I have the S&W SAR version of this knife. The handle is round and it actually has a pummel to keep your hand from slipping. My only major gripe is the single pin that is pushed through the pummel doesn't have a very tight fit so the pummel moves around some.
Dear Skallagrim. I recently got into a discussion with somebody about the practicality of a specific type of weapon from World of Warcraft, namely the Warglaives of Azzinoth and Warglaives in general as represented in the series. I argued on the side of "These are the most ridiculously impractical weapons I have ever seen somebody try to pass off as not-impractical weapons in a video game, ever." and he argued on the side of "They're not bad, they're really good!" In the end he told me "You're not Skallagrim" which is how I found out about your channel so I was wondering if you could take a look at how those Warglaives work. Partly to prove a point, partly because I think from a design perspective they are astonishing in how impractical they are, and partly because I think you might get a kick out of it. WoW is pretty rife with "Form > Function" weapon designs which I'm personally fine with, but it sticks in my craw when people start ignoring logic to the degree required to defend the Glaives. Cheers for reading, Bushflare.
I bought a similar knife (Urban Cowboy survival knife) for $10 a few years ago. It looked like a knock off of the Extreme Ratio knives. It didn't come as sharp as your knife, but a similar design with notches on the spine for a sawback effect.
Paracord can be wrapped from the lanyard to the two holes in the guard. Not only will you have some lanyard with you, it greatly softens the grip. I have three camo versions and the sheaths are great. No cheesy plastic in mine.
The nick in the blade is on the part that had to deal with the wood core when you were testing it. When you were splitting the wood the fibres saw to it that most of the blade didn't take much strain because it wasn't really cutting anything, but the core is harder and the fibres are more brittle, so that part of the blade had to cut all the way through.
Finally some weaponry stuff. I was about to think your channel would become one of those fashionistas who make videos in their living room about '' 'DEM SHOEZZZ ''.
Vote Trump, while in office he coaxed over half a million jobs back to the USA, plus maybe this time he will throw Hillary and Biden and Obama in Gitmo. 😂
Hey Skall, can you make a video of how lethal kitchen utensils can be? I wanna know if I could defend myself just using a cutting knife or if it even can cause a lethal blow to my target
honestly an edged kitchen utensil is not what you would want for self defense, a pot/pan or broom would be much more effective and give you greater range over your opponent
I'd like a sheath that lets the edge float, that way you don't have to worry about carving small grooves and potentially grinding your edge on the sand and debri that gets lodged in them. Open-backed pocketnives are a pet peeve of mine too... because change and keys among other things get lodged on there, putting unessesary wear on the edge when not in use... Extremely sharp blades HATE sand btw.
Skallagrim, you should know that Smith & Wesson licenses out their name. They'll let someone make a product using their name and require the product to be approved/receive a percentage of the sales. I bought a S&W screw extractor set, for instance. Seems crazy the amount of varied and sometimes junky products S&W will allow to be sold under their brand.
Skallagrim could you do a review on the DART knife released by Doug Marcaida on the Funker Tactical channel? He says he spent over a decade developing his knife design. Would be really nice to see a proper review about it, and whether it's really as great they claim it to be.
Being that you clearly have a good deal of experience in a variety of weapons (self-defense or otherwise) I was wondering your opinion of karambits in the context as a self-defense tool. I've personally found that the slightly different movements one has to use to wield one properly to be enough of a difference to be a very useful tool for self-defense but I was wondering your opinion as well.
If you don't care about the S&W name on the knife, It can be had for $20 under a different name. All you are paying for with that extra $20 is the S&W Name. Edit: Master Cutlery's Mtech Brand is the Same Knife. Sold to S&W, Gerber and Other Major Brands so they can put their Names on them and sell them with %100-500 Markups.
mtech are not the same as smith and Wesson knives. s&w are the same as schrade....which are both manufactured by "Taylor brands" no affiliation with bud k or mtech.
