Due to deploy in about two months. I've been very impressed with the quality of the online knife community, from bladeforums to here. I only wish I had stumbled upon the forums before I started buying knives. I could have avoided wasting money on SOG and Cold Steel initially. Every dog starts out as a puppy though.

From what I hear, the trouble isn't taking stuff to Iraq, it's taking stuff back when you redeploy. I hear they try to take away stuff on the way back that they didn't blink an eye at on the way in. I would hate to part with a good knife like that. I think I'll manage to bring half a dozen or so though. That addiction sure catches one off guard. I looked at some of the Busse stuff at first and thought I didn't have much use for a shard of a tank. Now I can't help but salivate and wonder how I live without them. I fear I will not do so well at saving up money, even with all of the deployment bonuses. 3 years and counting in the 82nd Airborne as a mortar. My first year was in a troop of cav scouts who had two 81mm systems. Then the headquarters company of the Division needed a body from us and they realized I was smarter than the average grunt, so they gave me up. I've been sitting around in an office, keeping the computers working ever since. It has its perks though. I'll have internet while deployed, along with Burger King, Dairy Queen, Subway, etc. It's more a PCS than a deployment. There are worse ways the Army can screw you. I still might find myself volunteering for a convoy or two to fight the boredom.

Thanks for the welcome and I look forward to providing some amateur photography of a Scrapper in Afghanistan.