THE COMBAT KITCHEN

SLICE, DICE, CHOP, AND CUT: FOOD PREP WITH BLADES FROM POPULAR TACTICAL KNIFE COMPANIES

- MIKE SEARSON

Without a doubt, the most common knife in the world is a kitchen knife. Even the most basic kitchen will have at least a chef’s knife, four steak knives, and a few butter knives. Watch a typical horror movie or thriller and when the ill-prepared homeowners or apartment dwellers hear a bump in the night, the first thing they run for is the chef’s knife on the knife block.

As a knife collector or connoisseur, I’m hoping that your kitchen knives of choice aren’t that plastic-handled set of Faberware blades you bought at Walmart when you got your first apartment or as a gift from a cheap uncle on your wedding day.

There are a plethora of knives that serve almost dual purposes when it comes to food prep and either self-defense or self-reliance.

WHICH CAME FIRST?

While the knife may be mankind’s oldest tool, there is probably some debate as to whether the first stone blades were designed to skin animals and cut food or used as weapons against other humans or animals.

Regardless of which was the first intent, the second probably made itself very clear within a short matter of time. So it goes today when we see a number of manufacturers offer kitchen knives influenced by the tactical side of the knife world as well as tactical knives influenced by what we see in the kitchen.

TOPS KNIVES

Based out of Idaho, TOPS Knives has been one of the leaders in designing performance-based blades with input from real-world users, be they Marines, Army Rangers, police officers, survival experts, or other knife makers.