A Specialized Utility Knife Dedicated to It's Tasks.

Blade Shape

The Tanto blade shape enables a tip built for penetrating. It's front edge is shaped to be progressively thicker at the tip for reinforcement. This will keep it from chipping or braking during heavy use. The cutting edge has a slight belly to help in slicing chords/rope/cloth, with a relatively thick edge and a 25 deg secondary bevel for maximizing edge retention.

Steel

Maganacut was chosen for it's excellent balance between corrosion resistance, edge retention and ease of sharpening. This knife steel has a perfect balance and was invented directly as a modern knife steel. The Blades are hardened to 61-63 HRC to maximize it's benefits. The blades are also coated with a mat black cerakote to help agains detection from stop reflections and prodive an extra protective coating.

Overall Knife Outline

The blade's shape once in hand is dropped for the best pointing of the tip in both a regular or an upside-down grip. Two areas of the knife have jimping to improve grip. This is located in a thumb rest above the blade, and at the rear of the knife which acts as thumb or palm rest. The oversized Index-finger groove is designed around the wearing of gloves.

Handle Design & Material

Ergonomics were the first thought in mind. The idea was to have a handle that would be as nimble as it would be sturdy in it's grip. The handle's lined texture helps with grip & retention with or without gloves on. The front of the handle has a thumb recess, the body is contoured to your palm, and the rear forms into a jimped palm or thumb rest.

The handle is made of black FR4 - a material that is similar to G10, but with a rougher texture (improve grip) and a heat resistance of up to 400 Deg F.

Sheath

A Kydex or similar material will be used to build the sheath to provide a strong sheathed hold and familiar release on deployment. Multiple mounting positions are provided through the use of a spaced rivet system. The sheath's connection hardware will fit all major brands, including Ulti-Clip, Tek-Lok and many others.

Proof of Concept

The first version of the knife was built in 80crv2 High Carbon Steel. These knives were manufactured using the waterjet and handtools to enable me to test the handle's comfort, blade angles and edge geometry.

In testing, I was able to chop through 1x3 lumber two times in a row and was able to shave hair off my arm from the same edge. A simple stropping of the blade brought it back to a razor sharp edge. the jimping was very comfortable, but a bit short towards the handle. The blade's angle when in hand was just right. A few minor adjustments to the grip's design were needed for added comfort.

Recent Developments

The knife has undergone many revision cycles to ensure the best possible grip, comfort, blade geometry and strength vs weight and rigidity.

These included:
- Minor changes to overall blade thickness
- Blade tip graduated thickness
- A thumb ramp above the blade with added jimping
- Slight changes to the handle profile

 Manufacturing

A USA based specialty knife manufacturing company has shared a contract for a first production run.

Gallery

This gallery depicts the model's latest updates and is considered ready for production.