Tactical knife design

[tattooedfreak]

I read this earlier but I was at work so I couldnt post a pic. I like the shape of the handle but I do agree with some of the other comments. As for the word tactical... I won't get into that. I made a couple of changes to your design. Just a quick edit but Im sure you get the idea.

 

[David Sharp]

I'm a fan of different; I am not worried about the meaning of tactical. My only recommendation would be shrinking the blade or increasing the handle size (balance the proportions).

Then make what you like.

 

[clw3]

I draw my blades with Illustrator to get a first draft just like you. One thing I find helpful is to make a mockup to see how it feels in hand and if the blade angle is comfortable/usefull. Some folks use 1/4" plywood. I use foamcore and just spray mount a print and cut with an x-acto knife. When you have it in hand, it will be pretty obvious if the ergonomics are wrong.

Practice using the knife. The handles on a good working knife need to have both pulling and pushing resistance. Pretend you are pushing it into something firm to see if your guard is substantial enough to keep your fingers off the blade. Also do some pull tests to see if you have enough resistance to keep the knife from slipping out. Also try it bare handed and with gloves to see the difference in feel.

You can do multiple tweaks until you get just what you like and then you have a good pattern to stick on your steel. Final ergonomics can be tweaked when you get handles on.

Works for me!!

 

[bhyde]

I will give my input..I actually like the design, but think it would be better served in the kitchen as a nice slicing knife ( not at .2 thick though ).

Just my .02

Bill

 

[Emphasiski]

BTW: If I thought that I'm so likely to stab people that it's worth buying a knife for, I'd buy this

period.

The problem with that knife is that the wound can close easily, and be stitched shut even easier. If not a fatal stab, and the knife is left in, the skin can form a solid barrier around the blade and there won't even be any bleeding out.

 

[Rick Marchand]

BTW: If I thought that I'm so likely to stab people that it's worth buying a knife for, I'd buy this

period.

I see your FS Commando and raise you one Besh XSF-1......

As for the wounds sealing themselves around the blade or not being fatal upon withdrawl........ There is a whole lotta info on knife trauma to say different. Plus, once you sink that puppy in, the idea is to start stirring it up! You are not supposed to fight like a sewing machine. Do as much internal dammage as you can.... scramble those eggs!!! (Bowie was known for that) Having said that, I would consider the FS Commando and it's peers as fighting knives not tactical. As I see it tactical should have more crossover for hard use utility in the field. Stabbing through steel barrels, opening ammo boxes, prying, digging and resistance to other heavy abuse is what a tactical should be capable of. I agree with the importance of a guard for a tactical knife.

Rick

 

[Alarion]

I will give my input..I actually like the design, but think it would be better served in the kitchen as a nice slicing knife ( not at .2 thick though ).

Just my .02

Bill

Yes. In the kitchen is one of the few instances in which an upward bent blade (or, more exactly, grip) can help. The blade of the first picture is a santoku-like pattern, after all.

 

[Alarion]

The problem with that knife is that the wound can close easily, and be stitched shut even easier. If not a fatal stab, and the knife is left in, the skin can form a solid barrier around the blade and there won't even be any bleeding out.

This design (as a dagger or spearhead) has killed more people in mankind history than probably all the other weapons put together.

 

[Alarion]

I see your FS Commando and raise you one Besh XSF-1......

As for the wounds sealing themselves around the blade or not being fatal upon withdrawl........ There is a whole lotta info on knife trauma to say different. Plus, once you sink that puppy in, the idea is to start stirring it up! You are not supposed to fight like a sewing machine. Do as much internal dammage as you can.... scramble those eggs!!! (Bowie was known for that) Having said that, I would consider the FS Commando and it's peers as fighting knives not tactical. As I see it tactical should have more crossover for hard use utility in the field. Stabbing through steel barrels, opening ammo boxes, prying, digging and resistance to other heavy abuse is what a tactical should be capable of. I agree with the importance of a guard for a tactical knife.

Rick

More inclined towards this

 

[Rick Marchand]

Nice!!!!

Brent Beshara is a friend.... and I just love the Besh Wedge design for a penetration dagger. Any fighter in that style is a winner in my book.

Sorry for thread drift.


