Tac-Force Knives???

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KMcCans1

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so i recently started going to the flea market to look for knives, found a few kershaws for $10 couldnt pass up. and a few gerbers for $15. but ive seen alot of Tac-Force ive never dealt with them, just want some user feedback on them. i do not use most of my knives besides my Kershaw Leek and my Gerber Para Frame most are for looks. but if you have a Tac force or know anyone with a tacforce i would love to know more about them. and how thet hold up.



Thanks :D
 
Well... They look like someone at Mantis knives was working off the clock and came up with some extra ideas , for starters.

Then if you check Amazon they list the 'techincal details' as -

Spring-Assisted opening of blade
Karambit curved blade design
Stainless steel
Aluminum handle
Pocket/Belt Clip

Best to avoid most modern knives that just list 'Stainless Steel' and are
priced under $10. :D my two cents....

Tostig
 
I personally wouldn't trust my well being to a knife that was questionable. I'm not saying to blacklist any knife under $15, but I do think in a lot of cases you get what you pay for.

Save up and get a more favorable model from a reputable maker. $35-$50 seems to get you in the door with quite a few nice reliable models - Kershaw, Spyderco and Buck all come to mind in this category.

Murphys Law - the knife will fail when you need it most.
 
Yeah i usually stay towards Kershaw Gerber and spyderco but i saw the tac for knives and they had pretty cool body styles.
 
KMcCans1 said:
so i recently started going to the flea market to look for knives, found a few kershaws for $10 couldnt pass up. and a few gerbers for $15. but ive seen alot of Tac-Force ive never dealt with them, just want some user feedback on them. i do not use most of my knives besides my Kershaw Leek and my Gerber Para Frame most are for looks. but if you have a Tac force or know anyone with a tacforce i would love to know more about them. and how thet hold up.



Thanks :D
Click to expand...

Ok first off I know this a old thread but I figured I'd still put 2 cents in. I own a Tac force Speedster, red and black spider model. I got it for 10 bucks at a flea market.
Now that being said its everything I want out of a cheap knife. Something that is a basiclly a sacrificial knife for utility taskes like opening a box or just stupid crap. That way I don't bother to dull the blades on my expensive stuff,cause I prefer to keep them razor sharp. So in basiclly I don't care if the Tac Force fails, for the price its disposable.

Also I notice someone mention its only listed as "stainless steel" and well in case your curious its 440 Steel blade.

So anyway take it or leave it. Just my 2 cents, I like to have a knife I don't really care bout ruining as well as my good ones.
 
KBar666 said:
So in basiclly I don't care if the Tac Force fails, for the price its disposable.
Click to expand...

I understand the idea of having a cheap knife for grunt work, but if a knife fails, it could cost you a digit, or a very bad cut.
 
ASBOB said:
I understand the idea of having a cheap knife for grunt work, but if a knife fails, it could cost you a digit, or a very bad cut.
Click to expand...

True, but I don't use that knife in any way I would consider overly dangerous. However I know what you mean.
 
actually i get a lot of tac force, and they are great knives, their speedsters are amazing, i've been beating the hell outta one of mine for a year now and ive hat to tighten it once and sharpen it once, they are actually quite good knives, i havnt even had to maintinece the spring yet it still opens like it did the first day
 
Oh... hmmm... I'm not gonna say anything, but here's a pic + description, enjoy ;)
thumbnail.asp

The Black blade is made of stainless steel. It features a mock double edged blade, The bottom edge side comes factory sharp and partially serrated. The top side is just made to look like it's edged and is designed with mock serration for a unique design. Down the middle is a blood groove with 5 tiny holes for design and it comes complete with the Tac-Force Logo.
 
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Well, I couldn't resist the temptation to see just how bad a $5 knockoff of a $200+ folder really was, sooooo... (I did this with a bicycle years ago and was pleasantly surprised!).
Here's what I bought: Tac-Force TF-768BK (a DPx HEST folder clone)
Specs: OAL=8-1/4 w/o glass breaker, Blade=440 stainless 3-5/8, Closed= 4-9/16, Blade Thickness= 3mm, Handle Thickness (powder coated AL3)= 1/2", Liner Thickness=1/16" each. Been on vacation, so can't test Rc, but I'll ping it when I'm back in the office. Made in...CHINA...
Initial Observations: Out of the box it's SHARP! Hair shaving sharp. Seriously. It lasts okay and is easy to resharpen. Bottle opener works as intended. Glass breaker does the same. Hex bit driver doesn't fit a 1/4 bit (liners don't line up with scales close enough. can solve this easily by running a 1/4 hex broach through it, but I'm not at work. those without a broach are screw-ed #1). Assisted opening is slow but functional. Powdercoated, aluminum scales are slick as doggy poop when wet. Thumb stud hangs up on your pocket at draw. Pocket clip and pocket clip location are garbage (cruddy location, tip-up/right hand only). Every screw on it was loose. Ergonomics are fantastic as is blade profile. Overall workmanship is quite good. All grinds are crisp and even, and everything functions mostly as intended. I've beat this thing like it owes me money, for the past few days (it's a $5 knife after all) and I've come away pleasantly surprised again. I've had to sharpen it (cutting copper wire and cardboard ain't easy) and tighten the pivot. I've removed the blade 'flipper' (just don't like em). I removed the original clip and installed a deep-pocket clip mounted for tip-down/left hand carry. For a 'beat it n forget it' knife, it does just fine. For $5, it's all you would expect and a LOT more. All of it's detractions aside, for $5 you will be VERY hard pressed to buy better. Would I stake my life on it? Sure, if it was all I had at the time. Would it be my first choice? Heck no. But, we all need to keep in mind that not everyone has even a spare $20 to throw down on a knife. It's superb for the money.
 
