Remington Black Tanto Butterfly Knife Review

Remington Arms Co entered the knife industry in 1920, and they entered with a bang. The first factory was built in Bridgeport Connecticut, hiring knife artisans from Sheffield, England to oversee design and production work. Within a very short time, the company was shipping up to 6,000 knives each month and later on in their history they claimed that at that point in production they would sell around 10,000 knives a day at times.

Remington Arms Co is a renowned gun company, so it made sense when in 1922, Remington began producing the R1123 Jumbo trapper knife. This knife had a rifle cartridge shaped shield on the handle, so it became known as the Bullet Knife. The years following the release, the bullet shield was used on other top of the line knife patterns.

During World War II, Remington sold the entire knife operation to Pal Cutlery Co. But reentered the knife market in 1982, however, this time, it was in a very different manner. They were tentative about joining the knife industry again, so they commissioned Camillus Cutlery Co. to make a single knife model that would bear the Remington trademark as well as the old bullet shield. This was the start of the modern Bullet Knife series; the very first new knife was a reproduction of the original R1123 trapper.

Rumor has it that this modern Bullet Knife was actually designed and released to promote the new Remington Model Four and Model Six centerfire rifles, but those rifles were produced for only a few years, while the modern Bullet Knife series took on a life of its own. In fact, Annual Bullet Knives have been produced every year since 1982.

Throughout the last four decades, a number of commemorative knives have been produced.

Bear & Son joined forces in 2006 when Bear & Son Cutlery began making the annual Bullet Knife. This partnership became a good friendship and in July of 2014, the two companies announced that Bear & Son would become Remington’s exclusive licensee for cutlery.

Today we will be discussing the Remington Black Tanto butterfly knife.

 

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of 1095 Carbon Steel. 1095 steel is a basic form of carbon steel and is most commonly used in the construction of various kinds of knives. This steel has a carbon content of .95% which serves to harden the steel, and reduce the amount of wear that a blade will experience over time. Despite the reduction in wear created by the high presence of carbon, 1095 steel is not as tough as other types of steel due to the lower levels of manganese, which serves to harden the stele. When knives are made with 1095 steel, they are going to hold a great edge and will be very easy to sharpen. Unfortunately, the properties of this type of steel do give the blade a tendency to easily rust, which is why this blade has been finished with a coating. You just need to keep in mind that you will need to stay up on maintenance for this blade. Also, 1095 steel blades can be considered more brittle than other types of steel, which is why this blade is thicker than your typical blade.

The blade on this knife has been black powder coated. A coating on a blade serves a handful of different purposes, the main one for this Remington butterfly knife is to put a layer in between the steel and the environment to keep it from rusting. A second advantage of coating a blade is that it will eliminate any of the shiny surfaces, so if you are using this blade in the field, the reflections won’t give your position away. Unfortunately, coatings will scratch off after time or heavy use. At that point, the blade will have to be recoated if you were to keep any of the major benefits for the blade. Also, the powder coat is the lowest quality blade coating. The paint gives the blade low reflectivity but does have a higher probability of chipping or scratching.

The blade on this knife has been carved into a tanto blade shape. The tanto blade shape has not been designed to be an all-purpose knife. In fact, it has been designed to be the exact opposite of that: it is going to do one thing and do that one thing extremely well. For the tanto, that one thing is that it excels at piercing through hard materials. This blade shape was originally designed to pierce through armor and was later popularized by Cold Steel. The tanto is similar in style to Japanese long and short swords. The shape of this blade has a high point with a flat grind, which creates a crazy strong point that is perfect for stabbing into hard materials. The thick point of the tanto blade contains a lot of metal near the tip, so it is capable of absorbing the impact from repeated piercing that would cause most other knives to break. The front edge of the tanto knife meets the back edge at an angle, instead of the typical curve. Because of this, the tanto blade does not have a belly, because it has been sacrificed for a stronger tip.

 

The Handle:

The handles on this knife is made out of black coated aluminum. There are a couple of fantastic qualities about having an aluminum knife handle. First of all, it is a very low-density metal, so while it is extremely tough, it is also very lightweight. This material gives you a nice, hefty feel without actually weighing the knife down, which is all that a knife lover could ask for. Second, aluminum is a very strong knife handle material. Third, aluminum is cheaper to machine and produce than Titanium because it is lighter and weaker or softer. Titanium is considered to be the older brother of aluminum because aluminum is generally considered inferior to its stronger, yet more expensive brother, which you are going to find on the more premium knives.

