Re: bayonettes are too a useful device

Allan spake thusly upon matters weighty: 
> There is an ingrained fear factor that doesn't exist with guns. People
just
> naturally fear blade weapons. Funny enough, I can watch people getting
shot in
> movies and TV, but I get squeamish when I see someone cut their finger
open in
> a movie or TV show. Something weird about knives, I guess.

I'll second that. There is something about surgery that makes me 
cringe whereas large scale destruction of the human form with 
firearms isn't that bothersome (in movies of course!). And for $25 or 
whatever a bayonet is worth (the Canadian one not much since I've 
seen them shatter when thrown at Oak trees), they are a handy tool 
for many things and if you did have to close assault a position, I'd 
attach it. Even if I never used it, I MIGHT get into a situation 
where it would be useful, and it MIGHT be the best $25 I ever spent. 
And its utility off the rifle is of little doubt. Most military 
people I know tend to carry 2-3 bladed tools/weapons on their person 
(a gerber, leatherman, or swiss army knife/tool,  a bayonet (issue), 
and often another knife - a short or long bladed fighting knife like 
a bowie or a sykes-fairburn). Knives are quiet (as pointed out), 
useful, and they work in almost any environment from the artic to 
underwater and don't run out of ammo*.

Tom

* excepting the bayonet shattering I mentioned above. I believe that 
is a reflection of exceptionally hard steel being very brittle. And 
cheap-ass manufacturing. 

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