Knife Review: Smith & Wesson Blackout OTF Sprint Assist Knife [Exclusive]

The Smith & Wesson Blackout OTF Sprint Assist Knife [Exclusive]

Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson formed a partnership in 1852 to manufacture a firearm that could fire a fully self-contained cartridge. Form the beginning, Smith and Wesson firearms were noted for their innovative design, high quality production and reliability. The accomplishments of Smith and Wesson are numerous and its contributions to the history of firearms are vast. Smith and Wesson was an industry leader in 1852 when it was first founded and continues to lead the world today with innovations into the 21^st century.

Smith and Wesson first started manufacturing knives in 1974. As a company, Smith and Wesson is heavily focused on the safety and security business, and knives were an obvious step form their core activities. Smith and Wesson knives used to be manufactured in house, although for a period of time Vermont Cutlery Co of West Rutland VT made knives for Smith and Wesson. Today, Taylor Cutlery makes and sells Smith and Wesson knives.

A lot of the Smith and Wesson knives made today are manufactured overseas and cater to the police and military. Smith and Wesson provides a lot of rescue, tactical, automatic and assisted open knives at affordable prices.

Smith and Wesson’s Military and Police knives are some of the more popular Smith and Wesson knives made today. These are large folding pocket knives outfitted with Multipurpose Assisted Generational Innovative Cutlery (MAGIC) technology, a proprietary technology developed by the engineers at Taylor Brands. These knives come in a variety of finishes including a flat black Teflon coating, urban camo, or a kind of desert finish.

Today we will be discussing one of their newest releases, which just so happens to be exclusive to BladeOps. Meet the Smith and Wesson BlackOut OTF Spring Assist.

The Blade:

The blade has been carved out of AUS-8 stainless steel. This is an upper mid-range steel that is made in Japan. If you are looking to compare it to another type of steel, your best bet would be to 440B. However, AUS-8 is going to be slightly more corrosion resistant. It is also similar to 440C, except that it is a little bit softer than 440C. The extra softness does mean that you are going to have to sharpen the blade more often. This is because AUS-8 stainless steel does have less carbon than some of the higher ranked steels. The more carbon there is in a steel, the better it is going to be able to hold its edge. However, it also means that it is going to be much easier to sharpen when you do need to. It is also a breeze to get a razor-sharp edge on this steel. This steel is tough enough to get the job done. One of the main benefits of having the blade made out of AUS-8 steel is that it will keep the cost of the knife low, while still giving you enough quality so that you feel like you can depend on it.

The blade has been finished with a black coating. The black coating is going to cut down on glares and reflections, making this an ideal knife to use in the field. The coating will ensure that any light reflections will not give away your position in the field.

The coating is also going to prolong the life of this blade, as it creates a layer in between the forces of nature and the steel. The coating’s barrier will work to increase the wear and corrosion resistance of the blade. The next major benefit to a quality coating such as this one, is that it cuts down on any texture on the blade. This means that you will be able to use this for smoother and quicker cuts and pierces.

Of course, you do need to keep in mind that a coating can and will scratch off after time or heavy use. At this point, the benefits of the coating will be eliminated. In fact, a coated blade that has its coating wearing off is almost worse than having a blade that had never been coated in the first place.

The blade on this BladeOps exclusive Smith and Wesson has been carved into a dagger style blade. This is a double-edge blade that is most often sued for stabbing. Often times, the dagger blade shape is used in self-defense, which makes perfect sense for why it would be the optimal blade shape for a tactical knife such as this one. The two edges of the blade rise and fall equally, which creates an axis that sits in the middle of the blade, which also means that the point is going to be directly center. The tip is fine and sharp, ideal for piercing.

That being said, because the tip is fine and sharp, and you will be piercing with it more often than not, you do need to be careful with it. The fine and sharp characteristics are going to make it a little bit less tough, so it may be prone to breaking when used on harder targets.

Both edges of the dagger blade have been sharpened, which is going to allow you to further excel at piercing. Plus, both of the edges have been sharpened into a plain edge, which is the more common edge when it comes to knives. The plain edge is going to be easier to sharpen, allow you to get a finer edge on it, and will allow you to excel at a wider variety of tasks.

