Tinker Pearce Tactical


Fixed-blade and folding knives by Michael Tinker Pearce
tinker@tinkerswords.com  206-772-6720
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SELF-DEFENSE ISN'T PRETTY...
Neither are my tactical knives unless you percieve beauty in thoughtful design and form following function.  Let's face it- the liklihood of needing a knife for self-defense isn't that great...  but if you do need a defensive tool you're going to really need it.  That means that you are going to need to have it with you and in a position from which it is easily deployed.  How pretty it is isn't going to be an issue.
There are a lot of fine handmade and production Tacticals out there, some of them very well designed.  But many 'tacticals' these days seem to sport a  thick but otherwise conventional blade with a black coating.  Features like ultra-thick, macho-looking blades with complex grinds, exotic materials and manly-looking over-engineered pivots are becoming the fashion.

Fortunately no one has ever accused me of being a slave to fashion.

My experience in making, designing and using swords has taught me to value function and high performance and I bring these same values to my tactical folders.  Does this mean that I won't tweak a design to make it look 'cooler?' Certainly not!  But I will never compromise function merely for the sake of form.

My tactical knives are designed for people that are serious about their knives and serious about self-defense and martial arts.   Blade shapes are designed for maximum efficiency, handles are ergonomically designed for a comfortable and secure grip when using either fore-hand or 'ice-pick' grips.  Blade steels are selected for maximum performance.    Knives are ergonomically designed for intuitive point-location.  Folders pocket-clips are designed to hold the knife securely in a pocket but also to help provide a secure grip to assist in deployment of the knife.

In short my tactical knives are designed to be the tool that you need when you really need it- and to be there with you when that time comes.

WHAT IS A 'TACTICAL' KNIFE?
A 'tactical' knife is a knife with defensive uses- but is not limited to the role of a defensive weapon.  There are a number of types of knife that fall into the category of 'Tactical' knives and it largely depends on who you ask.  There are Fighting knives specialized for use as a weapon.  There are combat knives that are meant to be useful knives that are also good weapons like the US Marine Corps Ka-Bar.  There are specialized 'rescue knives' designed as tools to get you or another person out of a jam, incorporating seat-belt cutter, glass-poppers ect.  but having little or no intent in the design for use as a weapon.  All of these types have been called 'tactical.'

To me a Tactical Folder is the pocket version of a combat knife.  A combat knife is a good, useful knife that is also a good weapon.  The classic Marine Corps Kabar is a good example of this breed.  The design of a combat knife recognizes that it will be used for non-combat uses most of the time; opening rations, opening crates of supplies, cutting brush.  Similarly a Tactical folder will get used for opening boxes, letters, slicing string and tape, cutting food, whittling kindling etc.  It will seldom, if ever, be employed as a weapon.  But it might be... so it needs to be well-designed for that function too.  This means that it needs to be easily carried, easily deployed and properly designed for self-defense as well as for the myriad other tasks that it will perform more often.

My fixed-blade 'tactical' knives are for the most part non-folding versions of my folding knives.  This makes them somewhat less discrete and portable, but a great deal tougher.  They are, by the definition given above, combat knives... but quite compact combat knives.