Spyderco Forums

Spyderco has indeed blessed us with a wide array of all kinds of different types of knives for just about any type of cutting job you can imagine. But one area I believe they really excel in is with "Tactical Knives". Some of my all time favorites are the C-60 Massad Ayoob model as well as the Szabo folder. Other tactical and Self Defense models that have no equal on the market are the Civilian, Matriarch, Yojimbo, Ronin & Ronin II.

There are also a lot of models that could be considered for that tactical sector like the C-111 Captain model, The POLICE model, along with the GOLDEN made C-36 Military and ParaMilitary models along with the Chinook models.

So tell us which are your favorite tactical Spyders and why? And what edge type do you like best for a tactical blade? And you favorite tactical fixed blade Spyder as well?

Hi JD. I’m not sure what “tactical” means, but if we are talking about knives that Spyderco has designed for self defense then my favorite would be the Lil Matriarch. My love for the lil Matriarch however has less to do with how good it may or may not be as a SD knife and more to do with how good it performs as an edc knife. I find the small reverse s of the lil Matriarch gives me most of the cutting power I would get out of a hawkbill while still having enough straight edge at the heel to perform many common tasks at which a more traditional blade shape excels. It is, in my opinion, the most functional and refined example of a reverse s shape that Spyderco or any knife company offers.

I mean, the Military, right? All time greatest Spyderco knife.

Fixed? Street Beat or Temperance2

+1 for a the military, preferably blacked out, partially serrated.

Surfingringo wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 26, 2018 6:17 am

Hi JD. I’m not sure what “tactical” means, but if we are talking about knives that Spyderco has designed for self defense then my favorite would be the Lil Matriarch. My love for the lil Matriarch however has less to do with how good it may or may not be as a SD knife and more to do with how good it performs as an edc knife. I find the small reverse s of the lil Matriarch gives me most of the cutting power I would get out of a hawkbill while still having enough straight edge at the heel to perform many common tasks at which a more traditional blade shape excels. It is, in my opinion, the most functional and refined example of a reverse s shape that Spyderco or any knife company offers.

Hey SG good to hear from you :) Yeah I would include "self defense" as one definition of the term "tactical" For all intent and purposes I think the term "tactical" has more of a military slant to it in many cases. But with all the civilian marital art's interest that has more or less exploded on the scene in the past few years I think it could even include many sectors of the martial arts arena as well.

The one time my best friend and I got the meet and talk to Laci SZabo at one of the BLADE Shows he described most of his knife designs he had displayed at the show as being "tactical" >> so I guess it's kind of fair to say that it's a bit of a "Catch-All" phrase in some respects. And Laci Szabo isn't the only knife maker I've met that puts the "Tactical" label on his fine selection of cutlery.

Hey you're preaching to a very devout choir when talking about any of the Matriarch folders. I also like the Lil Matriarch but I'm still leaning to my original VG-10 Matriarch that I've had since about 2003 as being my ultimate favorite for a Reverse S blade. I have a Civilian but I rarely even take it out of the footlocker because it's just a little big for my average sized male hands. However I have an old Biker friend who is a big guy at about 6' 5" and his baseball glove sized hands work really well with it. Of course he had me get him one :D

I just wish that Massad Ayoob would get back to the drawing board with Mr. Glesser and come up with another brilliant tactical design along the same lines as the C-60 Spyderco model or if nothing else I wish they would do a revamped version of that bad boy.

SS Police SE. I would not want to be on the other end of that thing regardless of the situation.

zhyla wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 26, 2018 1:14 pm

SS Police SE. I would not want to be on the other end of that thing regardless of the situation.

The POLICE model has truly been an icon of Spyderco for a long time now>> and for really good reason too. When I bought my very first Spyder all the way back in 1995 it was a toss up between the GIN-1 SE Mariner and a Spyderedge POLICE model. I took the SE GIN-1 MARINER but it wasn't long after that I went ahead and also got a POLICE model too.

I'm surprised that no one yet has mentioned the GUNTING model>> because it may have been Spyderco's first official tactical folder. Because it was truly billed to be a tactical folder with the designer of the GUNTING even saying and confirming it.

bearfacedkiller wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 26, 2018 6:22 am

I mean, the Military, right? All time greatest Spyderco knife.

Fixed? Street Beat or Temperance2

Absolutely the Military. Sal knocked it out of the park with the design and the thoughtful CQI on newer versions it just keeps getting better. :)

holeshot wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 26, 2018 4:45 pm

Fixed? Street Beat or Temperance2

Absolutely the Military. Sal knocked it out of the park with the design and the thoughtful CQI on newer versions it just keeps getting better. :)
[/quote]

We hear the C-36 Military get mentioned over and over and over again>> and there is a solid reason for that. Because it's just a really great design and one model that I can find very few flaws in. There's a reason it's been in the main line up 20 years plus. It's truly tactical in every sense of the word.

