LOL, I forgot you were a SAW gunner.
I read an article where a Marine unit was pinned down in Iraq, they ran out of ammo and were facing a final assault from the rags, their officer ordered them to get their knives out to defend themselves!
I just shook my head in disgust as they didnt have bayonets, that officer should be ashamed his men weren't properly armed, I hope he learnt his lesson.
It is better to fight with a fixed bayonet from a distance of 2-3 feet, than to be within arms reach, that is exactly why they should be carried over any fighting knife, the Brits also proved this during the Falklands War.
One major problem is that modern bayonets are often shitty little toys inferior to a good fighting knife in quality, that is an easy fix though, there is NO reason a bayonet shouldn't be carried that can also be an effective fighting/utility knife.
One thing I have observed to is the lack of interest in the bayonet as a weapon and as a result I see poor training techniques, ones that don't seem to have changed in the last 150 yrs or so, not good.
I'm yet to see bayonet training as effective as what the NZ Army uses.
:2c:
FYI, I read about an action in North Africa during WWII between the Brits and Germans where the fighting become hand to hand, an officer was observing the battle from soem high ground and observed that only approx 30% of either side was effectively using their unloaded rifle and fixed bayonet and those 30% were very effective against their opposite number.
