Seriously, when is the tacticool thing gonna play itself out?

[james terrio]

So any knife is "tactical" if you use it tactically...

I don't recall the dude's name, but I once saw a post by a self-proclaimed combat vet who said, "I used a toothbrush in a combat zone. Does that make it a 'tactical' toothbrush?"

Frankly, as a knifemaker, I am slowly learning to embrace the "tactical" thing strictly as marketing and let go of my personal ego and prejudices about it. Sorry if that sounds crass or greedy, but if the work I do anyway sells to more people because some of it has CF or coated blades or happens to be lime-green... fine!

I don't "do" whacky designs or sawteeth or other stuff I can't stand behind, but hey... I got bills to pay, son. Jimping costs extra and magic costs more. You want Day-Glo pink scales? I can make that happen. Don't be judgin'

 

[marcinek]

Probably always was a part of the game. I remember when I was a boy lusting over some Fairbairn Sykes copy in the display of the local gunshop. That seemed to be the "ultimate" knife to me. There were also many other "weapon" oriented knives. However, I get the feeling this was marginal but has creeped to mainstream today : every knife brand has a dedicated (very rich) "tactical" range and what about the disgusting advertising (Lynn Thompson with his hysterical stabbing of a ballistic gel torso is no exception, cf the "instant evisceration capability" of some so called "survival" knife). Seriously ?

Why do you think people bought Bowie knives in the 1840s on? They heard about Bowie's sandbar knife and wanted a tacticool knife just like he had. Making "Bowies" drove the industry internationally.

You think all the people who bought them were knife fighters?

Its all absolutely nothing new. Probably even more mainstream back then.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

"Tactical"
"Bushcraft"

Two sides of the same marketing coin. It's a term that sells a fantasy.

 

[Rey HRH]

Oh, and just like the knife above, my knife is also made of D2 and cost $300 The coincidences are spooky.

Only thing you need to do is to send it to one of the knife modders to get some saw teeth cut into the spine for you.

 

[rustyrazor]

Why are people so worried about what other people like? You don't like this knife? Fine no one's making you buy one, and someone else buying it doesn't effect you in anyway. That's the beautiful thing about this country, people are free to like and buy whatever the hell they choose, and shouldn't be chastised bc someone doesn't agree with it.

Agreed ...with a caveat: I 100% support people buying things for whatever reason makes them happy. God knows i've bought things that i liked for no other reason than i like them, however sometimes things get into a grey area for me when people who aren't well informed buy something designed by ex ---insert special ops unit-- "experts" thinking that these are the best things out there because how can it not be... this guy says so, and he has awesome slogans to prove it? This gets me a little bothered by times when i see some of the crap designed by "experts" and marketed as such. So many of these things are just Piss poor designed prybars with more junk on them than inspector gadget, and 90% of them are going to waste money for people that think they are getting a proper tool for the job and when those guys buying them are soldiers who may need these things one day, i get sour that they are being misled.

 

[Danke42]

"Tactical"
"Bushcraft"

Two sides of the same marketing coin. It's a term that sells a fantasy.

I would very much like a tactical bushcraft knife.

 

[K.O.D.]

As long as there is a market for it, I don't see tactical and overbuilt knives going away. I will say that I was on the tactical bandwagon for a bit, as well as the overbuilt one. From what I've seen, the "tactical/mall ninja" market is for the younger generation(s). I personally have come to the point where bulky, heavy, overbuilt knives are just not my thing.

In my opinion, there are several things fueling this trend. but the biggest one is fear. Between our failing government, TV shows like the Walking Dead etc, people are afraid of what the next few years will bring, and look at TV (especially survival type shows) for recommendations of what to buy if a countrywide and/or global crisis/es occurs. The "cool" factor will always be there, but that can be said for many products. We are a society of TV, and tend to purchase products based on what we see and/or what we think we need.

 

[Ken44]

Seriously, when is the tacticool thing gonna play itself out?

Summer of 2016.


Nah, I think it's here to stay for a while.
I only buy Modern and Traditional myself, but not a thing wrong with Tacticool if that's what one wants.
We all like different things, and that's a good thing.

 

[bflying]

I'll bet there are people here that remember when the Buck 110 was just too tacti-cool, and totally unnecessary. Heck, there were jobs for slip joints, and jobs for fixed blades. Anything in between is just stoopid.

 

[jc57]

Probably a young man thing. When I was in my late teens in the 70s, I bought my generation's version of the same thing - a Gerber Mark II "survival" knife. I had no use for it, of course, but it seemed like an effective weapon should I ever find myself in a survival situation. Of course what we were all worried about surviving in those days was a nuclear war, since the cold war was still in full swing. I still have that knife. Still have no use for it.

