The KM2000 (''KM'' designates ''Kampfmesser'', literally "combat knife") is the standard

combat knife A combat knife is a fighting knife designed solely for military use and primarily intended for hand-to-hand or close combat fighting.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', Courier Dover Publications, , (2001) ...

of the German

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, mostly used by the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

. The knife is manufactured in Germany by the Eickhorn-Solingen company (aka "Original Eickhorn"). The knife is produced according to NATO regulations by the German company Eickhorn-Solingen Ltd. The assembly consists of three components: the laser cut 172 mm Black Kalgard coated, forged X55CrMo14 or 1.4110 (440A)

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

Westernized tanto blade, the ergonomic ambidextrous

polyamide A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds. Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through ...

handle and screw. The entire knife weighs approximately . The sheath for the KM2000 is turnable, and includes an adapter to allow it to be mounted onto the

MOLLE MOLLE (pronounced ,, homophonic with the name Molly) is an acronym for Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment. It is used to define the current generation of load-bearing equipment and backpacks used by a number of NATO armed forces, espe ...

PALS PALS may refer to: * Patient Advice and Liaison Service * Pediatric Advanced Life Support * Periarteriolar lymphoid sheaths * Portraits of American Life Study * Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy * Pouch Attachment Ladder System * Prague ...

load bearing system(s). The KM2000 owes a lot of its fame to the fact that it is among the few (if not the only) "

tantō A is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords ( ''nihonto'') that were worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The tantō dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ...

"-style military knives actually issued in significant numbers. New KM2000

Based on the popularity of the design, Eickhorn has developed the line-up introducing many variations in shape, material used, colours. Later revisions of the KM2000 (as of 2008) use a different stainless

blade steel Blade materials are materials used to make the blade of a knife or other simple edged hand tool or weapon, such as a hatchet or sword. Blades can be made from a variety of materials. The most common being carbon steel, stainless steel, tool stee ...

alloy with better edge-holding properties, X105CrMo17 or 1.4125 (440C) Böhler N695 (HRC 57). Additionally, Eickhorn has introduced several new variants, like the KM1000 without a blade-coating, and the KM3000 with a spear-point blade instead of the KM2000's westernized-tanto point. The latter two are also being produced with sand-colored grips and scabbards intended in desert environments like Afghanistan. The newer version of KM2000 with improved Bohler N695 steel blade also has variants for desert environment and is named as Desert Command I knife, same is for KM3000 as well. Apart from hard polyamide sheath a special Leather sheath is available from Eickhorn. Models other than KM2000 are also introduced by Eickhorn such as Para-Commando, KM5000, FS knife etc. Most of these variations are not actually issued in the German Army. The newer version of KM2000 has modified tip for greater strength and stability while thrusting and prying windows and containers open. The blade of both models has two versions plain and partially serrated. The serrations are used for cutting ropes and fabric fibers for survival techniques. The scabbard has a strip of diamond sharpener used for field sharpening of knife. The handle end has a glass breaker tip which is actually the end of the knife blade tang. The handle end also has a lanyard hole. The scabbard is MOLLE and IDZ military vest compatible. Dimensions: Blade: 172mm long x ??mm wide x 5mm thick Overall: 305mm long x ??mm thick Weight - Knife only: 320 grams Weight - w/ Scabbard: 550 grams

External links

{{commonscat-inline
the homepage of the Bundeswehr (German)

KM2000 on the Eickhorn-Solingen site (German)
* Pictures of th

Military knives Post–Cold War weapons of Germany