The Rambo Knife! The Ultimate Survival Knife! ...Or is it?
Rambo's giant survival knife was first introduced in the very first Rambo movie, "The First Blood". Notice that this movie does not have "Rambo" in it's title, so it is somewhat less known by random movie goers. The plot of the movie differs from what you might call "a standard rambo movie". In this flick John Rambo is a traumatized Vietnam war veteran (showing off all the symptoms of what we might these days call post-traumatic stress disorder) who wanders homeless around USA. He has very little goals and no long term plans, he only wishes to reconnect with some old pals from his former military unit. Since he is more or less a vagrant, he gets treated as one. Or more likely, he gets treated like a junkie hobo who is not welcome anywhere. When he arrives to some small northwest/midwest town, the local sheriff immetedly takes issue with him. Rambo gets arrested for vagrancy and carrying a "concealed weapon" as the sheriff finds his large survival knife.
Rambo himself doesn't really want troubles, but once self-righteous backwater cop starts beating him while arrested, he snaps. The old traumas of and special forces training kick in and violence ensues. Rambo manages to escape the police and flees into the woods. The plot of the movie is how Rambo just wants to be left alone, but the local police thinks he is a dangerous and violent nutjob and chases him around the woods.
In this story Rambo is not so much a soldier but rather misunderstood and abused anti-hero who can no longer adapt to civillian life after the horrors of war. He just can't stop fighting though the war is over for him. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. This is not so much an action-packed gore-fest but rather a slower-burning thriller/tragedy.
The knife is based on earlier US Air Force survival knife. The Original is pictured with this text. During the Korean war US military had got itself a fancy new toy, the helicopter. By the time of Vietnam war this had proven to be a good and functional transport to have, especially in thickly forested jungles. And so they were put into large scale use during the Vietnam war. But at the same time, new problems were discovered: It was noted that every now and then, helicopters fell out of the sky. There were technical malfunctions, enemy fire and just simple human errors and such that caused choppers to fall. And once a chopper fell into a jungle, it usually hit the branches of trees and often rolled over.
They noticed that even when the crew of the chopper did survive the fall, they might get trapped inside the fuselage. The fuselage was made from light-weight materials like carbon fibers, fiberglass and aluminum and such (depending on a model), and might get bent out of shape, causing the doors not to open anymore. Or the whole chopper might be belly-up in a swamp or something. So the Air Force asked the pilot survival kits to be issued with new survival knives that would have a small serrated edge at the backside of the blade. The purpose of this serrated edge was that the crew might saw their way through the thin, light-weight fuselage and get out of the chopper. That's it! The purpose of the serrated edge is not to function as a wood-cutting tool or to "disembowel enemies". It's a rescue tool for those occasions if you are trapped inside a downed aircraft.
At the same time the AF asked if there was some way to get a hollow handle, so that they might stash some matches and fishing line and such inside it. The idea was heard by some knife-making companies and added into the design of the new survival knifes (although the military model was a full tang construction). This idea about survival gear stash inside the handle was copied as such into Rambo's knife (as some of the companies did produce knives like that at the time). The original US Air force survival knife is also much smaller than Rambo's über-large short sword.
During the production of the First Blood the producers did some research into US special forces, as Rambo was meant to be trained as such and should know the techniques that they were taught. At this point the producers probably noticed the Air Force survival knife, and decided that Rambo should have one too. But since this was a dramatized movie, just copying the AF knife was not enough. The producers wanted A BIG KNIFE! They wanted a fuck-huge killing tool that would drip sheer macho overkill. So when the original knife was too small, they MADE A NEW ONE for their new movie.
That knife is garbage. I used it in the Marine Corps. The thing broke b/c it didn't have a full tang. ESEE 4 is the way to go.
Oliver Taylor
Fpbp
James Bennett
The Movie Producers contacted a knife smith Jimmy Lile in Arkansas and asked him to create a custom ultimate super large survival knife for the upcoming movie. They told him something like "See this AF survival knife here? Kinda like that, but WAY bigger! Like, the blade should be at LEAST twice as long!"
