Knife scout - the perfect balance of beauty, power and useful functions

Thanks to the Finnish war, the Soviet command gained experience, from which it was possible to draw a conclusion about the nature of the main tactical components of the coming military conflicts. The high role of reconnaissance and sabotage activity became obvious. And this, in turn, put the issue of effective equipment of reconnaissance units on the agenda. A standard army knife could not be used by such detachments because of its narrow specialization, it required a more versatile weapon. The beginning of the series was laid by the so-called "black knives" - HP-40 and HP-43. In fact, it was a copy of a Finnish knife with ebonite scabbards. Especially outstanding characteristics of this weapon was not, so let's immediately move to the sixties.

It was then that a scouting knife was developed - a gun, which, in fact, combined both cold and firearms. The qualities of disguise in this product were respected perfectly - the anti-reflective coating of the blade, masking the color of the scabbards and the grips did not give out its carrier. Returning to the topic of the broad specialization of such weapons, it should be noted that the scout knife can not just be a knife. It should be a universal tool with which you can make many useful and necessary manipulations. With the help of such a knife, you can equip a position, saw a tree / metal, create the necessary devices, such as stretchers or snowshoes. In addition, it must be suitable for throwing. And in LDC-2, this instrument is implemented at a high level. Its scabbard has the following tools: a flat screwdriver, a stapper cutter, a deterrent for detonators, and even isolated wire cutters that allow snacks of wires up to 2.5 millimeters thick, which are energized up to 380 volts. External parts of the scabbard are made of special plastic, which allows you to carry out such manipulations without fear.
The blade is made in a classical form and has, as already mentioned, an anti-reflective coating. On the foot there is a hacksaw, with which you can saw steel rods up to one centimeter thick.
Now let's look at the most interesting part, namely the pistol mechanism. In fact, in the handle of this knife a single-shot pistol is hidden. Its mechanism is designed in such a way that the shot due to the cutoff of the powder gases in the sleeve is obtained almost noiseless. Yes, yes, to shoot from such a knife is like using a pen to flip - except for a click, you will not hear anything. The scout knife justifies its purpose. Of course, there is no talk of any automation, otherwise the handle would have turned out to be unthinkable. In fact, the sleeve is inserted manually into the barrel, in which only it is that it is a firing pin. Recharge the scout's knife for a long time - you need to remove the barrel from the handle, remove the sleeve from it, insert a new one, and then cock the mechanism.

The shooting part is also one of the weakest parts of this knife. In standard blades, the blade is heated deeply in the handle. This makes the knife resistant to lateral loads. And in the handle of the HPC-2 is the shooting mechanism, so the blade is heated only by 1.5 cm. Therefore, the knife is vulnerable to lateral forces.
The scout knife is quite difficult to buy because of its specifics. Most likely, in the market you will find only the forefathers of the real tools - the Finns. These very same HP-40. If you still want to buy a scout knife, we recommend black knives.