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Phillips Close Quarter Combat Training News
Choosing a Tactical Folder Knife for Police work
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Literally, you have the choice of hundreds of pocket-clipped, folding knivesMost have marketing names like Police Model, SWAT, Recon, Hostage Rescue, Rangemaster and, of course, Tactical. How do you even start to sort out the best duty knife? 154CM and ATS-34
First, begin with the blade material. Because the entire purpose of a knife is served by the blade, select the best grade of blade material you can afford. Put your money into the blade. In the ever-elusive chase for the best in hardness, toughness, durability, edge holding, ease of sharpening, corrosion resistance, chip resistance and cost, this is today’s best compromise. Crucible 154CM is harder and holds its edge better than the common stainless steels with less with carbon, and 154CM has more corrosion resistance than the true high carbon steels. Lots of hard-use knives use 154CM or ATS-34, so your selection of make and lock design is fairly wide. Other Alloys If the blade is marked “440” if is almost certainly 440A, a very soft stainless steel. The AUS-6 alloy has a similar metallurgy to 440A. Anything less than 440B or AUS-8 is probably going to dull too fast for even casual police work. Even the 440C and AUS-10 will dull much faster than the harder 154CM and ATS-34. The very latest blade materials to enter the police duty realm are Crucible S30V, S60V and S90V. About 30% more expensive than a knife made of 154CM, if S30V is in your budget, definitely go for it! And for the real knife enthusiasts, check out the Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) alloys, which use a manufacturing process resulting in a near perfect grain structure. The 154CM alloy is now available in the CPM line. 59 to 60Rc Hardness The metallurgy, of course, determines both the hardness and the toughness. A harder blade will hold the edge longer but be more difficult to sharpen. All knife makers publish the hardness of their blades in terms of a range on the Rockwell C – scale, (Rc). The key here is that the Rockwell C – scale is not linear. A steel that is 57 Rc is a lot softer than a steel with a 58 Rc hardness. The 154CM and ATS – 34 blades are in the 59 to 60 Rc range. It is virtually impossible to get a hybrid stainless steel with a hardness over 60 Rc. At the other extreme, a 440A or AUS – 6 blade with a hardness of 56 Rc really will dull on the first cut. Toughness is a much more elusive attribute to measure. It involves the alloying elements like manganese, molybdenum and vanadium, which increase toughness by controlling the grain structure during heat treating. Since the toughness is an inter-related and interdependent aspect of the finished and heat treated blade, just pick the right alloy, and police-spec toughness will be included. Tang Lock, Frame Lock Next, after the blade material, let’s consider the lock design. The internal tang lock, or frame lock, designs are mechanically the strongest and also the least likely to accidentally close during rough use. These designs have names such as AXIS lock (Benchmade), Ultra-lock (Cold Steel), Ball Bearing lock (Spyderco) and Arc-lock (SOG), etc. The frame lock is different than a liner lock! With the frame lock, the sides of the handle of frame slides behind the blade to hold it open. The tightening grip of your hand actually holds the frame lock in place. At the bottom of this list in terms of strength – and also the easiest to accidentally close – are the liner lock designs. On this design, a strip of metal from the handle liner springs under the blade to hold it open. Because this is the least expensive way to make a knife, these knives are far and away the most popular, accounting for more than half of all the tactical blades. Heads up! As the handle is twisted in your hand, it is very possible for your finger to engage the liner and unlock the knife. One – handed Opening Under Stress Next, pick a knife that you can open easily with one hand. Your other hand may be busy saving your life. Here is the drill, with the knife clipped in the correct pocket, i.e. left pocket if you are right handed and right pocket if you are left handed. Grab your own belt with your gun hand. Have someone grab you from behind by the shoulders and start to shake you violently. During this, draw the knife and open it to the fully locked position with your non – gun hand. That little exercise will eliminate a lot of knives from consideration for police use! It will also eliminate knives that do not have ambidextrous pocket clip mounting options and opening options. It will also lead you to a knife that opens smoothly all the way and one that fully locks every time. Handle Material and Texture The grip or handles may be made from aluminum, titanium or a fiberglass – reinforced nylon. Each is in a different cost category. Let’s consider a few things. First, how much weight do you want in your pocket? Titanium is almost twice the weight of aluminum, and even aluminum is much heaver than nylon. Second, thin about how easy it is to clean the handle material, i.e., decontaminate it. You may need to clean blood and other possibly dangerous fluids from your knife. Another issue is grip texture. Your hands will be wet from sweat, blood, water, oil, antifreeze, alcohol, jail gooh or any of a number of possible things out there. The surface should be textured enough for a good grip under slippery conditions. Long and Thick Blades Blade thickness makes a difference. The police blade should be at least 0.125 inches thick. Sporting oriented blades will often be thinner, but as the blade gets thinner, it definitely gets weaker. If you use it less for cutting, and more for everything else, you should consider a 0.148 – inch – thick blade or even on that is 0.156 inches thick. The blade should between 3.5 inches and 4 inches long, and most knives in the police or tactical are in this range. Of course, the folder should have a pocket clip. It should allow ambidextrous carry. The best ones also allow the officer to change from a tip-up carry to a tip down carry, and vice versa. The Tanto point was all the rage 15+ years ago when tactical folders first took off. The problem came when actually using the Tanto point for the things most cops use a knife to do. Many found the strong but thick Tanto point is just too thick for where we need to get the blade tip. The reality is that the Drop point, Clip point or even spears point, are probably better choices. Partial Serrated blades Without question, the serrations cut difficult and coarse materials better than a straight blade. Clearly, the police folder should be partially serrated. Along with hardness and toughness, cost is a part of the three-way knife compromise. So what should you expect to pay for a good tactical folder? The first recommendation, i.e., the use of 154CM or ATS-34 blade material, instantly puts you in the $100 to $150 price range. The good news is that you can also get virtually everything else in that same price range: 3.8-inch-long, 0.125 – inch – thick, partially serrated ATS – 34 blade, tang – lock, fiberglass – reinforced nylon grips with ambidextrous pocket clip.
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