Need some tactical advice

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Feb 12, 2017
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This isnt a mall ninja thing. My brother works for homeland security and sometimes has to go after people. He doesnt carry a knife but he agreed to carry one if i bought it to make me feel better. What would be a gopd knife to carry? Im looking at a 250$ budget. Im considering the emerson cqc7 but i dont know of any other actual tactical blades. Must be a folding knife. Thanks for any advice in advance.
 
Emersons great fit. They are a no nonsense knife, well made knife that should serve him well. They come in a variety of models, so you should be able to find one that fits his needs.

There are many "tactical" knives out there, so you will get many suggestions. I like the benchmade 710.

Since there are so many options within that price range, it would help if you added a few more parameters, like size or intended use. Good luck and your brother is a lucky guy.
 
Spyderco Police.

Spyderco Military or PM2.

Emersons also nice.

But give us a little bit more info, pls: He 'goes after people' - is he in full tactical gear (i.e. can he clip a large(-ish) folder to his MOLLE or will he in the comming months be wearing a summer weight suit and politely be telling people to behave (thus maybe having the need for more light weight and unobtrusive knife)?
 
I can't say I was as impressed by Emerson knives, they fit great in the hand but I can't think of much else they are good at. The steel is soft, the edge grind does not promote sharpness or ease of sharpening, its a liner lock and they are very expensive compared to many other knives that use better materials. You could get a ZT with carbon fiber scales, frame lock, and much better blade steel for the same price. The ZT 0562 would be an excellent choice.
 
Dude the point man in osama raid was carrying a cqc7 waveless behind Cairo a belgian malinois, if it works for ST6, it gets the job done
 
This isnt a mall ninja thing. My brother works for homeland security and sometimes has to go after people. He doesnt carry a knife but he agreed to carry one if i bought it to make me feel better. What would be a gopd knife to carry? Im looking at a 250$ budget. Im considering the emerson cqc7 but i dont know of any other actual tactical blades. Must be a folding knife. Thanks for any advice in advance.

Send me an email, I'm familiar with uniforms and duty gear and such that people have to wear in DHS. If you can give me which specific agency and component he works for I can point to some possible knives that can fit in different pockets and pouches he has on his pants and armor.

My default answer is a spyderco military or paramilitary 2. But in all reality if he doesn't already carry a knife, which is crazy to me and makes me think he works in Field Operations under CBP, then he doesn't see the value and makes me question his field training officers and what they instilled into him. Get him an Ontario Rat which are really really good knives for the money. And get him a no frills self defense pen and/or thin good quality LED flashlight that works on AA batteries or thats rechargeable (CR123 batteries are expensive and not always provided by the agency) and a good Leatherman with a leather sheath. All of that can be had for less than $250 and it's a good setup no matter what environment he works in.

Here, having worked in DHS for a long time in multiple branches this is a setup I'd get for my own brother if he was needing them, about $200 for the whole package.

http://www.bladehq.com/cat--Ontario-Manual--156

http://www.bladehq.com/item--Fenix-RC05-Magnetic-Charging--37644

http://www.bladehq.com/item--Boker-Plus-TTP-Tactical-Tablet-Pen--36157

http://www.bladehq.com/item--Leatherman-Rebar-Silver-Multi-Tool--12952



If after carrying a knife and he personally sees the value of it himself then a higher caliber knife on its own would be a good gift. But for between 30 and 40 bucks you can't really go wrong with an Ontario Rat 2. It beats a lot more expensive knives in terms of fit and finish and is easy to maintain and is really ergonomic with a good blade profile and can be beaten on and if broken it's not a big deal to replace.

If you're only considering a knife and a knife only then I'd suggest a Protech TR automatic for the wow factor which has a lot to do with the "tactical" title. His buddies would be pretty impressed when he showed it off but more importantly they're also great knives for the money you spend on one.

Anyways, I know a couple of guys who carry emerson knives and I've checked them out after having been in the field for a long time and I personally wouldn't ever buy one for myself, not considering what else is available for the same price or less.


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My own personal EDC but I wouldn't recommend it for people who aren't already knife nuts:
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Oh yeah, buy him a basic lansky kit or a basic spyderco sharpmaker kit, too.
 
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BM Contego, that's a robust knife with an impressive blade.

Emerson Super Roadhouse, idem as Contego but different style

ZT 0300/0301

Spydie Yojimbo
 
If he isn't already a knife guy which he isn't since he doesn't carry one, he may not become familiar with one and it's opening and closing which you would want to be second nature in a stressful situation. Especially if it will primarily be a backup weapon, which isn't that great of a weapon without training to use as one.

I haven't owned one long but I think I would consider a dual action out the front (OTF) auto since he can legally carry it as a LEO. I think any guy would get a kick out of one which he would probably be more likely to carry. It's also easy to open and close one handed without having to think and while they aren't the most robust knives, a failure wouldn't close on fingers. Even if he had to use it and bent the internals it would serve it's purpose without a chance of closing if stressed by hard use. I only say this because some question their durability which they may get damaged by hard use where others might not but it should work just fine to get thru a bad situation and just may not fire reliably afterwards but it will already have served it's purpose.

Just a thought for a non knife person and it may get him interested in knives so he can figure out what he likes best.
 
Sorry for not being specific enough. Full tactical. Ice (catching illegals and criminals) no molle though. All velcro. Slim profile preferred. I tried to give him my zt0350 but he didnt like how bulky it was. He also prefers tanto tips.

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Sorry for not being specific enough. Full tactical. Ice (catching illegals and criminals) no molle though. All velcro. Slim profile preferred. I tried to give him my zt0350 but he didnt like how bulky it was. He also prefers tanto tips.

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If he's ERO then stick with the protech. If he's HSI then stick with the pen. If he's SRT with either then there's no excuse for him to no already have a good knife or for his command to not offer him something acceptable.

But still, since he doesn't already have a penchant for knives whatsoever you still wouldn't be wrong getting him a Rat 2.

And I still wonder about his FTOs even though ERO is almost exclusively desk work (which explains his mindset of not caring about carrying any kind of secondary defensive tool).

Still. Lucky ba$+@*d gets to have a beard and wear basically plain clothes all the time.


You looking for something like this? Great company, great warranty, great knives

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Sorry for not being specific enough. Full tactical. Ice (catching illegals and criminals) no molle though. All velcro. Slim profile preferred. I tried to give him my zt0350 but he didnt like how bulky it was. He also prefers tanto tips.

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What's wrong then with carrying a fixed blade? Size and weight considerations? Not sure I understand the issues involved.
 
Carrying a fixed is controversial on his team. Thats why the folding. After showing him all the suggestions, hes asked for the protech. Thanks for all yalls help!

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What's wrong then with carrying a fixed blade? Size and weight considerations? Not sure I understand the issues involved.

It's a pretty big jump from not carry a knife at all to carrying any kind of fixed blade, especially when he's most likely in an office with normal office people most of the day except when he's doing a pick up at a prison or serving a quick warrant or escorting someone back to a country where firearms are prohibited. And if he's on a tactical team he might be limited to carrying only what's approved by his command.
 
Carrying a fixed is controversial on his team. Thats why the folding. After showing him all the suggestions, hes asked for the protech. Thanks for all yalls help!

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No problem dude, happy to help and tell him to be safe out there from a brother in green.
 
Anything with a triad lock. They will never fail. I've seen a guy almost cut his fingers off when he stabbed a trucks tire. Lock strength does matter.
 
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