I was told quite a few years ago that Spyderco designed the C-36 Military as though they would send their own son or daughter into the armed forces and this would be the ideal knife that they would send them with. I can't find fault with that reasoning either. The only thing I would do if I were Spyderco and that would be to make it available in full Spyderedge again. Because believe it or not I've had guys in the armed forces tell me that they like the serrated version better for what they do.

C-36 TACTICAL????? You better believe it!!

The fully serrated Military is a classic, but I'm going to have to cast my vote for the original Lil'Temp.

Good things in small packages.

Good things in large packages.

Yojimbo2, P'kal, Civilian, Matriarch, Lil matriarch, Tasman, Lil Temperance, Karahawk, Chinook, Szabo, Military, Para Military 2, Para 3, Manix, Endura, Delica.... I'm sure I forgot some.

Delica is one of my favorites for being lightweight, compact, and unassuming.

blacked out, waved matriarch 2 salt (a guy can dream)

Military and matriarch

From what i have read and heard, Bob Terzuola/Spyderco was first "labeling" a folder Tactical.
Also, someone please enlighten me exactly what is tactical, or even the purpose of Szabos "****, i dozed off at the grinding wheel" spine?!
Does it have any advantage at all? To me it is just a huge dealbreaker as it makes the knife look totally off..

Larry_Mott wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 27, 2018 5:50 am

From what i have read and heard, Bob Terzuola/Spyderco was first "labeling" a folder Tactical.
Also, someone please enlighten me exactly what is tactical, or even the purpose of Szabos "****, i dozed off at the grinding wheel" spine?!
Does it have any advantage at all? To me it is just a huge dealbreaker as it makes the knife look totally off..

For what I deemed as a definition of "tactical" please go up and read my second post on this thread right underneath the one that Surfingringo put up. About the fourth one down. I think I put it about as clear as anyone could put it. The word tactical entails several different variations of being defined. Tactical has a military connection to it>> tactical also has self defense aspects to it>> Tactical covers a wide range of applicable meanings. But as long as we have been on this forum I think it's safe to say that we have all gathered somewhat of a contextual definition of the word.

To me the word tactical can even be said to be an aggressive type of an EDC blade in many ways. I'm sure that a "Merriam-Webster's" dictionary will also give some enlightenment to the word. "Merriam-Webster's" are the best dictionaries out there IMO.

Just a random gathering of what I think may fit in.

I remember back when the word first started being thrown around, as it pertained to knives it meant one handed opening and a pocket clip. Those two features alone were a big deal compared to the slip joint you carried loose in your pocket and meant you could suddenly deploy a folding knives nearly as fast as unsheathing a fixed blade. That was a big deal.

Then as the word became a catch phrase and a marketing tool it got plastered onto everything from khakis to backpacks and now it's a bit watered down. Overall as a brand it seems nearly every Spyderco is "tactical" depending on how far you go back on the definition since they almost all have one hand opening and a pocket clip.

Today I think it means you have to be able to senselessly abuse a knife and do lots of non knife things and pretend that a knife is the only tool you'll have to survive, and if the knife can pry doors off their hinges and cut open car doors and split lumber and maybe chisel your name into granite, then it qualifies as a tactical knife. Otherwise it's just a boring old "EDC" knife.


All time best as in since the earliest days of Spyderco, it has to be the Military.

Best modern tactical Spyderco, that can take abuse and withstand enough non knife jobs and still perform well as a cutting tool, it has to be the Military.

Ok ok, honorable mention goes to the Shaman. It's built like a tank but still slices well enough to perform as a cutting tool. There are beefier knives (Tuff, Lionspy) but they don't slice nearly as well. It has solid ergonomics that allow you to stab something without your hand slipping forward (because tactical means stabbing), it has a strong lock, one handed opening and closing, and a clip. It's a total package.

JD Spydo wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 27, 2018 6:08 am

Larry_Mott wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 27, 2018 5:50 am

From what i have read and heard, Bob Terzuola/Spyderco was first "labeling" a folder Tactical.
Also, someone please enlighten me exactly what is tactical, or even the purpose of Szabos "****, i dozed off at the grinding wheel" spine?!
Does it have any advantage at all? To me it is just a huge dealbreaker as it makes the knife look totally off..

For what I deemed as a definition of "tactical" please go up and read my second post on this thread right underneath the one that Surfingringo put up. About the fourth one down. I think I put it about as clear as anyone could put it. The word tactical entails several different variations of being defined. Tactical has a military connection to it>> tactical also has self defense aspects to it>> Tactical covers a wide range of applicable meanings. But as long as we have been on this forum I think it's safe to say that we have all gathered somewhat of a contextual definition of the word.

To me the word tactical can even be said to be an aggressive type of an EDC blade in many ways. I'm sure that a "Merriam-Webster's" dictionary will also give some enlightenment to the word. "Merriam-Webster's" are the best dictionaries out there IMO.

You're answering a question i didn't ask bro :)
My question was "Just exactly what is "tactical" with Szabo's hollowed out spine.
And i have still read in more than one place that Bob Terzuola was the O.G. of tactical knives..