There is something truly reassuring about walking around with a tactical knife securely looped in its rightful place on your trousers’ belt. It’s no secret why: just carrying a knife around reassures someone of safety and preparedness. A tactical knife is essentially a knife specifically designed to be used in extreme situations. This knife, build with military features, is not principally designed for fighting as is conceived by many. It is meant to be a basic utility tool. If you have in mind the aim of investing your money on a good tactical knife, the following are some of the top options you can weigh on.
1. Benchmade Contego 810 Tactical Knife
First things first, when it comes to rating quality manufacturers of knives, Benchmade takes the day. Benchmade Contego 810 Tactical Knife is a tactical knife all the way up. It comes with the hardest blade that provides exceptional resistance and toughness. Its aggressive handle texture is testimony enough that this knife will support you in your tactical efforts. This beautiful piece which is ready for just any eventuality is incorporated with a glass breaker on the pommel and its steel blade is powerful right at the very tip.
Pros
- Its hard steel blade is water and moisture resistant.
- It comes complete with a reverse Tanto blade.
- Made of the highest grade of steel.
- Has a carry pocket clip.
- It is flexible and easy to operate.
Cons
- Its manual mechanism is of great concern.
2. Smith & Wesson SWBG2TS Tactical Knife
This particular version of the Smith & Wesson family is one tough and extremely mean equipment. This 4.4-inch bladed knife is made of stainless steel with an overall length of 10-inches. It comes complete with a heavy glass breaker and Teflon washer that is utilized to flick out the blade. This is a versatile and multifunctional piece that could be your greatest ally all day long. Its serrated blade makes it perfect whether you are responding to a crisis or outdoor survival activities.
Smith and Wesson is one company that can never disappoint when it comes to producing legendary weapons. This SWBG2TS Tactical Knife is the full proof testimony that you get whatever they offer.
Pros
- This tanto blade is made of durable carbon black oxide
- It’s designed for heavy tactical use majorly because of its reinforced tip.
- Its thumb knobs are designed to make it easy to handle.
- It comes with a pocket clip that makes it easy to carry and access.
- It has a liner lock for additional blade security.
Cons
- It is on the large side and cannot be easily concealed.
- It can be challenging to unlock the blade.
- It is not spring-assisted thus its flexibility is minimized.
3. Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife
This folding knife from Smith & Wesson has a fixed blade that is perfect in regard to discretion. It is made with partially serrated steel that is designed with high-quality oxide carbon stainless steel. The drop point blade with spine jimping is something you can rely upon when faced with a situation. This superb combat knife also prides itself with a black aluminum handle that adds to its quality and inspired design.
However, compared to other Smith & Wesson knives, this folding knife is a bit on the shorter side, but it still does its job pretty well. It’s lightweight and is ideal for both persons with large and small palm sizes as it fits in the palm perfectly well. Because of its sturdiness, versatility, and convenience, you can count on Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife without batting an eyelid.
Pros
- It is well built to stand the test of time.
- It can easily be carried around because of its ability to fold.
- It has a pocket clip and finger flipper thus highly accessible.
- It is remarkably comfortable in hand because of finger indention and textured material.
- Its lightweight makes it easier to use and carry around.
Cons
- Its blade is way too far on the shorter side.
- It can be limited to what it can do because of its short and wholly serrated blade.
- Its pointed tip can leave a hole in your pocket.
4. MTech USA Extreme MX8054
This intelligently and smartly designed military hunting knife by MTech USA works great for any task. It features a 5-inch G10 handle with finger grooves that offers remarkable comfort when gripped. You literally won’t want to leave home without this 440-stainless steel bladed knife which is sharp and durable.
As already said, this knife comes with everything that makes a tactical knife a tactical and utility tool. Its powerful blade that runs smoothly into the handle comes at 6-inches length and 3/6 blade thickness. Its outlook is extremely attractive, but don’t be fooled by its sheer beauty, this small monster with a fixed blade can easily cause a lot of damage if flanged or slashed on a body.
Pros
- It is extremely sharp.
- It is very comfortable to handle because of the finger grooves.
- It comes with a black ballistic nylon sheath complete with a harness and a pocket.
- The saw back design is great for handling delicate materials.
- The lanyard hole in the handle makes it easy to carry.
- Its carbon edge content enables it to retain its sharpness for a longer time.
Cons
- The knife’s ruggedness and blade’s sharpness can easily cause accidents if carelessly handled.
- It might pause the flexibility challenge because of the lack of springs.
- The leg strap is ill-fitting and small.
- Finger loops are on the smaller side. It cannot be handled by a thick fingered person.
5. Gerber Contrast AO Knife
This is another incredible knife with superior materials and utilitarian design. As it seems, it is one of the latest editions to Gerber’s impressive portfolio of tactical knives. This is possibly one of the most iconic fixed knives regarding its innovative hybrid G10 steel design. That is an excellent thing in itself but we also have to consider its darker blade and hilt coating, an evolution that incorporates the Assisted Opening 2.0 technology.
Besides, this fine edged knife feels good to hold and handle. It also has a few bonuses that elevate it with sturdiness and lightweight. This brutal bruiser has been certainly designed to withstand harsh weather conditions because of its, aforementioned, high-quality G-10 steel. This top tier-option can tackle any heavy-duty job and its matte black handle is easy and comfortable.
Pros
- It is light to carry and comfortable to handle.
- Its handle has a lanyard hole for attaching a cord.
- Its Assisted Opening 2.0 mechanism assures fast operation.
- It has a pocket clip for easy carrying and storage.
- Its fine edges deliver smooth, accurate cutting.
- It is highly durable and impervious to rust.
- It is a well-performing beauty.
Cons
- Its opening mechanism might pause as a challenge to new users.
- Its assisted flipping action is a bit slow and clunky.
- It has uncomfortable and poorly placed thumb studs.
- Its tightly screwed blades cause blade binding when trying to open.
Conclusion
Finding the best tactical knife to invest your money in can be a nerve-wracking activity and I hope this generous information will illuminate your options. As you shop around for your ideal piece, be careful not to employ interchangeably “fighting knives” and “tactical knives”.
Tactical knives are mostly multi-purpose but just a handful of them are specifically designed for a sole purpose. Perhaps we should not touch base on that for now but instead, let’s focus our attention on its safety. As opposed to a regular knife, a tactical knife can be deadly if it finds its way to a criminal-minded violent person.
Due to their small and solid edges, they have excellent injury capabilities. Perhaps this is what makes them suitable for tactical use during physical combat. There are double tactical knives that can be thrown together at the target all at once. There are also triple tactical knives that are designed to allow the user to throw all the three knives at once.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that you can use multiple of these knives for melee attacks to kill or injure multiple targets at once, these knives have traveling time and chances of them landing squarely on a target are minimal.
All in all, tactical knives are totally dependable and incredibly handy. It is a must-have thing for a tactical operator, a military person or an avid outdoorsman. Most of these knives have superior performance and durable as most of them are made from high strength metal alloys mostly with a high percentile of steel.
Regardless of what you want a tactical knife for, it’s important to fully understand what makes a tactical knife tactical. The primary thing that should come into play when buying a one is the longevity and toughness of the material.
Perhaps you would also want to consider the size ad the environment when purchasing one of these toughies. Another thing that should be of big concern is the lock mechanism as the moving part of a knife is the weakest.