SEALsのローク少佐が語るナイフ

Rorke Denver少佐によって米海軍特殊部隊US Navy SEALsについて書かれた"Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior"には任務や銃火器についての話もあるが、ナイフについての記述もあった。

Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior

そこには大型のランボーナイフは使われないこと、そして彼はフォールディングナイフよりフィクストナイフに信頼を置き、SOG Knivesのデザート・ダガーやペンタゴンを使っていたとの記述がある。ナイフの用途や装着位置についての記述がある点も資料としてはありがたい。

For most SEALs, the big Rambo knife is mostly a myth and I never carried one. But like most warriors, I always had a fixed-blade knife with me, a SOG Desert Dagger with a six-inch blade or the slightly smaller SOG Pentagon with a five-inch blade.

I have buddies who are knife pros. They’ve convinced me that a folding-blade knife is a broken knife, great in your pocket at home, not so great in battle. Fixed is just stronger. I used it to cut a line, open a package, slice open a mattress in a hunt for hidden weapons. That knife was in action many times a day. The handles and the grips are easy to hold whether hands are wet or dry.

I hung my knife vertically on my body armor, handle up, blade down. That way if someone came at me in close quarters in such a way that my hands were pinned against my chest, I’d still be able to grab the handle of the knife. It would have to be a highly motivated bad guy to still hang on as I was slicing at his hands or his eyes.

手や目を切るという部分も興味深い。