Soldier illustrates a bayonet knife attack on the target's subclavian artery. From FM 21-150, Hand-to-Hand Combat, June 1954.
One of the delights of the Internet is the community of forums where you can interact with experts in the field you are interested in. For military knives, try the MilKnives subforum at KnifeForums.com, moderated by Frank Trzaska and others. Frank has been Military Editor for Knife World Publications since 1996 and is webmaster of U. S. Military knives, an outstanding resource in its subject area. The Olive-Drab.com section on Military Edged Weapons has detailed information and photos of U.S. knives and bayonets.
Kill or Get Killed
by Col. Rex Applegate. This is the best and longest-selling book on close combat in history. Reprinted and in current use by the U.S. Marine Corps as an official training manual, it details methods of self-defense, offensive close combat including knife fighting, combat shooting and crowd-control techniques in riot situations. Colonel Rex Applegate is widely regarded as the father of modern close combat and combat shooting, and this book is considered the standard by which all other books on the subject are judged.
The Source
by Peter Robins. The history of the famous collaboration between Eric
Anthony Sykes and William Ewart Fairbairn which led to the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife and WW II's most successful close combat systems for both armed
and unarmed combat. See also the biography of Col. Rex Applegate,
their most famous student, on the
American Combatives web site.
A Cut Above by Patrick E. Clarke is an article in Special Operations Technology magazine (On-line Edition) that describes the latest thinking in U.S. Military fighting and survival knives. It discusses the history of knives and bayonets since World War II and tells what various companies that supply the military are doing.
Collectible Bayonets
are shown on this page from Sarco, Inc. with photos and identification
information.
These companies manufacture military bayonets and knives for U.S. and other armed services:
There are many fine websites that have additional information on this
topic, too many to list here and too many to keep up with as they come and go.
Use this Google web search form to get an up to date report of what's out there.
For good results, try entering this: military bayonet or knife. Then click the Search button.
