Best tactical knife maker

Tom - I agree with you with regards to fixed blades. I actually have 2 pack knives, custom made and hand-forged respectively by T. Primos and N. Wheeler, and they're much lighter and probably better HT'ed than their production equivalent, for a price similar to that of a top of the line production. They were also made to my specs exactly.
 
If I had the money, I'd buy a knife from JAY FISHER right now!
His are very well thought out and are he doesn't compromise performance for fashion. As far as collectibility, his designs are timeless.
 
Two more to check out would be Michael Burch goes by Burchtree on the forums and Al Polkowski.

All of the makers I have mentioned build knives like you are looking for at about 1/2 to 2/3rds of your budget!

That allows for you to pick up a trainer from them and maybe a set of drawpoint/reverse grip knife fighting DVD's from James Keating.

There is a lot of BANG for the BUCK provided by all those I have listed!

Let us know what you are thinking.

Tom
 
I would second the Michael Burch recommendation. Great blades at a reasonable cost. Here is one of his new designs.

Burchtreetactical.jpg


Plus, Craig Cramerer spends most of his time making great fixed blades other than tacticals, but I picked this one up from him recently on the exchange and it would easily fall within your budget. Lots of choices!

Camerertactical.jpg



- Joe
 
I would second Craigs work! He is so busy making beautiful Bowies and hunters that I totally forgot that he makes one kick ass tactical fixed blade!

GOOD call!:thumbup:

Tom
 
Cool Burch, never seen one like that.

My favorite SD knives are Strider and Perrin.

So many kickass makers out there today with so many great designs
 
I suppose intended use(s) is/are also very important. What do you mean by "tactical"?

If you feel you need a knife/crowbar, then going for the 5/16" thick, ground (usually hollow) only half way up the blade thing might make sense. OTOH, if you are primarily interested in cutting things, I think a thinner starting stock, a thinner edge, a distal taper, a bevel that goes to the full width of the blade or pretty darn near, etc. are all very good things. BTW, I think these are desireable regardless of whether the knife is forged or not, and regardless of hollow/flat/convex/combo grind.

John
 
I wanted to thank everybody for all the great suggestions. Many of these knifemakers do not show up when doing a search on google for "tactical knives". Anyway some of my favorites are:
Jay Fisher - Bulldog in blued O-1
Krein Knives - TK 10 in D-2
Michael Burch - Micarta fighter
DJ Urbanovsky - Persian blade fighter in 1095 - I forgot the actual name.
Any thoughts or opinions on these knives or the steel they are made of would be more than welcome.
 
No shortage of makers in this classification.

I like Polkowsi'a designs for concealed carry. His designs are slim and elegant....as are those of Bud Nealy. I have a Polkowski Bodyguard.

I recently bough a knife made by Ken Brock. My knife is called the Combat Options and I really like the size relationship between the grip and the blade. Ken uses S30V and Paul Bos does his heat treatment. Ken Brock is a part time maker and full time policeman (SWAT) so his designs are, in my opion, real world. www.BrockBlades.com. Ken Brock has many designs not shown on his website. You can see pic's of many of his knives on his sub-forum found on the www.UsualSuspects.net forums.

Another thing it may be worth considering is the appearance of the blade. For example, if you are out and stopped by a policeman, a blade having a utility blade format would be far easier than a knife that looks like a weapon. In light of this consideration, you might want to look at Bob Dozier's knives. The Dozier Agent would be a good example of a utility format that would do any job you needed done. www.dozierknives.com

Along the same lines of thought, I like the designs of Mike Stewart of Bark River Knife and Tool.

Sadly, I don't think you could spend your entire $500 allocation with these makers. You might just have to buy two.

Good Luck.
 
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