Other than basic needs, pretty much every product sold via marketing is trying to sell people a self-image they would like to have of themselves. It's never so obvious as "buy this car and you will be successful and have a model for a girlfriend." Instead, they show a successful man with a beautiful girlfriend driving the car in the ad. Message delivered. Owning the car doesn't get you those things, of course. The goal of the manufacturer was to sell the car, not get you a girlfriend.

So with tactical equipment, the image they are selling is "you are a person who can take care of himself and are not to be trifled with." In the social hierarchy of young males, having that feeling (whether valid or not) is instinctively sought after, so the marketing of such things appeals to that instinct.

 

[BladeScout]

Why do you think people bought Bowie knives in the 1840s on? They heard about Bowie's sandbar knife and wanted a tacticool knife just like he had. Making "Bowies" drove the industry internationally.

You think all the people who bought them were knife fighters?

Its all absolutely nothing new. Probably even more mainstream back then.

Of course there were also people carrying knives for show back then, but with the difference being that for a period in the 1800s in for example New Orleans it was de rigueur to not only carry but also to be proficient with a Bowie knife.

Duels were fought and this was no small industry. Gentlemen carried and training was taken seriously. Fencing champions and skilled cold steel teachers traveled to America from France and other countries to set up shop, as plenty there wanted to learn the knife fighting craft (small wonder, as they otherwise would run an even greater risk of having their guts spilled in a duel).

In a knife fighting article it was estimated, that so many carried knives and knew how to use them back then, that for example few of todays highly skilled soldiers with special training would last many moments if dumped into New Orleans back then (yes, I know it might be a moot point, as knife fighting is of course not a priority in todays military establishment).

The custom of carrying a large fighter and the duels petered put after the War Between the States.

I doubt that many who today buy the ridiculous tacti-cool ninja knives would know how to use them let alone flaunt them (the knives) outside of their couch in front of their big screen TV. On the other hand, I suppose thats something to give thanks for.

 

[marcinek]

"Tactical"
"Bushcraft"

Two sides of the same marketing coin. It's a term that sells a fantasy.

Precisely. And to take it a step further, look at the early 1900s when outdoor recreation first became popular for folks other than wealthy landowners....what knives did those folks use as "bushcraft" knives? They took versions of their tacticool Bowie fighters (which wre part of their riverboat gambler duel fantasy). No doubt for stabbing bears or mountain lions or whatever new "outdoor" fantasy they had.

Its all the same. Nothing has changed.

If the industry wasn't driven by fantasy, and what gives folks a warm fuzzy, we'd all be carrying just Swiss Army Knives.

 

[marcinek]

Of course there were also people carrying knives for show back then, but with the difference being that for a period in the 1800s in for example New Orleans it was de rigueur to not only carry but also to be proficient with a Bowie knife.

Duels were fought and this was no small industry. Gentlemen carried and training was taken seriously. Fencing champions and skilled cold steel teachers traveled to America from France and other countries to set up shop, as plenty there wanted to learn the knife fighting craft (small wonder, as they otherwise would run an even greater risk of having their guts spilled in a duel).

In a knife fighting article it was estimated, that so many carried knives and knew how to use them back then, that for example few of todays highly skilled soldiers with special training would last many moments if dumped into New Orleans back then (yes, I know it might be a moot point, as knife fighting is of course not a priority in todays military establishment).

The custom of carrying a large fighter and the duels petered put after the War Between the States.

I doubt that many who today buy the ridiculous tacti-cool ninja knives would know how to use them let alone flaunt them (the knives) outside of their couch in front of their big screen TV. On the other hand, I suppose thats something to give thanks for.

Doesn't sound any different than today. Your reference to "cold steel teachers" running around teaching people how to not get their guts spilled sounds awfully familiar....hmmmm....

And as far as not flaunting their tacticool knives, tell it to every person who has ever come in here complaining about the look he got from "the sheeple" when he whipped out his XXX-Treme Gov Tac Overcompensator at the family reunion or at Applebees.

 

[Joshua J.]

Teeth like that were originally for cutting through sheet metal in crashed helicopters (not sure if it ever got used as such, bu theoretically...)
So, as soon as people stop crashing helicopters we will no longer need evacuation tools such as this.

It is disappointing the maker skipped that point.

 

[AVigil]

We are still waiting for the Bowie knife craze to calm down as well as the Katana fad

I think the "Tactical Knife" trend will follow suit.

 

[demoncase]

Should we really be telling anyone how to spend/waste (delete to taste) the money they've earned?.....I know people that have spent 1000s on camera lenses. On model soldiers. On garden furniture even- all of which you can obtain for less.

