When did "tactical" become a selling point?

Not sure when that really happened, but I never liked that term tactical personally.

I group it with:

  • Mall Ninja
  • Arm Chair Warriors
  • Wannabe Military types
  • Keyboard Ninjas

Every time I see an ad for something Tactical I just start laughing because they are so stupid it is pathic most of the time.

Some Model dressed up in Camo or black that's never had been in the Military etc holding a product they don't know anything about, will never use or own etc.

I never heard the word Tactical used the whole time I was in the USMC back in the 80's.
 
HKBM45 said:
I think too many knives get the tactical label undeserved these days.

It seems like if it utilizes modern technology/materials some guys want to call it "tactical".
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Yep, I agree. Tactical is just a misused word that helps sell knives with modern designs and using modern materials (CF, bead blast finishes...) as opposed to the more traditional kind. It does not mean anything, like most marketing gibberish.
 
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there are combat knives, fighting knives and survival knives.
unfortunately the term "tactical knives" comes to mean different things to different people.
if you were prone to martial intentions, i would presume that a "tactical knife" then would have nothing to do with mundane food preparation or general duties.
which according to many is what they use a tactical folder for.
likewise, a survival knife (which had military origins be it aviation or marine-based) have taken on many forms;
with the latest having lost it's made-famous-by-rambo "sawback teeth" altogather.
some like to think that it's now a trendy 4-inch knife which should be termed as a bushcraft knife.
today a tactical knife is generally thought of as an item that is built for tacticool.
who knows if tactical knives would still be an applicable term to denote any definable cutlery's purpose.
 
unfortunately the term "tactical knives" comes to mean different things to different people.
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I think that is part of the point of the term. It's a term that is useful for marketing precisely because it has, and cannot have, any precise meaning. What's being sold is the idea that you too can be, or at least acquire some of the attributes of, a "special operator", a low drag high speed kind of a guy, a warrior...all just by buying a certain knife.

A knife by itself can be more or less useful as a tool. We all know it ain't the tool it's the worker that does the job. But good marketing can appear to transform a painted black knife, with black tactical scales, into a magical item that imbues the user with skill and knowledge. A cool knife can make you cool.

tipoc
 
My question is, "Does 'tactical' really mean 'less than practical'?"

I don't think I've seen any 'tactical' knives that work really well for anything. Why else would knife freaks shun them?
 
tipoc said:
I think that is part of the point of the term. It's a term that is useful for marketing precisely because it has, and cannot have, any precise meaning. What's being sold is the idea that you too can be, or at least acquire some of the attributes of, a "special operator", a low drag high speed kind of a guy, a warrior...all just by buying a certain knife.

A knife by itself can be more or less useful as a tool. We all know it ain't the tool it's the worker that does the job. But good marketing can appear to transform a painted black knife, with black tactical scales, into a magical item that imbues the user with skill and knowledge. A cool knife can make you cool.

tipoc
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THIS.


It's about marketing to the armchair warrior or the guys who do IDPA practices and think that'll make them ready for when the zombies show up.

Had a situation like this at a pistol range once. Guy in the lane next to me was using a Wilson Combat .45 with "Tactical" this, "Milspec" that. I was working with my trusty (and stock) Glock 19. He began to explain to me why I needed to add aftermarket sights,a laser sight, etc for "tactical reasons". He said "I'll show you" and put a nice two shot, center mass, little group at about 15 yards. I said ok, and shot a group just slightly wider than his. He said "See, my group was tighter." I said, "ummmmm, I just put two in his chest. Just how dead are you trying to make him?" Ultimately, calling the gear something "cool" doesn't improve operator skill.
 
Im gonna take a long shot in the dark here and say if a "mall ninja" buys a "tacticool" blade ,that knife will be able to do its job and cut stuff .
 