Thanks for the review. Lighter paper cutting test was a nice touch. There's a 50% off deal on one of these this weekend, so I wanted to know if it was worth it (want a sturdy outdoors knife that isn't a machete). So, a question, will those side slabs on the handle take well to being taken to an aluminum oxide sanding wheel and reshaped? Thinking add curve to the corners, aside from near the tang to improve grip and reduce slipping.
Haha. So, I bounced this thing off a rock and broke a grip scale first time I took it out. Those things are crap! Time to buy some para-cord. Maybe I will cut some new wooden grips for it at work if we are slow some day. Get some nice ebony or other exotic.
I wonder if the handle could be shaped with sandpaper, dremel, or other abrasive to make it more ergonomic and perhaps even custom molded to the user's hand. I think that doing that, along with adding better grip retention such as athletic tape on the grip and skateboard tape where your index finger and thumb wrap around the grip, would make it far more safe (not dropping your knife), and comfortable to use.
I just picked up three of the old 440C models in cameo finish. I also picked up a 7Cr17 Chinese steel and it should be roughly equal for chopping, but better for cutting. People like Nut'nfancy don't review blades like this because they just don't like them. If I had my pick between this S&W knife or the Buck Hoodlum, I'd take this knife any day as I think it's stronger. Even if this knife had a stupid notch like the Hoodlum, I think this knife would still fare better as it's just too strong to break like the Hoodlum. Ron Hood's notch is enough to keep me from buying one. I do love the 440C models, though the 7Cr17 isn't bad. This is a better knife than the Hoodlum, but the grip really screams for a glove. Nothing wrong with that as even Thor wore a glove he used with his hammer!
Please, do a video about Finnish Puukko, design has remained almost the same 500 years - it is a good knife. There is also army version, but that is designed for thrusting.
Nice review. I appreciate your insights. If I were to purchase this I would definitely consider replacing the handle with hardwood and shaping it to be more ergonomic. Perhaps building a guard into it to inhibit hand slippage too.
Man I used to have an old school one of these it in like 08 or so and it was so awesome I gave it away to a good friend of mine and he ended up selling it for drugs probably at the time
Hey Skall I have two questions. one: do you have the s&w search and rescue and if you do what do you think of it? Because I got it for Christmas last year and haven't really tested it out so I just wanted an experts thoughts first. Second: I really want to learn how to use a sword properly, so can you recommend any good manuals for beginners? Thanks.
Sorry but I have a noob-ish question: so I'm looking forward to ordering a knife and the handles have G-10 on them and I'm just wondering if that is a good material. Oh, by the way, this is for a balisong (butterfly knife), but this is for a trainer so.... Yeh. Please respond. Thanks
***** Hey Skalla. I was wondering if 420 HC Stainless Steel is any good? I would love to have your opinion on this since I am thinking of purchasing a Condor Combat Machete. Also, could you do a review on the Boker Tomahook too?
***** Could you do a lecture on the different steels and what makes a steel good or not, and general price range? I know basics, but the specifics illude me.
Ierotheos just check "steel alloys" on wikipedia. its all about the percentages of carbon, vanadium, boron, manganese, silicon etc. hardness vs brittle stainless vs hardness its always a compromise.
LOL, that chunk... I had one... I could actually use a mill file to fix the geometry... It turned into a Christmas stocking stuffer before I could bear to own it any longer.
Hey skall, I watched your review on the Schrade SCHA3B, and it made me want to get one :D Got it in the mail today, and it is one of the best knifes I have bought to date :D
I really like this blade, but the chopping part when its coming out of your hand is not good at all. it could of been so much better. great review and a very honest review!!
