My much younger brother in law is due to complete basic/infantry at Ft Benning in late March. I was thinking of getting him a knife. To anyone who has recently graduated or had a kid/relative recently graduate, can a newly minted infantry private carry a non-issued knife as part of his kit? Fixed Blade or folder? Are they issued knives of any sort? Any other suggested items which might be more appreciated?
Thanks for any advice.

Whether they are issued knives or not is really unit dependent.

I would wait.

If you really want to get him something, get him a gift card for Ranger Joe's so he can go crazy. He'll know about Ranger Joe's. It's a toy store of sorts in Columbus, GA.

Definitely visit the IN museum if you're attending his graduation.

A nice assisted opening pocket knife like a zero tolerance and a good multi tool are always handy in the army. A ka-bar is good too.
Everyone carries a folding knife and a multi tool. The multi tool comes in handy breaking down crew served weapons for cleaning. Leatherman makes a model specifically for cleaning the m4/ar15.
I had a crocodile Dundee style knife on my iba and nobody gave me any shit except for doing land nav and it threw my compass off..

Most units do not issue knives to their Soldiers. As an infantryman he might get issued a Gerber multi-tool (though I also ordered them for my company so every Soldier has one and they aren't infantry). As for getting him a knife, I would recommend a folding knife with a blade no more than 3.5" in length. He would only be able to bring a fixed blade knife with him to the field and the majority of his knife activities would be opening MREs or cutting 550 cord, both of which don't need a massive Rambo knife.

Most units I've been in (Infantry, MP,Signal) don't issues knives anymore. They usually don't bat an eye if you have a multi tool on your belt and folding knife in your pocket. We used to get multitools (gerber) prior to deployment. Big fixed blades tend to attract attention during barracks inspections.

Alternative gifts are a G Shock or Suunto GPS watch or a red lens head lamp.

Orthotics.

I second (third? fourth?) the multitool recommendation. Very handy for a grunt to have. Second pick would be the gift card. Replacing issued boots is one of the first things all MOSs do. LOL

I received a Swiss Army Knife from a friend upon graduation from Infantry School at Harmony Church in 1985. I used that knife everyday while in service and beyond. A good knife is one of the mostbuseful things he’ll use whether pocket, fighting, or task type knife. Gift certificate from Ranger Joes as mentioned earlier is a good dudes too. I found a small stock of shaving brushes also gold cutting the time to clean weapon. If you want to go big and he’s going to a unit regularly rotating to hotspots a RMJ Tactical Tomahawk would be quite a gift albeit pricey for some.

Gerber multitool and my crkt assisted opening knife were used ALL THE TIME while I was in the army.

Whatever folding knife you get him, get him 2 or 3 so he can put them in multiple kits. I had my EDC, one on my body armor, and one in my camelback.

I agree with a really good folding knife. Re: fixed blades he may, or may not, be restricted from having it in the barracks depending on blade length. He may, or may not, be able to use it on his gear. Finally, if he's like me who bought a big fixed blade for my own infantry use....he may decide it is too big and not worth the size and weight to carry it (Cold Steel 7" Recon Tanto bought in the 90s, I never carried it in the field.)

He probably has (or may get issued) a multi-tool.

So, a good folder, something nicer than he would buy himself or the Ranger Joes gift card is a good idea as well.

M1 Garand.

Or a nice watch from Dave T.

Good watch, good folding 3-4" blade, good compact flashlight.

Multi-tool

A good watch, like a solar-powered G-shock Rangeman would be a great gift.

two things i always used in the field, headlamp and gerber. There are a host of good leadership books written by military leaders, can't go wrong with that.

Good boots....I prefer Danner or Lowa

A really good multi tool. If you are loaded, a car, having wheels is always a good thing for a young barracks rat.

Do Not give him a victory drive gift certificate or a free stay at the thunderbird motel (If it's still there).

You could take him downtown to the Cannon and get him his own mug.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! My wife already got him a nice fisher space pen, so I am probably going to add a mult-tool or a Zero Tolerance folder. We will be attending the graduation ceremony, I haven’t been to Columbus since 1967. My dad was stationed there as an artillery training officer when I was born.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
I second (third? fourth?) the multitool recommendation. Very handy for a grunt to have. Second pick would be the gift card. Replacing issued boots is one of the first things all MOSs do. LOL

This is a timely topic as 250 miles away, at Ft Jackson, my daughter is graduating Basic this Wednesday.
-- likely I'll give her a gift cert; enough to cover boots or a watch.