australian army new "tacticool" dagger

Probably expensive for what you get.  Looks like something mainly for getting someone off of you at grappling distance when they have pinned your rifle or handgun so you grab it off your chest rig and stab them with your off hand while backing up to get distance and re acquire firearms.  Guess I'd need to know the weight & size and maybe go for the single edge tanto if large enough for utility tasks.

couldnt find stats, but based on prices of other items in catalogue looks like it runs at 6 to 700 hundred dollars,  

yep thats where my mind went then here 

Yes, this is my interpretation also, as stated above.  A tool to regain enough distance to re-employ rifle/pistol, as quick deployment from chest rig to inflict offhand stabs and slashes to face, throat, etc...equal a lot of nasty sudden offense and defense.  The Tactical Rifleman talks about this on YouTube video about best tactical knife, and his favorite is the Blackhawk Nightedge designed by Mr. Elishewitz, sadly no longer in production.

found a pic of the guys holding this thing now even less impressed only serves one purpose, stabbing, showed it to my dad (ex cadet armorer) his response was you cant use that for anything, its useless for survival,  also found vid of the trash they appear to be teaching cadets www.facebook.com/watch/?v=531781973697303 this appears to be a defense against an aggressive cuddle, had ex student/ instructor from dojo enlist said he had cadets asking him to teach in free time because he was so much better, thought this was due to him being ex champion boxer/kickboxer but now not so sure, glad modern warfare isnt cqc anymore  

I am leery of any knife designed for the military that isn't either 1. a bayonet, or 2. a general purpose utility knife.

While this ADF knife doesn't seem too bad as far as tacticool designs go, it has a number of issues that make me question it's overall usefulness in a military environment. Any knife designed with the idea of "if he does this, then the knife does that, then this happens, then this happens, and that makes the knife useful" is bound to never be used in that specific situation. The lack of handguard is concerning, as is the very pointy tip that can be broken fairly easily. I also question the usefulness of the ring- yes it's great to tie stuff on and whatever, but it's not any better than a lanyard hole at the end of the day.

I would prefer the tried and true Kabar (or any of it's offshoots), Mk3 Navy, or Sheffield MOD. Any of those knives are good all arounders that will do anything you need- literally anything.

I think the ring takes the place of a hand guard, in that its used to keep your hand from slipping down on to the blade, by keeping a finger inside it (usually just the top half of the index finger, not usually the whole finger).

I think the idea is that it's for grappling, as the general consensus is that a shorter knife works better for grappling. Easier to maneuver around, and less likely to be wrestled out of your hands

That's not the context it's designed in.

For the last 20 years war hasn't been about professional soldiers fighting professional soldiers. Heck, this whole Ukraine situation is quite unique in that regard. When they were stationed in Iraq, it wasn't fully trained enemy soldiers they worried about. It was terrorist civilians. In occupied countries, typically, what you could potentially be facing is a civilian sneaking up to you with a knife, and trynna take your gun.

People on this forum are so hung up on the most noble of weapon uses. A duel to protect your family from bandits, or against an enemy solider in a formal setting. But the reality, is especially lately, it's been more about random acts of violence. Even in the military world. You never know where your enemy is gonna come from, or how he's gonna attack you.

Weren't you in the army? Were you stationed in the middle East? You are familiar with all this aren't you?

Preferences are preferences though. I would rather have a messer, in how I imagine myself protecting myself against random attacks, or even using a blades weapon in the army. If I imagine myself and my opponent both conscious and forced to battle, sure, then even a gladius would be ideal for me over this little knife

But if I was tackled by a couple guys trynna get my gun off me, I would want something firmly attached to me and instinctive to pull out, and maneuver around their arms and such, something difficult to wrench outta my hands.

I wouldn't go with this design, but I'm assuming they are trained with them, and how to use them, so it's muscle memory. It is, after all, still the army

I should specify, this isn't my own methodology, it's not something I came up with, and my word doesn't need to be seen as fact or even taken seriously. It's just what they think when they made this. It's how the world of self defense is too.

There is new trends all over the place, and personally, I'm still attached to a lot of the old ways