I think the version you have is 440A. The older camo version that comes with a plastic/metal sheath. The knife is designed to be inexpensive but effective. As a weapon or chopper of vines, it's great. Going on military ops, it's very tough to beat. I think the sheath is very nice for the money. Mine is a steel/plastic rectangle that's tough and very durable. This rectangle version was later deemed to be too expensive, so S&W decided to downgrade the steel to 440A and the sheath to the kind you have. In all honesty, 440A is good enough. If you're going to be sending jihadists to hell or chopping brush and vines, it's fine. My biggest gripe with 440A is that when it's improperly heat treated, it's impossible to sharpen. I have the camo version in 440C and 440A and the heat treat on mine is so good I can cut paper. The 440C does just as well in most applications, and if you're an enemy operative and a U.S. soldier is coming at you with a Homeland Security knife this size, I doubt you're going to strike up a conversation about knife steels! My 440A Homeland Security is fine. I don't think it's all that great for chopping wood unless you've got thick gloves, but it's great as a weapon. I'm a big fan of Cold Steel knives, but this HS knife is going to be tough to beat in a hostile environment. Cold Steel is fine for deployment, but if you're going to be giving a tactical gift to someone going in harm's way, this HS knife is very tough to beat. Many times soldiers are going to be going into small areas. Two knives I recommend are this HS knife and the Cold Steel Recon Tanto, or the Tanto Lite 6-inch. The Tanto Lite has a thin blade that's great for penetration.
What is your opinion on parra-cord wrapped handles for utility/survival knifes? I've been toying around with designs for a kind of pseudo-multitool knife and a cord-wrapped handle makes sense to me in that respect.
Snapon makes some decent cheap 'tactical' pocket knives... I've turned my head from alot of the cheap walmart popular names... Kershaw, SOG, that means you guys... step it up.
I believe your knife is made of 7Cr17 (440A) steel. The older 440C knives were made with a different sheath that was somewhat sturdier than the sheaths made now. The older knives also had serial numbers I believe. I'm critical of S&W for changing their specs without notice, but the 440C sheath was rectangular and much better made. The 7Cr17 was two notches down from 440C, which may or may not be noticeable with a 25-30° edge angle. But 440C is a much better steel than what they're being made with now. For $30 they're still a bargain.
I dont see the point in some of the coatings on stainless bladed tactical blades. I thought they are meant to make glare lower, but it's still shiny depending on coating.
Ok this knive is not very thick as you say, so thickness of this blade is max 6mm and it is not 1/4 ich which is mean 6.35mm, this knife it is not "good for the price" that you say, but is pretty good and better than some 100$ knives .
40 bucks is pretty good, but isn't mid-range stainless steel a bit weak for a survival knife of that size? Also, would you consider reviewing affordable EDC folders, like Ganzo 704, Enlan EL-01 and maybe some others? I would love to know your opinion on those, considering they're so inexpensive and their quality seems too good to be true.
Smith & Wesson might have bought the molds/mfg-rights to a knife which looks identical to that. It had a worse sheath without a sharpener. The sharpener would have been good because I have had no success getting a good edge. I'm about to pop the cover of my kitchen sharpener and try that. Plus it had an awful logo. Glad S&W is knowing a diamond in the rough.
Hi skall. I've never really understood the whole tanto point thing. Is there any real practical purpose for this design, or is it just a nod to wannabe tactical ninjas? I get that the blade is straighter etc but surely this could be achieved without that tanto point.
Personally, I found this knife too heavy and cumbersome. When it came to switching the grips rapidly, its handle was not very comfortable, either. Yet I would definitely not call it a poor choice.
I bought one of those and wanted to swap out the handle scales...it looks full tang but the tang itself is skeleton cut with with only one piece in the middle.
What is with S&W and heavy knives. Do they just have a crap load of steel laying around? As for this knife I'd just wrap the handle in paracord. Though that tang is still kinda of messed up
+Grim Hazzard (Gaming) Ontario Rat 1, Ontario Rat 2, Byrd Knives Meadowlark 2, Byrd CaraCara 2. Let me know if you want bigger or smaller. Personal experience with most of what I listed.
You could try to file the edges of the scales down. But that knife doesn't look like its for really a survival situations. Hence the name its probably better for self defense.
I see, just wanted to point that out if you want to improve it. I guess you could then make the handle to your liking (maybe even make different types of handles for different uses?). either way, good work on the video.. You're very talanted! Keep it up!
***** I really liked this review, but it left me with some questions: 1. Why would I use a tanto knife for wood chopping, if machetes do the job better? 2. What is the advantage of tanto blades (shapewise) over other blade designs? 3. Doesn't a bad grip design somewhat negate the usability of a tool? I maen, if a tool has the tendency to slip out of my grip, I wouldn't want to use it for that purpose, would I? What is the dent on the back of the blade, near the handle good for? Is this meant for a hammer head when chopping wood? It seems to me as if decent quality steel got wasted due to unintelligent too design...
