true if Airborne operations are in your future as everything needs to be secured to your person.

Old gerber blades are great new Gerber blades suck. I had one where the blade broke in half.

That's not a defective product, rather an unsupported feature to increase fatalities via festering wound infection [rolleyes]
 
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Not a big fan of mounting knives on the vest. In a hand to hand situation, retention becomes an issue, and like getting shot with your own weapon, getting stabbed with your own knife isn't too appealing.

I carry a Gerber LMF II mounted to my ruck/assault pack for "lost in the woods" situations or if Gerber can be believed, "cutting through a Black Hawk fuselage" if shit goes really wrong.

For protection, either a Gerber or Benchmade auto in my pocket and a Gerber Guardian backup knife discreetly mounted on my battle belt, drop leg, or some other place that is easy for me to reach but would be very obvious if a close up opponent was reaching for.

Obviously, I am satisfied with Gerber, despite the lack of love elsewhere on this thread. I think they are all very solid for the price. There are better blades out there, but not a lot of people want to $400 on a knife that probably won't get used very much when they can buy a pistol instead.

If you are into spending money, scroll though the KitUP archive. They seem to be doing a profile every week on a new guy who is hand forging custom steel in his garage.
 
You all should check out Busse Combat knives... The ultimate in durability, and virtually indestructible!
Proprietary steel and heat treat... You can find videos online of people chopping thru bricks, chains... You name it.



 
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Yeah, there's a Busse light brigade or Battle mistress in my future. But 398 with no sheath is steep.

Get the Mistress!!





Yes, they're a bit steep in price, but worth it. And they do retain their value on the secondary market.

And I confess to being a bit obsessed with them myself. :p

:D
 
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Esee 4 is a thicker knife with the same size grip as the 3. You get more blade and a kydex sheath instead of a plastic one. Also the 4 you can get it with Molle attachments or clip plate (new style).

The gerber and Sogs are low end steel and are more "fighting knives" the Esee is more of a survival knife. I you have experience with knife fighting and plan to use this molle vest for work I would still go with the esee. If this is just for fantasy zombie invasions I would still go with the esee as its a better overall knife. The carbon steel has a super heat treatment and esee has a 100% no questions asked warranty. Assuming you actually use the knife if anything goes wrong they will replace it. If you wanted to setup up your knife game look into survive! Knives the GS0 4.1 or 5.1 are excellent.

A fantastic and very cost effective fixed blade is the Mora's. The sheath isnt going to be molle compatible but people makes aftermarket kydex for it. The high carbon steel is excellent and the grip is great. They start at $12 bucks on amazon. I use my for battoning, skinning, food prep pretty much anything around a camp site. They sharpen super easy and are extremely light weight.

K-bar makes some great blades as well, it would be a better value over the esee's. THe BK series are fantastic, sharpened crow bars are most of them. Bk-7 Bk-2 Bk-11 all might be worth looking into. Decent sheaths and great blades. They have a great warranty also but esee is still the best in my mind.

gso 4.1
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Thats my Mora with modified sheath for IWB carry. Turns out to not be the best idea as the grip while excellent for gripping even when wet its one draw back is that it does just that. Grips to your shirt when IWB.
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I do not own a molle vest as I have no actual use for one. On occasion I will attach my knife to my day pack either with some paracord or molle if its a molle compatible bag. If I have a fixed blade on me it would be IWB (esee izula or gso 4.1) or OWB if I am hunting/camping.
 
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Not a big fan of mounting knives on the vest. In a hand to hand situation, retention becomes an issue, and like getting shot with your own weapon, getting stabbed with your own knife isn't too appealing.

I carry a Gerber LMF II mounted to my ruck/assault pack for "lost in the woods" situations or if Gerber can be believed, "cutting through a Black Hawk fuselage" if shit goes really wrong.

Obviously, I am satisfied with Gerber, despite the lack of love elsewhere on this thread. I think they are all very solid for the price. There are better blades out there, but not a lot of people want to $400 on a knife that probably won't get used very much when they can buy a pistol instead.

+1. I have been utterly abusing my LMFII for the last 2 and a half years and it's still going. Can't say enough about it.
 
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