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MaxwellDemonic
838
Feb 27, 2018
Tactical, in my eyes, is synonymous with being overbuilt and with ugly blade coatings. Rescue knives are a bit in between that, and if I'm going the direction of overbuilt I'd head toward something like a Hinderer (The Eklipse is quite nice outside of the idiotic proprietary pivot screw). Their bent is toward first responders and thus they have some features outside of a standard EDC knife.
Blade steel on a tactical knife should account for conditions not exactly conducive to frequent cleanings and heavy maintenance. The aforementioned coatings help with that, but in the steel itself you're looking at rust resistance as a higher factor than edge retention. You're also looking for a softer steel that will take an edge more easily (something you can run through a field sharpener). D2 and VG-10 are great for Tac knives for this reason.
On something that will have dirt, grime, and potentially blood and viscera on it, you absolutely want to a pair of PB washers. Bearings won't hold a decent action with too much crap in the pivot. I'm personally not a fan of assists but if you are, you can skimp on the washers (teflon will work fine).
Opening mechanisms can vary and are primarily at the users preference. An exception to this would be something like the Emerson Wave. It's designed to hook on the pocket as you're pulling it out, causing it to instantly deploy on the draw. I've personally found little use for it myself, a nice flipper tab is just as useful.
Others have mentioned the angle on the edge can be a bit more wide as it's not about slicing cleanly for long distances. The types of cutting tasks associated to Tac knives do not translate well to light use EDC (my use is light in that I use it primarily for opening boxes and letters). Tac knives are designed typically around cutting cord, being used as offensive/defensive weapons, or for quick cuts in rescue situations (such as cutting seat belts). Tac knives are one of the few places where a serrated edge can actually be useful.
The blade shape should come to a point. You wouldn't expect to find a Tac knife with a sheepsfoot. Typically they fall into standard drop point or spear point. Swedges are nice. No one needs a fuller or speed holes. As mentioned with the overbuilt quality, most have thicker blade-stock than would be found on the average EDC knife.
I personally think adding tools to a knife (with the exception of a tasteful glass breaker) is pointless. Lets let multitools be multitools and knives be knives.
As far as grip, textured G-10 is fine for the job. It's easy to clean, durable, and (if the texture is done right) extremely grippy. Keep in mind you might be using gloves when handling a Tac knife so make sure the ergonomics work for you with and without gloved hands.
In Summation: - Coated Blades (for rust resistance) - VG-10 or D2 - PB washers (Teflon are alright with an assist on the action) - Any opening mechanism - Wider angle on the blade edge - Drop or Spear point - Thicker blade-stock
48thRonin2
117
May 4, 2018
MaxwellDemonicBravo, Sir!! (Applause emoji.)
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