United Cutlery Sabotage Knife Review

United Cutlery celebrates over 28 years of innovation and design. For over twenty years United Cutlery has been distinguished by their unique and innovative product designs that cover a wide range of knives and swords, from functional to fantasy: Collectible movie replicas, functional swords and martial arts, fantasy swords, throwing knives, sporting and hunting knives, personal protection and military knives, folding and utility knives, camping and fishing knives, displays and stands.

United is well known for their movie prop replicas, fantasy collectibles, their great selection of functional sport and utility knives, traditional samurai swords, and their unique designer knives and swords by Kit Rae and Gil Hibben. Often imitated, but never exceeded, United Cutlery strives to make their knives and swords to the highest standards in the industry, with superior value, quality, performance, great customer service, and prices that cannot be beat. Untied Cutlery sells solely to wholesale dealers and distributors, so the perfect place to pick on up is at BladeOps.

Today we are going to be going over the United Cutlery Sabotage Tanto Fighter Fixed Blade knife.

 

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of 2Cr13 stainless steel. The ground breaking properties of 2Cr13 stainless steel allows for a variety of applications ranging from the production of domestic knives to heavy duty metals used in military manufacturing. One advantage offered by 2Cr13 stainless steel in addition to its inherent strength is its ability to use Black Oxide coating which makes it extremely resistant to corrosion. This advance reduces the onset of corrosion by essentially working to reduce how porous the steel is. 2Cr13 stainless steel is particle reinforced for added strength and resilience. Immersion tests have revealed that this steel has a finer matrix structure resulting in an increased tinsel strengthened the electrostag remelting process used in manufacturing it makes it highly versatile. In addition to the pure molecular strength of the steel, the added Black Oxide coating further increases the resistance to a variety of corrosive materials.

The blade has been finished with a satin coating as well as a black coating. The majority of the finishes is a black coating, but the flats of the Sabotage is a satin finish. The coated finish reduces the reflection and glare while also reducing wear and corrosion, However, ALL coatings can be scratched off after continuous heavy use, and the blade would then have to be re-coated. As a guideline, the harder the finish, the more resistant to wear and the more expensive to add to a knife. Interestingly, before being coated, most blades receive a blasted finish to have maximum adhesion surface area. Coatings can prolong the life of a blade by preventing corrosion or rust. Quality coatings add cost to a knife but they do provide more corrosion resistance, less reflection, and require less maintenance.

The flats of the Sabotage have been finished with a satin finish. This is a semi shiny finish with a luster falling between bead blasted and mirror polish. The most popular finish on production knife blades, it shows fine buffing lines with two directional finishes that better show the bevels of a blade. This finish is the most typical knife finish. It has decent corrosion resistance, but less than polish or mirror finished knives.

The Sabotage features modified tanto style blade. A tanto knife is great for when you don’t want an all-purpose knife, you want a knife that does one thing and does that one thing really well. If you are looking for a knife that excels at piercing tough materials, then the tanto blade is what you’re looking for. This was originally designed for armor piercing, the tanto blade was popularized by Cold Steel and is similar in style Japanese long and short swords. The tanto knife has a high point with a flat grind, which leads to an extremely 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 able to absorb the impact form repeated piercing that would cause most other knives to break. The Sabotage is a reverse tanto, which means that it is basically a regular tanto blade that is turned upside down so that the angular side is on the top. There are five main advantages to the tanto blade shape: the strength, the chisel blade point, the Japanese design, the pommel, and the sharpening. The strength is one of the most prominent advantage of a Tanto blade over other types of blades. This particular design structure makes for a very powerful tool that has the capability to puncture even the hardest of materials. The reinforced blade also makes it possible to use the knife for puncturing objects continuously without encountering problems such as snapping of the blade. Its quality also does not easily deteriorate with wear and tear even with frequent use. The next advantage is the chisel point blade. This means that the Tanto’s blade point as a style similar to that of a chisel that gives the blade more power and durability compared to other types of blade points. Although this particular blade design is generally not considered as ideal and practical for use in the wilderness, it is a great design for defensive weapons. The next advantage is the Japanese design; the blade is inspired by the design of Japanese blades. The influence from ancient Japanese design and craftsmanship also lends a somewhat aesthetic historical appeal to the modern Tanto blade. Fourth, the pommel. The Tanto’s pommel is made from steel and is tapered. By using a small amount of materials, it is specifically designed to provide the capability to absorb the impact coming from heavy strikes. This means that even a seemingly minor blow from the pommel can have the same powerful effect of a blunt weapon when used against an aggressor or attacker. The last major advantage is sharpening—tanto blades are crazy easy to sharpen. Because the tanto has such a straight blade it can easily be sharpened on a stone.

