Tactical Knives, the magazine

Status
Not open for further replies.
Blame it on BladeForums ;)

That's just the way it goes today. Even the much bigger boys like Outdoor Life and Field and Stream "publish" basically all their content (and often much more) online, either cheaper and/or with banner ads to generate revenue... never mind the much bigger cats like the New York Times, WSJ, etc. I don't think print media will ever go away completely, any more than paper money will. But it's no longer the only game in town... nor likely to be the biggest ever again.

The internet is simply a far more efficient way to do business. Why cut down a few tons of pulp trees and pay the papermill, the printer, the shipping firm, etc? Not enough people are willing to pay $7 + tax for what's essentially a catalog with a couple articles, when all the same information is available on the internet service they're already paying for (or stealing from their neighbor, or getting free at the coffee shop or whatever).

As for the glowing reviews followed immediately by splashy ads in virtually every magazine published in my lifetime, and hardly any mention of any products not advertising in the same mag...... yeah, I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
 
I've never seen a copy of the magazine, more's the pity. I currently subscribe to Blade and Knives Illustrated.

I guess, in this day and age, this is a common story. People today tend to read in snippets. Less people read books, magazines, and other long forms of text. And with digital content so available - and usually free - long form does not appeal as it once did.

Clanton said:
Unfortunately I think all magazines will be going away.
Click to expand...

"All" may not come to pass, but certainly Clanton certainly makes a valid point in general. The fate of TK is likely to be the fate of most periodicals, IMHO.
 
I just picked one up at B&N for the first time. Seems good but has a lack of color pictures. One caption sort of apologized for this. When describing the Freeman Model 451, the caption on a picture of several knives said "While this photo doesn't show it, the 451s come in a wide variety of color coatings". Of course the photo doesn't show it, it is black and white! Why on earth would you caption a B&W photo that way. Talk about something else, anything else besides the color in a B&W photo. I did enjoy reading the article though...
 
Despite the usual jingoistic and hyperpatriotic tone of the magazine and the inclusion of the intellectually challenged opinions of the truly ridiculous 'Gunny', it was by far my favourite knife magazine. I have every issue ever published.
As someone suggested above; forums like this one probably did contribute to it's demise. I think it's truly regrettable because in my view on-line forums can never take the place of a hard-copy magazine with professional photographs that you can read at your leisure.
To it's credit the magazine often featured affordable knives and didn't go in for the steel snobbery which seems to be so prevalent on this forum.
 
This is a shame, I'm guilty of not directly supporting them, although I have every copy from the first till about 6 years ago. At that point I had stopped subscribing to all magazines, (I subscribed to all the knife mags at one time but the internet and BFC changed all that).

Of all the magazine's TK was by far my favorite, I liked the writing, the knives and the pics, not the price, I really never thought they were an advertising platform forcing people to advertise in order to get in the magazine.

Even though I haven't subscribed to any of the big three in the last 6 years I did continue to buy them locally a couple times a year at a local magazine store where I live, (they used to keep all the knife magazines behind the counter with the adult magazines, I never got that).

So does this mean the hundreds of knife magazines and catalogs I've got in boxes in the basement will some day be worth money, my wife's always telling me if I've read the magazine and the catalogs are over 6 months old get rid of them. I'm always telling her they're my research tools. I can't recall how many knife catalogs I've pulled from the recycle bin, luckily she got it when she tried to get rid of one of your catalogs AG and after a major marital fight she promised to leave my old and new catalogs and magazines alone.
 
mistwalker said:
Some us us still enjoy reading in peace out away from things and not soaking up emp in the process. There just may come a day when people actually regret all of the magazines and brick and mortar stores being gone.
Click to expand...

+1.

I feel this way about books. I prefer holding and reading an actual, physical book rather than an e book. I also feel more eyestrain when reading for long periods online than on paper.

I've been reading TK magazine since the late '90s. Never subscribed to it, just bought it off the rack, mostly at Barnes & Noble. I'd also found it once at a Fry's Electronics, and a newsstand a few times. To be honest, though they still had some good articles, I was beginning to lose interest in it. Although I favor hard copy books, I read very few magazines anymore, and TK was the only one I was still buying. Sorry to see it go, but it was inevitable in this day and age. Print magazines are becoming extinct. I only hope that printed books don't face the same fate.

Jim
 
Larry Turko said:
Despite the usual jingoistic and hyperpatriotic tone of the magazine and the inclusion of the intellectually challenged opinions of the truly ridiculous 'Gunny', it was by far my favourite knife magazine. I have every issue ever published.
As someone suggested above; forums like this one probably did contribute to it's demise. I think it's truly regrettable because in my view on-line forums can never take the place of a hard-copy magazine with professional photographs that you can read at your leisure.
To it's credit the magazine often featured affordable knives and didn't go in for the steel snobbery which seems to be so prevalent on this forum.
Click to expand...