And Jimmy did what was asked since he was being paid for it. At the same time the serrated edge at the back of the blade was overgrown into big-ass jagged line of metal teeth (the original serration was much smaller so it wouldn't get stuck in the aircraft fuselage). As a saw the Rambo knife is rubbish and you generally have better luck just hacking or whittling the wood with the straight edge than trying to use "the rambo saw".
This is the thing that many people don't understand about the Rambo knife: It is a MOVIE PROP. That kind of stupidly huge survival knives didn't really exist before Rambo movies (the ones that did were smaller and generally not so overkill). The Rambo knife was specifically made for that movie and the First Blood was the first movie that introduced the consept for the larger audiences. And at the same time the movie created the demand for "awesome survival knives, like the one in Rambo movie, you know?". Real survival knives were (and mostly still are) smaller and less macho.
Also, this kind of "hollow-handle with room for survival gear" construction has one significant downside. It is nowhere near as sturdy as regular knife tang designs. This was quickly noticed by users: The blade was attached to the hilt by only one small bolt and would break easily if put under serious pressure. In some cheaper Chinese knock-offs this might be so bad that the blade would simply be welded into the hilt without going inside it. That kind of construction will not last and the user might end up holding the handle in one hand while the blade would break off.
This has been noticed within militaries, and they generally steer well off from this kind of knives and prefer full tang constructions. If you want a small stash of survival gear, it is easy to have it as a separate container and just put it inside a pocket of your jacket rather than stuff it inside a knife handle.
The end result is that this kind of Rambo knives are not really suitable for any actual wilderness use outside weekend camping. Their construction is weak and will break too easily in heavier use (especially in cheaper models. Some of the newer models have tried to improve this weakness but with little success). The Ultra-big blade is not really feasible for bushcraft use and was not even designed for anything else than to look good in the first place. The giant jagged teeth at the back of the blade don't really have actual uses (unless you are trapped inside a helicopter, and even for that smaller serration would be better). It could be said that Rambo knife was a forerunner of sorts for the phenomenon what we these days call "mall ninja".
Yeah, it DOES look cool and badass knife but it isn't really functional. Those with more experience in outdoors life, camping and bushcraft know this and will keep to smaller, more traditional knives.
If you happen to like Rambo knife and want to buy it as a collectors item, go right ahead. I mean, it DOES look pretty wicked! And might look cool on a wall, if you are into that sort of thing. Just understand, that it's not meant for actual use and won't work well in the wilderness. It breaks too easily and looks stupid if you use it in camping. Understand that you are buying A MOVIE PROP, custom-made for a production of a movie. You are not buying an actual survival knife. The main purpose of the Rambo knife is to LOOK GOOD on silver screen.
It does have a full tang, it doesn't have a retard proof slab tang which is probably why you broke it you crayon muncher.
Nathan Gray
Nice read op.i don't get the hate, people want there 1,000,000,000 /autismgeneral/ threads and nothing else, new Jow Forums needs to fucking get gone and soon
John Cox
Finnish Ranger Knife. (pictured above)
Finnish conscript Spurdo proof "tang is bigger than the blade" design. Indestructible.
>Non-traditional variation of knife designed to be retard proof because retards are the current market So you agree with me or what? Because the actual text of your post doesn't quite add up to real English.
Brody Myers
Sure does have a full tang. I own one and gave one out every christmas. It's perfectly fine if you don't try to baton your way through shot with it.
It's a survive until get rescued knife - not a I'm bored and am going to wreck things knife
Jeremiah Hernandez
Is America still liberating those downtrodden Afghans? Or are they the ones that are creating a new generation of those terrorists?
Politics aside, I too felt stupid that they had to retouch the old film to better suit the current political narrative. Luckily I saw the movie way back when and saw that original text.
