What makes a knife a "Tactical"

Ken,

Tactical? Who in the world first used that term? Was it a custom maker, a manufacturer's marketing director or what?

How about Utility/Fighter, which I believe was the old term for a fighting knife that could also be used for general purpose duties. (I guess the new term could be Utiltiy/Defense, to keep a PC tone.) Of course the more utility functional versions of these knives became "Survival" knives while the more fighter functional pieces became "Tactical" knives. If you applied this to folders you could have a Utility/Fighter Folder, UFF! Not very sexy, but very descriptive.

With respect to the question of the newer generation of UDs this is the same as the evolution of the broad sword to the rapier. Changes in technology and tactics lead to canges in design, kinda like now. Maybe what we need is to call these knives that are intended for light utility and defensive uses urban or city utility fighters.

Oh well, "a rose by any other name...".

Take care,

Mike

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TANSTAAFL




[This message has been edited by hso (edited 19 October 1999).]
 
Appears to me that the term "tactical" means different things to different people. My "tactical" would be hoisting my blade out of the belt line with one hand, flicking open the blade, and attacking a well sealed box. My brother on the other hand, considers tactital to be whipping out his blade and assuming a defensive position in front of a long dressing mirror. (he thinks he's ready for anything). that's why we don't allow him anything sharper than a lawnmower blade. He does look a little funny trying to get that camo colored blade out of his shorts to open an enevelope.
 
A tactical knife to me is any knife with a clip, a lock, and a one hand opening mechanism. Uncle Bill has a point when he says that people people buy things to fit an image they would like for themselves. As an African American, I find ironic that so many people would want to be perceived as emulating young black men by wearing "urban clothes." As a former young black man and as a person who teaches young people everyday, I can honestly say every African American in baggy jeans and a backwards cap is no more a gang banger than every good ol' boy in jeans and pickup is a klansman/nazi/militia member.
It is too bad people are so quick to accept shallow stereotypes of each other instead of actually taking time to meet and learn about some one who different.
 
...and why certain folders are shown in catalogues clipped to the belt of someone rappelling off a 20,000 foot cliff in the Nepal.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's tactical...

I have seen practical, impractical, beautiful, cheap, junky, expensive, useless, fighting... but I don't think I've ever seen a tactical knife.

Remember the Advanced Folding Combat Knife? The Close Quarters Combat#6? Tactical has just replaced Combat as the accepted term to market those types of knives to both those who really need them and those who just want them.
Click to expand...

And then Camp replaced Combat. Anyone for a Close Quarters Camp #6?

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Sometimes you're the windshield; sometimes you're the bug.
Outlaw_Dogboy




[This message has been edited by Outlaw_Dogboy (edited 19 October 1999).]
 
To further clarify an earlier post, I think that tactical is really a synonym for a one hand opener. I realize that would includes everything from a Spyderco Cricket to an Emerson Commander, but haw can anybody really say one something stops being utilitarian and becomes a self defense survival tool? Afterall, a survival knife is the one you have when you need to survive!
 
I have never been able to grasp the meaning of the word tactical as applied to knives. In the dictionary, tactical is used to refer to short-range military action. There was the "tactical assualt rifle"(is there a non-tactical military rifle?), and then there was the "tactical" knife. A dilitant might reasonably assume that a tactical knife is a military knife, whatever that might be, perhaps one that is useful as a cutting tool and as a last ditch weapon.

I think it is a useful enough term for knife afficianados. A lot of people think of it the way I do when it is applied to a knife. I think a tactical knife, folder or fixed, is one that can be deployed quickly with one hand, preferably either hand depending on carry location, is exceptionally strong, has a grip that maximizes retention under all conditions, and has a versatile design that allows it to excell at a wide variety of tasks(utility and defense for example) rather than being specialized for a certain chore as a skinner is for example.

A subdued visual impact is unnecessary as far as I am concerned, though rust inhibiting coatings are a plus on medium and low alloy steels. What materials are used to acheive the above criteria don't really matter. Whatever works. This leaves a lot of latitude for what could be considered a tactical knife, and that is as it should be.

It is popular here to bash the term "tactical knife", but it is useful to me to the extent that the maker's idea of what it means agrees with mine. To me it has only been made slightly less useful by some makers and manufacturers who have just taken their most appropriate model and painted it black or bead blasted it and called it tactical. That is OK with me too, really. Some tactical knives are just bad tactical knives is all, like any other kind of knife, or anything else for that matter. We know what they are, and we can help any who come to us for advice.
 
Hey, so Ken Onion and Bob Taylor are like - buddies. Think about that concept for a minute. A SpeedSafe Sifu anyone?

Yea, funky.
 
Oh, why a maker would want to distance himself from a term?

That's easy, it works like pop music.

In the early nineties there was this guy who called himself Vanilla Ice. He wore cheesey clothing and sung cheesey songs. All the teenage girls loved him. The had Vanilla Ice the luch box, Vanilla Ice the back pack, Vanilla Ice the book, in fact, just about anything you could ever want was available in a Vanilla Ice format.

Then one day, due to market saturation, the bottom fell out on Vanilla Ice. Everyone ridiculed him and no one bought his records or mechandise, and everyone refused to take him seriously as an artist.

This upset him a bit, but he'd allready made a fortune from all those people who now mocked and despised him, so he laughed all the way to the bank.

Nowadays we have much the same thing, it's a pop knife. There's no substance to it, no real artistry behind, just a flash of glitz and glamour, marketing hype and the word "tactical".

People have had "tactical" crammed down their throats for years now, it's only natural that they'll gag.

Not too far in the future, everyone will mock tactical knives, and thier makers will not be taken seriously as artists.

