A review of my new Glock – Knife!

By Data - with special credit to All Outdoor and MaskirovkiNET

I was a little surprised when I casually asked in the chat room here if anyone had ever tried a Glock knife.  The general response was “Glock makes a knife?”  I have always known about the Glock knives but had never been curious enough to try one.  So, of course, I took the response of “Glock makes a knife?” as a challenge to my curiosity and I ordered a Glock #78 Field Knife from Amazon.com for $28.95 + $4.49 shipping.  It arrived 3 days later.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Weight: 7.13 oz.

Steel: HRC55 Spring Steel

Blade Length: 6.5 inches

Overall Length: 11.5 Inches

Thickness: 3/16 inches

Available in olive drab, desert sand, or midnight black.

A LITTLE HISTORY:

These knives are made by Glock in Austria.  Glock worked closely with the Austrian Special Forces in the design of the knife and it is currently issued to the Austrian Army.

The hand guard on the knife features a bent 90 degree angle on the top side, which means the guard can be used as a convenient bottle opener.  WAIT . . . STOP THE REVIEW!!!  After a little research I discovered what appeared to be true when I first took the knife out of the package.  The knife was designed as a knife/bayonet.  The bent guard was not designed to be a bottle opener, even though it serves that purpose well; it was designed to fit into a clip on the muzzle end of a rifle.  The holes in the bottom of the handle were not designed for lashing the knife onto a branch so it could be used as a spear, although again, it serves that purpose well; they were designed to secure it into a mount on the rifle barrel.

But I don’t need a bayonet and it is sold as a knife and it makes a great knife.  Thank you Austria!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Whether talking about Glock pistols or about Glock knives, no one ever said that a Glock was pretty.  Glock pistols are known for being simple, reliable, and a bit ugly.  They just get the job done.  The same is true for the knives.

The knife did not arrive sharp.  I tried to slice a piece of printer paper with it and could not even get the blade to grab the paper.  So if you plan to purchase one of these knives, plan on doing some sharpening.  In fact, if you are confident enough in your blade sharpening skills I might even suggest re-profiling the edge.  While re-profiling is not necessary, a good sharpening is.

The blade is made of spring steel so it WILL rust.  You will want to keep it oiled.  The knife has a polymer handle and sheath.  This is the same durable polymer that Glock uses on their handguns.

Those of you who know me know I am a bit of a steel snob.  I like my S30V or D2 steel.  While this spring steel is not in the same ballpark as S30V or D2, I have come to respect it for its durability and ease of sharpening.  The spring steel can take a beating and will spring back into place, unlike the harder steels.  For that reason this knife makes a great utility, work, camping, or survival knife.  I am not so stuck in my ways that I cannot learn to respect the positive attributes of the less expensive spring steel.

When I first began to handle the knife, it immediately reminded me of my Ka-Bar USMC knife.  The look and the design are very similar.  This knife feels comfortable in my hand and feels well-balanced.  The knife does carry its weight more in the handle than in the blade, which would not make it the ultimate chopping knife, but it will chop none-the-less.  It will also dig, pry, baton, hammer, and do all of the chores you would expect from a utility/survival knife.  It is strong and durable, and if you watch the YouTube video links I will attach at the end of this review you will see that this knife is virtually indestructible.  (See description at the end of this review **.)

I have read stories online of people who say these make acceptable throwing knives.  I am no knife thrower and I did not try that myself.  The blade is a full tang knife, like the Ka-Bar USMC knife.

The only difference between the #78 Field Knife and the #81 Survival Knife is that the Survival Knife has a saw-back on the blade.  Otherwise they are essentially the same knife.  The sheaths have a catch that holds the knife securely.  The sheath can be used either right or left handed, will fit onto a 2-1/4” belt, or can be clipped onto a Molle system.  The sheath also has a nice drain hole in the bottom and a hole in which to attach paracord for a leg-retention strap, or just because you want to have a supply of paracord with you.  The sheath is simple yet functional, which is beginning to sound like my definition for “Glock”.

Overall, I am very impressed with this knife, especially considering the price range.  The only thing I am disappointed in is that it took me so long to purchase one.  I am thinking this may now become my regular – week end chore – camping – hiking – utility knife.  For $30, you just cannot go wrong with this knife.

** When I originally purchased this knife I thought for $30 I could do a destruction test on the knife and I would only be out $30, no big deal.  Then I searched on YouTube and found an 8-part series where a guy did the ultimate destruction test on this knife.  He pounded, chopped, batoned, even chopped through a cement cinder block with this knife.  In other words, he did a much better destruction test than I could ever do myself.  I am going to link to his YouTube videos so you can all watch what it takes to destroy this knife.  I wish I could give him credit by name but he actually posted the YouTube reviews under two names, “All Outdoor”, and “MaskirovkiNET”.  I wish to give him credit where credit is due as he did an excellent job of making these destruction test videos.

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc5TNRnVhtw

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V6itnuSk8M

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySTbyqnx-c0

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=occ4s9-pkqI

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9prXyY_m4w

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BTjLA6IwXo

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiRPrYa_oNM

Glock 81 Field Knife Destruction Test Part 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPm8UDMO9u8

 

Glock 81 Survival Knife on top  -  Glock 78 Field Knife on bottom:

My Glocks: Glock 17 Gen 4, Glock 19 Gen 3, Glock 26 Gen 4, and Glock 78 Field Knife:

Close up of Glock 78 with sheath:

Ka-Bar USMC on top  -  Glock Field Knife on bottom: