Would like some insight

Plumberdv said:
Anybody might, but there again I've been driving for 51 years and have never come across a situation where I needed to cut someone out of a seat belt or break glass. I'm not going to pick a knife to carry everyday on the off chance that something like that would occur.
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I would have to disagree- but then again I carry a 303 or Vantage Pro currently. I am a steamfitter by trade, and I worked with a guy that swore by Bucks tanto blades for removing gasjets from flange faces. He was very proficient at it, and they worked slick, but I couldnt do that to my Bucks! It really was the best way to get them off the flange!

As far as never coming across a situation in 51 years, and not needing something "just in case"...

My employer thinks we need to have several hundred dollar defibrilators in each shop and on each site, yet so far we have never needed them....
I go for CPR training every year, on their dollar and thank the lord I have never needed that training yet... We always carry a first aid kit in our truck, and my wife insists on having a tow strap, but yet we have never needed those :D I carry a cell phone for emergencies, and you know what those cost, but with winter roads up here, I have come across people that needed an ambulance due to car wrecks and I have used that.

To each his own I guess. If you like 'em carry em! I myself would like to get my hands on a CSAR!!!!!!!! ;)
 
One feature of MOST tacticals that hasn't been mentioned is "quick deployment". Most (if not all) are one hand openers and there are some that have a "wave" design that open as they are pulled out from where they are clipped.

In a self-defense situation that seems to be one of the main advantages. But as stated, for self defense, most that are serious carry a gun. I would prefer a stick to a knife, as Dave mentioned, you don't want to be that close to an assailant.

Tacticals are not my favorite type of knife but there are HUGE numbers of people that worship some of the more popular tacticals. The Busse booth at Blade was BUSY all the time.

Peter
 
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I don't like that knife,the csar is useless to me,however I have a 880 spearpoint that is in my fron tpocket everyday ,that handles a lot of things a knife shouldn't be used for.I don't even notice it after carrying one for 6 years you get used to it.
 
Hummhh! What we are really talking about is the demand for knives and not the need for knives. I think a majority a people will often describe a want as a need...at least I do all too often. Further, I believe almost all knives fall into the category of a want. So let me use an analogy to explain how I see knives. The analogy will be Personal Transportation and its a good analogy because almost always its a need that is satisified by a want.

For purpose of this discussion let’s accept that we all need personal transportation and that owning a car/truck is how we get it. The point of personal transportation is to get from point A to point B. All we need to do that is a Ford Escort, but how many varieties of SUV, varieties of Pickup Truck, varieties of Luxury Cars, and varieties of Sports Cars do people use on a daily basis to transport one person (themselves) to point A to point B? Too many to count!

So tactical knives are the SUVs of knives to me…a legitimate design with a purpose but totally unnecessary for the average Joe's daily life. The average Joe's knife needs could 100% be satisfied by your average stockman.

But then if we are only about needs then we’ll all be driving a white Ford Escort, own one navy suit, and vacation on the Redneck Riveria.
 
I think Flatlander has hit on the crux of the matter. I had thought about using tanto blade for scraping gaskets, but then, I have a gasket scraper made by Snap-on that does that job very nicely. Also, since I retired from teaching auto mechanics, I find that I don't scrape many gaskets any more. What it all boils down to is value as opposed to cost and a persons personal preference. There's a market for those knives or they wouldn't be selling them. From what I see, more people like tacticals then there are folks who like the traditional "plain Janes". They keep discontinuing the knife styles I like for more tacticals. I guess I'm the one that's behind. I'll continue to carry my Stockman, and a 112 on my belt, and I find I like the Avid for ease of opening with one hand and for those who like the others, so be it. Just be happy we have the choice and be very happy that we don't have to carry "just one knife".
 
Maybe carrying a big monster tactical for some is like insisting on owning a pitbull. It's a macho testosterone thing.

That being said, I owned a rescued pitt for nine years and she was one of the sweetest and most gentle dogs I've ever owned.She never met another dog or a person she didn't like, so this isn't a knock on the pitts. Just an anology.

My dog's a badder a** dog than yours. My knife's a badder a** knife than yours.:D
 
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And Flatlander, you are preaching to the choir when it comes to want vs. need! I know all about that syndrome.

Do I "need" four Harley's? Hell no, do I want four? No, I want more! :D
 
Plumberdv said:
And Flatlander, you are preaching to the choir when it comes to want vs. need! I know all about that syndrome.

Do I "need" four Harley's? Hell no, do I want four? No, I want more! :D
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I hear ya Buddy!! All I do anymore is "WANT" cause I damn sure don't need anything that I don't already have! Nice place to be actually.

So what HD do you have your eye on now? The saleman still trying to talk you into that Sporter?
 
Flatlander1963 said:
I hear ya Buddy!! All I do anymore is "WANT" cause I damn sure don't need anything that I don't already have! Nice place to be actually.

So what HD do you have your eye on now? The saleman still trying to talk you into that Sporter?
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Naww, I haven't been back for awhile. It was a V-Rod special edition he was trying to sell me on. Just not my style, I kinda in the market for a new Ultra Glide with all the bells and whistles.
 