The Sabotage does feature a plain edge.

 

The Handle:

The handle is made out of Thermoplastic Rubber, or TPR. This material is a part of polymers family that displays rubber like properties having styrene based segment to achieve excellent strength. Besides conventional vulcanized rubber, it delivers superior properties to make replacement application of rubber and soft plastic in the sense of processing and end uses. It has some high quality properties such as being lightweight, having a wide variety of color options, it has good tear strength, excellent abrasion resistance, excellent dimension stability, low temperature flexibility, excellent weather resistance, reusable and recyclable, and non-migratory.

There is a large finger guard to protect your fingers from the large blade. The handle has curves that mold exceptionally to your palm to provide you with a comfortable grip, even when you are performing the longer tasks. The butt of the blade flares out and is thick, which actually adds a great tactical advantage. The butt of the handle is going to be able to use to hammer or it with—if the need arises.

On the butt of the handle, there is a lanyard hole. The Sabotage has been designed as a tactical knife, but it would make a great knife in other situations as well. With a lanyard hole, you can easily secure your knife against loss. A lanyard hole also makes an excellent addition in hand to hand combat. What many people don’t consider is that when you are fighting with your knife, you are going to need to find a way to secure your knife so that it doesn’t getting wrestled away in the midst of your battle. With the lanyard attached to your tactical blade, you will be able to easily hang on to it during a struggle.

 

The Mechanism:

The Sabotage is a fixed blade and a fixed blade will never surprise you in use because it is a solid piece of steel anchored to the handle. For those who want a blade they really trust for tough jobs, such as field dressing and tough camping tasks, a fixed blade is the answer. Fixed blades are durable and hold up to the elements well because of their straight, simple construction without folding mechanisms. In fixed blade knives the blade is one piece of metal that runs the length of the knife. When the blade reaches the beginning of the handle, it tapers and continues as a tang that is covered on either side by the handle.

Fixed blades make for exceptional tactical knives for a wide variety of reasons including but not limited to: being strong and big, not breaking, easier to maintain, length of the blade, superior tactical use, and even making a great survival tool. For starters, fixed blades, especially the Sabotage is strong and big. You can find a fixed blade in basically any size that you could desire, including the massive Sabotage. Because of its extra size comes its extra strength. Fixed blades are so reliable because they do not break. There are no moving parts on a fixed blade that could end up failing you when you need it the most. Fixed blades are also easier to maintain and cleaning is very simple. All you have to do with cleaning is wipe down the blade and handle. Because there are no inner or small parts, you don’t have to worry about those parts degrading. The blade length on a fixed blade is usually twice as long as the blade on a folding knife because the blade does not have to fit inside of the handle and also because the blade is thicker, it is not going to break when it gets to those long sizes. Fixed blades make for exceptional tactical tools because a fixed blade can be brought into play much faster than a folding knife can during these tactical situations. With a folding knife, you have to take out the knife and then deploy it before you can use it, but with the Sabotage, you just have to draw your blade and you are ready for use. Lastly, the Sabotage can double as a fantastic survival knife. Because of the length and strength, this knife is going to be able to not only cut, but also dig, split wood, be used as a first aid tool, be used for food preparation and a hunting weapon, as well as hammering and prying tool.

 

The Sheath:

The sheath that this comes with is a black nylon sheath, complete with a rubberized blade cover and it even offers a security strap as well as a convenient belt carry option. Nylon is a material that is commonly used in knife sheaths. Just like their leather counterpart, nylon sheaths are also tough and strong. Unlike leather though, nylon sheaths are resistant to rot and mildew. They are also not as vulnerable to water as a leather sheath is going to be. Another fantastic aspect about a nylon sheath is that they are not easily scuffed or torn. However, because the nylon sheath is going to be less expensive than some of your other options, it is also going to have the propensity to get worn out quicker. Nylon is prone to getting stretched out, and while it will continue to work, it won’t be as secure as before.

 

The Specs:

The blade on the Sabotage is 8 inches long with a thickness of 0.33 inches. The overall length of the knife is 13 inches with the handle measuring in at 5 inches. This knife weighs 1 pound 1 oz. and the sheath weighs in at 4 ounces.

Conclusion:

The M48 tactical series is a sub-series produced by United Cutlery that showcases exclusive blades and tools that continually push the envelope in terms of design and practicality. Each full tang design features an ultra-thick blade coupled with a grip-friendly handle for plenty of blade control. The tanto style blade allows for better piercing abilities and the high-point tip equates to reinforced tip strength. Furthermore, this model features a triple beveled blade which gives it a high-end look without the high-end price. This model features a black TPR (Thermoplastic Rubber) handle, a modified tanto style blade in a two-toned black and satin finish. Pick yours up today at BladeOps.