+99smite Answered in order. Machete's are generally heavier than a tanto/bowie. The edges on a tanto are all straight which are easier to sharpen/ repair. Agreed on slippage being a huge issue. The dent is for buscrafting allowing for a thumb to be used during whittling style push cuts.
Love this knife, still have it and would rewatch this review for nostalgia.
Right here with ya man! Bought it for...tacticool but.... Tanto's have actually really grown on me and this thing comes with me on every camping trip.
Just picked one up for $20 and love it. G10 grips alone are worth that.
I have the S&W SAR version of this knife. The handle is round and it actually has a pummel to keep your hand from slipping. My only major gripe is the single pin that is pushed through the pummel doesn't have a very tight fit so the pummel moves around some.
Dear Skallagrim.
I recently got into a discussion with somebody about the practicality of a specific type of weapon from World of Warcraft, namely the Warglaives of Azzinoth and Warglaives in general as represented in the series.
I argued on the side of "These are the most ridiculously impractical weapons I have ever seen somebody try to pass off as not-impractical weapons in a video game, ever." and he argued on the side of "They're not bad, they're really good!"
In the end he told me "You're not Skallagrim" which is how I found out about your channel so I was wondering if you could take a look at how those Warglaives work. Partly to prove a point, partly because I think from a design perspective they are astonishing in how impractical they are, and partly because I think you might get a kick out of it.
WoW is pretty rife with "Form > Function" weapon designs which I'm personally fine with, but it sticks in my craw when people start ignoring logic to the degree required to defend the Glaives.
Cheers for reading, Bushflare.
I bought a similar knife (Urban Cowboy survival knife) for $10 a few years ago. It looked like a knock off of the Extreme Ratio knives. It didn't come as sharp as your knife, but a similar design with notches on the spine for a sawback effect.
I just bought this knife and really like it, very solid for the price.
Paracord can be wrapped from the lanyard to the two holes in the guard. Not only will you have some lanyard with you, it greatly softens the grip. I have three camo versions and the sheaths are great. No cheesy plastic in mine.
The nick in the blade is on the part that had to deal with the wood core when you were testing it. When you were splitting the wood the fibres saw to it that most of the blade didn't take much strain because it wasn't really cutting anything, but the core is harder and the fibres are more brittle, so that part of the blade had to cut all the way through.
Finally some weaponry stuff. I was about to think your channel would become one of those fashionistas who make videos in their living room about '' 'DEM SHOEZZZ ''.
Smith & Wesson Homeland Security, 'made in china' .... Bet they are still laughing about that one.
Yeah and it's a design of japanese knife...😕
Vote Trump, while in office he coaxed over half a million jobs back to the USA, plus maybe this time he will throw Hillary and Biden and Obama in Gitmo. 😂
Skall is gaining subscribers rather quickly just like 2-3 months ago he had 60,000 now he has 91,000
Hey Skall, can you make a video of how lethal kitchen utensils can be? I wanna know if I could defend myself just using a cutting knife or if it even can cause a lethal blow to my target
Shove it Down their throat
Providing they dont know how to swallow ?
honestly an edged kitchen utensil is not what you would want for self defense, a pot/pan or broom would be much more effective and give you greater range over your opponent
Alex Livings make it wet, freeze it, fire it with a slingshot.
***** during a fight ?
I used to have one of these . Very comfortable for carry
I've owned one of those knives for a while now. I have tried to break it down, but mine is solid.
I'd like a sheath that lets the edge float, that way you don't have to worry about carving small grooves and potentially grinding your edge on the sand and debri that gets lodged in them. Open-backed pocketnives are a pet peeve of mine too... because change and keys among other things get lodged on there, putting unessesary wear on the edge when not in use... Extremely sharp blades HATE sand btw.
*in... sigh... where the fuck is "edit comment" on mobile?
+Flinch Fu You'll have to use the Google + app.