Plumberdv said:
First off, I want to say that this isn't meant to be sarcastic or a bash in anyway of any pattern. I'm truly looking for answers that will help me understand something.

I'd like to know what SPECIFIC uses there are in the civilian world for patterns like the CSAR, Bravo, Goast Rider, etc. especially those with the Besh Wedge, Tanto or Modified Tanto blades.

Im not looking for things like, "great heavy duty user", "handy on the job site" and so forth. I'm looking for specific tasks that would be handled best by them. For that matter, I worked construction of several different kinds for almost fifty years and try as I may, I can't think of one task I needed a knife for that I would have picked one of the tactical's over another knife to do.

I understand the various "hunting and skinning" knives because everyone seems to have their own way of doing things and different patterns suit their style. I just don't "get" the tacticals. :confused:
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Ok let me drop 2 cents into this bucket as it seems to be just swirling around with opinions....LOL.

No I'm not going to talk about want-vs-need, hell I want every Buck knife I see old or new. So the last thing I need is a new Buck knife. My comments will be about the Besh style of knife.

This old Buck 110 was a painters work horse, it had been used to pry open to many cans and had lost it's tip a few times.

But that did not stop the user from doing so, the knife also had a very loose blade from that activity. The bravo and that besh blade were designed to handle what this painter was needing from his tool. There would have been no broken blade tips and no loose knife blade.

I have set many new doors and had to use a chisel to inlet the hinges and strike plates. That job could easily be done with a sharp besh edge. I will find out the next time I have to hang a new door (not any time soon I hope). I don't carry my Alpha/Bravo so my thoughts are just more opinions;).
jb4570
 
Thanks jb, that's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Specific tasks.:thumbup:
 
Plumberdv said:
And Flatlander, you are preaching to the choir when it comes to want vs. need! I know all about that syndrome.

Do I "need" four Harley's? Hell no, do I want four? No, I want more! :D
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Four Harleys! If you can afford that, i'm surprised you are not collecting "custom" knives:D

Those new Ultra Classics CERTAINLY have a LOT of bells and whistles!

Peter
 
peterinct said:
Four Harleys! If you can afford that, i'm surprised you are not collecting "custom" knives:D

Those new Ultra Classics CERTAINLY have a LOT of bells and whistles!

Peter
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I do have a few customs, but I like Bucks better.

And yeah, I was looking at one of the 110 C.I. Screaming Eagle models. Wow! :thumbup::thumbup:
 
well now that it's turned to harleys some...on the need versus want that Flat mentioned, you NEED the stage 1 kits but man you really WANT the stage 2 kits when paying the harley tax!

on the comment about good for emt or leo, when i was doing a lot of rescue diving a combo blade with chisel tip and seperate belt cutter would've been great. now that just doing recreational diving would still carry the bravo rescue for that purpose.

as far as carrying for defensive use, well never ever plan to get into that. thats what my smith and wessons and remingtons are for! but if gonna carry a knife in that role as backup offhand the "tatical" styles tend to have more pronounced thumbstuds for weak hand use and also are larger/heavier and make for a modern roll of quarters in the fist or imporvised kubaton.

but now that i am low speed/high drag they just look cool mixed in with all my traditionals that i actually prefer and generally carry
 
I think Flatlander and Pumberdv have hit on the main thing. I have to agree with the want vs need thing. I bit on the want thing years ago and ended up with a collection of knives I ended up selling off because I wke up one day and asked myself what the heck I was doing with all this junk.

I ended up going back to carying what I carried years before I had been bit by the knife disease. The only time in my entire life I was witness to a car wreck that had somebody hanging in a seat belt, I crawled in and cut the belt with the sheepsfoot blade of my 301 stockman. Surprise upon surprise, it cut right through the nylon webbing with no problem at all.

Needs vs want is responsable for the over spending we see today by people getting in debt over thier heads.
 
wings, whats a "harley tax"? New one on me. I have the big bore kit (103") in my 2008 Road Glide and I love it, and when/if I get the new one I want the 110"er.

I can see from most of the opinions here, that with few exceptions, the tacticals are more about liking the looks than real need for that kind of knife.

As a retired Pipefitter, I've scraped off a bunch of gaskets myself and never even considered using a knife over a gasket scraper designed for the task.
 
harley tax is generally reffered to what level you have to change the factory systems to get more out of it. so new slip ons and/or different air filter would be part of a stage 1, complete exhaust change, different intake system and rejetting/remapping would be part of stage 2. and so forth. but you just bypassed it all with a big bore kit!

not meaning the typical cheap exhaust slip ons to make it just loud! but my '95 road glide did just fine without it. and any of the screaming eagle versions, well just plain wow!
 
fascinating thread here. I know in "life threatening situations" when you really get a veteran talking, you just want it heavy enough to know you can not break it. That is my impression. that also renders it not as efficient in normal everyday carry uses (even the heavy duty stuff).

How much is confidence worth?
 
COST vs VALUE....................

When the chips are down, we all want something we trust, and we know a Buck will do the job..............
 
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