What's in a name?

There are knives with dumb names that I already thought were dumb for either reasons, so the dumb name didn't influence my buying decision. But I can't think of a single example of a knife I like that has a dumb name. Correlation is not causation, but there might be a connection there.

I think I actually did carry my Cold Steel Frenzy less often because of the name coupled with its size and blade shape. (Still a great knife, though.)
 
TOPS Knives is moving toward the "rugged outdoor adventures" market, and away from the "Tactical Oper8tor" panache of their past. But they had some goodies!

A bit of a Google brings us a list of glorious knife names, including the Hawke's Hellion Survivor, Missile Strike, Scorpion's Tail, Dawn Warrior, Apache Dawn, Back Bite, Screaming Eagle, and many others.

Unfortunately, there are even better examples. If you want knives that will stand an even better chance of getting you arrested, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Dark Ops Knives.

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Yes, they're serious. Some of them $240 serious.
 
Name of the knife affect my decision to buy?
"Folding Hunter" ... "110" ... "Stockman" ... "Boy Scout/Camp knife" ... "Barlow" ... "Canoe" ... "Moose" ... "Trapper" ... "Sod Buster" ... "Work Knife" ... "Loom Fixer" ... "Pruning/Linolium/Carpet Knife" ...
No ... I don't think the name affects my decsion to buy. Maybe if I bought "modern" knives it would be different, but "traditional" knives are usually equipped with pretty non-threatening names, and are not likely to be viewed as a "weapon".
 
eveled said:
I appreciate knives having innocent names. You only get one chance to make a first impression when dealing with law enforcement or a jury.

A folding Hunter or tradesman knife sounds better than Malicious Rapist
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Unless you are a Viking.

I do question some of the name choices for sure.

WE Deacon and Bishop? Hogue Exploit?

Why does Civivi call it the Mckenna when it's designed by Isham?

Some companies I really enjoy the naming conventions of. I like how Heretic names theirs after mythical creatures.

But Brian Tighe's are my favorite.
 
ZT with their number based names. It’s not silly, just very boring. I can it out generally, but kind of lacks creativity.
 
I mostly own spyderco knives, so they all have pretty benign names.

The most unusually named knife I own is the TOPS Desert Nomad, which really just sounds like a name for a survival knife. Since I use it for camping and hunting, works just fine for me.

I can't think of any oddly named knives I own, aside maybe the TOPS one.
 
The other day I came across the Bark River “Squad Leader”, which sounds like it’s out of a Brian Regan routine. Is the owner of the Bark River knife the squad leader? Or is it cursed and becomes your squad leader once you put it on your belt? Looked like a good design, too, and then I guess they went to the random tough-guy word generator for a name.

Im still curious about the laser strike- if it was modeled after something used in operation laser strike, or was designed based on some after action report, or if the laser strike is somehow better at drug raids.
 
Back in 96 I bought a SOG Pentagon Elite, and thought it a badass name. In 2021, I doubt many people who work at the pentagon carry or even own a pocket knife.
 
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K.O.D. said:
Back in 96 I bought a SOG Pentagon Elite, and thought it a badass name. In 3021, I doubt many people who work at the pentagon carry or even own a pocket knife.
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They know what they’re doing- I just wish I knew how they did it. Focus groups? Hamster in a maze? I’m surprised these guys don’t have “Call of Duty” versions.
 
EngrSorenson said:
The other day I came across the Bark River “Squad Leader”, which sounds like it’s out of a Brian Regan routine. Is the owner of the Bark River knife the squad leader? Or is it cursed and becomes your squad leader once you put it on your belt? Looked like a good design, too, and then I guess they went to the random tough-guy word generator for a name.

Im still curious about the laser strike- if it was modeled after something used in operation laser strike, or was designed based on some after action report, or if the laser strike is somehow better at drug raids.
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I think they just wanted “strike” in the name since it has a dedicated part of the spine for striking ferrocerium rods. The name of the op just happened to have “strike” in it and they liked it.

Another mystery solved, Scoob.
 
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Chrono, you mean if your knife is dull, you don’t shoot open your packages?

Reminds me of an old hunting partner who forgot his knife one day. When we stopped for lunch, too proud to borrow mine, he tried to saw off a chunk of summer sausage with the front sight blade of his rifle. Mind you, I didn’t see it as clearly as I would have liked, rolling on the ground laughing at the time.

When I regained my composure, I sliced a disc off of MY sausage and nonchalantly offered it to him. A burst of profanity was my immediate reward, which then settled down to a steady stream as he struggled to keep his grip on the rifle and the sausage. I learned that day that trying to chew sausage while howling with laughter gets a fellow a lot closer to asphyxiation than I care to approach again.

Anyway, deer hunting was over for the day. Between his cussing and my hilarity, we must have startled every deer in the county. Never saw another all the way back to the truck.

But every time we hunted together again, I’d ask him first thing. “Gotcher knife, John? Bwahahaha!” He must have learned his lesson, cause he always had it.

Parker
 
Battle Mistress and Badger Attack are a couple of my favorites.

Enhance those further by adding:
Nuclear Meltdown Fusion
Combat Grade Fusion
Nano Fusion
 
I don't remember names anymore: it's a function of having my head full of other useless junk!
If I remember the Brand: I'm lucky!
 
Knives&Lint said:
Some CS knives come to mind, particularly with their penchant for billboard signage. I guess that bothers me more than the name itself, the execution of the branding. For instance I can't unsee the Comedy Central logo on a Civivi pivot, and for the life of me I can't figure out why Hogue prints "MCQOI" on their clips 😜

MANUFACTURING COMMANDS QUALITY OVER IMPERFECTION.
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Knives have names?

That's news to me. I should probably pay more attention....
 
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