Lan-Cay M9

[maxx]

I won this on ebay last month. $74. I think I made a good deal from the prices I have seen recently. The seller, unfortunately, didn't take very good pictures so there was not much competion like we see on other auctions.

 

Its the first one I have really examined closely and it seems like its very well made. Another step in the evolution of bayonets and it is quite heavy in comparasin to say an M3.

 

The blade is stamped M9 Lan-Cay USA. The sheath is marked LANCAY under the integral sharpening stone and the Fastex says 95.

 

The weight of this knife brings to mind an old saying:

 

The General says "How much for 300,000 of them?"

The Colonel says "When do we get them?"

The Lt. says " What do they do?"

The private says " How much do the weigh?"

[Greg Robinson]

There was a time when the M9 bayonets....either made by PHROBIS III or LANCAY (LAN-CAY).... sold for big bucks. I remember buying one same version as yours but mint condition with factory grease on blade for about $150....this was in 1996 at an Army store in Eugene Oregon. But then the bottom fell out of the value when LANCAY started selling them commercially. So not as collectible as they once were but your examples looks good and I think it's worth what you paid for it.

[SGM (ret.)]

I remember getting a "Buck Master" survival knife as a party favor at a graduation shin-ding that a foreign student hosted at Ft Bragg in '86. I believe the Buck was the forerunner of the M9 design, and boy, was that knife a regular boat anchor!

 

I kept it in the box for years and finally traded it away at a militaria show. I never liked the M9 when it was finally fielded: too heavy, too expensive, too bulky, too much!

 

I read on (I think) Frank Trzaska's site that the Army had requested bids on new M7 bayonets in the recent past. Presumably because the M9 sucks as a side arm and a bayonet. (The only cool thing was the wire-cutter feature which the Soviets managed to do with the AK bayo at half the weight.) The M7 was a much better design for a general issue bayo and fighting knife.

 

Mike

[Greg Robinson]

I remember getting a "Buck Master" survival knife as a party favor at a graduation shin-ding that a foreign student hosted at Ft Bragg in '86. I believe the Buck was the forerunner of the M9 design, and boy, was that knife a regular boat anchor!

 

I kept it in the box for years and finally traded it away at a militaria show. I never liked the M9 when it was finally fielded: too heavy, too expensive, too bulky, too much!

 

I read on (I think) Frank Trzaska's site that the Army had requested bids on new M7 bayonets in the recent past. Presumably because the M9 sucks as a side arm and a bayonet. (The only cool thing was the wire-cutter feature which the Soviets managed to do with the AK bayo at half the weight.) The M7 was a much better design for a general issue bayo and fighting knife.

 

Mike

 

 

I've always regarded the M9 as too much an attempt to be good for multiple tasks that it did none of them well. The USMC OKC 3S was a big improvement.

 

PHROBIS III won the initial contract but they didn't have a manufacturing facility. So they sub contracted it out to BUCK KNIFE.

[nuke41]

The USMC OKC 3S was a big improvement.

 

Greg,

 

I dont know, on the boat anchor scale its not far off from the M9, better design, but too damned long and heavy for my taste. Last few years of deploying I carried mostly an M7 fitted with a pair of EDMF knuckle grips, which dont weigh much at all since their are aluminum.

 

Cheers!

Jeb

[Greg Robinson]

Greg,

 

I dont know, on the boat anchor scale its not far off from the M9, better design, but too damned long and heavy for my taste. Last few years of deploying I carried mostly an M7 fitted with a pair of EDMF knuckle grips, which dont weigh much at all since their are aluminum.

 

Cheers!

Jeb

 

Good point. The Marine Corps might have been wiser to abandon this trend towards "multi purpose" edged weapons. What's wrong with issuing an M7 for when a bayonet is needed and also issue a "k-bar". In my opinion, the 1942 designed 1219C2 fighting/utility knife aka "k-bar" has yet to be significantly improved on.

