Throughout my Army career I used the M9 bayonet. Some people didn’t like the M9 bayonet, but I always thought that the M9 was a decent field knife. In recent months, I have developed a deeper interest in the M9 bayonet and other knives related to the design.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in my local FFL (which also happens to be a surplus store) doing a firearms transfer. While waiting for my NICS check to complete I asked if the store had any M9 bayonets that I could look at. The store owner said “No, I don’t have any M9’s but I have an EOD knife. It is incomplete.” At that time, he raised up a knife that, at a glance, looked similar to an M9 but was obviously different.

I had only read a brief paragraph or two on the M11 EOD knife and thought it was neat due to my previous time as a 12B Combat Engineer in the Army. The M11 EOD knife was a modified design of the M9 bayonet that was marketed to the Department of Defense for use by personnel that do demolitions work. However, after briefly reading about the M11 EOD knife, I figured that I would never actually see one in person as they were not made in large numbers. I was dumbfounded when the store owner held up what was actually and M11 EOD knife.

At that time, the knife scabbard was missing the top belt attachment section. I noticed how the M11 had a steel pommel instead of a bayonet locking mechanism. I noticed how the cross-guard did not have the flash-hider mounting ring.

In addition to the physical differences of the knife itself, the scabbard has features that make it very different from the normal M9 bayonet scabbard. The most significant difference is the presence of what is labeled as the ‘M11 EOD Tool Pac’.

The Tool Pac is intended to hold a few items that constantly in use by EOD personnel such as crimpers, Gerber EOD tool and few other pieces.

For a guy who isn’t a knife guy, I find this set-up very fascinating. There are many more details and features to look at and discuss but I will do that in a future article. I just thought I would take a few minutes and share this with you really quick. More to come.