USMC Boot Camp graduation gift?

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  • Kutnupe14

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    I'm sitting next to my partner, a Marine guy, and he says that he was simply happy to see his family and spend the day prior to graduation with them. Everything else was just gravy... but I personally like the Ka-Bar idea.
     

    DadSmith

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    I'm sitting next to my partner, a Marine guy, and he says that he was simply happy to see his family and spend the day prior to graduation with them. Everything else was just gravy... but I personally like the Ka-Bar idea.
    Are Ka-Bar any good anymore. I seen one at a local hardware store and the blade was as sharp as a butter knife. It was supposed to be a Marine Corps commemorative edition.

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    MindfulMan

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    Yup .... as previously mentioned, a Gerber 06 is hard to beat !

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    Steve

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    1st, congrates on raising a fine young man. I hope you can attend his graduation. When I went to my grandsons' graduation ceremony in the USAF years ago, the DI warned us that we all would be crying like babies by the end of it. Damned if he wasn't right.

    So far as a graduation gift, a quality folding knife would be hard to beat. It would serve him well beyond his Marine years. But I would suggest that you have it simply engraved with his enlistment date, not his graduation date. He will be graduating from a number of schools in the next few years, but there will always be only 1 date that changed the course of his life.
     

    ghuns

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    ...So far as a graduation gift, a quality folding knife would be hard to beat. It would serve him well beyond his Marine years...
    I agree. We bought the USMC son in law a ZT0566. He's not a "knife guy" so we didn't want to go crazy. It has served him well over the years.
     

    teddy12b

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    #1 be there when he graduates. It'll be a moment in time that he'll never forget. I still remember seeing my family for the first time in months after all that and I had to fight back the tears. You've raised a young man to be proud of and please pass along my thanks to him as well.

    For a field knife, I deployed back in '03 and had a full sized Kabar D2 on my load bearing equipment. Inside the sheath pouch I kept a gerber multitool. Back then it was like the wild west and higher ups were too focused on other things and nobody said a word about fixed blades. In hindsight, the Kabar was a good knife and served me well, but if I were going back today it wouldn't be my choice. #1 I would never buy another D2 steel knife again and almost every fixed blade I have now is a 1095 or similar because I want a knife that's easy to sharpen in the field with whatever cheap and lack luster stone can be found. The D2 sharpens fine, but the better sharpening tools take up time and space that didn't exist. I'd agree with people recommending Esee, but I would not go with anything bigger than the Esee 4, and would probably be taking a partially serrated Esee 3 as my first choice.
     

    Usmccookie

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    nwi
    1st, congrates on raising a fine young man. I hope you can attend his graduation. When I went to my grandsons' graduation ceremony in the USAF years ago, the DI warned us that we all would be crying like babies by the end of it. Damned if he wasn't right.

    So far as a graduation gift, a quality folding knife would be hard to beat. It would serve him well beyond his Marine years. But I would suggest that you have it simply engraved with his enlistment date, not his graduation date. He will be graduating from a number of schools in the next few years, but there will always be only 1 date that changed the course of his life.
    As a marine. The day he became a marine will be more important. The only reason marines know the day they enlisted is because it's the same a their eas. These are two very different dates.
     

    bdybdall

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    If he can have it, a Gerber Strongarm in coyote brown would be very useful. American made, strong, fairly inexpensive. A youtube reviewer had a SF trooper on there reviewing knives for duty and he recommended it highly.
     

    togden812

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    Dec 22, 2011
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    Osgood
    A Ka-Bar is a good traditional gift. But I would say the best thing you could give him would be some advice, he'll need it the further he goes.

    Don't marry the first girl you meet or at least get a prenup.
    Don't buy a car off base for 30% interest.
    Make him send you half his pay each month, he will thank you when he gets out.
    Don't get busted in Tijuana.
     

    jaymark6655

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    Jul 2, 2018
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    I don't remember getting any gift on graduation day, I was just happy that my dad showed up, it was really difficult for him to make that trip.

    As for KA-BAR, he bought me one during leave before I deployed to Iraq in 2003. No one ever said a thing about carrying a knife even stateside as long as we were in the field, even took it on a trip to Japan. Outside of that, very little use for it. I would be wary of knock offs, ones sold in local hardware stores are rarely the real deal, especially dull ones. Its very popular knife for Chinese companies to copy and sell cheaply.

    For everyday I purchased a couple CRKT knives that were great for opening MREs and other basic stuff, still have one. Currently I carry a Benchmade (it is much better steel than my CRKT, I believe it is a 595 Mini Boost) that was given to me before I went to Afghanistan. I was also given a Gerber, but I only carried it one time due to weight and size. I was just recently given a Benchmade Triage. I have not carried it yet, but looks like a good knife.

    As for tomahawks, the guys I know carrying them aren't doing it as a joke, really useful tool as long as your in a job that it would be useful such as popping locks of doors/gates or knocking a hole in a mud wall. If it had a spike, might be good for silently disabling a vehicle before heading into a compound, can't count how many knives I had to sharpen because guys were trying to stab the tires with their knives. They all said the same thing, its not easy like it shows on TV, lol. Throwing knives though, those are useless and really just for fun during down time.

    The above advice on money, cars, and girls is priceless. If he is into hunting or fishing might be worth getting a knife with something etched that would be good for his hobbies.
     

    Tombs

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    Jan 13, 2011
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    Martinsville
    I'd recommend a cold steel SRK in 3v.

    Fantastic knife, in a steel that will hold up well even if you want to do really inappropriate things to a knife.

    The SRK is pretty much the standard for a modern fighting knife.
     

    DadSmith

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    Oct 21, 2018
    22,186
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    Ripley County
    I don't remember getting any gift on graduation day, I was just happy that my dad showed up, it was really difficult for him to make that trip.

    As for KA-BAR, he bought me one during leave before I deployed to Iraq in 2003. No one ever said a thing about carrying a knife even stateside as long as we were in the field, even took it on a trip to Japan. Outside of that, very little use for it. I would be wary of knock offs, ones sold in local hardware stores are rarely the real deal, especially dull ones. Its very popular knife for Chinese companies to copy and sell cheaply.

    For everyday I purchased a couple CRKT knives that were great for opening MREs and other basic stuff, still have one. Currently I carry a Benchmade (it is much better steel than my CRKT, I believe it is a 595 Mini Boost) that was given to me before I went to Afghanistan. I was also given a Gerber, but I only carried it one time due to weight and size. I was just recently given a Benchmade Triage. I have not carried it yet, but looks like a good knife.

    As for tomahawks, the guys I know carrying them aren't doing it as a joke, really useful tool as long as your in a job that it would be useful such as popping locks of doors/gates or knocking a hole in a mud wall. If it had a spike, might be good for silently disabling a vehicle before heading into a compound, can't count how many knives I had to sharpen because guys were trying to stab the tires with their knives. They all said the same thing, its not easy like it shows on TV, lol. Throwing knives though, those are useless and really just for fun during down time.

    The above advice on money, cars, and girls is priceless. If he is into hunting or fishing might be worth getting a knife with something etched that would be good for his hobbies.
    While deployed on some bases you can't carry a firearm but you can carry a knife. All depends on where you get deployed.
     

    Lee11b

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    Apr 22, 2014
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    North Webster
    Congrats!!! on your son becoming a MARINE!!!! :patriot::ar15: As a member of the MEN's DEPT. of the ARMY, I'd suggest a good Gerber or Leatherman multi-tool. They come in handy!!!! From the sands of Iraq to furnaces in dark & damp basements, I have used mine almost daily.
     
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