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KMcCans1 said:
so i recently started going to the flea market to look for knives, found a few kershaws for $10 couldnt pass up. and a few gerbers for $15. but ive seen alot of Tac-Force ive never dealt with them, just want some user feedback on them. i do not use most of my knives besides my Kershaw Leek and my Gerber Para Frame most are for looks. but if you have a Tac force or know anyone with a tacforce i would love to know more about them. and how thet hold up.

Thanks :D
Click to expand...

I strongly suspect that these are counterfeit. Where would flea market people get them for such a great price that they can sell them for $10-15?

Can you post pictures of these Kershaw & Gerber knives you purchased?
 
Oh, they probably are on the Mall Ninja approved list, but everyone can't afford spending much on a knife.
 
KBar666 said:
Ok first off I know this a old thread but I figured I'd still put 2 cents in. I own a Tac force Speedster, red and black spider model. I got it for 10 bucks at a flea market.
Now that being said its everything I want out of a cheap knife. Something that is a basiclly a sacrificial knife for utility taskes like opening a box or just stupid crap. That way I don't bother to dull the blades on my expensive stuff,cause I prefer to keep them razor sharp. So in basiclly I don't care if the Tac Force fails, for the price its disposable.

Also I notice someone mention its only listed as "stainless steel" and well in case your curious its 440 Steel blade.

So anyway take it or leave it. Just my 2 cents, I like to have a knife I don't really care bout ruining as well as my good ones.
Click to expand...

For something like that, I'd rather just get a Gerber EAB. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that Sanrenmus generally go for $10, and are a lot better than these Tac-Force knives. Also, the designs are pretty overdone on these things. Makes one suspect that Tac is just shorthand for tacky.
 
I ordered a $30 Boker Magnum EMS rescue knife and a $7 TAC-Force EMS rescue knife. They look identical, and both are made in China or Taiwan. When I get both in the mail, I'm going to do a comparison. My suspicion is the company manufacturing the Asian Bokers has a limited license or is making their own knives with Boker's design & materials. Here are pictures from Wild Bill Wholesale.com:

Boker:
yhst-16507483819514_2243_17341612





TAC-Farce:
yhst-16507483819514_2242_119709083
 
thundermug said:
I ordered a $30 Boker Magnum EMS rescue knife and a $7 TAC-Force EMS rescue knife. They look identical, and both are made in China or Taiwan. When I get both in the mail, I'm going to do a comparison. My suspicion is the company manufacturing the Asian Bokers has a limited license or is making their own knives with Boker's design & materials. Here are pictures from Wild Bill Wholesale.com:

Boker:
yhst-16507483819514_2243_17341612





TAC-Farce:
yhst-16507483819514_2242_119709083
Click to expand...

My guess is that it's the same situation with Sanrenmu. They're getting knives that they're making for another company and selling them under their own brand.
 
I owned a few before I got into REAL knives.
I'll admit, they weren't TOO bad for $5, but they didn't hold a good edge really, they loosened pretty easily, and their designs were tacky as hell.
Did I like them? Yeah, at the time I did. I didn't like a lot of their designs so I only went with a few. One kid I knew had one fall into pieces just by flipping it open several times. I was too anal to let them get to that point.
In other words, they're not good knives but for $5 and a cool factor, you can't really expect a lot. If at that point I had known about Enlan or Sanrenmu I would have went with them hands down.

If you can't spend more than $5 on a knife, get a decent folding box cutter. Or a Sheffield(these weren't that bad, and the one I had was $4).

With the money you would spend getting this knife and then replacing it not long after, you could get a cheap Kershaw or Spyderco. Or even a CRKT. And I would suggest going with those.
 
XiaolongJackson said:
My guess is that it's the same situation with Sanrenmu. They're getting knives that they're making for another company and selling them under their own brand.
Click to expand...

It's the other way around. Boker is re-branding their knives. Sanrenmu hasn't re-branded any that i'm aware of, but they do make the Tenacious line for Spyderco.
 
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