Evaluate another of your knives, HELL YES I will
..
This was my answer when Tom asked me to take a look at his new Tac-11, black titanium carbonitride coated knife. I had just told Tom my ODA was heading over to Thailand on a 3-month mission. It sounded like the perfect corrosion /wear resistance test for the coating. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26733344
This new version of the Tac-11 has a blade length of 6-1/2". The steel is modified A-8 with a blade finish of titanium carbonitride. It was vacuum heat treated to 58 Rc and deep frozen to -125 degrees Fahrenheit before temper for extreme toughness. The handle is constructed of black canvas micarta. The knife weighs in at 14 oz. The Sheath I received is the Airborne deluxe knife sheath, from Blackhawk industries and is a great improvement over the kydex sheath. (Which is a good sheath, I just happened to break one before and requested something indestructible this time.)
Ive had bad results with blade coatings in the past, with them wearing or flaking off, and have avoided them since, opting for generous amounts of oil and maintenance while out in wet environments. Because of the past experience Ive had with Toms knives, I jumped at the chance to give his work another torture test.
The new Tac-11 arrived in Thailand shortly after we did. I immediately took it out to our training site and put it to work. We were at a demo range at the time teaching Thai soldiers basic demolitions. I gave the knife to a Thai and told him to use it for the day. 10 hours of cutting det-cord and time fuse, http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725360
digging in very hard ground, and any other use the Thais could find for the knife left it in much better condition than I expected. No, it was not popping hairs off my arm, but it was still darn sharp. The coating looked great, I could see where it was sanded from all the digging but it was still there. The coating seems to be a part of the knife; not just something spayed or baked on that would chip or flake off. About ½ of a cm of the tip had broken off from the days use. Prying open a wooden case of demolitions turned out to be the cause. No problems though, I took it to a machine shop in town and ground it down to a drop point. I prefer this anyway since it creates an incredibly strong tip. The rest of the time I was using the knife I never had another difficulty with the tip.
Later in the week the Tac-11 was put to use again by our Thai counterparts. They wanted to cut some bamboo and actually sought the Tac-11 out. It was quickly becoming a favorite item. No problem making single slash cuts through bamboo poles about 2 inches in diameter. It just flew through them. The knife also worked flawlessly for finer woodwork, notching bamboo and such. Harsh work kept seeking the Tac-11 out. We went on a trip up to Sakaow, near the Cambodian border to evaluate de-mining operations. During one of the eval runs I gave a de-miner the chance to use it. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725367
He did and proceeded to try out its effectiveness as a probe. At the time they were probing with screwdrivers. He liked the fact he could probe with it and dig around the mines (training of course). Not something the rest of us do on a regular basis, but it was interesting to watch. Im just glad it wasnt evaluated for explosive survivability, ha ha. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725367
At one point in Thailand I left the knife submerged in a river for 24 hours with no signs of corrosion at all, except, small amounts of surface rust on the bolts that secure the handle. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725364
After all that, Id say that the Tac-11 excelled under the duress of extremely tough use in Thailand
When the team returned to the States, one of the first things we did was conduct a water jump into Puget Sound, pushing out a zodiac with us. A perfect time to test the jump stability of the sheath and salt water resistance of the knifes coating. I rigged the Tac-11 onto my shin over my drysuit. We jumped from an altitude of 1250 feet agl. The Tac didnt even budge from the sheath. It performed exceptionally well when de-rigging our boat. After we swam over to our zodiac and started cutting away all the webbing some of the guys found that their dive knives were not the best tools for this job. No problem, webbing just flew apart when I touched it with the Tac-11. I had no difficulty with grip instability, even bare handed in 38-degree water.
I left the Tac wet in its salty sheath for about 30 hours after the jump, along with a dive knife. I was very surprised to see the low amounts of surface rust on the knife, even along the sharpened blade edge. I was extremely satisfied with this demonstrated resistance to corrosion. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725338 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725345
Overall, Tom makes a superior product. His line of Tac knives are very versatile, nearly indestructible, well thought out beautifully constructed knives. The black titanium carbonitride coating resisted harsh wear, the humid jungles of Thailand and salt water testing here in Washington State. Again, I say Id use Toms knives on any mission I go on without hesitation. I trust his Tac-11 more than any knife Ive ever used. When it comes to your safety and situational survivability, trust is a nice feeling to have.
Dan Kohlstrom[/B][/QUOTE]
[This message has been edited by Javahed (edited 08-21-2000).]
