S&W Homeland Security Tanto

C

Confederate

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
2,826
Smoky Mountain has a sale on Smith & Wesson Homeland Security fixed-blade tantos. The price is $29, which is very good, and it's made of some grade of 440C steel. After the Cold Steel Recons went to AUS8, I thought the Smith & Wesson knives might be a good alternative. (I know that Smith & Wesson has a reputation of not putting out great knives, but as other knife companies go to junk steel, the S&W knives move into a somewhat better position.) Anyway, does anyone own one of these and if so, please let me know what you think.

BTW, I bought one of their Extreme Ops knives awhile back expecting it to be really horrible, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's not a great knife, but it opens with a flick of the wrist and I've found myself carrying and using it on occasion. I'd rather have it than almost anything from Gerber these days.

SWCKSURC.jpg
 
Nope, but for 30 bux, you might as well get it, and write us a review. I would get it just to hack up junk, or leave it in the back of the truck.
 
After the Cold Steel Recons went to AUS8, I thought the Smith & Wesson knives might be a good alternative
Click to expand...

Aus8 is miles and miles from being a junk steel.

Millions of miles.
 
I have one of these. Fair knife, a bit heavy for most uses. The hilt edges are sharp enough to cut the web of your hand and fore finger (found out the hard way) I wanted a heavy knife to take to Katrina and Rita so I grabbed this one, never broke it prying doors, windows, shutters, etc. Had to wear gloves though.
 
welcome sardog.

i would just like to point out the value of the insights of knife users not yet contaminated by BF's zeal.
 
Thank you Mag. I'm not a knife collector, just a practical end user. The only contamination I am aware of is what I do to myself. :cool:
 
Yeah, I've been guilty of trashing too many products out of simple bias. Someone here said they dropped a S&W knife and it broke. I can believe that, but you generally get what you pay for. Frost sells its Delta Force for thirteen bucks, so I'm not expecting anything fancy. But Smith sells its tanto for upwards of fifty bucks, so yes, I'm expecting it to be better quality than if they had a retail price of, say, twenty-five dollars.

The knife being heavy is a plus for me. The Recon Tanto by Cold Steel is not heavy, but is like grits, an acquired taste. The first one I bought I was mortified. "Steel on a stick" is what I called it. But after using it awhile I found myself liking it. One fellow posted a picture of his Recon Tanto snapped at the base. He'd cut away part of the rubber to reveal a greatly downscaled tang, and this is where it separated. Don't know what he was doing but it was a chilling photo.

It's a shame that Smith has such awful knives, yet produces very decent firearms. I don't know who makes the knives, but for $29, the H.S. Tanto was worth a try. I love knife bargains and it wasn't all that long ago that I bought seven CRKT S2s (7503) for twenty-five dollars each. Titanium handles, ATS-34 blade. It was great. With the way the price of steel is going, buying any quality "good" knife for a great price is not a bad idea.

In the end, it's the folks who own and use a certain knife who are the ones to ask. I will say that I would never have paid fifty bucks for the H.S. Tanto. If it's any good, I'll probably pick up a few more. I'll try to post a photo of the Smith, the Frost, and a Recon Tanto.

cksur5.jpg


It does look cool. But how long will it hold an edge?
 
rebeltf: "Aus8 is miles and miles from being a junk steel."
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to imply that AUS8 was junk. I have a better regard for it than many people. What I meant was that as other knife companies like Gerber and CRKT go to junk steel like "400-series stainless" or 420j2, knives from Smith & Wesson are bound to become more acceptable. Not because Smith is so good, but because the others are so bad.

That said, I'd still much rather have Carbon V than AUS8 in my Recon Tanto, but as long as I have to have a stainless knife, I'd rather pay less and get one that might be just as good.

I also think that as bad as many Smith & Wessons are, there are some that are pretty decent. Their boot knife is an example. It's for defense. The blade is not designed as a working tool; it's made to give cops and others a last ditch weapon. I can't imagine anyone complaining that it won't hold an edge for what it's designed for.

The Home Security Tanto generally goes for fifty bucks discount, so $29 seems to be a good price for a knife that may render decent use. Frost has one that looks much like it (the Delta Force Tanto), but it's made out of really junky steel. The price for that is $13. (I ordered one of those, too, just to see how much abuse I could heap on it.)