Skallagrim, you should know that Smith & Wesson licenses out their name. They'll let someone make a product using their name and require the product to be approved/receive a percentage of the sales. I bought a S&W screw extractor set, for instance. Seems crazy the amount of varied and sometimes junky products S&W will allow to be sold under their brand.
Skallagrim could you do a review on the DART knife released by Doug Marcaida on the Funker Tactical channel? He says he spent over a decade developing his knife design.
Would be really nice to see a proper review about it, and whether it's really as great they claim it to be.
That is a nice handle for the fix it yourself inclined.
Being that you clearly have a good deal of experience in a variety of weapons (self-defense or otherwise) I was wondering your opinion of karambits in the context as a self-defense tool. I've personally found that the slightly different movements one has to use to wield one properly to be enough of a difference to be a very useful tool for self-defense but I was wondering your opinion as well.
I got the same knife and never had the problem of slipping. I think my Indexfinger holds it quite well where the handle is thinner at the front.
Similar in appearance to my FKMD Predadot-I, which is also not overly great but it's a fun tool, built like a tank and an awesome thrower
Wasn't this also used on those shoes?
I like the look of it for sure. the handle situation does suck though.
I'm probably going to buy one next week. Maybe reshape the handle scales a bit. I don't know yet
Can you review the cold steel kubon..😁😁😁
If you don't care about the S&W name on the knife, It can be had for $20 under a different name. All you are paying for with that extra $20 is the S&W Name.
Edit: Master Cutlery's Mtech Brand is the Same Knife. Sold to S&W, Gerber and Other Major Brands so they can put their Names on them and sell them with %100-500 Markups.
mtech are not the same as smith and Wesson knives. s&w are the same as schrade....which are both manufactured by "Taylor brands" no affiliation with bud k or mtech.
Thanks for the review. Lighter paper cutting test was a nice touch. There's a 50% off deal on one of these this weekend, so I wanted to know if it was worth it (want a sturdy outdoors knife that isn't a machete).
So, a question, will those side slabs on the handle take well to being taken to an aluminum oxide sanding wheel and reshaped? Thinking add curve to the corners, aside from near the tang to improve grip and reduce slipping.
Haha. So, I bounced this thing off a rock and broke a grip scale first time I took it out. Those things are crap! Time to buy some para-cord. Maybe I will cut some new wooden grips for it at work if we are slow some day. Get some nice ebony or other exotic.
I wonder if the handle could be shaped with sandpaper, dremel, or other abrasive to make it more ergonomic and perhaps even custom molded to the user's hand. I think that doing that, along with adding better grip retention such as athletic tape on the grip and skateboard tape where your index finger and thumb wrap around the grip, would make it far more safe (not dropping your knife), and comfortable to use.
That's what i did very easy to do
I just picked up three of the old 440C models in cameo finish. I also picked up a 7Cr17 Chinese steel and it should be roughly equal for chopping, but better for cutting. People like Nut'nfancy don't review blades like this because they just don't like them. If I had my pick between this S&W knife or the Buck Hoodlum, I'd take this knife any day as I think it's stronger. Even if this knife had a stupid notch like the Hoodlum, I think this knife would still fare better as it's just too strong to break like the Hoodlum. Ron Hood's notch is enough to keep me from buying one. I do love the 440C models, though the 7Cr17 isn't bad. This is a better knife than the Hoodlum, but the grip really screams for a glove. Nothing wrong with that as even Thor wore a glove he used with his hammer!
Please, do a video about Finnish Puukko, design has remained almost the same 500 years - it is a good knife. There is also army version, but that is designed for thrusting.
"Unless you do something crazy, like shoot it with a rifle..."
Anyone else getting a sense of de javu?
Maybe an air rifle?🤣
I would pop the scales off and put a snakeskin camo finish on the blade, then make some wood or bone scales with a flared pommel.
Nice review. I appreciate your insights. If I were to purchase this I would definitely consider replacing the handle with hardwood and shaping it to be more ergonomic. Perhaps building a guard into it to inhibit hand slippage too.
