In the military there’s general issue gear and then there’s the stuff you’d have if you didn’t get everything from the lowest bidder. Innovations and improvements usually happen in the civilian world first. Though there’s still good reason to stay with the proven designs like the Ka-Bar fixed blade knife, many companies now offer excellent high tech alternatives.
For law enforcement personnel and others in high risk professions, modern tactical knives offer greater concealment, lighter weight and sometimes even faster deployment than the conspicuous but dependable belt knife. These high tech knives often cross the line between civilian and professional gear. One handed opening is an essential feature of these folders, with some versions suitable for civilian use and others restricted to collectors and members of “privileged occupations.”
Modern tactical folders also lock blades into the open position nearly as solidly as heavier fixed blade knives. Blades themselves may snap before the lockback of a well made folder fails. Keeping such a knife clean and in top condition is as important as regular care of any firearm. Though there are many good high tech tactical knives, some experts recommend simpler builds over technically advanced designs. Two of the most famous OSS agents of World War II spent years refining the perfect tactical blade — their legacy, the Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife, is a simple fixed blade dagger.
Few of us can argue against the practicality of a knife that opens with one hand. Our choice for the best tactical knife is the H&K Tactical Folder gives ordinary citizens a serviceable one-hand opening plain edge blade built to more professional standards — and it has a handy pocket clip.
The Meyerco 18-XRay can’t be confused with a penknife. This fully automatic switchblade with black anti-glare coating and combo edge tanto blade is very clearly a fighting machine.
A new style of fixed blade, the TDI Knife series by Ka-Bar, available in belt or ankle versions, conveys an efficient fighting style through the well designed pistol style grip.
The Cold Steel Point Guard neck knife looks like it could even be practical for more than a last ditch threat. With serviceable G-10 handle scales and a minimal grip that works well, this is more than the knife you hope you'll never use.
Weighing just 2.8 ounces, counting ...
This personal tactical folder designed for Boker Plus by martial arts instructor Jim Wagner may be just what you need if you carry a knife for urban emergencies like cutting yourself out of a safety harness or smashing an occasional car window. Although the Reality-Based Plain Blade serves ...
The ideas behind this unusual and very practical urban tool resemble a knife design from Becker Knife & Tool, now a part of Ka-Bar. The Boker Plus Cop Tool uses concepts similar to a tactical tool Becker designed for police SWAT teams. It's more tool than knife and makes ...
Ceramic blades get better every year, and although owners still need to relearn a few basics of use, knives like the Boker Plus Anti-MC could make you happy simply because they're razor-sharp and stay that way.
The Boker Plus Anti-MC combines two modern materials to create this elegant pocket ...
In May 2010, Blade Magazine listed Benchmade's 585 Mini-Barrage among the most popular knife choices for women. This Warren Osborne design is for women or men who want the functionality of the full-sized Barrage in a small package.
You don't lose much when you choose the Mini-Barrage. This knife's blade features ...
The Swamp Rat Knife Works Hairy Carry was designed as a high performance fixed blade in a size matched to everyday uses. Made to wear on the belt, this full tang knife features the rugged design details of Jerry Busse's tactical knives.
The Hairy Carry's 154CM high carbon stainless ...
Gerber's Fast Draw Knife is one of the company's first knives to include the F.A.S.T opening system. This inexpensive pocket clip folder opens with the convenience and speed you'd expect from a more expensive automatic.
The patented Gerber Forward Action Spring Technology (FAST) is the work of Butch Vallotton, a ...
For those privileged to carry a tactical automatic knife, the Benchmade Infidel 3310 offers the same intimidating features as the earlier Infidel 3300, but with a single edged blade that's easier to use in ordinary work.
Owners will still be most impressed by the tactical advantages of this Out-The-Front automatic knife. ...
The Bear and Son Ninja II Boot Dagger may look like many other small combat knives, but the Ninja II carries an important difference. Most modern double-edged daggers provide one true cutting edge and one false edge. With the Ninja II, both edges of the blade ...
If you're a martial artist training in the Filipino style, the Bear & Son's Black Butterfly is a big step up from a balisong built only for practice. The hollow ground edge arrives razor-sharp, and the drop point blade is the right size and style for ordinary chores and ...
The Silver Vein Armor Piercing Butterfly from Bear & Son Cutlery of Alabama features a high carbon stainless steel blade in the Japanese tanto style. Tanto blades were designed for penetration instead of slicing, but the lighter construction of the Silver Vein's handle makes this knife a better choice for cutting ...
The Ka-Bar Besh BOGA Neck Knife is the production version of a women's self defense knife designed by Canadian Special Ops soldier Brent Breshara. The Besh BOGA features Breshara's unusual "Besh Wedge" point -- a strong design which puts a third cutting edge on the dagger's chisel-shaped tip.
Made in ...
The Kershaw Indian Ford combines useful modern features with a look that reminds us a little of the classic barlow pocket knife. The traditional look isn't all there is to the Indian Ford -- this modern gentleman's pocket knife has some of the quality of larger and more dangerous blades.