When an aluminum handle is properly texturized, you are going to have a fairly secure grip that is also comfortable and easy—even for extended use.

Unfortunately, aluminum does have its drawbacks. The metal is highly conductive, which means that if you are planning to use your knife a lot during colder winter months, you are probably going to find the handle uncomfortably cold.

Another one of the drawbacks to an aluminum knife handle is that it does tend to be susceptible to scratches and dings.

The handle has been coated black, which cuts down on all glares and reflections while also giving you a sleek look to it. Plus, because the aluminum is coated, you won’t have to worry about the metal rusting. Unfortunately, just like on a blade, the coating will eventually scratch off and at that point the handle will have to be recoated, or else you will risk the aluminum rusting.

The handles on this knife each have five oval cut-outs going down the length, each getting larger as they approach the butt of the handle. The latch on the bottom is kept in place by a silver pint that matches the two pins that keep the handles in place. Other than the hardware on this knife, the entire thing is all black.

Like most butterfly knives, there are two finger guards on each side of the blade, which protect your fingers from getting sliced if you happen to slip.

 

The Mechanism:

The Remington black tanto knife is a butterfly or Bali-song knife. This is a folding pocket knife. Its distinction is two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles. This knife is sometimes referred to as a Batangas knife, after the Tagalog province of Batangas in the Philippines, where it is traditionally made.

The balisong was commonly used by Filipino people, especially those in the Tagalog region, as a self-defense and pocket utility knife. A common stereotype is that a Batangueno carries one everywhere he or she goes. These knives can be used for straight razors, art, entertainment, or self-defense, among other things.

This knife is now illegal or restricted in many countries, often under the same laws and for the same reasons that switchblades are restricted, and in the Philippines, they are no longer as common in urban areas as they were.

This Remington knife is called a channel constructed balisong, which means the main part of each handle is formed form one piece of material. In this handle, a groove is created in which the blade rests when the knife is closed. This style is regarded as being stronger than the other style of construction: the sandwich construction.

There are a few pieces that set the bail-song knife apart from a traditional folding knife. For starters, the bite handle. This is the handle that closes on the sharp edge of the blade, and will cut the user if they are holding the handle when they go to close it. This is the handle that has the latch on it. The other handle is referred to as the safe handle, which does not have the latch and closes on the non-sharpened edge of the blade.

Then there is the kicker, or kick, which is an area on the blade that prevents the sharp edge from touching the inside of the handle and suffering damage. This is sometimes supplemented by an additional tang in above the pivots. Next, there is the latch, which is the standard locking system, which holds the knife closed. Along with the latch is the latch gate, which is a block inside the channel of the handles stopping the latch from impacting the blade.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 4 inches even, with handles that measure in at 5 inches. The blade’s thickness is 0.11 inches. When the butterfly knife is opened, the overall length is an even 9 inches long. This knife weighs in at 5.2 ounces, which is just barely on the heavier side of things.

 

The Pros of the Remington Black Tanto:

• 1095 carbon steel is hard and doe have a higher wear resistance than other metals.
• The blade will hold a fantastic edge.
• The blade will be easy to sharpen when needed.
• The coating finish increases the corrosion resistance of the blade.
• The tanto blade has a crazy strong point.
• The tanto blade shape is going to excel at piercing through hard materials.
• The butterfly knife can be used for entertainment.
• The style of knife can be used for self-defense.
• The construction of this knife is strong.
• The aluminum handle is strong.
• The aluminum is light, which keeps the overall weight of the knife down.
• The aluminum handle is resistant to corrosion—and more so because of the coating on tip of it.
• The coating on the handle provides you with a very sleek look.

 

The Cons of the Remington Black Tanto:

• The blade will rust easily if not given the proper attention.
• The coating will scratch off after continuous or heavy use.
• The tanto blade style does not have a cutting edge, or belly, so slicing is going to be very tricky with this blade.
• The blade will also be a little bit harder to control, because it is a tanto blade style.
• The aluminum handle is going to be cold to hold.
• The aluminum handle is going to be slippery—even though Remington has added cut-outs.
• The aluminum handle is going to be susceptible to scratches and dings.
• Once the handle coating has been scratched off, you lose the benefits of the coating until the handle has been re-coated.

 

Conclusion:

This Remington butterfly knife boasts a black coated tanto blade and classic black finished skeletonized handles. The blade has good action and also has a pair of cutouts. It is made in the USA by Bear & Son Cutlery. Pick up this butterfly knife today at BladeOps.