Gave some context into Afghan war when you remembered "weren't these the good guys on our side just a few decades ago? Wasn't a whole Rambo movie glorifying these guys as they were fighting the soviets?"
>There IS a market for ultra-strong designs. Yes, for plebs who don't know how to use knives. Hence slab tang historically being used because it was cheap and only recently taking the limelight because people think it's a necessary design feature.
Nathaniel Russell
It is true that what you might call "reckless knife use" is on the rise. Not many people have decent training (either by their parents or in boyscouts and such) and thus may be lacking in fine-motoric skills needed in knife-handling.
They might not understand simple things like "knife is not meant to do everything" and might think that knife can do a job that would be more proper for an axe or a saw. So they might not even carry those axes and saws with them when they go camping. Even when they really should.
Batoning is one such thing. It's more of a "use this in a pinch if you DON'T have an axe" -technique. In most cases a small hand axe would be more suitable for the job, but if you do have a sturdy knife you could pull it off in a pinch. Even with a rat-tail tang knife.
Also, "ultralight" -mentality has lead many people into thinking that they should keep their loadouts as light as possible, even if it means leaving important bits like axes off. This is simply lack of knowledge, training and experience. Some people don't have the opportunities to get these in their daily lives.
I think that giving such people a sturdy idiot-proof equipment and just letting them go get that experience is a better than trying to gatekeep them away from their hobby by constantly criticizing them. Let them have sturdy "idiot-proof" gear if it really helps them. That way they may learn some new things and come into understanding of their misconceptions.
Try to encourage and teach them, not to kick them down. That kind of toxic behaviour and language like "plebs, crayon-munchers, retards" isn't very sport of you. It doesn't help the problem.
First day here? Jow Forums isn't nice and that's the point, the only reason I know as much as I do is because I came here as a dumbass teenager and had it beaten into my skull that I didn't know half as much as I thought I did. If people want to come here and spew dumbass opinions then they're rightfully going to be called stupid. That's why people should lurk but they don't so here we are.
>get schooled on why you shouldn't be an insufferable dumb asshole >NUH HUH WE 4CHINS AMIRITE FELLOW LURKERS? get fucked
Wyatt Hall
Go away
Isaac James
Sir, I don't believe I like the cut of your jib.
Charles Young
Yeah just ignore my example of why I think this method works because you don't like the internet being mean to you, then let's also ignore that people don't learn lessons on their own which is why designs for plebs now dominate the knife industry which verifiably makes the final points made in the post I was replying to nothing more than wishful thinking. People who buy sharpened crowbars never figure out that they don't need them they just shitpost about how nothing short of a sharpened crowbar can so much as cut tape.
Bentley Rogers
I think that this is true for your casual camper, but, the ultralight movement really has effected the Appalachian trail hikers/STALKER meet-ups I've done more than lack of skill.
Partly it's smart, light gear = less damage to your joints over time, but, still...
Ryan Morgan
I bet you thought that was a really clever thing to say
Jack Evans
Getaloadofthisfaggotcam.mp4
Jeremiah Lee
i want to talk about the rambo knife and the movie, but i'm really not in the mood to read all that fucking bullshit. wat do
If it had an actual full tang it wouldn't rattle to pieces from being used. >It's a survival knife not a batoning knife Are you actually this stupid? What do you think you do with a survival knife? The knife is garbage. ESEE 4 is the way to go.
Noah Adams
why did you give a synopsis of the movie if you were just asking about the knife? A synopsis mind you that mentioned the knife one time in 3 paragraphs of text about the movie
It does have an actual full tang, you don't know what that term means and you apparently don't know how to use a knife either.