The Handle:

The handle is made out of aluminum. Aluminum is a very durable material especially when used for knife handles. It is considered a low-density metal, which means that it is lightweight, but still provides for a nice, hefty feel to the knife without weighing the knife down. Aluminum knife handles have extreme tensile strength. One of the drawbacks to an aluminum handle is that it has high conductive properties, so it will be cold to hold, especially if you are using it during the winter months.

The other major drawback to an aluminum handle is that aluminum does not offer as much grip as many other handle materials would and could. However, Smith & Wesson knew all of that going into designing this knife. They also knew just how important the texture would be to keep you safe. Because of that, they have designed the handle in a way that will offer you plenty of grip and control—you aren’t going to be stressed when using this knife.

The first thing that is added to give you extra control are two rows of thicker jimping. Each of these rows sit either on the belly or spien of the knife, near the base of the blade. This will allow you to not be slipping up and down the length of the handle, keeping your fingers safe and you in control of the knife.

The next thing that is added to guarantee that you feel comfortable using this knife in high-intensity situations is the geometric design of the face of the handle. The middle of the handle definitely is raised and flattened, which provides some added texture. There are also a couple of grooves that go across the length of the handle, adding in even more texture. All in all, with an aluminum handle, it is easy to feel slightly out of control. Smith and Wesson wouldn’t stand for that though, so you are going to have some of the utmost control while using this knife.

The rest of the knife handle is a standard shape for an OTF knife. It is a rectangular handle with a wide-body to offer an ergonomic feel. This is especially true since the trigger is on the broad side of the handle. The butt of the handle does flare out slightly, which is going to give you slightly better grip. The safety arm is near the butt of the handle, where it will be out of the way, ensuring that you do not bump it.

The last thing to make the handle extra-stellar is that it has been anodized in a sleek black color. The anodization process chemically changes the surface of the aluminum, which means the black is going to last. Plus, the anodization process is going to make the ace of the handle tougher, more corrosion resistant, and even more durable. All in all, the anodization takes the great qualities of the aluminum and simply enhances them.

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip that comes on this Smith & Wesson knife is thicker than most pocket knives. It is nearly half of the entire width of the handle itself. However, this just means that it is going to stay more securely inside of your pocket. It adds an element of security, so that you don’t have to be worried about losing this knife as you go about your day. Especially since this is a tactical knife, and you may be using it in the field, where you are moving around significantly more than in your day to day life.

The clip is all-black which creates an all-black knife. Everything down to the hardware is a deep jet black. The only thing that is color on this knife is the red portion of the safety arm. The clip is attached to the butt of the knife, which is the standard on an OTF knife. This also means that it is going to be tip-down carry only, which is the safer way to carry a knife.

The Mechanism:

This is a spring assisted OTF knife. A spring assisted knife is a type of folding knife that uses an internal mechanism to finish the opening of the blade, only after the user has partially opened it. This means that it is not an automatic knife, but it does openly smoothly and quickly like an automatic knife would. To begin to open this knife, there is the lever mechanism that falls int eh middle of the broad side of the handle. This is unique, because many OTF knives have the deployment mechanism on the spien of the handle. Like all good deployment slides, this one has been stepped, which will add additional texture. This helps so that you don’t have to fumble as much when it comes time to deploy the knife. IT also ensures that while you are sliding it, your fingers won’t slip off of it.

This is an Out-the-Front knife, which means that the blade is deployed through a hole in the top of the handle. This contrasts from the typical folding knife, where the blade comes out of the side of the handle. The trigger to deploy the blade is black, ensuring that this is an all-black knife.

The Specs:

The blade measures in at 3.6 inches long with a handle that measures in at 5.2 inches long. This creates an overall length of 8.8 inches long when the blade has been deployed, which is a slightly larger than normal knife. This is made out of solid materials that aren’t going to let you down, so those, paired with the slightly larger than normal size, make the knife weigh in at 6 ounces. This isn’t in the sweet spot for an EDC knife in terms of weight, however, this is such a tough tactical knife, that you are never going to have to doubt whether or not this knife is going to support you.

Conclusion:

This exclusive out-the-front knife features a black handle, all-black hardware and a dagger style blade in a black finish.

The Smith & Wesson OTF knives are both spring-assisted and single-action which means they deploy with the push of the slide switch but manually retracted. Additionally, the wide-body handle design offers an ergonomic feel especially since the trigger is on the broad side of the handle and every OTF includes a safety arm found near the base.

This exclusive knife is currently in stock at BladeOps. Click here to purchase it today and shop other exclusive knives.