rockstar.esq Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I was looking at a Spartan Knives "Horkos" which has a tip profile that I've seen before but I don't know what knifemakers call it. It's almost like a long notch between the choil and the tip. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Tactical drop point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Not being a bladesmith guy I had to look up a pic of the Horkos. I know what a drop point is and that Tactical is new jargon for Fighting knife, probably markets better as it doesn't sound like a person's looking for trouble. Anyway my question is what is the purpose of a long "depression" in the spine? I don't see useful features like a saw teeth, etc. it's smooth in the pics. A similar configuration in a spear point the relieving of width behind the cutting edges improves penetration but a sharp change like the Horkos' profile would act like a barb. Once stuck in muscles clamp down and it'd be much harder to pull out. Is there a reason for this feature, does it have a specific term? I can't think of anything it's good for but I'm not a bladesmith let alone knife fighter. If I know I'm going to a fight I take something that requires two hands to operate and is effective at a comfortable range. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Exactly. "Tactical" is just something they stamp on the box to make it sell, as is that blade shape. Someone might come by here with a gruesome explanation, but that is my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I don't know what the purposed advantages of this profile might be. I suspect that part of it is just advertising, coming up with the something sleek and sexy but not markedly distinctive in a practical sense, much like the backstory on the "Horkos" name. In other words, the usual [impolite Greek word] ταύρου. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I chip in on the "designed to sell over designed to work"; but I feel the same way about a lot of stuff. I would like to hear why that feature (top of spine relief) is a plus from the makers. Such stories are often amusing....(like the chisel tip on "American Tantos") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 What is the rationale for the chisel tip on "American Tantos"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 As far as I can tell "Because Cold Steel made theirs that way". I personally think it makes it a poorer cutter *or* stabber compared to other designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormcrow Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 This tends to get called either a raised clip or a harpoon point. It's visually striking and can be quite aggressive looking, and also makes a wider point (and therefore wound channel) for stabbing while keeping the overall blade width and weight down. I'd say for most knives, aesthetics is the main reason for such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Lot they could do with the grind(s) for weight reasons; False edge down the top would do the same and can help various scenarios. I see a lot of "retained weight"; in what looks like a commercial design; but I hope custom versions tweak that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 Thank you all for your replies. Stormcrow, I googled both suggested terms and "Harpoon point" seems to be the better fit for what I was asking about. "Raised clip point" also includes some bowie-ish designs that have a spine that slants up and away from the back of the handle towards the clip point. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I was going to call it a "raised drop point" but it sounded too silly. I can appreciate the discussion about the marketing/utility balance. I don't know boo about tactical stuff, I just appreciate the aesthetics. Frosty's observation had me thinking about an old movie with Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro called "The hunted". The villain had a "scout" pattern knife featured that had the "harpoon" notch on the top of the spine, with a heavily recurved section after the tip. I know a guy who has one and the general idea seemed to be to use the convex ground heavy tip for chopping, while reserving the hollow ground recurved area for finer cutting. It's not my thing but I can appreciate the thinking that went into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanternnate Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I don't know why aesthetics isn't just as viable a "practical" reason to do something in bladesmithing as it is in any other type of craft blacksmithing (or any craft for that matter). That fancy scroll work or leaf pattern on a coat hook sure don't help it hang a coat any better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 And if the "Aesthetics" interferes with the supposed purpose of the item? I just did a run of cubicle hooks and all the counter bends were added to improve their function as well as improve their "aesthetics". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I completely agree with Lantern as long as it doesn't sacrifice usability. As much as knife companies may imply otherwise, they are A LOT more concerned about making money than getting you out of a desperate situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 The best definition of a survival knife I know of is: "It's the knife you are carrying when you are placed in a survival situation---if it is not on you it is not a survival knife!" so my SAK that lives in my pocket it much more of a survival knife that the massive hollow handled things labeled survival knives but do not get carried all the time. (I still remember when I was no longer allowed to carry my SAK on airplanes---a sad day indeed! And I remember carrying swords on planes when I was younger...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 24 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: (I still remember when I was no longer allowed to carry my SAK on airplanes---a sad day indeed! And I remember carrying swords on planes when I was younger...) I remember back in the late 80s when I got stopped at security for having a Buck 110 in my pocket. They made me go back to the counter and check it. The thing is, since I hadn't checked a suitcase, they put my knife in a biiiiiiiiig cardboard box and checked that. The kicker is: when I got home, I was getting something out of my carry-on backpack and realized that they had totally missed the fixed-blade puukko with the 4" blade.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 I remember when they were starting to make a fuss and one of the items was serrated blades; so I have a SAK with a lot of blades that my wife and kids gave me for Father's Day when we were in Germany. So the security guy takes it and looks at the knifeblade and tells me I can carry it on as it doesn't have serrations---of course the next blade over was a wood saw which is *ALL* serrations; but I wasn't going to argue... My weirdest one was when I was going on a business trip and suddenly realize that my carryon has a pattern welded blade in it from my last personal trip by car *and* I have almost no time to make the flight! And I was dropped off! So I ended up hiding the blade under a garbage can in the covered parking area and running to make my flight. It was still there when I returned several days later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Before all the security madness it was perfectly legal to put a knife in your coat, and run it through the X-ray. Now if the same knife was in your pocket when you went through the metal detector, they'd confiscate it. One time in Portland OR I walked through the metal detector wearing a belt that normally set them off but nothing happened. The fella behind me looked like he'd sneezed into a tackle box. Easily a pound of metal in visible piercings. When the detector failed to go off, they asked him to wait a moment whilst they re-calibrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 I once walked through a metal detector at an large airport in the USA wearing my maille shirt under my regular shirt without it beeping. I think they were working on the system; but they were waving people through---back when I was in my 20's and more adventurous...and willing to wear a 20# shirt while travelling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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