Spyderco Forums

Is there any merit in the story going around that Tactical Knives magazine is closing down?

Heard this from folks at the most recent Oregon Knife Show and it is on some threads, as well.

It's what I heard somewhere on here. Haven't seen any issues since I heard it. Very sad. Great magazine. I've bought a few Spydies because of their excellent reviews and pics.

That is a shame, if it is true. I too have enjoyed their material for several years now.

I hope it isn't true>> because it is to me it is by far the best of the main three knife magazines you see on most newstands. I first heard the rumor myself about a month ago. I haven't seen one on a newstand here in KC MO in about 2 months now and I've been looking for them.

Harris Publications who is their publisher has all of it's other magazines on the newstand but not TK.

What I always liked about Tactical Knives was that all of the information they published was pertinent to buyers, collectors and knifemakers as well as a great publication for outdoorsmen as well. This economy is going to have a lot of great businesses fold before it's all over unfortunately. But I hope it's all rumor.

The July issue was indeed the last one.

Steve Dick and Company did nearly 18 years of great work. That is one heck of a run for a specialty publication.

Yes it is true. Two of their writers I count as friends.

It's a shame to see them go, but I can't say I'm surprised. I'm not sure it's the economy so much as it's the nature of the magazine business. It's going to be nearly impossible for an every other month magazine to be as current as a website with content published everyday.

Bummer. I just recently got a copy of their first issue Winter 95. They will be missed.

The magazine is done, but they said they'll be continueing knife articles in their other covers.

sal

LC Kid wrote:
The whole 'paperless' thing is taking over the publishing business. Even the biggest newspapers and magazines are switching their traditional print format to digital, and they're doing it fast.

And as long as the main sponsors are switching to digital too, we could only expect more printed mags and publications to disappear in the future.[/font][/size]

There is a big problem with all of that you mentioned on that last line>> if we as a society allow the eradication of actual printed material like books, magazines, newspapers and any other print media then we as nation are setting ourselves up for a complete communications breakdown. Not only that it will eventually do away with libraries as we know them today. When you think it through it's truly a major disaster in the making.

The First & Second Amendments of the USA Constitution are so important to us as a society that our founding fathers deemed it necessary to make both of those rights to be the most important. The First & Second Amendments are truly our cornerstone of basic human rights ( not priviledges) and this will be a way to dwindle them down to nothing in a relatively short period of time.

It's a trend that frankly disturbs me greatly>> because I truly do see what is on the horizon. We will if we allow it to happen have our information under complete government control if we don't stop this trend quickly.

I love the internet and all of the vast resources it gives us and I spend anywhere from 2 to 3 hours a day on it >> but you can't just have one source of information because it will be too easy for those in power to shut the entire media ( as we know it) down to complete governmental control. It is truly a scary time we're living in.

If censorship or control of online material got too great, people would migrate back to print format. It would take care of itself.

Sad to see it go, I always liked it.

Sadly print medium as a whole is stuck in the same catch 22 the post office is in. Declining revenue due to changing market habits means they have to charge more for the product, which in the end makes your product more expensive and therefore less attractive. I will say I don't buy magazines anymore and this why. I look at the prices and most are $7.99 and up. Especially the gun magazine that is 2/3 actual catalog and selling for $12.99...

It is a shame to see them go...

It is partly due to them not converting to the digital age fast enough. They really should have gone for being made available on the Amazon Kindle e-reader, among others.

I recall only seeing the digital subscription available for the Nook e-reader from Barnes and Noble.

I was really hoping that they would get around to doing a complete archive on DVD, but I guess there isn't much chance of seeing that happen now.

The magazine publishing industry is just that. An industry. The publisher and executive board are interested purely in profit and this includes investing in other titles they may own or wish to start up...which they project or want to see increased sales/profit from.

Essentially, once they wring what they believe is all available profit from a title they'll either retire it or sell it.

Unless one is privy to the decision making process there's no way to really know why a title is closed down.

TK was a specialty title within a specialty market. Blade and Knives Illustrated are broad base titles. They can and do cover the wide array of cutlery and thus appeal to as many audiences as are interested in knives. Advertising wise they can pull in a broad array of advertisers, as well. Tactical Knives was not in this position - it had to remain within the narrow confines of its title and scope of interest. Stray outside that editorially and you risk turning off TK readers who only want to read about tactical knives...and there's no guarantee you'll draw enough broad base market to purchase off the stands or by subscription just because you run two or three broad base articles (i.e. Art knives).

And if the publisher wants to shift available funding from one title to another that is more profitable already and can still draw advertising by running some articles (on tactical knives, for example) in a digital format, well...that's a no brainer.

Again, it's all about the money and business.

TK's run was excellent at 18 years. Harris Publications managed it beautifully. Now whether they shop the title around for sale or sell off the subscription list to Blade or Knives Illustrated will be interesting to see. Bet on the subscription list going up for sale. If anyone subscribing begins to get offers in the mail (a copy of Blade with a note how they'd love to shift you over from your former TK sub to Blade) that would not be surprising...'cause Blade offers it runs tactical knife articles too!

In any event SD at TK made alot of makers alot of $$ over the years to include introducing new and upcoming makers to the buying audience that other rags like Blade and Knives Illustrated weren't interested in, didn't have the space for or couldn't have cared less about.

Steve's presence in the cutlery industry for so many years, to include pre-TK years, would seem to warrant him consideration for induction into the Blade Hall of Fame. I hope that happens.

I had been looking for the latest issue of TK on the newsstand (well, Barnes&Noble). Sorry to hear they are going under, as that was my favorite of the 3 knife mags. Steve Dicks articles were always interesting and authoritative. He'd truly been there, done that. Sorry to see them go.

For you younger guys, Greg Walker also had an excellent magazine back in the day, Fighting Knives. That was my favorite at the time. Also have his book, Battle Blades. Glad to see your posts, Greg!

--Larry

Bladester wrote:I had been looking for the latest issue of TK on the newsstand (well, Barnes&Noble). Sorry to hear they are going under, as that was my favorite of the 3 knife mags. Steve Dicks articles were always interesting and authoritative. He'd truly been there, done that. Sorry to see them go.

For you younger guys, Greg Walker also had an excellent magazine back in the day, Fighting Knives. That was my favorite at the time. Also have his book, Battle Blades. Glad to see your posts, Greg!

--Larry

Thanks, Larry!

I was just back up in Fairbanks and Anchorage a few weeks ago. My home state. Love the Palmer area. :)

Barring maybe ten issues, I have the set of FK...sad to see that go the way that it did...

Cujobob wrote:If censorship or control of online material got too great, people would migrate back to print format. It would take care of itself.

By the time people realize it's happening, there won't be any printing presses left. At the rate we're losing intelligence, there won't be anyone left who could build or operate one, either.