I agree with Skall, S&W can be hit or miss. But I do think a lot of their models are on the heavy side.
Man I used to have an old school one of these it in like 08 or so and it was so awesome I gave it away to a good friend of mine and he ended up selling it for drugs probably at the time
Awesome looking knife
IMHO The Cold Steel G.I. tanto is a superior knife at a lower cost
***** You don't watch Skall if you think he likes Cold Steel
@AxleKlown I couldn't agree with you more! Own both...stupid impulse purch on the S&W...absolutely love the CS! That blade can take a punch!
Hey Skall I have two questions. one: do you have the s&w search and rescue and if you do what do you think of it? Because I got it for Christmas last year and haven't really tested it out so I just wanted an experts thoughts first. Second: I really want to learn how to use a sword properly, so can you recommend any good manuals for beginners? Thanks.
Wonderful review. Thank you!
Do you still have a sword shop? Where is a good place to get a sword? Looking for something light I could carry in the bush.
Sorry but I have a noob-ish question: so I'm looking forward to ordering a knife and the handles have G-10 on them and I'm just wondering if that is a good material. Oh, by the way, this is for a balisong (butterfly knife), but this is for a trainer so.... Yeh. Please respond. Thanks
yes,G10 is well known in the knife community as one of the best materials for handle scales.
***** Hey Skalla. I was wondering if 420 HC Stainless Steel is any good? I would love to have your opinion on this since I am thinking of purchasing a Condor Combat Machete. Also, could you do a review on the Boker Tomahook too?
Have you ever considered making a sword/knife sharpening video?
How to use the Spyderco Sharpmaker - easy knife sharpening for beginners
well this is convinient :) i'm just going to block you now :)
***** Could you do a lecture on the different steels and what makes a steel good or not, and general price range? I know basics, but the specifics illude me.
Ierotheos just check "steel alloys" on wikipedia. its all about the percentages of carbon, vanadium, boron, manganese, silicon etc.
hardness vs brittle
stainless vs hardness
its always a compromise.
LOL, that chunk... I had one... I could actually use a mill file to fix the geometry... It turned into a Christmas stocking stuffer before I could bear to own it any longer.
Hey skall, I watched your review on the Schrade SCHA3B, and it made me want to get one :D Got it in the mail today, and it is one of the best knifes I have bought to date :D
I really like this blade, but the chopping part when its coming out of your hand is not good at all. it could of been so much better. great review and a very honest review!!
I think the version you have is 440A. The older camo version that comes with a plastic/metal sheath. The knife is designed to be inexpensive but effective. As a weapon or chopper of vines, it's great. Going on military ops, it's very tough to beat. I think the sheath is very nice for the money. Mine is a steel/plastic rectangle that's tough and very durable. This rectangle version was later deemed to be too expensive, so S&W decided to downgrade the steel to 440A and the sheath to the kind you have.
In all honesty, 440A is good enough. If you're going to be sending jihadists to hell or chopping brush and vines, it's fine. My biggest gripe with 440A is that when it's improperly heat treated, it's impossible to sharpen. I have the camo version in 440C and 440A and the heat treat on mine is so good I can cut paper. The 440C does just as well in most applications, and if you're an enemy operative and a U.S. soldier is coming at you with a Homeland Security knife this size, I doubt you're going to strike up a conversation about knife steels!
My 440A Homeland Security is fine. I don't think it's all that great for chopping wood unless you've got thick gloves, but it's great as a weapon. I'm a big fan of Cold Steel knives, but this HS knife is going to be tough to beat in a hostile environment. Cold Steel is fine for deployment, but if you're going to be giving a tactical gift to someone going in harm's way, this HS knife is very tough to beat. Many times soldiers are going to be going into small areas. Two knives I recommend are this HS knife and the Cold Steel Recon Tanto, or the Tanto Lite 6-inch. The Tanto Lite has a thin blade that's great for penetration.
What is your opinion on parra-cord wrapped handles for utility/survival knifes?
I've been toying around with designs for a kind of pseudo-multitool knife and a cord-wrapped handle makes sense to me in that respect.
Who was it made for? Mall ninjas?