This was my answer when Tom asked me to take a look at his new Tac-11, black titanium carbonitride coated knife. I had just told Tom my ODA was heading over to Thailand on a 3-month mission. It sounded like the perfect corrosion /wear resistance test for the coating. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26733344
This new version of the Tac-11 has a blade length of 6-1/2". The steel is modified A-8 with a blade finish of titanium carbonitride. It was vacuum heat treated to 58 Rc and deep frozen to -125 degrees Fahrenheit before temper for extreme toughness. The handle is constructed of black canvas micarta. The knife weighs in at 14 oz. The Sheath I received is the Airborne deluxe knife sheath, from Blackhawk industries and is a great improvement over the kydex sheath. (Which is a good sheath, I just happened to break one before and requested something indestructible this time.)
Ive had bad results with blade coatings in the past, with them wearing or flaking off, and have avoided them since, opting for generous amounts of oil and maintenance while out in wet environments. Because of the past experience Ive had with Toms knives, I jumped at the chance to give his work another torture test.
The new Tac-11 arrived in Thailand shortly after we did. I immediately took it out to our training site and put it to work. We were at a demo range at the time teaching Thai soldiers basic demolitions. I gave the knife to a Thai and told him to use it for the day. 10 hours of cutting det-cord and time fuse, http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725360
digging in very hard ground, and any other use the Thais could find for the knife left it in much better condition than I expected. No, it was not popping hairs off my arm, but it was still darn sharp. The coating looked great, I could see where it was sanded from all the digging but it was still there. The coating seems to be a part of the knife; not just something spayed or baked on that would chip or flake off. About ½ of a cm of the tip had broken off from the days use. Prying open a wooden case of demolitions turned out to be the cause. No problems though, I took it to a machine shop in town and ground it down to a drop point. I prefer this anyway since it creates an incredibly strong tip. The rest of the time I was using the knife I never had another difficulty with the tip.
Later in the week the Tac-11 was put to use again by our Thai counterparts. They wanted to cut some bamboo and actually sought the Tac-11 out. It was quickly becoming a favorite item. No problem making single slash cuts through bamboo poles about 2 inches in diameter. It just flew through them. The knife also worked flawlessly for finer woodwork, notching bamboo and such. Harsh work kept seeking the Tac-11 out. We went on a trip up to Sakaow, near the Cambodian border to evaluate de-mining operations. During one of the eval runs I gave a de-miner the chance to use it. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725367
He did and proceeded to try out its effectiveness as a probe. At the time they were probing with screwdrivers. He liked the fact he could probe with it and dig around the mines (training of course). Not something the rest of us do on a regular basis, but it was interesting to watch. Im just glad it wasnt evaluated for explosive survivability, ha ha. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725367
At one point in Thailand I left the knife submerged in a river for 24 hours with no signs of corrosion at all, except, small amounts of surface rust on the bolts that secure the handle. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725364
After all that, Id say that the Tac-11 excelled under the duress of extremely tough use in Thailand
When the team returned to the States, one of the first things we did was conduct a water jump into Puget Sound, pushing out a zodiac with us. A perfect time to test the jump stability of the sheath and salt water resistance of the knifes coating. I rigged the Tac-11 onto my shin over my drysuit. We jumped from an altitude of 1250 feet agl. The Tac didnt even budge from the sheath. It performed exceptionally well when de-rigging our boat. After we swam over to our zodiac and started cutting away all the webbing some of the guys found that their dive knives were not the best tools for this job. No problem, webbing just flew apart when I touched it with the Tac-11. I had no difficulty with grip instability, even bare handed in 38-degree water.
I left the Tac wet in its salty sheath for about 30 hours after the jump, along with a dive knife. I was very surprised to see the low amounts of surface rust on the knife, even along the sharpened blade edge. I was extremely satisfied with this demonstrated resistance to corrosion. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725338 http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1092947&a=8070969&p=26725345
Overall, Tom makes a superior product. His line of Tac knives are very versatile, nearly indestructible, well thought out beautifully constructed knives. The black titanium carbonitride coating resisted harsh wear, the humid jungles of Thailand and salt water testing here in Washington State. Again, I say Id use Toms knives on any mission I go on without hesitation. I trust his Tac-11 more than any knife Ive ever used. When it comes to your safety and situational survivability, trust is a nice feeling to have.
Dan Kohlstrom[/B][/QUOTE]
[This message has been edited by Javahed (edited 08-21-2000).]
