59 and have never needed a tactical

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I have, to avoid a confrontation and I'm 46. I was walking down the road for exercise and I live on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. A guy walks out of the woods, long beard and no shirt with a golf club. I'm no mental giant, but i didn't figure he wanted to play golf :) anyway he was clearly on drugs and started mentioning one of my neighbors name and saying she was his girlfriend and she had kicked him out and crying and just rambling on and on and he started swinging the golf club like a baseball bat and saying to me to come on. I reached down and had a green old school bucklite and pulled it out and kind of backed up , he then said he was just messing with me.
This was a few years back and the old green bucklite was kind of the tactical knife of it's day with the army drab color.
I prefer a traditional slip joint, but I do at least carry something that locks because you just never know and I go to alot of places that I can have a knife , but not a gun such as campgrounds. And you just don't ever know. I mean that poor kid was eaten by a gator at Disney World of all places and I'm in the middle of more remote places than that. I wouldn't forgive myself if some critter grabbed my kid and I didn't at least have a knife that locked, or fix blade................but my slipjoint is my main knife.

But do this day, I believe just him seeing the larger blade was enough to avoid a confrontation.
 
Older than 59 and have needed to cut string a few times. SAK Classic to the rescue. I never need the scores of traditionals and few choppers and moderns I have - or the fixed pocket blades. My 3 tomahawks get a real hard looking at sometime. I will probably need at least one more forged hawk just because.

What I ponder is whether to carry a traditional or modern/tac bottle opener.
 
My self defense knife.

CamillusTuxedoClosed.JPG

CamillusTuxedoOneBladeOpen.JPG


"Deep carry". LOL!!!

What's this thread doing in this forum?
 
When Leatherman first introduced their pocket knives (not multi tools) I picked up one that had a couple of screwdrivers a cap lifter/carabiner and was one handed opening. As it had a little assist lever with no spring a flick of the wrist could deploy it lightning fast with an audible click. Though the blade was only 2 1/2", deploying the blade with a wrist flick to open a box or carton with witnesses got some questioning looks. As an experiment one day I took an SAK to work with a larger blade. No one batted an eye. I've carried traditionals ever since. Modern designs just seem to make people nervous. I just something dependable that cuts without making people twitchy. I still like like that click after wrist flick though.
 
I'm 40, so I'm kinda in the middle of the road. I like modern folders, but they just don't appeal to me as much as traditionals do. I've always carried two blades, a one handed opener and a slip joint. The slip joint was what I would use for basically everything and the one hander was there just in case I needed it. The only problem was that I was carrying a knife that I didn't have that much interest in. What's the point, right? So, since I love Buck and Case knives, I put one of those removable thumb studs on my 110 and carry a Case in my pocket. Now I have the best of both worlds, a one handed opener and my slip joint, and I carry two knives I love. I know the thumb studs take away from the purity of the 110, but they work for me and I don't make any sacrifices.
 
We can coexist. I really like frame locks, automatics, flippers, assisted openers, Axis locks but I only have about four modern one hand openers left in my collection/accumulation.

large Sebenza 21 with micarta and S35VN which just sits at home;
large Insingo 21 with micarta and S35VN which I carry every day but doesn't get used all that much;
Benchmade 710 which I only carry on my birthday, which is July 10th;
and last but not least a Benchmade 53 balisong which is fun to flip.

Other than that, it's all slipjoints and fixed blades. I've found that I use my fixed blades more than my modern one hand openers, but not as much as my slipjoints. Yes, most people in an urban area are upset by a folding knife, but most people could care less about a slipjoint, if they even see you use it. If they see you use it, they will either comment it's an old Case or Buck (depending on where you live, all old timey folding knives are either Buck or Case knives, like in some areas all soda is Coke), or say that their grandfather had one like it, doesn't matter what pattern.

Many people view slipjoints and other fixed blades in a romantic notion, as many of us do, they don't feel that way towards modern one hand openers. I'm a knife nut, like quality knives, but drive a 2003 Silverado. I should be driving at least a 2010 Silverado, with nothing more than a Kershaw Blur and a Buck 371 in my pocket. But, I ended up here about ten years ago and got the addiction.
 
