Bayonet Question

[jpuke]

I just bought a replica bayonet for my M1 Garand and I'm wondering if bayonets are supposed to have a knife-edge on them or if they're just supposed to be pointy.    I got the bayonet from Atlanta Cutlery and there's no edge on it.  I've found it hard to find replica bayonets for the M1 and I really don't want to pay the prices that the genuine articles are going for. 

[Badnews Bob]

They were not sharp just made for stabbing but most got used for a knife also so most GIs sharpend them. It think most newer ones are considered multi tools and come edged and usally with some short of wire cutter.

[chutesnreloads]

Don't know about the M1 but when I was a young soldier in the 82nd airplane gang our "old" platoon sargent insisted we NOT sharpen bayonets for the M-16.His reasoning was that a bayonet was ment to cause serious laceration rather than clean cuts.You use the tip rather than the edge for this.The laceration was much more difficult to mend and maybe bleed more.Maybe an older soldier with real experiene can examine the pro and con of sharpening.

[Mikey]

That's why you carry a fighting knife and a bayonet.  The fighting knife is supposed to be sharp - it's a knife that cuts, stabs and slices. 

The bayonet however is not supposed to be sharpened.  The bayonet is a ram-stabbing (hence, bayonet) and slashing weapon that uses the weight and force of the soldier behind the rifle to inflict the damage.  The point is blunted, as it is supposed to HURT when it gets slammed home - and notice I didn't say 'just a little'....I said slammed home so that even if the opponent doesn't feel the bayonet he is equally hurt, surprised and debilitated by a rifle barrel punch to the guts.  If you want to know how much force it takes to slam a bayonet home, try it on something equivalent to a human body and you will see for yourself.

The edges of the bayonet should not be sharpened to excess, that is, to a fine edge.  The slashing force of the bayonet is delivered with the weight and force of the rifle and the bayo is just the extention to the barrel.  When you slash across an arm, leg or throat, it is the force of the 'slash' that causes the cutting wound and the resultant tissue, muscle and bone damage, not the sharpness of the blade.

JMTCW.  Mikey.

[jpuke]

Interesting stuff, Thanks!

[lrs]

Makes a lot of sense.
Still, I can't help but wonder how much damage a sharp edge would be capable of inflicting, when used with a heavy rifle like a garand.  That oughta be able to take someone's head off.

[Victor3]

 I have several new-old-stock and used WWI & WWII U.S. and European ones. A few sharpened, most not. Soldiers generally had knives for cutting purposes. Many tossed either their their bayonet or their knife so they would only have to lug one cutting tool. The M1 Garand/Carbine bayonets were pretty good knives if sharpened, as were many of the European ones of the era.

 The sharpened/not sharpened question has pretty much been rendered academic for 200 years or more; you're not likely to kill or be killed via a bayonet unless you're already dying on the field after a battle has ended or happen to be an unfortunate POW being quietly disposed of.

 Only a tiny fraction of the total U.S. combat-related deaths have been caused by edged weapons. IIRC, it's been determined to be less than 18,000 since the Revolution. Even during the Civil War it was less than 1%...

http://www.civilwarweapons.net/html/sabres__swords_and_bayonets.html

[S.B.]

What's the spirit of the bayonet?
Steve

[Captain Emo]

I asked my father if he sharpened his bayonet.  He said they weren't supposed to, but once one guy does it, all the other do it too.   

[mannyrock]

Dear Guys,

   Anybody who sharpens the edge of his blade bayonet is far more likely to inflict serious injury on himself or his fellow soldiers with that edge, than the enemy.  Bayonets are bulky and heavy, and used in crowded space, and need to be in a state where you can easily take them on and off, and handle them in a rush.  Having sharp edges on them is lke juggling with kitchen knife.   Very very foolish. After a battle, you would have to count your own fingers!

Mannyrock

[AtlLaw]

What's the spirit of the bayonet?
Steve

You must be an old soldier there Steve...    As per SSG Harris, USMC, Parris Island circa 1962, the spirit of the bayonet is "TO KILL!"  Since no one else answered, it must be to politically incorrect for the younger generation... 

[Badnews Bob]

Sailors don't use bayonets much, It's to much trouble to pick them big guns up and charge with them, So we just chunk big pieces of steel and explosives at'em.