[Still-A-Marine]

I like my "KA-BAR" and when I was in I had the M7 which was also good. And I must admit that the Marine version of the M9 from Buck in 1991 does seem to be a bit awkward. I was out by then but I do have one that I got from a friend. But IMHO that OKC-3S feels great in my hand even though it is heaver than the M9. And remember; part of the reason for the design and weight was to be able to penetrate body armor.

Of course this is just my 2 cents.

Bill

[korea drab]

I posted this picture under modern camos in combat.I noticed this marine in Iraq is using an old type combat knife?

Could you tell designation on the pommel allone?

Greg is that the knife you mean?i quote: the 1942 designed 1219C2 fighting/utility knife aka "k-bar" has yet to be significantly improved on.

[Greg Robinson]

I posted this picture under modern camos in combat.I noticed this marine in Iraq is using an old type combat knife?

Could you tell designation on the pommel allone?

Greg is that the knife you mean?i quote: the 1942 designed 1219C2 fighting/utility knife aka "k-bar" has yet to be significantly improved on.

 

Not only is it a "k-bar" but it appears to be a WW2 vintage knife. Note the bent guard and the brown leather stitched and stapled scabbard

[Still-A-Marine]

Ka-Bars are still issued to Marines who carry pistols, machine guns, or other non-bayonet compatible firearms. Bill

[Greg Robinson]

Ka-Bars are still issued to Marines who carry pistols, machine guns, or other non-bayonet compatible firearms. Bill

 

Yep....the Marines still have a stock number for those although for some reason they've sold quite a few of them surplus in recent years. I've got several that were auctioned off by the govt. Most are fairly current mfg but some are Viet Nam vintage. I believe they originated from Okinawa.

 

Greg

[jhs1970426]

Not only is it a "k-bar" but it appears to be a WW2 vintage knife. Note the bent guard and the brown leather stitched and stapled scabbard

 

Why would a soldier in todays conflict use a vintage knife like that? and do todays soldiers use personal items (as opposed to standard issue items) in the field? Like this knife? I also read somewhere (on this forum i think? cant recall) of a soldier using a personally purchased revolver in the field. Is this 'ok' to do? I only ask because I do not know the proper protocol for that.

[Greg Robinson]

Several years ago I donated a well used but still serviceable WW2 Marine "k-bar" to a Marine unit in Iraq. Their Gunny emailed me to thank me and let me know it would be put to good use. So, yes, they can use privately obtained knives. And it's my understanding that individual soldiers carried privately obtained hand guns in Viet Nam.

 

Greg

[nuke41]

Private firearms are always a no-no, and some units dont allow personal edged weapons, but in my experience most do. I had issue M7s, AFSKs, and M9s, but I also carried an EK and a few knuckle knives over my 21 years in the service. Knives are about the last place a serviceman can show his individual taste.

[willysmb44]

I still have one in a wrapper, but I'm not 100% sure where the heck I got it from. When I was a ROTC cadet, I had another one I'd gotten from somewhere. I only got to use it once because the cadre saw me opening a MRE with it and said I wasn't allowed to have a knife with a blade longer than three inches. Fine by me, the thing was very heavy and snagged everything when I was low-crawling with my gear on anyway. I have no idea what happened to that one, I don't remember using it again.

My first active duty unit had all the bayonets (more than half of them M-7s) locked in boxes in the arms room and I never saw one being issued for anything (we never did a bayonet course during my time with them). I carried my reproduction M-3 trench knife with me, strapped to my ankle, when we went to the field. It was carried in a postwar (maybe even European) M-8A1 scabbard and tied down with nylon quick release straps. Few people even looked down to notice it. It was lighter and handled better than the M-9, anyway. I don't think I ever got a photo of myself with all my gear on that you can see that knife in, though. I long ago got rid of that scabbard but I still have the knife.

[raw275]

When I entered the Army in 76 we had M-7 bayonets. I was given an M-3 buy a Nam vet in my unit before he retired and carried that on and off till I retired in 97. Oldie but goodie. THey both worked better that the M-9's I got issued. None the less you got a good buy on the M-9.

Rich