Dominic Gonzalez
I've been in aviation all my life, and this is the first time I'm hearing of this serrated edge nonsense. Have you ever cut aluminum for aircraft sheetmetal repair? I have. And it ain't done with serrations like that. Aircraft cabin/cockpits have what's called a crash axe. It's a standard item, just like the cockpit fire extinguisher. Usually used for busting out the plexiglas windows and other misc things. The axe shape hasn't changed since ww2. A spike on one end and the axe edge on the other. Literally the same part number axe used on the C-47 in ww2 is what was in the UH-1s in Vietnam. Google aircraft crash axe.
People nowadays don't realize how much this movie changed the attitude of the country. It made everyone feel really bad about how they treated Vietnam vets to the point where if you fast forward to today, people in the military are all called heroes and receive nothing but positive treatment.
This movie was the point where everything did a complete 180.
Full length=/=full you fucking retard, your shitty rat tail bullcrap falls apart in a stiff breeze, it being longer without a proper width actually aids this
Matthew Cook
pastaa ylikseltä?
Brayden Gonzalez
Great knife, even greater sheath they have. Just wish it was made out of some thing not 1075.
Had some trouble pasting it here since the mechanics of the board have different "allowed characters per post" settings (no to mention the same text in english may take different amount of characters per word). I had to remodel the copypasta from 4 parts into 5 parts. you may see this from file names. There used to be rp1-rp4 in the original text, but I had to throw in an additional text and picture () which do not conform to the original set of pictures.
Here, I have poorly illustrated for you where you went wrong, please don't be retarded in the future, I understand this was an innocent misunderstanding but now you know better
he kinda looks like that sports star that niel patrick something the one that did the knee thing in footbal
Lincoln Wood
Oh so we're just pulling random shit off the internet then? Well how about: >en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(tools)#Common_tang_styles_found_in_swords_and_knives >A full tang extends the full length of the grip-portion of a handle, versus a partial tang which does not. A full tang may or may not be as wide as the handle itself, but will still run the full length of the handle. I even used to have a link by Peter Johnsson himself saying the same thing but that site's unfortunately gone.
You dumb faggot. Get it through your head. A rat tail is not the same as this. THIS is a full tang. Your garbage air force survival knife is just that, garbage. I know because I actually used mine; unlike yourself you fag larper.
I just posted it in response to your at best equally invalid graphic my man.
Not only do you not know what a full tang is you don't seem to know what a rat tail tang is. >B-but I used it and you didn't! Let's assume that's actually true, what world do you live in where that means dick about you actually knowing terminology? For example Fudds are known to use their guns but are infamous for not actually knowing jack shit about them. You not knowing that not all stick tangs are rat tails is probably the biggest indicator that your source on this was likely a post here on Jow Forums that you halfass remember.
Jonathan Johnson
The First Blood knife is based off of the Randall Model 18 Attack-Survival knife.
You type like a fag. I literally kept hearing "Hey Youtube! So, I know what you're thinking..." in my head before each line. The whole thing reads like some smarmy youtube talking face video, like a shitty knock-off Vsauce.
Hunter Smith
OK but I'm not wrong and that's all I really care about on this here anonymous imageboard. You don't know what full tang means.
>your own base of definition You mean the thing I didn't refer to until he (you) pulled a useless infographic off Google? No shit I don't think Wikipedia's worth a damn, that was the entire goddamn point. I could go to my actual base of definition, which is swords, but I've had this conversation with 9001 plebs and I already know where it goes and that's roughly in the direction of >but the terminology's different for knives because of reasons I can't explain
Parker Wood
The Ontario air force survival knife is not full-tang. Call up Ontario and ask them what a full tanged knife is, retard. You don't know what you're talking about.
Josiah Anderson
There is a light at the end of the tunnel
Christian Price
As much as you may want it to be the case stick tang and full tang are not mutually exclusive and that's how things were until recently when sharpened crowbars got super huge and >muh full tang became a marketing point posted alongside slab tang knives leading people who didn't know any better to conflate the two.
agreed great thread OP i actually learned something, today you were not a fag
Carson Reed
>If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. wtf was the point of your post. Go to /tv/ if you want to talk about movies like a redditor faggot.
