Smith and wesson Swat knife

J

jumbles

Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
3
Hi all, I've not been a regular here for long but i have carried this piece around with me just about everywhere i go for the past 6 - 7 years.

I see in a few other posts that S&W knives are looked down upon and that may be for various reasons, but i have used this thing for just about everything! i can guarantee that i use this knife at least 5 times a day.
I'm not too sure what the exact model name is and the writing has worn off almost. on the back it has 440 r.o.c i'm guessing that is the steel type?
I went for the tanto blade shape mainly because it allowed the blade to stay pretty strong and as i said before i use this for a very broad range of applications. Not being a knife buff, i can't tell you what the grind is on it, but it is different to most i've seen.


I'll try to attach some pics.
BTW i'm down here in Australia


http://www.users.on.net/~jaglees/
 
Some of the guys where I work have tried S&W folding knives. They last about 4 days before they are unsafe or unusable. You may have got a good one, but most are over priced with fair to poor quality.
 
Although there are too many bad S&W stories for it all to be hogwash, I must say that so far my S&W auto (knife) has not let me down. I purchased it as a "user" after loosing my BM on an accident scene in the dark. It is made in Taiwan, and the black coating is not very durable, but so far edge retention has been fine. I admit that I abuse this knife but with minor maintenance it has held up fine and has done anything I've asked of it while on duty.
 
i guess that by it's age i may have got one that was not made in china?
where it was made is not written or stamped on it anywhere.
I did get my name engraved on it when i bought it and the guy that did it rekons he had to go ver it 3 times to make a deep enough etching. and over the 7 years i've had it, i've only had it sharpened once.
Does enyone know what steel this may be made from?
thanks
 
Hi Jumbles, the 440 on the blade is the steel, as in 440 stainless. the roc stands for republic of china {taiwan} I had a S&W SWAT THAT I gave to a buddy, he uses it hard every day and its holding up fine.
 
I don't know about their other knives, but I had a s@w swat knife for about 5 years. For the money I spent it was one of the best production folders that i have bought. It held an edge well, and performed day to day cutting tasks very well. I gave it to a friend 2 yrs ago, and he is still using it now.
 
I am glad to hear that they are doing well for ya'll. I have a bunch of their Bullseye throwing knives in different configurations made of 440C that are very durable. I got them for a very low price before they went out of production. Unfortunately the newer folders I have seen and used just do not hold up. SMKW was selling the half CE magnesium HRT folder for $8.99 at one time. Right next to it was the PE HRT for $52.99. I got 3 of the partial CE.
One of them actually locked, the other 2 I had to tweak to get them to lock up. One the blade broke after 4 days, the other 2 got so loose that they are no longer reliable. I used them hard, but did not abuse them. The 440C they used would get razor sharp but would not hold it, probably heat treat issues. But the throwing knives have been heavily abused and they are holding up very well. They survived being thrown into an old refrigerator and oak targets with no problem. They are also 440C but I have not had the need to sharpen them past what is required for throwing. It seems that the QC recently is spotty at best.
 
jumbles said:
Hi all, I've not been a regular here for long but i have carried this piece around with me just about everywhere i go for the past 6 - 7 years.

I see in a few other posts that S&W knives are looked down upon and that may be for various reasons, but i have used this thing for just about everything! i can guarantee that i use this knife at least 5 times a day.
I'm not too sure what the exact model name is and the writing has worn off almost. on the back it has 440 r.o.c i'm guessing that is the steel type?
I went for the tanto blade shape mainly because it allowed the blade to stay pretty strong and as i said before i use this for a very broad range of applications. Not being a knife buff, i can't tell you what the grind is on it, but it is different to most i've seen.


I'll try to attach some pics.
BTW i'm down here in Australia


http://www.users.on.net/~jaglees/
Click to expand...


Hello! My experiences mirrors yours similarly. I bought it circa '99 when I didn't know much about knives then and just went for the "coolness" factor/trend. It was my second "tactical folder" (dwarfs the Buck Voyager I had briefly). It had G10-handles and a drop point blade with serrations. I also had it for 5 years of constant use and even some slight abuse.

I was constantly frustrated that it never held an edge and took only a few slices of something to get the feeling of "drag" of the cutting edge. The locked showed signs of wearing early on. The liner finally collapsed one day when I was chipping a block of ice and nicked me in the pinky :eek: .

In its defense, if you're looking for a cheap, "beater" knife you're not afraid of getting messed-up or dirtied, this is it. I'm glad thuogh it was my starter folder so to speak and I learned a lot of things about EDC blades from that knife. When I replaced it with an Endura 3, I was really glad I've "graduated" from such a folder (I can only imagine the Endura 4's performance!)
 
I had one of the large SWAT's and it was not a great knife. Occasionally the flimsy liner would hyper extend on the tang meaning the only way to unlock it was to remove the pivot and blade.

Also the steel was very soft and probably not 'good' 440C probably some 'surgical stainless'
 
jumbles said:
i guess that by it's age i may have got one that was not made in china?
where it was made is not written or stamped on it anywhere.
Click to expand...

r.o.c.=Republic of China, another name for Taiwan

The blade might be made from 440C which is a pretty good, if not super duper good, stainless steel.
 
I have an Extreme Ops knife that I've carried quite a bit. It's not a great knife, but then, I don't abuse it. I've seen friends take a knife and throw it at a tree, but it's usually an old beat up and cheap knife. The truth is that almost any modern knife, if cared for, will cut most of the things we need cutting in day-to-day activities. Still, I can tell by looking that you ought to retire that S&W tanto folder and get a decent one.

BTW, I bought a cheapo that looked almost just like yours. Only when I turned it around, the other side of the blade was flat! So when I saw your photos, I found myself shuddering.
 
hey i like smith & wesson knives. ive own several and use them on a regular basis. as a matter of fact i have one exactly like yours. the darn thing is as tough as a m-1 tank! they may not hold an edge like knives with s30v steel but look at what they cost compared to these knives. i think dollar for dollar they are hard to beat. i dont mind having to sharpen them a little more often and in fact i kinda like sharpening and careing for my knives. ive read several articles on here as matter of fact about some of these new super steels like s30v and zdp189 chipping and tips breaking off. its really hard to fix a broken tip and chipped edge but ive never had a smith & wesson knife edge chip. and their blade tips will bend before they break which is easy to fix, just bend it back! thats my 2 cents worth.,,,,VWB.
 
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