 For the modern American Minuteman, is it better to have the bayonet or the baffle? Hello everyone, Dylan Schumacher, Citadel Defense, and we're back with another edition of American Minuteman gear to talk a little bit about bayonets in comparison to cans, right? So this might seem like a stupid video, perhaps, you're thinking for the American Minuteman, you're like, ah Dylan, what uses the bayonet really anymore and what even is that? So I've been thinking about this, I've thought about this recently, I don't know, past couple months, just in the sense of, you know, do I want a rifle that is set up to accept a bayonet? I even went out and I bought one and tried it out for a little bit and eventually, spoiler alert, I ended on no. However, I think the thought process of why we got there is important and determining why we have what amounts of gear on our guns, on our person, whatever, is always important and hopefully that's why you're watching this channel and if not, well then hey, you're in the wrong place. So recently, Brent 0331, I don't know, I would screw up his numbers, you know, Brent, the Marine guy, the really big YouTube channel, put out this video about different rifle setups for the modern day infantrymen. And you know, Brent, what I love about him is he comes from this solid military perspective and he's the Marines for like, I don't know, 20 some years and has a very solid military perspective on how we do stuff here, right? I do not have that perspective because I was never in the military, I just read a lot and so I come from, you know, maybe the opposite of the spectrum there. And one of the things that he said in that video that I thought was interesting was having a rifle set up for a bayonet. And he said, you know, in the, you know, grunt infantrymen perspective, we don't carry pistols, there are times when bayonets, when you're really close to the enemy and having a bayonet is super helpful, but aside from the other stuff, like using it to herd prisoners, you know, just using it as a general like field knife, because that's essentially what it is, right? Using it to just do other tasks. I don't have my sheath around here, but there is a, you can put this in here and this can work as a wire cutter, right? Is how it's designed to work in conjunction with the sheath. So there are certain other combat field tasks that a bayonet can afford you and that they're set up for and they're designed for. So my question in my brain is, for the American Minuteman, is the trade off of having the bayonet, having the different field tasks and stuff worth it, compared to just having a can on the gun? Because, you know, when you have a can on the gun, you can't have a bayonet. Now, maybe someone will come up there and design ones that can work in conjunction and hey, in which case this whole video is useless and just go with that, because why not? However, as far as I know, that doesn't exist. So, what are the trade offs and what's worth it? Now again, for some of you this might seem kind of silly. I tried to look up, when was the last known confirmed bayonet kill in combat? I tried to look it up. There was a British bayonet charge in like 2004 where some guys actually mounted bayonets and did a bayonet charge. I'm sure bayonets have been put on rifles, but I'm trying to wonder, I'm wondering when was the last confirmed actual kill with a bayonet? Because I gotta think, we're talking like World War II, Korea, something like that. The last known big U.S. bayonet charge that I know of was in Korea in 1951, I think Lewis Millett was the one who led that charge. And if you have some more historical knowledge, please drop it in the comments because maybe there's something I just don't know. But by and large, we just haven't used them. Now, does that mean we shouldn't? Does that mean they're not valuable? I don't know. I think there are still like a deterrent, right? Like there's the deterrent effect that you can't exactly capture here of sticking this on the end of your rifle. And that's, you know, you're not exactly excited to go next to someone with some bared steel on the end of their rifle, right? So there are other uses besides just killing that bayonets have. Again, I wanna be cognizant of that. However, when I weigh all of that, last known kill, general field use, whatever, against a can, for the American Minuteman, I think a can wins every time. And it's really not even close the more I think about it. And the reason is cans do one thing, okay? And they do only do one thing well. They suppress noise and they suppress signature. That's it. That's all they do. They suppress the signature and they suppress the noise, right? So, you know, again, the question I'd ask is, is that trade off worth it versus all the other stuff a bayonet can do? And I would argue, yes. One, again, last confirmed kill, who knows? Two, the fact that they suppress sound and suppress signature as an American Minuteman working in a small team when China invades, you don't want to be found. And anything you can do to suppress your signature and sound to not be found is beneficial for you because you wanna be as sneaky, sneaky as possible. And yes, cans are loud, but when you're getting shot at with a can, it's really hard to determine where that sound comes from. If you're ever curious about that, go out with a buddy, set up a target, stand a safe distance away with some barrier between you and the shooter, whatever, and have them shoot the target and see if you can tell where that sound came from, you're gonna have a tough time. Even when you know where the shot came from, okay? You're gonna have a tough time. You can supercharge that and go out into the woods and again, be safe, don't be stupid, whatever, but have them shoot it and then try to find where the shot came from. You're gonna have a tough time, okay? So I really, really, really, really like that. The other huge benefit to cans is that they make shooting in teams so much more comfortable and easy. And you could say, yeah, don't be a wimp, you know, it's not a big deal, but it matters. When you're standing next to your buddies and you're all shooting, it matters when it's not rattling your teeth every time they're pulling the trigger. So I would again tell you that, get the cans, everyone in your team should be canned up all the time because it makes team shooting way better. I've had the fortunate experience of being able to attend and teach classes that are 80, 90% suppressed and it just makes everything better. So I would again, highly recommend the can over the bayonet and I think the baffle wins out there for the American Minute Man. Now hey, maybe in big industrial army, it's a little bit different because they have again, different priorities than what we do as the American Minute Man. However, I think for us, it's a pretty clear win in the suppressor camp because all those other field tasks that we would do, one, just carry a knife, you should probably carry a knife anyway. Two, if you really need some kind of secondary weapon, you could throw on a pistol. Now, again, I'm kind of whatever about the pistol these days as far as getting all suited and booted. I don't really have one as part of my main loadout. I have teammates as therefore, et cetera, et cetera. But if I really needed a secondary weapon, I'd go to a pistol second anyway. You know, a knife would only ever be a tertiary tool for me. And I don't think there's a lot of value in continuing the bayonet. Not because they're not valuable, not because they're useless or even irrelevant. I don't even think I'd say that. I think I would just say, look, you can only put so many things on your gun and carry so many items. And when you start ranking about what's a priority, what's important, what's good to have, what benefits do I need, this just becomes infinitely more valuable than this does. If you disagree, I'd love to hear why. Hope that's helpful. Do brave deeds and endure.