huntingandtacticalknives.com

So last night I decided to tune in to the new Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing and see if it was going to be worth watching.  I have to say I really enjoyed it, but with my luck and TV shows it will get canceled soon.

So why would I be talking about a TV sitcom here?  Well, during the show he does a mini-review of the SOG Seal Team knife!  You get a good look at it in the show because he’s holding it up to a webcam he’s using in the scene.

I’m sure SOG paid for that product placement, so hopefully there will be more!  If so, I’ll let you know.

Ok, here’s a quick note on Target. I go to Target and check out their 1.00 aisle for survival stuff. I’ve found emergency blankets, cold compresses, first aid kits, burn kits, bug bite kits, and some great zippered bags that look like a small shaving kit bag. I’ve even found compasses with whistles there. But the reason this gets posted on a knife site is because I found some 1.00 knock-off swiss army knives. True, they aren’t the greatest knives around, HOWEVER… They would make great trade in a “The Zombies Are Coming!!” scenario and if you build a BOAT “Bug Out Altoids Tin” they are great to stick in there. Here’s a pic of the knife and the bag. Not Bad For A Buck!!

I was wandering through the Bass Pro Shop and found a great deal on a Gerber Gator II Knife. Actually it was a pack, you get the Gator II, a gut hook, a small tree limb saw, and a flashlight for $34.77! The Gator Knife alone costs $35. If you live near a Bass Pro Shop you may want to go by and pick it up. Here’s a pic so you can see it. Here’s a Gerber folding knife page if you want some more info.

I was watching my favorite TV show (LIFE) last night and there was a stabbing on the show.  The murder weapon turned out to be a Desert Tan Folding Ka Bar Mule with a Tanto style blade.  I recently linked to a page on Squidoo from one of my other lenses about this very knife.  You can find all the info on the Ka-Bar Mule Folding Knife here.

I just got an update today that Gerber received a “Readers Choice” award from Field and Stream magazine for 2008. CONGRATS GERBER!!!! Follow this link to see the official dispatch.

Well, the holidays are over and my stress levels have about returned to normal.  My 5 year old got tons of toys for Christmas which he hasn’t touched since. Sigh…  So now I’m back to my blog.  I haven’t really been away, I’ve been doing some research on several different knives that I’ll be posting soon.

What I’m really looking for are problems with knives that I can dig into and get to the bottom of.  Such as, the Cold Steel Recon Tanto knife that I’m working on now.  There’s a question as to what steel it’s made of and why it changed.  If you have any questions about knives you’re looking at buying please let me know and I’ll try to find an answer.

-Knifehunter

I was looking around some knife forums and found myself hooked on finding out which knife Charlie Crews uses. I watch this show every week and knew he used a Spyderco but didn’t know which one.  Well the general consensus is that he uses a Spyderco Knives – Police, Stainless Steel Handle, ComboEdge knife.  I’ve been looking for a good folding knife so if anyone uses this knife let me know what you think of it.  Now if I just had as much money as Charlie does…

Just a quick note, I’ve had a hard time finding this knife anywhere in stock. The above link only has 2 in stock so you better hurry if this is the knife you want. I’ll keep looking for more of them.

I went to a gun show this past weekend and checked in on the knife dealers there. I had a conversation with one that told me his sales on SOG knives had gone down since they changed their manufacturing plant to Taiwan. So, my question is, does anyone out there have the same knife made in both countries? The knife dealer only had newer knives so I couldn’t get a comparison.

I don’t believe that SOG would allow their standards to slip just because they changed the country that their knives are made in, but I’d like to hear from anyone that has had problems with their knives and in what country it was manufactured.

I had a reader submit this question to my blog.

“Hey there. I am trying to learn about their origins. your page shows them made in u.s. and Japan.

MANY other pages, i think including SOG lists the SE 37 as being made in Taiwan. Can you help me sort this out. The older Seal knife 2000 (S37 )was made of AU6 steel, but i wonder if it would be more desirable than the current SE37 if it is made in Taiwan.”

So I sent this question to my contact over at SOG and this was the response I got.

“Our older version of the Seal 2000 Knife (SE-37) was made in Japan, with
AUS6 steel.  The newer version is made in Taiwan, using AUS8 steel,
which is better quality steel and more durable.  Some people consider
the Japanese version “more desirable” simply because it is made in
Japan, and they have a reputation for higher quality.  However the
improvements that were made when we transitioned to Taiwanese
manufacture, I think, supersede the innate quality that is given to the
Japanese version – this is why we made the changes in the first place.”

I was very happy I got this question because I wasn’t aware that SOG had changed the origin of these knives and it allowed me to update my SOG Seal Knives squidoo page.

I followed that up with another question on when this change was made and got this response.

“The change from Japan to Taiwan was at the beginning of the 2008 manufacturing year.
The knives are virtually the same from Japan to Taiwan.  There is rasping on the spine of the Taiwanese blades that was not on the Japanese ones, and the earlier version of the Taiwan blades did not have a diamond pattern at the top of the handle near the bolster, but that has been adapted recently to match.
I do not have a country of origin list that I can give to you, but to answer your more specific question: all of our Seal knife series is manufactured in Taiwan as of 2008.”

SO, if you’re in the market for one of these knives be aware that they are now being made in Taiwan,  not the US, or Japan no matter what you see on other sites.  I personally prefer knives made in the U.S.A. but that’s my personal preference, it doesn’t have anything to do with quality.  I believe these foreign manufacturers quality standards must live up to SOG’s company standards so I think these are still excellent knives. In other words, if I had decided that the SOG Seal Pup Elite knife was for me, then I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it just because it was made in Taiwan.

Hi Everyone,

Here you will find information on hunting knives, tactical knives, survival knives and other assorted things I like. I’ve been running a blog at the WordPress.com site and decided it was time to get my own domain. I’ll be posting some articles I, and a few other people, have written about knives and collecting knives, as well as where you can find the knives you read about here.

I have a few contacts at a couple of the major knife manufacturers so you’ll see me post answers from them to questions my readers send me, which brings me to the point of this site. I want this site to be about information on knives. I have some favorites but need to expand my horizons to some of the other manufacturers.

So, in order to do that I need questions from you, my readers. What information are you looking for on the knife you’ve decided may be right for you? Let me know and I’ll do my best to find the answers, because I’m sure more people have the same questions.

(Grabs bottle of champagne and breaks it over the bow of the site) And with that… it is launched.

Marlin Zeller — Knifehunter