Boo to Tactical Knives

Brian_T

Brian_T

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 7, 1999
Messages
1,755
I just received my May '04 issue in the mail and I am SHOCKED to see them feature a company whose contribution to the knife community is to poorly knock off several well-known makers.

I flipped through the article and I see a Steve Ryan knockoff (Knights Armament Folder,) a Bob Lum knockoff (Chinese Utility,) and a Strider Knives knockoff (PAB) complete with cord wrap. It's bad enough that these knockoff artists are out there but now our magazines have to ENCOURAGE them to keep doing what they're doing.

The message has been received loud and clear. TK is in business solely to make money from advertisers and they couldn't care less about the artisans who spend so much of their time and money to develop their skills, their designs, and their craft.

I haven't yet read the article but I highly doubt the knife makers who originally designed these knives received the credit they're due. I will be cancelling my subscription to TK immediately and I would encourage all of you to do the same.
 
Well, for my part, this is not unusual, rather it is business AS USUAL.

Just look at the ads for United and Taylor Cutlery and the like that flow throughout the magazine - knockoffs abound everywhere.

OTOH, everyone in the industry seems comfortable with this arrangement. Thus, you will see quality manufacturers side-by-side with companies that are ripping them off in an ad 10 pages distant.

Seems the major magazines have more power than any one manufactuer since they remain the only print vehicles about knives.

On another TK tangent - just how many times do we need to look at photo's of Jerry with his bracelet looking intimidating, and Michael stabbing yet another hapless punching bag with a knife? I keep coming to the same conclusion every month - Jerry holding a knife is pretty intimidating and Michael can tear up a punching bag with the best of them. Sheesh! :rolleyes:
 
In defense of Tactical Knives...the magazine focuses on knife use and military history rather than highly engraved, ornate, multi-thousand dollar pieces that will never see use. That was, in my opinion, part of the demise of Fighting Knives magazine, a periodical which I truly enjoyed. The mag started very well then slipped off into high end art knives.

Just about every knife is a copy of another one in some way. If someone is copying Strider why is that no more offensive than when Blackjack made "Randall #1's" or everyone else copying Terzuola, Emerson, etc?
 
Edited due to some confusion. So the knockoffs were copies of the knives you mentioned in the parentheses?
 
There probably isn't a topic that hasn't been discussed before. Pick any subject, run a search, and you will find something!! Soooo lighten up and quit playing "Thread Cop"..........JMO
 
Hey man I like Jerry's Bracelet:D

You catch that Hawiian shirt he was sportin a few issues back?:D
 
Originally posted by dagomike
There probably isn't a topic that hasn't been discussed before. Pick any subject, run a search, and you will find something!! Soooo lighten up and quit playing "Thread Cop"..........JMO
Click to expand...

Actually, I think it is more you that should lighten up. Patrick just directed Brian_T to another thread that was about this same topic. I sure didn't see any thread policing going on.

Personally, I think it sucks that a magazine like TK promotes companies that make their profit of of the sweat of others. These companies are mindless, unimaginitive, noncreative leaches that haven't got the ability to come up with an original thought.
 
Hey VW,

Thanks for that link. I was a little too hot to run a search earlier.

Now, what can we DO about this kind of thing? Seriously, I hear the argument that we can't stop Joe Average from buying the cheapest blade he finds but Joe Average doesn't subscribe to the knife mags.

You've all got a voice, use it.
 
Originally posted by XRAYED
Just about every knife is a copy of another one in some way.
Click to expand...

Greg, this is the most over-used defense I've heard. We're not talking about copies in ONE way, we're talking about copies in EVERY way.

If there's nothing new out there then why are there so many new knifemakers and why do we spend so much time on discussion forums and so much money on the latest and greatest custom and production knives?

Buy a Loveless, a Moran, and a Randall and be done with it. That'd make my wife ecstatic if she knew that I only needed three knives to cover the entire gamut of knives. :)
 
The knives are knockoffs except for the chinese folder. That predates Bob Lum by a loooooong time.
 
There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to knife design is an arguement I have seen and heard many times. This is true as far as individual aspects of knife design are concerned. What is new is that many makers have the ability to put those points of design together to come up with an original recognizable style. Why is it that we look at a knife and say that it is a Loveless, Moran, Onion, etc. It is because these makers had the ability to take little bits of lots of other designs and put them together in a way that was different than how others were doing it. That is what these knockoff companies are totally incapable of doing and why I wouldn't invest one penny in anything that they produce.

Edited to correct a typo.
 
dagomike... can we say "Troll"? If you spent more time in here before jumping down throats for posting other threads on the same topic(rather than repost it all in a new one), you might have the time to actaully read. I only cross post threads when I don't feel like bitching again, or when there is useful information in the first one(which would be added to my large file of favorites).

Kieth: most of those magazines are run by spineless money grabbing bastards who are in it for every cent they can pocket. If Linton wants to give them(magazines and ads) even 15% of sales, they are still making 80% profit on those knockoffs. Thats why we see these knockoffs in stores is because they can designate more to marketing with a higher profit to cost ratio.

Brian: I've done my part, done with my local B&M. My 1st post got an email, 2nd got a call. Went in on the 30th and got bitched at about it. Bye bye. I'll take my business elsewhere... march 96 to jan 30, 04... one good customer down, and bad reviews online.
 
I wrote to TK a while back when they featured the cover story about the knife used in "The Hunted". In the article the author kept saying that the knife used in the film was a TOPS Tracker which contradicted what Tom Brown himself said in the article. Brown stated that the knife in the film was made by Dave Beck.

I asked the editor why they didn't do an article about Dave Beck's contribution and I asked them why they continued to endorse TOPS knife as the actual knife used in the film when they knew this to not be true. I got a reponse saying that the TOPS was the only "official" knife endorsed by Tom Brown so in some strange way they believed that they were not lying. Basically because TOPS advertises in their magazine, they push the product every chance they get.
 
money is the bottom line. I am willing to let the ads slide, but when you do a cover article on blatant rip offs. It is very doubtful I will buy another TK.
 
Don't forget the fact that they don't start your subscription until you raise absolute bloody hell with them! They act like "oh, you actually wanted us to start your suscription after you paid?!" Just galls me to no end.

I have been through with that mag for a long time. I just come here for my knife info. By the time it hits TK, it's old news that everybody here has talked about already anyway.
 
Regarding subscriptions; I KNOW I am a subscriber, but don't remember seeing any magazines in a long while. How often is this one supposed to be delivered?
 
Make no mistake about it.The editor Steven Dick reads these forums.
They just dont care. Which is why they just dont get my money anymore.
 
As knife collectors, users, abusers what have we got?? This forum along with a few others. We also have the magazines. Where I am I have access to three of them(can't get I think it is called knife world or something like that)TK, Blade and Knives Illustrated. I must admit that Blade has gotten really good in the last two years and KI has gotten worse IMO. TK is my favourite read by far. As a knowledgeable reader I don't believe everything I read or hear for that matter. Knock off companies can only go so far. The mag relies on ads to make it to print...correct. Maybe and I guess I am the devils advocate on this but if there isn't enough quality advetisers out there willing to advertise in TK than maybe they had no choice but to take a company of ill repute on. Give them an article and the mag stays running for another year. Heck they only have 6 issues per year so maybe financially they can't afford it. Who knows. They should not be helping knock off companies with publicity/endorsements. I for one will still buy TK as they still have the best articles. Take Care!
 
Amen Dave. I have better things to do with my cash now that I do not pay for their mag anymore.
 
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