Absolutely yes to this. In the issue a few months ago, he was asked by the reviewer which he thought were some of the best knives. He then starts talking about Japanese "folded steels" being the best for his money, along with "German steel". It's clear that he doesn't know much about knives, so I don't know why they give him space every month. He tends to say the same several things over and over. Of course, I don't fault him TOO badly, since I understand that it's an act that's kept food on his table for decades.
 
Here's one issue I had to buy...

2ljgeow.jpg
 
Quiet said:
Absolutely yes to this. In the issue a few months ago, he was asked by the reviewer which he thought were some of the best knives. He then starts talking about Japanese "folded steels" being the best for his money, along with "German steel". It's clear that he doesn't know much about knives, so I don't know why they give him space every month. He tends to say the same several things over and over. Of course, I don't fault him TOO badly, since I understand that it's an act that's kept food on his table for decades.
Click to expand...

I was wondering how many times they were going to ask him about his way of knife sharpening too!

I also recall seeing an editorial about them having reached their 100th issue within the past couple of years.

Then there was the one that went off about bad Youtube reviews.
 
James Y said:
+1.

I feel this way about books. I prefer holding and reading an actual, physical book rather than an e book. I also feel more eyestrain when reading for long periods online than on paper.

I've been reading TK magazine since the late '90s. Never subscribed to it, just bought it off the rack, mostly at Barnes & Noble. I'd also found it once at a Fry's Electronics, and a newsstand a few times. To be honest, though they still had some good articles, I was beginning to lose interest in it. Although I favor hard copy books, I read very few magazines anymore, and TK was the only one I was still buying. Sorry to see it go, but it was inevitable in this day and age. Print magazines are becoming extinct. I only hope that printed books don't face the same fate.

Jim
Click to expand...

May one day apply to the internet...;)
[video=youtube_share;HFvT_qEZJf8]http://youtu.be/HFvT_qEZJf8[/video]
 
Wow, I would not have guessed that.
TK had real nice articles I enjoyed reading.
I hope to see something by Steven Dick in another publication.
Sorry to hear - thanks for the info.
red mag
 
Good clip Mistwalker I had never seen that before.

As to the magazine in question. I have read it a bunch and bought it when I see it occasionally. I think some of its criticisms to be legit or at least they appear to be, but that can be said of almost all magazines. The reason I don't buy many any more is price. I used to buy every magazine that looked interesting, from motorcycles, to handguns, to knives. It got too expensive and my wife let me know about it for sure. Now I get my fix on the internet (she lets me know when I have been on too long also).

I hate to see any magazine go under, any business too for that matter, but at heart I am a capitalist and I do believe that the consumer has spoken. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for printed media, its what I grew up with, and besides, its much easier to read on the toilet!
 
SaintlyBrees said:
I've never seen a copy of the magazine, more's the pity. I currently subscribe to Blade and Knives Illustrated.

I guess, in this day and age, this is a common story. People today tend to read in snippets. Less people read books, magazines, and other long forms of text. And with digital content so available - and usually free - long form does not appeal as it once did.
Click to expand...

This is true for somethings but not in this case I don't think. That magazine and all of the others like it only exist to hype knives from companies that buy ads. Good riddance to it IMO.
 
Shotgun said:
This is true for somethings but not in this case I don't think. That magazine and all of the others like it only exist to hype knives from companies that buy ads. Good riddance to it IMO.
Click to expand...

In the sense that you are meaning it, or at least the way I am taking it, this could be said across the board with; gun mags and gun & accessory manufacturers, hunting mags and hunting equipment, fishing mags and boats & fishing equipment, car mags and car parts, craft mags and craft supplies, cooking magazines and cookware & food prep equipment, Bodybuilding mags and fitness products, all of television and any damn thing you can think of. As just a registered user you may notice by the adds that not even this forum is supported solely by those of us who actually pay to support it...or maybe you use ad blocker and don't notice that. Without advertisers there would be no television, magazines, or newspapers because prices would be at least quadruple where they are now, and people already complain.
 
Larry Turko said:
Despite the usual jingoistic and hyperpatriotic tone of the magazine and the inclusion of the intellectually challenged opinions of the truly ridiculous 'Gunny',
Click to expand...

Curious, is this the same Gunny that has one of the SOG knives named for him? That's the only place I've ever seen the same name in the knife world.... I'd be interested chatting with you a bit about some of these intellectually challenged opinions with you.
 
Shotgun said:
This is true for somethings but not in this case I don't think. That magazine and all of the others like it only exist to hype knives from companies that buy ads. Good riddance to it IMO.
Click to expand...

Same could be said for related online websites that have advertisements on the sidebars...

Yes, curse these pesky magazines, their advertisers, and their devious ways trying to trick you into buying a product.
 
Shotgun said:
This is true for somethings but not in this case I don't think. That magazine and all of the others like it only exist to hype knives from companies that buy ads. Good riddance to it IMO.
Click to expand...

Information is information, it has value despite the bias. You would just have to learn to read between the lines.

n2s
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top