java said:
Cold Steel? Tanto? How about their tanto Spike neck knife??
Now THAT was a user... (So much so I even paid $15.00 for the "normal" Spike)
What was I thinkin'????
The CS Spike has only one use . . . to be grasped in the "icepick" grip and used to poke holes in an assailant. It's sturdy enough that it won't break if it connects with bone, and if you're strong enough it can -- and will -- penetrate bone (but then it will likely be stuck). It is a passable defensive "hideaway" shank, but is utterly useless as a utility knife . . . the CS "Mini Culloden" is far better in both capacities.
MY vote for the "most useless knife" has gotta be the
strictly prohibited "Pilum Ballistic Knife".
Back in the mid-80's, I acquired a used one. This was the version with the lever-style catch. The "sheath" was an aluminum baton, and it had no safety device whatsoever. The idiot who owned it previously had spraypainted the blade black (now peeling off) and somehow damaged the coil spring. Don't know what steel was used to make the blade (tool steel?), but it absolutely would NOT take an edge.
In order to "load" the knife, the blade is slipped into it's protective baton sheath and the coil spring sticking about a foot and a half out of the handle is slipped into the hollow stabilizer tube. Next, the baton is pressed into the ground, the lever is depressed, and you lean your entire body weight onto the device to collapse it before releasing the lever to lock it in place. If the lever is pressed, bumped, dropped, or leaned against, the baton-encased blade will suddenly -- and explosively -- be released. Did I mention that there was no safety on this thing? Not sure how, exactly, the Spetsnaz and KGB carried these things. . .
Anyhow, the first few times I tried it, I thought it was pretty cool -- the blade would shoot almost 30 feet and stick. From 10 feet away, it would blast right through both sides of a hollow-core wooden closet door! Far more power than I could generate from a thrown blade. Then, after about the 3rd or 4th shot, SPROIIIING!!! I look down and the blade is danglin' from the end of the spring like a wet noodle! Tried fixing it by reversing the spring and cutting down the stabilizer tube, but nothing seemed to work. It would fire properly a coupla times, then it would do the same thing again. Whadda piece of crap!
Eventually, an acquaintance of mine shot the blade deep into the brush where it could not be found. I could've ordered a replacement blade & tube for about double what I paid for the device, but had no source for springs, so I elected to sh*tcan it.
This was the most worthless, infuriating, and dangerous (to the user) knife I have ever seen. :thumbdn: :thumbdn: :thumbdn:
I have since seen an "improved" version which utilizes a dual peg hilt which must be manipulated to slide out of a groove in the aluminum handle -- far more safe and durable than the old lever-latch, but it's still illegal to possess one, even if you never take it out of its showcase (unless you remove the spring, perhaps).
