page_title: Pocketknife
section_title: Tactical folding knife
hierarchical_section_title: Pocketknife / Lock-blade knives / Tactical folding knife
caption_attribution_description: English: Benchmade 4300 CLA Composite Lite Auto. Auto knife push button operation with side mounted safety, reversible clip. Length 7.85- inches Blade length 3.4 inches. Blade Material CM154.
context_page_description: A pocketknife is a foldable knife with one or more blades that fit inside the handle that can still fit in a pocket. It is also known as a jackknife or a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A typical blade length is 5 to 15 centimetres. Pocketknives are versatile tools, and may be used for anything from opening an envelope, to cutting twine, slicing a piece of fruit or even as a means of self-defense.
context_section_description: Buck's original lockback knife was originally marketed as a "folding hunting knife" and while it became popular with sportsmen, it saw use with military personnel as it could perform a variety of tasks.  Custom knife makers began making similar knives, in particular was knifemaker Bob Terzuola. Terzuola is credited with coining the phrase "Tactical Folder".
  In the early 1990s, tactical folding knives became popular in the U.S.A. The trend began with custom knifemakers such as Bob Terzuola, Michael Walker, Allen Elishewitz, Mel Pardue, Ernest Emerson, Ken Onion, Chris Reeve, Rick Hinderer, Warren Thomas, and Warren Osbourne.  These knives were most commonly built as linerlocks.  Blade lengths varied from 3 to 12 inches (76 to 305 mm), but the most typical models never exceeded 4 inches (100 mm) in blade length for legal reasons in most US jurisdictions.
  In response to the demand for these knives, production companies offered mass-produced tactical folding knives.  Companies such as Benchmade, Kershaw Knives, Buck Knives, Gerber, CRKT, Spyderco and Cold Steel collaborated with tactical knifemakers; in some cases retaining them as full-time designers.  Tactical knifemakers such as Ernest Emerson and Chris Reeve went so far as to open their own mass-production factories.
  There has been criticism against the notion of a "Tactical Folding Knife" when employed as a weapon instead of a utility tool.  Students of knife fighting point out that any locking mechanism can fail and that a folding knife regardless of lock strength can never be as reliable as a fixed-blade combat knife. Lynn Thompson, martial artist and CEO of Cold Steel pointed out in an article in Black Belt magazine that most tactical folding knives are too short to be of use in a knife fight and that even though he manufactures, sells, and carries a tactical folder, it is not ideal for fighting. Of course the idea that sells tactical knives (beyond the plain appeal of them) is that it's better to have a knife that's not ideal than to not have your ideal combat knife because it was too large to carry with you. While a 10-inch fixed-blade Bowie knife might be far more ideal for combat, it isn't practical – or legal – for many people to carry one around with them on their belt all the time, and few people leave the house expecting or planning to get into a knife fight that day.
caption: Benchmade 4300 CLA Composite Lite Auto.  Auto knife push button operation with side mounted safety, reversible clip. Length 7.85- inches Blade length 3.4 inches. Blade Material CM154.
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