They call them “box cutters,” but everyone on the flightline knows what the term really means. The blades slide out at the push of a button, revealing high-end knives made and marketed for active combat. They cost the federal government hundreds of dollars each — and come free to maintenance workers in the Air Force who order them through the supply system and hand them out as favors.
For nearly a decade, Air Force maintenance units spent more than $1.79 million in taxpayer funds buying 5,166 high-end knives and other luxury items, including switchblades and combat-style tactical knives with no legitimate maintenance use, The Intercept has found. It’s a drop in the bucket of a U.S. military budget creeping ever closer to a trillion dollars, about $300 billion of which belongs to the Air Force. But with a military budget so bloated, the knife-ordering frenzy illustrates how obviously frivolous spending can go unchecked.
“Everyone knew we didn’t need them,” said a former noncommissioned officer recently honorably discharged from Hill Air Force Base. “There was literally zero justification in any maintenance field.”
And honestly, a couple hundred dollars for a good knife (I’m assuming it’s at least better than Walmart knives, with “government tax” added) is pretty typical if you know your knives. Having a good knife if you use it often is so much better than a box cutter.
Edit: I did the math from the info in article. It’s $350 per knife. That’s honestly pretty low considering how much “government tax” is usually added.
$350 for a knife is lower mid-range, not what I would consider a luxury
Our ideas of luxury costs are significantly misaligned. I made do with a cheap $25 multi-tool until I got a skeletool for a Christmas present. Why other way is considered out of reach for me.
For pocket knives the scale is sort of divided like Production -> Midtech -> Custom. Even some production knives are pushing $500 (or more) now
I don’t doubt that. I also don’t want to deny a service member a knife. I carry one and think it’s pretty fucking handy.
My first point is that a serviceable utilitarian fixed-blade knife is in the $30-$50 range. With the service-member markup that is not anywhere near $300.
My second point is that buying a tool is about meeting the utilitarian need first. Maybe an entry level knife might not hold up as well as a mid-range of the same design, but as the price goes up, you are getting diminishing returns on utility. It might be off an assembly line, but anything over $50 is still a luxury.
Yeah … but if all you’re using it for is opening boxes, you don’t need a $350 mid-tier knife … you need a $15 box cutter with replaceable $0.50 blades.
If you want a fancy knife, sure – go get one … with your own money. But if you’re using taxpayer money for it, you can have the $15 box cutter that gets the job done just fine.
I was an enlisted aircraft maintainer for a term of service, and I don’t recall ever being in need of aa box cutter.
My opinion stands, however. They want knives, let them have knives.