The wise bladesmith will milk this for all it's worth, and then when he's made enough money, he will turn his back on the entire proposition, think up a new buzzword and marketing strategey, and "lead the people out of the dark and into the light"; much as the tactical fad itself has tried to do.

This is a never ending cycle. I don't know why people never learn.
 
There are a number of knives that "Tactical" is an accurate and legitimate word to describe them. The other 90% merely use "Tactical" as marketing fluff.

If the shoe doesn't fit, why bother wearing it.
 
October 22nd, 1999

That question keeps coming up -- this time I'm saving the definitions to a file so I can just paste them in from now on and save myself some typing. There are two definitions, Army and Air Force:

Army: A strategic knife is used to cut enemy supply lines. A tactical knife is used against enemy front lines.

Air Force: A strategic knife is used to kill and wound civilians. A tactical knife is used either to cut enemy supply lines or against enemy front lines.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
there is a lot of hype over the "tactical"issue and a lot of makers are taking advantage of it.
but in my eyes "TACTICAL" stands for a knife that i can trust my life with{folder or fixed}that can be used effectivly as a utility blade and as a fighter.being 20-30 days a year in rough places i'd rather have a 'TACTICAL" knife with me and that stands for a very storng lock,very sharp steel-that stays that way,good argonomics,and fast to deploy.if it is all that,so it is a "tactical" don't want to call that way ,than call it what ever you like,provided it does the job.
scorpio.
 
TACTICAL SMACTICAL... Its all in the hype. How About a good using knife with style? I think the tactical hype comes from the gun market. Its a crossover term.

I agree with Jerry here. Im sick of black, grey and silver.

The market is finaly moving in the direction of high tech knives that are clean, have style, look good to the eye, and are tough as nails. The days of spongy, half baked, knives are limited. Knives with style that are user friendly, on the cutting edge as far as style, features and materials are the knives of the future. The phrase "Style-tech" comes to mind.

There is a good market out there for a basic using knife that will never die. The die hard folks that made this market will always sell there wares because of there reputation.
The changing of the guard to the next evolution is here. It is nice to be able to have a using knife that has style, excellent design features with fantastic options and will cut when needed. :]
Soapbox off

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Web Site At www.infinet.com/~browzer/bldesmth.html
Take a look!!!




 
For me 'hi-tech folder' adequately describes a lot of of what people are calling 'tactical', contrasted with 'traditional folder' for slipjoints or 'hunting folder' for the larger lockbacks and such that aren't one-hand openers, etc. One common attribute that people associate 'tactical' with is self-defense, fighting, etc., in which case I'd rather see people use the term 'combat folder' or something similar, if it's really designed as such.
 
Cougar hit on my thoughts...

What would the opposite of tactical be? Used to be we had SAC - Strategic Air Command - and TAC - Tactical Air Command.

SAC was bombers and support tracking on predetermined flight patterns, designed to deal with a specific threat or plan of action. TAC was quick response to an immediate threat, scrambling fighters, etc..

So a machete, cleaver, paring knife, Bowie... any "speciality" knife would not typically be considered "tactical". But that serrated folder, blade of a dozen uses, aka "utility" knife might be tactical. Dress it in black and kydex, voila! Versatility cloaked in a dark shroud, lending an air of serious purpose... TACTICAL
smile.gif


 
Perfect answer knzn. I wish the term tactical knife would go away. But not likely with narrow minded greedy knifemakers enjoyong the ride fueled by the knife press.
For years I shot target rifles. Semi Automatic target rifles. The gun media and gun dealers enjoyed the ride then too and look what happened. It's going to happen with knives too. It's just a matter of time.
 
I think it's only natural that people interpret words and meanings differently.

And yes, there is a lot of marketing hype to confuse things.

I think of tactical as a large stout fixed blade for a variety of tasks in field use; military or swat operations.

There is another catergory which is the .38 snubby of knife weapons. A strong reliable folder which can be easily carried and used as a weapon with a reasonable degree of effectiveness. I think of this type of knife as 'street steel'. Descriptions like 'defensive' or 'combat' don't cut it for me.

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Regards,
Ron Knight

Yeah I'm crazy, but what do you want me to do about it
 
Fortunately some of the people with vision in the knife industry are starting to get away from the combat/defense type marketing but not nearly enough. The tactical knife that most are so agressively marketing now will be what they're defending in the future as innocent and not a weapon etc.
 
Tom W,

"Narrow minded greedy knifemakers enjoying the ride fueled by the knife press"

What a contemptuous thing to say. You are obviously not a knifemaker. This is not a job you do to get rich . Most of us terrible knifemakers do this in our spare time or have another job to pay the bills with and make knives for the love of it. I don't feel that I fit into the category you so maliciously described .As I have never given my knives a class, the magazines do it or the public does it, I think I spea
k for most knifemakers.
Most of the knifemakers I know are not high pressure sales men either. They make what they like and people either buy them or they don't . Hopefully they do !

What do you suggest they do to make a living . Supply demand ? or make what Tom W wants them to make cause he'll bad mouth them if they don't ? Your probably a really nice guy that is just passionate about what he believes and thats ok just don't bad mouth soneone making a living. No one is trying to sell you something you don't want .Buy what you like , Theres a whole lot of people in this world and what you hate someone else loves . Thats life.

Sorry for the scolding. I just know how hard this business is. Most knifemakers won't even defend themselves from a comment like yours for fear of loosing a customer or to.
You sir have the luxury of offending others and not effecting your bottom line . We the knifemaker cannot.

I apolojise for doing this on a public forum. This would not have been the case had it not been for your nerfarious comment on a public forum.

Opinions are welcome we can disagree and still be friends. We can have differing ideas and still be polite. Your comment was not meant to enlighten but to offend . That is unfortunate .

Have a wonderful day! Ken Onion
 
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