[Michael Pearce]

A customer saw the original TSS and wanted something bigger- a pair of somethings bigger actually. Blade is 22 inches of differential-tempered 5160 spring steel with a convex grind from spine to edge. Blade is .250 inch thick at the base and tapers to about 3/32 inch near the point. Scales are Cocobolo wood. Weight is 1lb.14oz. Next to the sword is a heat-treated 'blank' of the original TSS for comparison.





OK- to some degree calling a sword a 'Tactical Sword' is a bit like saying 'self-propelled automobile.' It seems kind of redundant. The usual habit on such modern devices is to grind an edge and a chisel point on a bar of metal and wrap the tang in parachord and make it black by one means or another. Not so much a sword as an 'enhanced-danger pry-bar' with the tactical part being mainly a marketing label. I have a bit different view.

To me a tactical knife is a knife that is mainly a useful tool but also makes a good weapon. A Marine-Corps KaBar is a good example to me of a 'tactical' knife. Similarly to me a modern 'Tactical Sword' should be a useful tool that also makes a good weapon. Part of being useful means that it should be light enough that an infantry soldier, already burdened with 80-100lbs. of weapons, armor and gear would actually bother to carry it. In my mind it also has to be long enough to offer a significant advantage over a knife. This is what I had originally come up with that formed the basis for the sword pictured above-
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...t=tactical

[Benjamin Rial]

Nice work Mr. Pearce!
I agree with your view on the appellation "tactical". More of a multi-tool type of function.
My guess is that your sword has a rather impressive cutting ability due to the slight pistol grip cant and the forward/aggressive balance. Well done.