Knife Question for SWAT/Tac Unit Guys

[LockedBreech]

A few thoughts:
-I don't think I ever used a knife for anything critical on SWAT.
-Mostly I carried a folder by Benchmade or Emerson.
-If you hand it to a teammate, it better not be one you'll cry over when it gets lost or broken.

The real classy thing to get your bud would be a small Sebenza.

A few other comments have been along this line. I just told him I don’t care whether he picks a full featured duty blade with tools, a pry bar, a plainclothes detective blade, or a jack of all trades blade. He knows his day to day better than me, so I just told him to browse the brands and ideas here and pick one and send me the bill. Though further posts are certainly welcome, as I don’t know knives especially well other than liking my Benchmade.


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[blues]

A few thoughts:
-I don't think I ever used a knife for anything critical on SWAT.
-Mostly I carried a folder by Benchmade or Emerson.
-If you hand it to a teammate, it better not be one you'll cry over when it gets lost or broken.

The real classy thing to get your bud would be a small Sebenza.

Or an Insingo...(I have a large "regular", and a small "Insingo" and I just love that pair.)

[Clusterfrack]

I still value your input, offer as you like.

My current favorite folders are the ZT 0620 Emerson in Elmax (great deal on Amazon right now), and the Emerson CQC-7F (both pictured in the first image below). If your buddy is in to the Emerson wave, or wants to invest the time to learn it, these could be good options.

I also own a ZT 0560 (second image below), and it's the most robust folder in my collection. Truly a monster, but actually not too heavy due to its titanium construction.

And, about a comparison to the Spyderco Para2... I'm a huge Spyderco fan, and the Para2 is a nice knife. I gave our contractor one when he finished our latest remodel. Great knife for the price.

Edit: one more thought. For this use, I think you want a knife that stays closed when it's supposed to. The ZTs have very strong detents. The Emerson, not so much. I've got a patch in the rear pocket of some 5.11s from when it came open by itself. Fortunately I didn't also need stitches in my ass.

[Hambo]

Or an Insingo...(I have a large "regular", and a small "Insingo" and I just love that pair.)

It's not cool to have to return to the shitty abandoned building you were training in because you think you dropped your Seb there. Just sayin...

[blues]

It's not cool to have to return to the shitty abandoned building you were training in because you think you dropped your Seb there. Just sayin...

I carried expendable knives on SRT.

I think the knife I carried the most was a Benchmade AFCK (in M2). It was particularly apt because former SEAL Chris Caracci helped design the knife and he was my primary instructor when I went through Ft. Lauderdale P.D.'s SWAT school back in the 90's.

(I didn't realize his connection until after I already owned the knife.)

[Erick Gelhaus]

The AFCK & Chris C ... have the knife.

For the role discussed, I'd look for a very robust, relatively short fixed blade or folder. I have a bias in favor of the DB as a sharpened crowbar. I have intentionally broken noticably longer blades that were as thick; however, I haven't broken a DB.

Another option would be a higher end multi-tool. I use one of those more than either type of knife.

[Grey]

The AFCK & Chris C ... have the knife.

For the role discussed, I'd look for a very robust, relatively short fixed blade or folder. I have a bias in favor of the DB as a sharpened crowbar. I have intentionally broken noticably longer blades that were as thick; however, I haven't broken a DB.

Another option would be a higher end multi-tool. I use one of those more than either type of knife.

Not a SWAT/LE guy (just a knife guy...) but this is spot on. If you think he is going to pry shit with it then get a pry bar. Trying to get a knife that is good at prying is going to make it shit at cutting because the blade is going to be so damn thick. Striders are great fixed blades for beating the hell out of but if you want to get a slicer then their fixed blades are usually not the way to go.

[Dagga Boy]

Clusterfrack-Use the heck out of both models of ZT's and concur with everything you wrote, including the price from Amazon. I hve the spearpoint version of the Emerson ZT, and it and the Hinderer have been stellar performers.

The AFCK & Chris C ... have the knife.

For the role discussed, I'd look for a very robust, relatively short fixed blade or folder. I have a bias in favor of the DB as a sharpened crowbar. I have intentionally broken noticably longer blades that were as thick; however, I haven't broken a DB.

Another option would be a higher end multi-tool. I use one of those more than either type of knife.

Glad to see more Chris C fans. Chris was funny back in the day. Had a bunch of good stuff and some eye rolls, but he was fun. And of course.....the Carracci Floor Jack was a great move.....:-)

Not a SWAT/LE guy (just a knife guy...) but this is spot on. If you think he is going to pry shit with it then get a pry bar. Trying to get a knife that is good at prying is going to make it shit at cutting because the blade is going to be so damn thick. Striders are great fixed blades for beating the hell out of but if you want to get a slicer then their fixed blades are usually not the way to go.

The Strider DB was designed specifically for use in conjunction with a folder. It allowed use of a thin bladed folder to do typical daily cutting chores, and the DB was for everything else. Things like the Watson Gamboa were designed as a stand alone do it all blade.

[blues]

Chris was a lotta fun but he was diabolical when it came to ambushes and entry defensive techniques.

I learned a lot from him. Also from the SAS when they came to Miami and presented a course of instruction. I kind of miss those days now. (Except for the call outs in the middle of the night.)

Has Chris ever done any other knife designs? I haven't kept up with him in many a year. (He had a sub-forum on bladeforums.com back in the early days.)

[Dagga Boy]

Chris was a lotta fun but he was diabolical when it came to ambushes and entry defensive techniques.

I learned a lot from him. Also from the SAS when they came to Miami and presented a course of instruction. I kind of miss those days now. (Except for the call outs in the middle of the night.)

Has Chris ever done any other knife designs? I haven't kept up with him in many a year. (He had a sub-forum on bladeforums.com back in the early days.)

For every good thing with Chris, there were a lot of eye rolls. The centerline Derringer carry was hilarious. I trained with a lot of that generation team guys. You got a few nuggets, they were fun to hang with, but very little was applicable. Same with the SAS guys. Simply very different worlds.