The Spetsnaz is the Russian special forces group. It was created during WWII to meet the demands of unconventional warfare. Their main tasks were covert demolitions, sniping, and recon. The Spetsnaz were distinguished with maroon berets–similar to how US Rangers wear green berets. Today the Spetsnaz does everything from counter-terrorism to civilian and military policing.
In the 1950’s, during the height of the Cold War, the Spetsnaz needed a tool that could chop, cut, pry, saw, hammer, and do just about every other field duty. It needed to do machete work for the heavy vegetation areas as well as knife work for the camp. It also needed to handle garrison labor.
The tool could be used for downed pilots, field soldiers, and anyone else who needed a good field knife. The tool needed to be small and light because soldiers will be carrying it for long ruck marches (20+ km a day).
The original Spetsnaz machete came into being from these needs. Featuring various slots in the blade for valve shutoff, measurement markings for length and angles, serrated edge on the reverse of the blade for sawing limbs and a weighted end for efficient chopping.
This particular example appears to be original cold war surplus and has little to no wear besides cosmolean on the blade. It also appears to still have its factory, blackened edge.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Cutting Edge: 9"
- Blade Length: 9.5"
- Blade Width: 3.5"
- Black Thickness: 0.25"
- Handle Length: 5.25"
- Handle Thickness: 1.25"
- OAL: 14.5"
- Blade Steel: High Carbon
- Handle Material: Brown Bakelite / Hollow with storage cap
MODEL: SPETSNAZMACHETE