Knife Magazines

T

ToddO

Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
40
I have read and enjoyed a few copies of "Knives Illustrated", "Tactical Knives", and "Blade". I, however, do not have a long readership history with any of the periodicals. I have heard that each has its strengths. What are the overall strengths of each? If you could only subscribe to one, which would it be? Thanks in advance.

Best Regards, Todd
 
tk without a doubt. ki and blade don't offer much in the way of combat cutlery info. both do have nice pics of art/fantasy pieces. not much user type stuff.
 
I get all three. Not for the writing because it's all biased toward the advertisers and you will never read a bad review in any of them.But if you are into knives they are good for keeping up with new products,and the photography of the knives is quite nice.The ads in them provide new web sites to explore and Blade has a large classified section.They also publish lists of upcoming knife shows and most of the technical columns written by people like Wayne Goddard,Tim Zowada and Ed Fowler are useful and informative.The last thing is if you want to look at knives they are the only game out there that comes monthly to satisfy that craving.Hope this rambling was of some use.
Bob
 
Blade is worth getting just for the articles by Wayne Goddard. His articles on the $50 knife shop are excellent. I hope they'll be compiled into a book.

Tactical Knives I like because they feature the knives I'm interested in more often than the others, namely tactical knives. The thing I don't like is that they seem to pander to the makers a little more than the others. Actually, they ran an editorial recently saying that they don't write negative reviews. If a knife isn't up to par they don't write about it. We are to surmise that if a knife isn't reviewed its a sub-par piece. IMO, this is BS. How can we know if out of the myriad of knives on the market they've tested a particular one and found it lacking? Maybe they've not gotten to testing it yet. Still, they do report on alot of knives and do a pretty good job of it.

Knives Illustrated I've only read a few times. They seem to concentrate more on art/fantasy knives. Now I think these are cool and all but they're not my main focus. Since my magazine budget is limited, I rarely get KI.

I'm looking forward to the return of Fighting Knives. Now that they have been bought by Peterson Publications I anticipate a first class magazine.

------------------

Ciao

MM
 
I buy all three.

I do so because reading the information offered gives me an idea as to all that is going on.

I beleive that one can gain a great deal from reading between the lines.

And the photography and ads give me grist for my designing and buying.

TK is overall the best I would say.

Blade is good for gentleman stuff and classic style knives, and like the Emerson articles.

Knives Illustrated is good if you are thinking about being a maker, and they do the odd really good photo lay-out of makers you wouldn't normally hear about.

------------------
One may want to keep an Eye out for my review of the Bob Kasper designed, Kevin Gentile modified AFCK and interview of Bob Kasper.

Marion David Poff fka Eye, one can msg me at mdpoff@hotmail.com

Patiently waiting for the Spyderco SpydeRench, Lum Chinese Chopper Folder, Rolling Lock, and Martial Series; Benchmade M2 Axis, M2 Axis AFCK, M2 Pinnacle; REKAT Escalator and Pat Crawford Design.

"The victorious Warrior wins first and then goes to war, while the defeated Warrior goes to war and then seeks to win" Sun-Tzu















 
Get all three. Only about $45 bucks a year.


------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com





 
I like Blade the best since they print it monthly versus KI & TK which is bimonthly---I get my fix quicker with Blade
wink.gif

~Greg~
 
Like Mike said, subscribe to all three, it's not that much overall and you can never get too much information about knives....course we need to toss in the Automatic Newsletter as well..

Jonathan

------------------
Live every day as if it was your last, for some day it shall be.
 
....Just to add to the 'confusion', look for a relatively new publication COMBAT KNIVES from Petersons publications in '99. They did 1 issue last year, an 'annual edition' like 'Guns Annual'. Last years was pretty good, I'm looking forward to the 2 issues they are gonna do this year. From what the editor told me, sounds like a good line up of topics/articles for the first issue. Due on newstands in the spring.

Todd, know some of your interest, TK is probally best for you, although BLADE is right up there too. I think that KI is at its best with the 'custom maker profile/shop tour' article. I find these articles EXCELLENT, but from what I know about your interest, maybe not your favorite subjects.

Ah Hell...read them all,

Will Fennell/EDI Knives
 
MM:

I've got the Tactical Knives editorial you referred to regarding knife reviews in front of me, so I'll quote from it:

"..... as there are many good knives we simply haven't gotten around to yet"

What I gathered from the editorial as a whole was that although they simply refrain from reviewing knives that they'd be forced to give less than favorable remarks about, the fact that they haven't or don't review a particular knife is by no means indicative of the piece being sub-standard.

Personally, I buy all three publications and accept each for its primary focus. As was said before, you can never have too much information.

Regards--Shades
 
Will,
I got the 1998 "Combat Knives" by lucky chance when a friend bought it on his U.S. visit for me. Any chance to get info when the 1999 edition is out ?
Take care,
Frank

BTW, I love it that you can convert the Genesis clip for southpaws like me !
 
We need to add KNIFE WORLD to the list it also comes out monthly has more topics covering more varied aspects of the hobby (from combat knives to antique, factory to handmade art knives), and they do actually review knives with a little less bias. Worth adding to your subscription list.
Published monthly with show schedules also.
 
Where can I find more info on "Knife World". Bit of a task getting cutlery mags around here as it is.

Jonathan
 
I enjoy TK most and read some of the others once in awhile. Subscription gives it cheaper and quicker than the newstand. And yes, Petersens Combat Knives was one of my favorites of the year. Good reviews of knives and its makers and instructors who use them(Kasper- Polkowski connection). And did any of you readers of this new mag notice the proportionately less ad pages?? A plus IMO.

L8r,
Nakano
 
Knife world subscriptions run fifteen bucks a year, 1-800-828-7751. They also have a website, (www.knifeworld.com). Not a bad read. My peronal favorites are TK and Blade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top