Tactical knife? Why, no, it's a Sport Utility!

elkins45

elkins45

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Jun 17, 2006
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There's a thread going on about what exactly is a tactical knife. As part of the discussion I suggested substituting the term Sport Utility Knife because I think 'tactical knife' could be misused by the media and commie politicians in the same way they have used 'assault weapon'.

So I'm on a mission to make the term Sport Utility Knife part of the vocabulary of knife sellers and buyers. In a PC world we might as well use the language to our advantage---because he who controls the language controls the debate.

It's not a tactical folder, it's a Sport Utility Knife!
 
good thinking, now i am hooked! It seems more practical to use this term also, making these knives more accepted.:thumbup:
 
LOL at SteveKT. To be truthful, I just call my knife, "a knife".
 
I disagree.

It's stupid when an AR or AK is called a "Sport Utility Rifle," and applying that euphemism to a blade SUKs.

This is a self-created problem. If we didn't call some knives "tacticals" no one would.

Most reporters are stuck on stupid. As an industry we don't need to be helping them.

Besides, England has already shown us the folly of renaming locking knives. All such blades, whether Buck 110 knock-offs or a custom framelock made of unobtainium, are all banned from carry as "offencive weapons."

Just a thought. Maybe we should go back to calling locking folders something radical, like "locking folders" or "one hand openers?"

For fixed bladed "tacticals," maybe the term "field knife," "service knife," or "duty knife" is more descriptive in the first place?

It's not like "sport utility" is protecting 4X4s from the watermelons who want to ban them from both on and off road driving.
 
I've got kitchen knives, field knives, outdoor entertainment knives, pocketknives/jackknives, shop knives, and collectible knives. No tacticals. Not even my P'kal. The outdoors entertainment knife made out of S7 could be considered a "basalt knife."
 
To me, a fixed blade knife is simply a "belt knife," or in the case of neck and boot knives, it is a "fixed blade knife," and a folding knife, even a large locking one, is a "pocket knife." Keeps things simple.
 
I've got my stabbin' knife and my killin' knife, so I couldn't afford a tactical knife:(.
 
I totally disagree with renaming "tactcal knives" to "sports utility knives".
See what happened in England, there you cannot sell a "fighter", you have to call it "utility bowie" instead. Stupid.
If we start giving in to that, we can just as well start calling kitchen knives "food processing utensils".
I hate this "political correct" @#$%% (strong language edited out)



Actually for me there's only fixed blades and folders. Terms like tactical I don't use anyway.
 
I have sheath knives, pocketknives, and slipjoints.

Since the line between tacticals and non-tacticals is so blurry anyways, why do you figure different names are in order?
 
elkins45,

I can see where you are coming from and it does make sense to try to control the debate and keep it reasonable. The truth does seem to get lost in the anti-knife hysteria.

James Mattis was popularizing the concept of a 'sport-utility knife' some years back (1998 or so ?) and it sounds like you are hitting the same point. He was very involved with the knife rights debate and the cutlery industry (named the Benchmade Nimravus, etc.). I don't know how far he was able to popularize the 'sport-utility knife' name before he passed away. It would be a good starting point though...

Mark
 
"elkins45"
'fraid a "rebranding" at this late a stage is goin' to be a lost cause.
Nice try though!
If you note the tag line on "Tactical Knives" magazine; it has wisely suggest survival.
And if you read the contents; it is no longer writes exclusively about knives for special-action carry.
It's more on knives for wilderness survival...and yes! SD too!
Sporting Knives (now defunct) was a Krausse Publication annual, written by Joe Kertzman.
It contained tactical knives; but generally covering all manner of knives for the outdoorsmen.
The term tactical folder has become a misnomer given to a whole lot of knives which ordinarily could have been correctly identified by its blade shape for one.
Perhaps the confusion is in trying to define its primary function.
 
I think that any attempt to make any tool/weapon politically acceptable is vanity, but I appreciate the effort. Just the words "gun" or "knife" as in "He has a knife", are enough to send meddling statist regulators into a panic. Might as well just light up a cigarette, pop open a beer, and drive down to a local school yard in your Suburban Assault Vehicle without fastening your seatbelt as let anyone know you carry a knife.
 
This is too funny, the media will go after our guns and knives no matter what we call them. They seem to want to champion taking away the rights to defend ones self.
 
"the media will go after our guns and knives no matter what we call them"--muddog49. No doubt about that, but the question is, will they succeed. Language is all important in the formation of public opinion. My favorite two examples of this are 'assault weapon' and 'partial birth abortion.' These phrases were both crafted by people who wanted legislation to ban them. 'Assault weapon' was never used by gun makers, and 'partial birth abortion' was never used by abortion doctors.

To this day, even though most people could not offer a working definition of either, wide marjorities of U.S. voters favor a bans on both. The linguistic ploys really work. Another example is the phrase 'road rage' that came into use about 10 years ago. There has always been discourteous driving, but after 'road rage' was coined, reporters had a field day with it. In my state (WA) the State Patrol now has a special road rage task force that drives around in unmarked cars.

If we keep using 'tactical knife' we are just digging our own grave.
 
Several people posted to say that they do not see a need for 'SUK' because they already don't refer to knives as 'tactical.' You are missing the point. It is not about people like you. It's about the many who do use the term, especially people in the knife industry.

For those who say it's caving in to political correctness, it is exactly the opposite. It is a tactical move in the war against political correctness.

And finally for those who say it's just too late for a rebranding, you are really the ones who are caving. Writer/radio host/gun-rights advocate Tom Gresham talks about how he has adopted a 'no shrug' policy for 2008. So often we see rights being trampled, idiocy running amok, etc., and we just shrug our shoulders and say "that's just the way it is." Tom G. says we need to stop that.

Elkins45 has come up with an excellent suggestion with his 'sport utility knife' catchphrase. It's already familiar. (and BTW those who point out that enviros have tried to attack SUV''s--that true, but they have had little to no success). It's pretty descriptive, since so-called tactical knives are often used outdoors, and they have general utility. And finally, there is the abbreviation of SUK, which is kind of funny. I don't see the media launching a campaign to ban the SUK, just on the grounds that too many people would be laughing at them.
 
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