Just to clarify, most major custom makers belong to the tactical category, so if you buy a Mayo, a Burch, an RJ Martin, a Manaro, a Bogi... you are buying a "tactical" knife. You can make fun of the label but there are very good knives in that category that don't have anything to do with the image associated with tactical gear. As I said earlier, it is just a name. Everything that is not slipjoint, traditional, hunting/bushcraft or Bowie gets thrown in the Tactical category by default.
 
tipoc said:
Tactical socks...

tac1.jpg


tactical underwear...

tac4.jpg


tac6.jpg




That's about right. Calling a knife tactical sells. Call a handgun "Combat" and paint it black, it sells. It also gave birth to the idea of "hard use" folders like the Striders, Emerson and others. Folders that were "tactical" could be used liked fixed blade knives. Ads began to appear with folks stabbing oil drums, punching through hoods of cars, chopping sides of beef, etc. with their folders. The "tactical" blade was for instant one handed deployment (Yep deployment the tactical knive is never just pulled out of a pocket and opened it is "deployed". "Ready for instant deployment!").

The idea was a tough hard use folder oriented to self defense more than any other purpose. Not a bad thing per se but over hyped and done to death.

tipoc
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I love the term "deployment" lol. You see that all the time too .
 
Here is a list of the makers that will exhibit at the 2011 Tactical Invitational in Vegas:

Jens Anso
Todd Begg
Phil Boguszewski
Michael Burch
Peter Carey
Duane Dwyer
Ernest Emerson
Tim Galyean
Wally Hayes
Kirby Lambert
Sal Manaro
RJ Martin
Tom Mayo
Ken Onion
Darrell Ralph
Steve Ryan
Mick Strider
Bob Terzuola
Brian Tighe

Not many mall Ninjas there. It is just a name, get over it.
 
Just to clarify, most major custom makers belong to the tactical category, so if you buy a Mayo, a Burch, an RJ Martin, a Manaro, a Bogi... you are buying a "tactical" knife. You can make fun of the label but there are very good knives in that category that don't have anything to do with the image associated with tactical gear.
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I agree. Calling a knife "tactical" doesn't make it good or bad. It's a marketing term. One that has been overdone. It's been overdone because the term works to sell things. Chris Reeve makes some "tactical knives".

Emerson makes some good and useful knives. Emerson is one of the originators of the term "Tactical Knives". But look here at their website...

http://www.orderoftheblackshamrock.com/

This is a "Warrior Society" that Emerson has set up. How do you get to be a member of this elite outfit of warriors? Ya buy some Emerson stuff.

Two things going on here:One: marketing hype and 2: since the late 80s some real advancements in knife design that made some folders knives "tactical". Many good strong folders are being made now that are a step beyond the Buck 110. Intertwined with these are marketing hype.

tipoc
 
Brits have real tactical underwears for Afghanistan and Iraq. Since U.S. Marines use their body armor with groin flap protect the family jewels. British use their own armours and it leaves groins unshielded. So they give new soldiers tactical underwears with kevlar fiber re-infrcements to protect shrapnell damages. They showed those underwears here in the news (talk about poor news day)
 
LorenzoL said:
Just to clarify, most major custom makers belong to the tactical category, so if you buy a Mayo, a Burch, an RJ Martin, a Manaro, a Bogi... you are buying a "tactical" knife. You can make fun of the label but there are very good knives in that category that don't have anything to do with the image associated with tactical gear. As I said earlier, it is just a name. Everything that is not slipjoint, traditional, hunting/bushcraft or Bowie gets thrown in the Tactical category by default.
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Not buying it. Not in the least. You may be of the opinion that everything that isn't a slipjoint, traditional, hunting/bushcraft or Bowie knife is "tactical", but I find that patently absurd. A bowie isn't "tactical"? How about tactical hunters, or tactical bushcraft, or even "tactical" slipjoints? Why not? It seems as though you've bought into the "tactical" label hook, line and sinker.

What does "tactical" actually mean to you? Are there any knives that aren't "tactical"? Any knife — and I do mean any knife — could be used in a tactical situation. The word "tactical" is a meaningless descriptor when applied to knives: a buzzword marketing term, pure and simple: it means nothing.

The only knife that comes readily to mind that could legitimately be called "tactical" would be the Becker BK-3 "Tac Tool," which was designed for tactical breaching by swat teams. Other than that . . .
 
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