Knife Magazines

P

Prof. Ed

Joined
Jan 17, 2003
Messages
144
Hi,
Any suggestions on knife magazines? I have a difficult time finding copies. I finally found "Tactical Knives" (one copy on the shelf). Are there other titles? Better articles, etc. These are expensive mags to purchase, I've noticed.
Thanks,
Prof. Ed
 
Blade Magazine and Knives Illustrated are the other 2 large-volume publications. They are generally available at the larger newstand/magazine stores.
 
TK is my favourite...but if you think that's expensive...well, you should see some of the foreign magazines (not to mention Points of Interest)! There's La Passion des Couteaux and Excalibur from France and a few from Japan...the foreign ones have INCREDIBLE pictures

RL
 
My order of preference is:
1. Blade
2. TK
3. Knives Illustrated

Blade's coverage tends to touch on issues ranging from knife history, new products, knife makers, productions knives and the politics of knives. This diversity of subject matter is why I like them the best. You have seen what TK covers. As for KI they seem to focus more on the individual makers and their beautiful work with less coverage of the rest of the knife arena. But honestly, I learn more here at BF than I could from any publication. I hope this helps.
 
1. TK
2. Blade

Except for the mediocre German Messermagazin, I never read any other knife magazines.
 
Tactical Knives is my favorite, followed by Blade.

Sorry to those that like it, but to me Knives Illustrated waste to much space on "fancy" custom stuff and not enough space on more "practical" EDC blades.
 
Hey Ed, most all the knife magazines are MUCH cheaper if you get a Subscription for a year or even more so if you get a two year Sub.

You have to decide which one to choose based on your knife related interests. If you like the Tactical stuff then certainly a Sub. to TK will give you lots of info and enjoyment. If you are interested in Pocket knives (Slipjoints) and like to learn about the history of Knife Companies and Custom Makers then try Knife World available by Sub. Here or of course BLADE magazine. BOTH are excellent.

Personally, I agree with what has already been said about Knives Illustrated, most of the mag is devoted to High End Art type knives. Lots of great pictures if you enjoy those type knives.
 
TK and blade are the best and the other guys are right subscription is the way to go you save 50% or more
 
I like Blade because there are more color pictures and they have more diverse content than TK or KI. I've never seen Knife World, I may have to check that out. And, at the risk of being labeled a turncoat, I have a subscription to KnifeForums, the Magazine, and I like it quite a bit. It's sort of like a print copy of forum chatter, along with some well written articles.
 
Just to add my vote Subscribe to Blade and Tactical Knives if you're into Useable cutlery,
Knives illustrated if you're into the Purty stuff..
Personally I don't really care for KI
but I have subscriptions to the other two.
 
I'm probably not going to renew my subscription to TK. Aside from continually receiving torn and wrinkled magazines, I'm beginning to suspect that the writers are using their forum as a paid advertisment. I cant remember the last time I saw an unfavorable review in their magazine. Im really starting to question their objectivity :rolleyes:
 
I never used to care much for Knives Illustrated, but I have to admit that I've greatly enjoyed a few issues in the last year. It looks like they're starting to print some more down to earth articles.

Tactical Knives was my favorite for a long time, but it seems like they've gotten into a rut. I read each issue, and can't tell the difference between it and the last four issues. They review some giant custom blade, along with a couple of cheap black plastic handled folders. They highly recommend all of the knives in very generic terms. I can get that kind of recommendation from a store clerk. If it weren’t for the pictures, I wouldn’t be sure that they even tested the knives. Sometimes, it also seems as though TK is just a publishing of Steven Dick’s personal agendas. I may be wrong, but it often reads that way.

While Blade has its faults, I think that it’s the best of the current mass-market magazines. Blade has some excellent writers, who are very knowledgeable, which makes all the difference. The magazine does suffer from some of that same “all knives we test are wonderful” syndrome that TK is swamped by, but the reviewers are kind enough to provide some very detailed descriptions, so I can make my own judgments as to whether the designs have merit. Blade also provides some great articles on the hobby itself. You get more than just reviews and pretty pictures.

KnifeForums – The Magazine is an odd one. You get a very diverse mix of writing styles and vastly different philosophies on knives. This magazine specializes in the opinions of the “average Joe”, like you and me. This is both good and bad. While many reviews tend to be very biased, IMHO, the opinions are at least very genuine and heavily based on actual extended use. Just look at the knives that are reviewed. When somebody writes a long review of the venerable Benchmade 710, which is hardly a new design on the market, you can be pretty sure that the review is based on quite a bit of hands on experience with the design. KnifeForums doesn’t deliver a lot of breathtaking new knives, but provides excellent assessments of proven designs. Unfortunately, the high degree of page layout, grammatical and spelling errors, makes reading a bit hard to stomach sometimes.
 
If you are looking for back issues of Tactical Knives Click on "my stuff"

Knife World is my favorite knife magazine. The quality of the articles is first rate, unfortunately, the format (newspaper) limits the quality of the photos.

n2s
 
Hi everybody! I am new here at this BladeForums. I think that Tactical Knives is the absolutely best knife magazine on the market.It feels nice to be onboard!!

Manowar:)
 
Welcome to the forums.

I like TK a lot, but the writing is stagnant. Truthfully, I like to check out the advertisements. You find a lot of different makers that you don't normally read about.

By the way, has everyone else gotten their new issue? I'm still waiting for mr. postman to deliver mine.
 
In order of favorites:

Tactical Knives

Knife World,(more like a newspaper)

Knives Illustrated

Blade

They are a lot cheaper to subscribe to, or you can sometimes find issues at knife shows, but goin' to shows can get expensive.:(
 
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