The OP's design looks like a pretty good slasher with that upswept edge... but as some have already said, it is not aligned right for thrusting and lacks a guard for grip security.

Just my two cents.

Rick

 

[Justin King]

I'm sure knives are very effective weapons in the war in Hollywood. In actual combat zones, I believe our modern warfighters generally prefer to engage from further away, with a rifle or mortar, if not an artillery or air strike. In this context a knife is a tool, which may in extreme circumstances be called upon to serve as a weapon. Notice that most knives developed, tested and issued for/by militaries around the world tend to reflect this in the design.

Naturally there are some exceptions to this. My guess is that maybe as many as 1 or 2 out of every 10,000 knives that are carried into combat actually get used as weapons. If anyone has statistics on this, please feel free to enlighten me, I could be wrong. But I am confident that the numbers do not justify a knife which is designed specifically as an instrument of death. The melodrama just dosen't apply. At any rate, statistics here in the USA should indicate that just about any old kitchen knife will make an adequate weapon if called upon.

My personal feeling is that the design will often indicate if a particular knife is designed to be used in combat, or in Hollywood Let's keep e'm where they belong...

 

[Rick Marchand]

Justin King, you are correct in stating that combat knives are more for utility these days. A quick search on combat knives will verify that. Which is why I tried to stress the difference between Tactical and Fighting knives. Pure Fighters are specialty weapons, of course... nobody is really saying any different.

The Fairbairn Sykes Commando was anything but hype and Hollywood flash. Same goes for the Mark I/II, Applegate Fairbairn and the like. They hold a very real place in history but fell out of favour after trench warfare was done. They remain superb weapons for close quarter combat. Which is very uncommon in modern warfare.

 

[blgoode]

Bigger Handle

Shorter Blade

Non Nesmuk blade

No Pointy handle parts

Just off top of my head things id change.

 

[Justin King]

Justin King, you are correct in stating that combat knives are more for utility these days. A quick search on combat knives will verify that. Which is why I tried to stress the difference between Tactical and Fighting knives. Pure Fighters are specialty weapons, of course... nobody is really saying any different.

The Fairbairn Sykes Commando was anything but hype and Hollywood flash. Same goes for the Mark I/II, Applegate Fairbairn and the like. They hold a very real place in history but fell out of favour after trench warfare was done. They remain superb weapons for close quarter combat. Which is very uncommon in modern warfare.

All true enough. The FS dagger is undoubtedly a fine weapon if you only need it for the one purpose, but who carries a knife only for that one purpose any more? And, to be sure, there is nothing particularly outstading about the FS or any of the other knives pictured or mentioned when you place them in the context of edged weapons which are purpose-built for fighting. There are literally hundreds of examples of similar designs dating from the Medieval and Rennaisance periods. It could be argued that such designs are actually degenerating in the modern age due to a widening gap between the intent of their design and the end use.

 

[Alarion]

Any good utility knife will do the job for military use.
If it's stainless, sturdy, with synthetic grip and scabbard, which goes with the MOLLE system, all the better.
Personally, I did every sort of chores with this knife (not this one but this model)

It got abused in every possible way, used to cut steel wire, fell a small tree, was accidentally dropped on metal floors of APCs and concrete, and served me for many years after that. It still looks as new.
I paid it 90,000 italian lire (about 45€ current price).
This is another very good knife for military use (current issue of italian army)

http://www.extremaratioknivesdivision.eu/inglese/military/fulcrum.htm

I did everything you can imagine to it in the way of carelss use during a year-long test for an italian knife magazine.
I did all things that a person knowing nothing about knives and given a knife he didn't pay as a tool would do.
Wetted it, rubbed it with salt, put it away in its sheat and left it there for a month, wetting it again every now and then.
I used it to pry nails out of contruction wood, to chop wood, to opend metal cans of gear oil, played by throwing it in the ground, used it to break down coal, to smash 5 inches thick ice in a barrel in my garden in winter, to butcher a roe deer tigh for making stew, and much more that I don't remember. All the maintenance it got was a wipe on the grass or an old rag if the blade was very dirty when finished (ok, washed it thoroughly before using it for making stew... ).
As of today, I still use it pretty carelessly, and the blade is just a little patinated and scratched.
I doubt it is possible to break or ruin it unless you activley put a real, determined effort in breaking it.