Browning's Black Label Tactical Knife Opinions Wanted

[10thMtn]

I'm not an expert on knife-making, nor am I a collector. I know how to use knives, and like many of you who served, I took my fair share of hand-to-hand courses (before they started the "combative" program currently in use). My favorite knife is the Gerber Mark II. It just felt right and made me feel secure, so I kept it on me.

But...I'm a civilian now and the Mark II just isn't a good carry knife. I was introduced to the Browning Black Label knives at Ft. Drum. A Browning rep was giving demonstrations before they released them. I was impressed then and remember wanting one. After that day, though, because I couldn't buy one, I just forgot about them as time went by.

Now I see they're in production, but I don't know how they're doing in the military/tactical department. I bought the "Deterrent" because I like the way it looks, and it seems like a good carry knife.

My question for the experts is, how good is this knife? Is the line respected? Is it high quality? The Deterrent is made in the USA and is a little pricey. I like it, but I'd like to know what the gurus think about it.
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I'm feeling a little lucky tonight. I'm feeling very accurate.

 

[Bigfatts]

I saw some of the black label knives in a shop the other day. First time I ever heard of them. There were a couple I was actually pretty interested in looks-wise, but I didn't look closely at them. I'll be interested in seeing what the consensus is on them as well.

 

[10thMtn]

I saw some of the black label knives in a shop the other day. First time I ever heard of them. There were a couple I was actually pretty interested in looks-wise, but I didn't look closely at them. I'll be interested in seeing what the consensus is on them as well.

I like the look and feel of the Deterrent. It balances nicely, seems very controllable in hand-to-hand action if needed, and is pretty concealable. The Talon blade is sharp. Whether it will hold up or keep its edge, I don't know. That's kind of what I'm interested in finding out, as well as the practicality of the designs. They've got a good story as I recall, so I'm thinking they're in it for the long haul.

FYI -- I just found out that the Deterrent is made from 154CM stainless, but others in the line are made from 440, and they don't say if it's 440A or 440C, so stay away from those. Well, there's a huge price difference between the two, and the cheaper "440" is made in China. I did consider one of those (not knowing what I was looking at), and it just didn't "feel" good in my hand -- glad I went with the Deterrent!