Not ...
The Kershaw tactical knife called the Black Shallot at first looks a little too sleek if you're accustomed to blocky, tactical knives. You won't see the usual marks of a dependable knife -- no cross-hatched handle slabs or overly heavy blade -- but the dependability is still there.
One of ...
The 6-3/4-inch Becker Necker, now produced by Ka-Bar, seems a bit much to hang around the neck. Though it's better suited for fixing to gear or hanging on the belt, the BK11 outshines many neck knives by simply being enough knife to actually use.
The Necker's 3-1/4-inch flat ...
The Uzi EK Battlefield Commander does have an interesting high-tech look but comes up slightly short in durability. Balance the trendy blood groove against the knife's good features and make up your own mind.
It is hard to go completely wrong with a fixed blade of good quality, and the UZI ...
The UZI Special Forces Set includes a tactical pocket knife, compass, watch, and an LED flashlight. Overall, it's a good deal and a handy emergency kit for anyone's pockets.
The tanto-style pocket clip folder knife, only 4-1/4 inches when closed, wields a combo-serrated cutting edge of 8Cr14 high carbon ...
Master Knife Maker Gil Hibben's HTF Recon Knife, produced by United Cutlery, intends to cover both the tactical needs and hunting needs of any owner. Much less fanciful than some of Hibben's creations, the HTF Recon still has the trademark flair of a Hibben knife and does manage to ...
Many cheaper versions of this knife are available, but the Black Sentry Spear Point Trench Knife is the least you should consider. If a combination knuckle duster and dagger fits your lifestyle, you need at least this much knife.
This knife concept evolved from a knife used in trench warfare ...
The Pathfinder Combat Tactical Knife from United Cutlery might be a better choice as a camp tool or an emergency knife for the car trunk. It's big and impressive, but it's heavy. The compass comes up to military standards, but only if you're into WWII surplus.
For the price, you might consider ...
Thumb-stud opening and smooth action complement the high carbon stainless steel blade of the Gerber AR 3.0. This tactical black folder fits the pocket of anyone who needs a handy utility blade capable of much more than opening boxes.
Drop-point blade styling gives the AR 3.0 even more of that ...
Columbia River Knife & Tool's Natural series brings the quality and appearance of good custom blades to the price range more of us can afford. Designed by Pat Crawford, an Arkansas knife maker from West Memphis, the Natural 2 7080M represents one of CRKT recent efforts to raise the ...
Columbia River Knife & Tool outfits the Lift Off 2 with both Outburst assisted-opening and Firesafe lock. Included in many of CRKT's newer folders, this combination approach finally makes legal one-handers fast instead of just awkward.
The Lift Off 2 would be a temptation even without the new technology. ...
Pat Crawford, a knife designer from West Memphis, Arkansas, collaborated with Columbia River Knife and Tool on production versions of several other well known Crawford designs prior to the Natural. Usually steel quality drops and corners are cut in the mass market version of a knife, but with the ...
Knife designers Chris Reeves and William W. Harsey Jr. collaborated on the technical details of the Gerber LHR Urban Combat Knife, but Matt Larsen -- an expert in close quarters combat -- also contributed some unusual ideas. Larsen studied hundreds of actual combat encounters before finalizing the LHR concept. ...
The Paul Defender from Lone Wolf Knives won Blade Magazine's 2009 award for Overall Knife of the Year. Termed the Gentleman's Tactical Folder by the manufacturer, the Defender is a collaboration between Lone Wolf's designers and Paul Poehlmann, inventor of the Paul Axiel lock.
What you'll notice first is ...
Credit card knives usually don't include much steel or much functionality, but the SOG Access Card 2.0 Knife is very impressive for a low profile cutter. Only 3/16 inches thick without the pocket clip, this tactical black folder opens and closes with one hand and even provides a ...
The smallest knife so far in the Ka-Bar TDI series, the Tactical Defense Institute LDK neck knife could actually be stored in your wallet. The Last Defense Knife isn't much larger than a credit card and wields a wicked cutting edge just 1-5/8 inches long.
The flat build uses ...
Ka-Bar made the FIN Folding Frame Lock Knife in both drop point and tanto blade styles and offered a choice of combo-serrated or plain edges on each version. This combo-serrated drop point FIN offers very little plain edge for fine cutting. Make sure it fits your purposes.
Open length of the ...
Built to exceed Russian Spetsnaz specifications, this tactical combat shovel from Cold Steel makes a great camp tool for the hunter, fisherman, and canoeist. With about a pound and a half of medium carbon tool steel and a durable hardwood handle, the Cold Steel tactical shovel is a ...
The Stratofighter might slip past your notice if you saw it on a display shelf. It's angular and ungainly and not designed with beauty in mind, but there are some excellent tactical features in this heavy folder. In fact, if you need a pocket clip folder with the functionality of a ...