Or military personnel, collectors etc.
Weekend Rambo. Or in most cases Hambo ;)
Sam Lemke I don't see why military personnel would want it. Collectors, sure, I can see someone wanting it just to have it.
SAsgarters It's cheap(soldiers are horribly underpaid) and 99% of commercial products are a lot better than their standard issue counterpart.
***** Don't worry, sir. I'm from the internet.
if you loop a piece of cord through the guard might help keep your hand from sliding down
Snapon makes some decent cheap 'tactical' pocket knives... I've turned my head from alot of the cheap walmart popular names... Kershaw, SOG, that means you guys... step it up.
I believe your knife is made of 7Cr17 (440A) steel. The older 440C knives were made with a different sheath that was somewhat sturdier than the sheaths made now. The older knives also had serial numbers I believe. I'm critical of S&W for changing their specs without notice, but the 440C sheath was rectangular and much better made. The 7Cr17 was two notches down from 440C, which may or may not be noticeable with a 25-30° edge angle. But 440C is a much better steel than what they're being made with now. For $30 they're still a bargain.
Like it...got to get one
Mike
Have you considered getting and reviewing an S30V steel blade?
I already did. Spyderco Manix 2 - Great EDC knife with ball bearing lock
I dont see the point in some of the coatings on stainless bladed tactical blades. I thought they are meant to make glare lower, but it's still shiny depending on coating.
Ok this knive is not very thick as you say, so thickness of this blade is max 6mm and it is not 1/4 ich which is mean 6.35mm, this knife it is not "good for the price" that you say, but is pretty good and better than some 100$ knives .
Your videos have excellent audio quality, what recording equipment do you use?
I use a Sennheiser MKE 400 shotgun mic.
Nice, yea, at that price it should sound good. So do you plug it right into your camera, or do you use a dedicated audio recorder?
Folopolis
It's plugged into the camera.
Thanks.
40 bucks is pretty good, but isn't mid-range stainless steel a bit weak for a survival knife of that size?
Also, would you consider reviewing affordable EDC folders, like Ganzo 704, Enlan EL-01 and maybe some others? I would love to know your opinion on those, considering they're so inexpensive and their quality seems too good to be true.
I would like to purchase one of these !!
But is there other colours than green for the handle
Smith & Wesson might have bought the molds/mfg-rights to a knife which looks identical to that. It had a worse sheath without a sharpener. The sharpener would have been good because I have had no success getting a good edge. I'm about to pop the cover of my kitchen sharpener and try that.
Plus it had an awful logo. Glad S&W is knowing a diamond in the rough.
Looks like something out of Metal Gear Solid
Pretty cool!
and your camera has a hell of a macro!!
Hi skall. I've never really understood the whole tanto point thing. Is there any real practical purpose for this design, or is it just a nod to wannabe tactical ninjas? I get that the blade is straighter etc but surely this could be achieved without that tanto point.
Personally, I found this knife too heavy and cumbersome. When it came to switching the grips rapidly, its handle was not very comfortable, either. Yet I would definitely not call it a poor choice.
What would be a good replacement sheath for this knife???
sadly this is discontinued, is there something similar
Hey skal I've got a question not related to the video. Do you buy any guns online? If so what site do you recommend?
I have ordered from and can recommend these online stores:
www.theammosource.com/
www.canadaammo.com/
westrifle.com/wrstore/
www.tradeexcanada.com/
Thanks dude
I bought one of those and wanted to swap out the handle scales...it looks full tang but the tang itself is skeleton cut with with only one piece in the middle.
What is with S&W and heavy knives. Do they just have a crap load of steel laying around? As for this knife I'd just wrap the handle in paracord. Though that tang is still kinda of messed up
Weren't tantos supposed to be stabbing and piercing, not chopping?
@John Smith yes that is true. The length and heft of this knife lead people to use it for chopping...not necc the best usage.
You should try reviewing their SW7 tanto. There are some better design aspects to it compared to this.
PLZ make an video where you review the weapons from darksiders 1 and 2 that would be great !
love you and your channel tho
Smith and Wesson branded knifes are actually made by Taylor Brands and just use the S&W name under license...Just FYI.