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Okay, I just received the Smith Homeland Security tanto and it's ugly twin, the Frost Delta Force. Both knives look very much alike and it's clear that Frost copied the Smith design almost slavishly. I haven't had much of a chance to cut anything, but my initial impressions are that the Smith & Wesson H.S. tanto ($30) is notably better than the Frost ($13). At first blush both knives look the same, only the smooth titanium cameo finish on the Smith is much nicer, giving the blade a much nicer look. The finish on the Frost, on the other hand, was painted splotches. In between, the stainless steel had the characteristic vertical lines typical on cheap knives. And where the Smith had nice G10 handles, the Frost copy had cheap plastic. Both knives were heavy and strong. The Smith came with a good work edge. The Frost, however, would have a hard time cutting warm butter. It sharpened up quickly, though I suspect it wouldn't hold an edge very long. Either knife would be capable of prying and cutting through most things an outdoor/camping knife would be called upon to cut. The Smith & Wesson sheath was very well designed and made and comes with a sharpening slab, which comes in its own pocket. The Frost sheath, on the other hand, was cheap and wouldn't last long outdoors. What was surprising is that I think the Frost knife would be okay in the trunk of a car or for camping. The heavy steel blade is big and strong, not at all likely to break or snap. And the Smith H.S. seemed to be well made with considerably more attention to detail. One poster, above, said sharp edges in the hilt cut his hand. Those are gone from the current model and all the steel is rounded and nicely finished.

What's really funny is that I think one could take either knife and hammer it in to a car top with little or no damage. I'm not sure that test is very valid as Cold Steel claims.

The bottom line is that the Smith may be as good as the Recon Tanto with stainless steel. Although Cold Steel's AUS8 is undoubtedly better than Smith's 440C, it does have a weakness at the base near the upper portion of the handle where it narrows significantly, weakening the entire design. The H.S. and Frost are full tang knives, but there's no doubt that the latter is a cheaply made piece of garbage. Even so, a huge slab of cheap stainless steel wouldn't be entirely worthless in outdoor environments. That said, I won't be buying another Frost. As for Smith & Wesson, there are clearly better knives; but for thirty bucks, it's very hard to beat.
 
I was looking at the S&W Homeland Security knife and by the picture it looks as if it is double edged....is it??

It looks like its got the saw tooth blade on top and then a plain edge on the bottom....i need a good double edged blade like this. Can someone tell me if im correct with my observation of thinking its a double edged blade please?? lol


SWHomelandSecurityknife.jpg



Thanks in advance.
 
Hmmm. This is a tanto, so the upper blade isn't edged. However, the blade from the point down is edged. The blade from the hilt to the angled section also is sharpened. The top portion is sawtoothed and the teeth are extremely sharp. Many knife companies stay away from double edges (top and bottom) simply because double edged knives are banned in California.

Sardog wrote: "The hilt edges are sharp enough to cut the web of your hand and for-finger," but this isn't true on any of the knives I've seen lately. The grip was entirely smooth and easy on the hand. This knife is a good cutter, chopper (light brush and kindling), plus it penetrates very well.

Although it's a light duty knife, Cold Steel's Peacekeeper is double edged. It's edges are extremely sharp, and can be quickly sharpened, but it's light duty only and is very light in weight.

Still, for the price, you can't beat the tanto. I can't find it for thirty dollars anywhere except for Smoky Mountain Knife Works. It's a great deal.
 
After reading this I may buy one out of curiosity. I think I like the 5.5 inch better than the larger 8.25.
 
Great. If you can get one for thirty bucks, let me know.
Oh, and please drop by and let me know how you like it.
It'll give me a reality check.
 
Ugh its garbage, If you want to throw your money away you could always send me a money order :)
 
Woh im not selling, I just like free money :D

But at the moment its a spyderco Poliwog and a Busse red meaner
 
Confederate said:
It's a shame that Smith has such awful knives, yet produces very decent firearms. I don't know who makes the knives, but for $29, the H.S. Tanto was worth a try.

It does look cool. But how long will it hold an edge?
Click to expand...


S&W knives are made by Taylor Cutlery mostly in China although their main office is here in the states.

I have owned a few S&W's I have liked, mainly their tanto framelock folders. They came razor sharp and lock up solid. Not bad for $20
 
I know. Don't tell anyone, but I got a sharp framelock psuedo-tanto S&W for $8.50. Not a great knife, but it's the best knife I've ever bought for that amount of money. The camo finish is smooth and cool to the touch and the blade opens and locks without a problem. I've actually carried it and...gasp!...used it!

In one of my dresser drawers I keep an extra-fine ceramic sharpening rod. It's round and about this long. Anyway, it takes me less than 30 seconds to sharpen that booger up to tomato-slicing sharp! I paid more for my crummy Gerber EZ-Out a couple of years ago, and it ain't nearly as good a knife!
 
I just don't like tantos at all, but I did use a S&W Search & Rescue knife, and it wasn't that bad. It took a pretty decent edge and seemed to hold it reasonably well. I was thinking it was 440A, but it might have been 440C. My daughter liked the knife and "liberated" it.
 
Confederate said:
One fellow posted a picture of his Recon Tanto snapped at the base. He'd cut away part of the rubber to reveal a greatly downscaled tang, and this is where it separated. Don't know what he was doing but it was a chilling photo.[/I]
Click to expand...

FWIW, I was batoning it through a birch log. :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top