Inspired by the assault rifle adopted by the Russian Army in 1949, the Cold Steel AK-47 Knife's most obvious resemblance to "the People's Rifle" is the bayonet groove in the four-inch AUS-8 blade. Add to that the kind of rugged construction that you can drop in a muddy ...
The Byrd Meadowlark with G-10 handle combines one of the best tactical knife handle materials with a popular pocket folder design. G-10's good insulating qualities and resistance to all types of chemicals add to the Meadowlark's already practical features.
Crosshatched jimping on the G-10 handle slabs makes the grip of this ...
Though it's better known for its many styles of fantasy and replica weapons, United Cutlery also designs knives in a tactical style. Imported from China, the practical offerings from United Cutlery include the M48 Kommando Fighter Knife. With the makers and most of the technical specifications somewhere on the other ...
Designed by Chad Los Banos and manufactured by Boker, the Hyper streamlines one of Los Banos's earlier knives -- the Subcom. Built thinner but just as solid, this 3.2-ounce, one-handed opening knife slips neatly into the pocket with a barely noticeable profile.
Dual thumb studs allow opening from either ...
The biggest attraction of the Smith & Wesson SWMP5LS Liner lock knife isn't the upgraded design. What makes this five-inch (folded length) beast popular is the MAGIC Assisted Opening system. Currently, it's one of the closest substitutes for an automatic opening knife that civilians are allowed to own.
Possibly a ...
SOG's FF-11 Salute -- which the company refers to as their first Fusion tactical folder -- puts all the technical expertise of that innovative manufacturer to good use. The result is a high-tech knife that isn't tough to understand, with a few unusually good features.
Full-length steel liners and machined ...
If you're just not comfortable without some sort of self-defense device on hand and knives no longer fit your lifestyle, there is another choice -- the tactical pen. Inspired by ancient fist load weapons popular with Asian martial artists and Japanese ninjas, the modern tactical pen fits discreetly in the ...
Only a few years ago, the idea of a lightweight combat pen would have seemed silly to most people. With today's restrictions on the use of simple items like nail polish and fingernail clippers, as well as items actually intended for self defense (like many knives), the combat ...
The Boker Plus Double Action knife does have some good features which aren't obvious on first glance. This knife looks like an ordinary one-handed folder, but the construction quality and the extra slide lock have made the Boker Double Action a popular choice for automatic conversion as well ...
Cold Steel's Nightshade Karambit is just one of ten models of both classic knives and strictly Cold Steel inventions now available with absolutely no steel. Instead of high carbon steel blades, the Karambit and its counterparts are constructed of a new fiberglass reinforced plastic called Grivory, with grips of reliable ...
Designed by Jim Hammond, the Operator's Model A.B.C. (All Bases Covered) knife adapts Hammond's popular fixed blade diver's knife design to land use. With full-length cutting edges both plain and serrated, this rugged outdoorsman's knife covers every situation.
The four-ounce knife of AUS8 high carbon stainless steel incorporates a modified ...
Cold Steel's Double Agent knives, designed by Zach Whitson, are available in two blade styles. Either the karambit or the clip point version may be safely worn as a last resort neck knife.
Built light and intended for suspension from a dog tag chain, the Double Agent ...
Since I saw this boot knife from Kershaw discussed in a recent issue of Blade Magazine I had to take a look. Apparently, runners and hikers in southern California are carrying the Kershaw Military Boot Knife as defense against mountain lion attacks. Honestly, even though this is a decent ...
Smith & Wesson's H.R.T. O.T.F (Hostage Rescue Team; Out The Front) knives aren't quite as dramatic as their names, but they are useful. Check them out if you're looking for an assisted opening version of the classic stilletto.
With only three-inch blades, the H.R.T. knives lack intimidation factor, but the ...
Scaled down to only two thirds the size of the popular Spyderco Military knife, the ParaMilitary meets the needs of those who need a more discreet version better suited to pocket carry. This model created for civilian uses keeps the good features of Spyderco's larger tactical folder.
With a blade ...
Collector's items aren't limited to the knives that survive the ages -- unique knives that come and go quickly also find a solid following. Let's put the Ka-Bar Pistol Bayonet by LaserLyte in that second collectible class, since it's a good idea which solves a problem no one had. ...
Designed for Spyderco by Fred Perrin, a world-ranked martial artist and ex-French commando now making knives in Paris, this small fixed blade incorporates some excellent military ideas but still fits civilian use well. You'll find the sheath equally handy.
With a 3-1/2-inch clip point blade of VG-10 stainless steel and ...
With one of Smith & Wesson's easiest assisted opening systems, the S&W Military Police M.A.G.I.C. Scooped Tanto offers both tactical and emergency rescue features in a highly engineered but economical package. Manufactured to Smith & Wesson specifications in Taiwan, the knife is a good choice for anyone who needs ...
Smith & Wesson's Military Police Magic Assisted Tanto shows good quality in an American-sponsored imported design. The Taiwanese makers of the Military Police Tanto put together good features and good materials. Tactical users may be tempted and anyone who needs a good urban survival knife should take ...
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