S&W Homeland Security Knife

F

fvf

Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
7
Can anyone please tell me about the Smith & Wesson Homeland Security knife.

Its a 13.75" long w/ an 8" tanto blade w/ serrations on the top.

Its got a full tang and screwed on flat grips.

Comes w/ a synthetic scabbard.

Thanks
 
What, exactly, do you want to know?

It is made from low-end stainless, and looks like a cheap copy of an Extrema Ratio design. I can tell you that it's probably a piece of crap. Most S&W knives are.

If you own one, I suggest testing the edge retention on some cinder blocks. :D Then post the results here; include pictures if possible.

TheSurvivalist
 
That is such a extrema ratio rip-off. The first time I saw that I thought it was ER but then I looked on the blade.....:barf: And I saw S&W.:thumbdn:
I would stay away from S&W. I have one, a absolute peice of junk!
TBG
 
What would you do to test the edge on a cinder block. All knives will dull if you saw on a cinder block! How do you know from doing that that it is a good knife?
 
Does it say "Made in China" on the side opposite that says "Homeland Security"?:rolleyes:
 
Originally Posted by Hawker
What would you do to test the edge on a cinder block. All knives will dull if you saw on a cinder block! How do you know from doing that that it is a good knife?
Click to expand...

I am well aware that all knives will dull if used to saw on cinder blocks. This has nothing to do with testing the S&W to see if it is a good knife; I already know that it is a piece of junk. I simply suggested it because I want to see what an S&W knife looks like after it has been beaten to sh*t on some cinder blocks. :D

TheSurvivalist
 
thebladeguy said:
That is such a extrema ratio rip-off. The first time I saw that I thought it was ER but then I looked on the blade.....:barf: And I saw S&W.:thumbdn:
I would stay away from S&W. I have one, a absolute peice of junk!
TBG
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BS!...I have a pair of S&W HRTDR fixed-blade knives, and both are EXCELLENT, and are WELL-WORTH the price.
 
I personally wouldn't buy an S&W for any price, as i think they are crap too!
 
I say off to the cinder blocks it is:thumbup:

Just make sure you wear sme protective clothing and eyewear, so that when the blade snaps in two it doesn't go flying into you.:eek:
 
Nope I haven't bought it yet.

I am in the process of selecting the S&W Homeland Security knife or a Cold Steel Recon Tanto. I plan to us it for camping and all around use.

Yes it say China near the cross guard.

Its heavier than the CS Recon Tanto. Its a longer and bigger knife w/ serrations which the CS Recon Tanto doesn't have. Also I can see it has a full tang which I'm not sure of the CS RT.

I terms of cost its about $24 cheaper than the CS RT.

Having read that its 440C unlike Carbon V for the the RT, I presumed that it would hold up better in humid climates wherein I have read the RT needs regular oiling to prevent rust from starting.
 
Do yourself a favor pal, go with a good Ka-bar. In my experience, this one is the best all purpose knife for it’s price.

https://www.kabar.com/product_detai...goryId=1,2,3,7&categoryName=Military/Tactical

Good luck in your selection.
P.S. If you have to choose between the two go with the recon tanto

P.P.S. S&W sucks in my experience with edged weapons. I bought a hatchet and game skinner combo. The hatchet broke after the second throw and the skinner broke in my garage after i dropped it. I crapped out better knives on a bad day.
 
I have to say that I had both a CS Recon Tanto and SRK and they where extremely tough knives. I doubt that the S&W would even come close in strength and quality.
 
Carbon steel is far superior to 440C for large fixed blades. The SRK is a good knife, but I hate the Recon Tanto - blocky cross section, trailing point, and bad balance imho.
 
I have read from the forums that those brands are also good. Unfortunately we have limited dealers here and the models I have seen are only from SOG, CRKT, Cold Steel, Hk and Spyderco. Only some of the their models are available here.

For camping and general use (HD), the CS Recon Tanto and the S&W Homeland Security stand out because of the size and features.

Was leaning towards the S&W because of humid conditions here and it looks to be a general purpose knife compared to the CS RT.
 
Actually my knife before was a Gerber Mark II. But I unfortunately left it in a steel locker for a long time upside down and when I found it again, the black paint covering the handle had began to flake off and exposed the gray metal of the handle. Am still cleaning it w/ WD40 because of a white powdery substance left by the flaking black paint on the handle.

The RT or the SW would replace this as my general use knife.
 
With all the good knives available, I can't think of any reason (even price) of going with a Smith & Wesson. As far as steel goes, the 440C produced by Smith is far worse than the 440C produced by a reputable knife manufacturer.

As much as I like Cold Steel folders, I also don't like the Recon Tanto. I have one and it has all the grace of a machete that you find in a surplus store. The balance, fit and finish just isn't appealing to me, personally. On the other hand, I would never catagorize anything Cold Steel sells as "junk." The Recon Tanto does have its following, but I'd rather spend some extra $$$ and get something from Ka-Bar or a different model CS.

Gerber, once a fairly good name in the knife market, is really putting out some junk lately. Many of their folders are labeled as "400-series stainless," which is another way of saying, anything that just happens to be lying around. Making blades from liner stock is just not acceptable. I recently got one of their aluminum folders and the blade wouldn't even cut a clear plastic package from CompUSA. Put some marks in it, but wouldn't cut it. I was just astounded. I used a CRKT M16-13Z with an AUS 6 blade, and it sliced the package open with no trouble.

-Confed
 
fvf said:
What is the disadvantage of 440C in large fixed bladed knives?
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Essentially, 440C is, or was, "the" common folder blade knife steel. On paper, it's better than 440A/440B; however, modern quenching methods have made the 440A the popular pick. If 440C were also quenched with liquid nitrogen, I'm sure it would be better, but it's typically not suitably hardened.

For outdoor blades, most people like carbon with some type of coating. Cold Steel makes a fairly decent fixed knife made of 420 sub-zero quenched steel that is double-edged, tough, easy to sharpen and rust resistant as hell. Those CS techies love hammering those blades into car tops and anything else that can be punctured. Edge retention is better with carbon, though, and nothing will ever change that. And few outdoorsmen will spend big $$$ on fancy-smancy stainless steels that are difficult to sharpen and still require care to keep from rusting.

-Confed
 
Everything Confederate said i agree with. Not a big fan of the recon tanto, even though cold steel makes pretty descent fixed blades as does Ka-Bar. My advise if you can't find a descent price on a descent knife, go to an online store, they usually have good prices. I recommend www.bladematrix.tv if your interested.

However, if your hell-bent on getting one or the other, I would still have to say go with the CS recon tanto. The steel that cold steel issues with their heat treatment on their fixed blades blows S&W out of the water. Still I would grab a different CS model or a good Ka-Bar. If you aren’t interested in any other cold steel model or don’t like Ka-Bar for what ever reason, busse makes great knives, as does swamp rat, and SOG. However, they tend to be a little bit more pricy than CS or Ka-Bar.

Cutlass
 
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