The knife has always been around as a tool and back-up weapon to the soldier even to this day. Superior gunfire or not, the blade will go on. Whether it be for the silent kill or when the gun runs out of ammo...
OK, variable sword, light saber... How about the ultimate in folded steel. Like the Japanese katana of old, only this steel is compacted impossibly dense in a portable black hole and the blade can cut through anything-
