Military Switchblades
U.S. Armed Forces demand to go automatic!
With the introduction of parachute infantry into the German and American armies at the start of WW II, both countries quickly saw a need for a specialized “jump knife.” A parachuting knife had to be deployable with one hand because that was often all that was available. Given the primitive system of buckles and releases utilized on both armies’ early parachutes, it was frequently faster to cut your way free of your harness than to unfasten things properly. An easily accessible folding knife was considered the best solution.
Early Automatics
The German Airborne quickly adopted the “Fliegerkappmesser” (flight utility knife) gravity knife issued to air crews as the “Fallschirmjagermesser” (hunters from the sky knife). The United States Army was equally fast to adopt a conventional pushbutton “switchblade” with a handy 3 1/8-inch clip point as the “MK-2 Paratrooper Knife.” Both of these hardcore knives remained standard issue throughout the war. The last issue of the Army’s MK-2 seems to have been when the 173rd Airborne Brigade deployed from Okinawa to Vietnam in 1965.
March 30th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Thank you Bill M. I’m glad somebody else finally said it but you said it more eloquently than I would have because people like that tend to only think in poor me type ideas and yet these are the people that politicians listen to rather than the people who actually do the homework and have their own opinion versus what they’ve had crammed down their throat by the….AHEM media
April 29th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
My comments are directed at Ms. Mitchard’s response…
#1 Are you going to lobby the government to ban sharp kitchen knives as well, or how about hammers, axe’s, and other blunt or sharp objects that have been used as instruments of death???
#2 It’s people like you who want to promote their nasty “waste the taxpayer dollar” type agendas that keep our politicians in Washington busy with nonsense.
#3 Every ill or evil act starts with a thought in the human mind…thus these evil actions are perpetrated by sick and demented people. It is the person who chooses to use these knives, guns, etc to commit these evil acts. Knives have always been used for useful purposes. How about holding people responsible for their bad choices??
You probably think you speak for many Americans…NOT! Let the politicians move on to more important issues and stop wasting the government’s time on these silly ass agendas!
February 7th, 2011 at 2:51 am
Only the police and/or military should be allowed to own these knives, just like guns. What is wrong with our society? How many innocents, especially children will be killed before we learn?
I am going to write a book about this and help get our government to ban these instruments of death once-and-for-all.
Jacquelyn Mitchard
mitchATmailbag.com
jackieATjackiemitchard.com
January 7th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Is the U.S. Army CQD Mark 11 type E a switchblade?
November 30th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
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