TOPS Knives, Inc. is a tactical knife manufacturer located in Eastern Idaho, United States. The company was established in December, 1998 and is owned and operated by Leo Espinoza. The company primarily produces fixed-blade knives for military and law enforcement. [1]
TOPS Knives was created in December 1998. Several old friends from the Vietnam War era developed a concept based on their experience and disappointment with the knives they were issued during the war, and they sought to correct these issues of strength and durability. [2] TOPS has manufactured their knives in the United States, specifically in Idaho since they were founded. [3] TOPS Knives was founded by veterans and supports the Wounded Warrior Project and other charitable organizations.
TOPS Knives has over 200 knife models in production with many more that have are no longer made. One of the most well-known models is the Tom Brown Tracker Knife. [4] It was designed by Tom Brown Jr. and was featured in the 2003 Hollywood movie The Hunted. [5]
The Benchmade Knife Company is an American knife manufacturer in Oregon City, Oregon.
A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, EDC knife, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. Blade lengths typically range from 5 to 15 centimetres. Some pocketknives have multiple tools in addition to one or more blades.
A gravity knife is a knife with a blade contained in its handle, and that opens its blade through the force of gravity. This mechanism of opening is fundamentally different from the switchblade, which extends its spring-propelled blade automatically upon the push of a button, switch, or fulcrum lever. The main purpose of gravity opening is that it allows opening and closing to be done one handed, in situations where the other hand is occupied. Hence, historically they have been issued to parachutists to cut off caught lines, such as lines tangled in trees, a major potential use of the gravity knife.
Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in Mountain Home, Idaho and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day. Buck Knives primarily manufactures sport and field knives and is credited with inventing the "folding hunting knife" and popularizing it to such a degree that the term "buck knife" has become synonymous with folding lockback knives, including those made by other manufacturers.
Ernest R. Emerson is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker by producing knives for a martial arts class and making art knives early in his knifemaking career. In the 1980s he became better known for his combat knives and popularizing a style of knife known as the Tactical-folder.
A combat knife is a fighting knife designed solely for military use and primarily intended for hand-to-hand or close combat fighting.
A neck knife is a knife worn on a cord hanging from a person's neck. It usually means a small fixed-blade knife which is carried by means of a cord, by which the knife sheath is suspended from around one's neck. They can either hang handle up or handle down. The knife may be hung from a loop of natural or synthetic cord, a length of braided paracord, a leather thong, or even a breakaway beaded or ball chain such as those utilized for military dog tags.
The Strider SMF is a framelock folding knife that was specifically developed for Det One, the first unit of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) under the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The Strider SMF was the first knife issued to an individual USMC unit in over 60 years and the first tactical folder issued within the USMC.
Ek Commando Knife Co. or Ek Knives is an American combat knife brand produced by several different companies since the original founded by John Ek in 1941. In May 2014 the Ek brand was purchased by Ka-Bar which began selling its versions of Ek knife designs in 2015. Although not officially issued gear, Ek Knives have seen use by US forces in six major conflicts: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. Ek Knives manufactures Bowie-style blades, daggers, and a Fairbairn-Sykes MkII. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Clark Gable, and General George S. Patton have been identified as Ek knife owners.
The Warrior knife is a large curved blade fighting knife with a serrated back edge that was first made by Al Mar Knives and Round Eye Knife and Tool (REKAT). Part of the knife's design is credited to martial arts instructor Michael Echanis.
The CQC-6 or Viper Six is a handmade tactical folding knife with a tantō blade manufactured by knifemaker Ernest Emerson. Although initially reported as the sixth design in an evolution of fighting knives and the first model in the lineup of Emerson's Specwar Custom Knives, Emerson later revealed that the knife was named for SEAL Team Six. It has a chisel-ground blade of ATS-34 or 154CM stainless steel and a handle made of titanium and linen micarta. The CQC-6 is credited as the knife that popularized the concept of the tactical folding knife.
Emerson Knives, Inc. is an American company that produces knives and related products. It was founded in 1996 by custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson in an effort to mass-produce his folding knife designs for the U.S. Military and collector markets.
The Commander (knife) is a large recurve folding knife made by Emerson Knives, Inc. that was based on a custom design, the ES1-M, by Ernest Emerson that he originally built for a West Coast Navy SEAL Team. It was winner of the Blade Magazine Overall Knife of the Year Award for 1999.
Ka-Bar is the contemporary popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United States Marine Corps in November 1942 as the 1219C2 combat knife, and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy utility knife, Mark 2. Ka-Bar is the name of a related knife manufacturing company, Ka-Bar Knives., Inc., of Olean, New York, a subsidiary of the Cutco Corporation.
Gil Hibben is an American custom knifemaker from Wyoming who is based in La Grange, Kentucky. Hibben designed the first line of Browning hunting knives in 1968, the American Kenpo Knife for Ed Parker, and the Rambo Knife for the films Rambo III and Rambo. Hibben's "Fantasy Knives" have been used in over 37 films and television shows, particularly science fiction, earning him the title "Klingon Armorer" from the Star Trek franchise. Hibben currently serves as a President of the Knifemakers' Guild, a post he has held for fourteen years.
A fighting knife has a blade designed to most effectively inflict injury in close-quarters physical confrontations. The combat knife and the trench knife are examples of military fighting knives.
Robert G. Terzuola is an American knife maker who popularized the type of knife known as the tactical folding knife.
Medford Knife and Tool is an American custom and production knifemaking and tactical tool making facility founded by Greg Medford in 2010 in Arizona United States.
Zero Tolerance Knives (ZT Knives) is a knife brand of Kai USA, headquartered in Tualatin, Oregon, United States. Both Zero Tolerance and Kai USA are members of the Kai Group, a global cutlery company.
Shun Cutlery is a kitchen knife brand of the KAI Group, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. In the United States, Shun is sold by Kai USA in Tualatin, Oregon—alongside the Kershaw Knives and Zero Tolerance Knives brands.
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