TACTICAL FOLDING

KNIVES. The term "tactical folder" has become an integral part of the knife scene. But what exactly is tactical folding knife? Is the Spanish navaja - with its long blade - which was also carried for self-defense, tactical? Is a Mercator knife, invented in the second half of the nineteen century and used by soldiers of the Prussian army, a tactical folder? In a way, yes - if by a tactical folding knife one means that a knife useful in everyday use becomes a survival knife if required and, in an emergency, can be used for selfdefense. Among the first manufacturers to produce tactical folding knives was the American company Al Mar. The Eagle was an elegant, slender, and all the same sturdy folding knife. The SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape), which was soon developed from it, was and is an almost indestructible monster of a knife that because of its relative compactness (compared to a fixed combat knife) can always be at hand and is intended to be a reliable tool and weapon for soldiers in an emergency (Oliver Lang, "The big book of Knives").