I'm ambivalent to the whole 'tacticool' thing....But I get more saddened by folks spending £100 on 10 hook-a-duck-stall chinese folders without heat-treatment or lock strength than someone dropping £100 on a good quality knife (if stupidly designed with tone deaf marketing?)

I do recall a joke shared on the shooting range with friends that 'Tactical means dyeing/painting something ordinary either black, beige (sorry- "coyote tan") or olive drab then adding either a length of RIS or MOLLE webbing and you're good to go. Then add 20% to the asking price

 

[J W Bensinger]

If you just look at the knife for what it is, and ignore the ridiculous ad copy, is the knife really all that impractical?

Aside from the saw teeth, it looks like a very basic fixed-blade. It has a very basic blade shape, a full plain-edge, and a very basic handle shape. It's also made of quality steel. I'm sure it could be used for a variety of normal/practical knife chores.

It's certainly a lot more basic and practical than a many of the exaggerated fixed-blades out there with three kinds of serrations on the main edge, huge exaggerated guards, and all kinds of points and spikes.

As for the saw teeth on that knife, for all I know they might work very well at sawing off tree branches. I believe the reasoning behind saw teeth on fixed-blades is to preserve the main edge during wilderness survival situations. But in the case of this knife, I regard the saw teeth as useless because of the shape of the handle. The handle shape is very grip-specific and doesn't look like it would lend itself to using the knife as a saw.

As for the blade fuller (some call them "blood grooves"), fullers are commonly used to reduce the weight of a blade without reducing it's strength.

Aside from the saw teeth, this knife reminds me of a few Becker knives (which are also all black).

Here's a pic of my daily carry fixed-blade. Been carrying it and using it very effectively as my work knife for several years now. Hmm, lets see, black blade, fuller, false edge, I wonder if people would call me "tacticool". Not that I would care.

Considering how well this knife has served me, and continues to serve me, with all kinds of cutting and (GASP!) prying, I won't be bothered by any silly labels. Instead, I'll just continue to use and appreciate a really good knife.

Oh, and just like the knife above, my knife is also made of D2 and cost $300 The coincidences are spooky.

That's actually a pretty slick rig. What is it?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Precisely. And to take it a step further, look at the early 1900s when outdoor recreation first became popular for folks other than wealthy landowners....what knives did those folks use as "bushcraft" knives? They took versions of their tacticool Bowie fighters (which wre part of their riverboat gambler duel fantasy). No doubt for stabbing bears or mountain lions or whatever new "outdoor" fantasy they had.

Its all the same. Nothing has changed.

If the industry wasn't driven by fantasy, and what gives folks a warm fuzzy, we'd all be carrying just Swiss Army Knives.

I think what ticks me off about it is the laziness that goes along with the use of the terms and the lack of effort into combining the practical "SAK" side of knives with the "fun" aspects. It's totally doable, and we can have practical tools that still sell the fantasy. Fantasy in the knife world is the spice that keeps the dish interesting, but so many plates the industry has been serving lately are all spice, no substance.

 

[marcinek]

I think what ticks me off about it is the laziness that goes along with the use of the terms and the lack of effort into combining the practical "SAK" side of knives with the "fun" aspects. It's totally doable, and we can have practical tools that still sell the fantasy. Fantasy in the knife world is the spice that keeps the dish interesting, but so many plates the industry has been serving lately are all spice, no substance.

Certainly! Especially for us knife nuts with tons of knives and our cutting needs long since covered...its really about what each of us thinks is "sexy."

What am I doing owning a couple machetes in an urban area?!? Who knows. They're cool.

Brous Blades? I think they are utter nonsense. Have since the Kut Throat Cutlery days. But would I goof on people for owning those, or similar knives, while praising people who own knives I like?

Of course I would! Its part of the fun of being here of BF. Its what we all do.

But, and I've said it I don't know how many times...people should buy knives that make them, and them alone, happy.

Its really all that matters.

"Silent Soldier." "The Coroner." "Sinner." Pffft.

 

[killgar]

That's actually a pretty slick rig. What is it?

It's a Wilson Tactical model 25. Wilson Tactical used to be the knife branch of Wilson Combat (custom 1911 pistols). All of their knives were hand made to order.

My model 25 is currently 10.25" OAL (I say currently because I cut off the large lanyard loop that stuck out from the end of the tang), the blade is 5.25" long and almost 1/4" thick. Wilson said the Rockwell hardness was 59c-60c which I believe because while doing some mods I discovered that it's pretty hard.

The handles are canvas micarta, wrapped by me with a strip of bicycle inner tube for enhanced grip.

Wilson Tactical closed shop some years back, which is unfortunate because they offered a variety of nice fixed-blades. Now they produce knives under the name Wilson Combat.

I guess since my knife was made by a company called Wilson Tactical, that makes it EXTRA tactical .