I have both...but the term tactical has been the biggest deception pulled on us. Now your watch has to be tactical along with you wallet, etc. Did old knives not work on the Lewis and Clark expedition? I mean, how did they ever accomplish such a feat without the newest steel we have today...and let's not forget they should've had the most tactical firearms. Sarcasm ... To me 99% of the new, tactical knives remind me of the average car today...I can't tell a Toyota from a Mitsubishi from a Taurus. But, I can see old "traditional" cars, like knives, and tell them apart because of the design and uniqueness. A 1966 GTO is easy to pick out in today's cars like an old Case is easy to pick out in this new, tactical world of overhyped, must have or you will die knife culture of today.


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At least I can buy just about any "tactical" or otherwise "modern" knife any time I feel like it. And I can get the one I want.

For some reason to get the traditional knife I want I need to be sworn into a secret society and spend the rest of my life refreshing my browser ready to update a virtual cart.
 
Danke42 said:
At least I can buy just about any "tactical" or otherwise "modern" knife any time I feel like it. And I can get the one I want.

For some reason to get the traditional knife I want I need to be sworn into a secret society and spend the rest of my life refreshing my browser ready to update a virtual cart.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of other options. Other manufacturers, other knives made by the company you're talking about, custom knives.
 
silenthunterstudios said:
There are plenty of other options. Other manufacturers, other knives made by the company you're talking about, custom knives.
Click to expand...

Ok well give me the lowdown. Today I would like to purchase a beer scout knife with acrylic or bone handles; so something Barlow like and it needs to ship to Canada and price needs to be MAP, not flipper price.

To contrast I also want a Sypderco spring run; HAP40 Stretch. It shipped in Feb. I found one and can have it here next week or I can wait till mid week and visit a store, hold it in my hand and decide if it's for me; so no need for catch and release.

Sure I can get my SAK out or my old Camillus but now that I'm in my 50's also I my knives to have some panache.
 
Lots of good points. Cost, overhype, availability, multi-tools. I can see many sides of this. I like both types of knives. Unfortunately due to pocket real estate I have to choose daily to carry either a medium to large tactical model or a traditional along with my SAK. The ease of the one handed open/close and a true stainless steel against the simple and functional slippie. I wish GEC would produce more stainless steel models.

Mostly I hope all of our luck continues and we never need a knife in a self-defense situation. That would be horrible.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
OK, Knock it off with the "I can't get the GEC knife I want" comments and discussions. We've made enough posts about how they are not appropriate for this forum. Take it to Feedback.
 
61 here, never needed one either.
The only time a dud with a knife tried to rob my store, he changed his mind and did not want to play anymore, when I drew my .45. (no shots fired)
 
Never needed a gun to defend myself, but that doesn't mean I'm unarmed. Even at 61, I haven't figured out how to predict the future.
 
Tacticals are ugly and ungainly, and I really don't need one hand opening anyway. I'd much rather pull a beautiful traditional folder from my pocket any day.
 
I think the gorilla in the room that nobody addresses is, too many young guys carrying some over hyped knife to boost their low self confidence. They have no idea what to do if push comes to shove.
Click to expand...

I guess it should come as no surprise that jackknife hit the nail on the head again.

I don't think all modern folders should be called tactical, as some certainly are not designed as such. That said I've whittled my way down to just one as I do occasionally have need of a modern knife. The thing about modern knives to me is that they bore me. The modern knife market has been stuck in a rut with companies trying to design a titanium framelock flipper that looks more like everyone else's than anyone else's. One of the great things about traditional knives is that there are hundreds of patterns and even among a certain pattern the knives vary wildly. Trying new patterns and appreciating they're strengths and drawbacks is a really exciting part of the hobby for me.

When you don't get hung up on one aspect of a knife (i.e. how well it looks like it will do in a fight) things get really interesting. Some of my favorite knives have been the ones that were waaay outside my comfort zone and that's what I'd recommend to you Danke and everyone else too.
 
I know this is the traditional forum, but I don't understand this urge to constantly denigrate "tactical" knives. I especially find it humorous when people inject the word need into the conversation, not when most, if not all, of the participants own enough knives to last them several lifetimes. That doesn't seem to stop anyone from buying more knives, despite no real or even perceived need.

My favorite knife is perhaps one of the most "tactical" designs of them all. It's a bowie, forged by Stuart Branson. It is probably the most impractical knife I own. My Sebenza and LCC stay in the drawer now, but at least they've been used. The only thing this bowie has cut is air. I still love it. I got it because I wanted it, not because I needed it. That's enough. I think it's incredible that this has to be explained on a forum for enthusiasts.
 
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