Skallagrim do you have any cheap/afordable knife that you would recommend?
I know I am not skall, but what are you looking for
+Grim Hazzard (Gaming) Ontario Rat 1, Ontario Rat 2, Byrd Knives Meadowlark 2, Byrd CaraCara 2. Let me know if you want bigger or smaller. Personal experience with most of what I listed.
Domenik Eyraud Thanks mate! :)
***** Sure thing, a lot of those are at cheaper than normal prices on Amazon right now btw. Glad I could help. :)
Review the Becker bk2 please.
Do the Emerson Super Karambit, there aren't any accurate reviews after they changed the tip of the blade
Can you choose the handle color?
What steels do you suggest for really tight budgets in the $70 to $100 mark
With tailor brands is the 440c they used genuine or is it a lesser quality 440 steel
+Kurtis Coleman aus8... 440a.... 440c, and you might get s30v at that price point
I got one its a great knife i love tantos
How does 440c steel compare to AUS-8 ?
Slightly better edge retention and wear resistance.
You should check out the Smith & Wesson SWBLOP3R
How many knifes do you own now?
Love your reviews man! You should do one over the Benchmade SOCP Dagger!
Congrats on your six-hundreth vid!
what are the guard holes for?
what is a tanto ? a longer , slander dagger ?
You could try to file the edges of the scales down. But that knife doesn't look like its for really a survival situations. Hence the name its probably better for self defense.
Wow, didn't realize how bad my grammar was in that lol.
Nice! BTW Skall, the a says "Ah" like in "katana"
can you review a tac-force knife
They should make a small version...
I got one of these and it is well worth the $40
would this be considered a survival knife as well?
can i take this comment back lol? i didn't watch the whole video
How good can it be if it can't even go through a rubber-soled shoe with more than 100Kg of pressure behind it?
I don't weigh more than 100kg and I didn't stand on it, so I could only put my upper body weight into it.
***** Not even with all your gear/clothing? I'm surprised.
couldn't you make your own handle out of wood since you can easily replace the old handle? Maybe the metal part would still be in the way.
Of course, but the purpose of the review is to point out the pros and cons it has out of the box, without modifications.
I see, just wanted to point that out if you want to improve it. I guess you could then make the handle to your liking (maybe even make different types of handles for different uses?). either way, good work on the video.. You're very talanted! Keep it up!
awesome vid. :)
looks great :3
There are some pretty big gaps in the handle scales.
God damn i love this knife
``Unless you make something crazy like shoot it with a rifle...´´ who would do that?
Um...
Well, there WAS that one thing with the Reaver Cleaver...
Palpetinus
(I watched that video too, i was joking)
That's why it's crazy no one would do that.
Charles McLain He does
So... the traditional scandinavian "Leuku" that you reviewed is better all round utility knife?
mclang There are quite a few utility knives with more practical value than this one.
***** I really liked this review, but it left me with some questions:
1. Why would I use a tanto knife for wood chopping, if machetes do the job better?
2. What is the advantage of tanto blades (shapewise) over other blade designs?
3. Doesn't a bad grip design somewhat negate the usability of a tool? I maen, if a tool has the tendency to slip out of my grip, I wouldn't want to use it for that purpose, would I?
What is the dent on the back of the blade, near the handle good for? Is this meant for a hammer head when chopping wood?
It seems to me as if decent quality steel got wasted due to unintelligent too design...
+99smite Answered in order. Machete's are generally heavier than a tanto/bowie. The edges on a tanto are all straight which are easier to sharpen/ repair. Agreed on slippage being a huge issue. The dent is for buscrafting allowing for a thumb to be used during whittling style push cuts.
Uruz2012
thx...
This seems to be more of a combat knife. It's for stabbing, not chopping wood.
I have the Bowie version, and it does bushcraft stuff with ease. I see it as a survival knife, but that's just my opinion.
I thought the same, this definitely is a combat knife.
Combat/tactical-style blade of questionable steel quality, terrible sheath, and most God awful handle geometry. Looks cool as you-know-what tho...