Tom Johanning is unlike most knife makers when you get right down to the nitty gritty. He and his family have been operating Florida Knife Company, a 24,000 square foot modern facility located in Sarasota, Florida, since 1978. But unlike most of the knife companies you are familiar with, Florida Knife manufactures every kind of industrial knife you can imagine, including knives for cutting paper, rubber, textiles, plastics, lumber, ice, you name it, if it needs cutting, they can produce the blades. Johanning also operates west Florida Knife Company, a firm that occupies itself with sharpening all these industrial blades. About 11 years ago Tom's interest in knives as we think of them began to whet his appetite. He read one too many articles about knives being pushed through car doors and steel drums, for what reason he wasn't sure, but he wanted to do something about it. In the industrial world,his plant was constantly working with all types and designs of steels, including M-2, M-4, A-8, A-2, D-2, O-1, and plain old 440C. He knew what these steels could and could not accomplish, and he made up his mind that he could build a knife that would be much stronger than those he had read about.

In Tom's world of commercial cutting blades, where his plant can straight grind blades up to 180 inches long, blanchard grind steel bars to 60 inches long, and where his CNC machines can crank out precision products in the blink of an eye, doors and drums are for wimps. As you can see in our photographs, the blade profile of his TAC knives are similar to the American tanto blades you're so familiar with. But, they feature a slight drop point, if that's the word, and are sharpened on both sides. As was the prototype, all of his knives are machined from solid bars of modified A-8 too steel, thus they are of integral design, and are fitted out with black canvas Micarta scales.Tom's prototype measured 11 inches overall, and carries a blade edge 5 3/4 inches long, and is known as his TAC 11. The TAC 10 sports a blade one inch shorter. Once the prototype blade was machined and ground, it was vacuum heat treated to 58 Rc and deep frozen to -125 degrees fahrenheit before temper for extreme toughness. Once the blade was finished, he installed the handles, finishing everything by hand. As shown, the TAC 11 weighs 14 ounces, almost one pound. This knife was designed employing materials and techniques he was very familiar with. No hit-and-miss operation here. Now to discover if he was as bright as he believed. Positioning a piece of steel diamond plate .118-inch thick (almost 1/8-inch) on a fixture in his hydraulic press, Tom placed his prototype knife in place. Then he began adding the pressure, forcing the blade down through the steel plate, stopping when it had penetrated a full three inches. The point didn't flatten nor did the edge dull. Granted, the diamond plate is in an annealed state, but it's a lot tougher than "tin" car doors and drums, not to mention just about anything else you might want to penetrate. Tom attributes the blade performance we just discussed to three factors:

Recently, custom knifemaker Tom Johanning sent along a combat-type knife called the Model 11 of his design and manufacture for tests and evaluation. It was immediately obvious that this knife was designed from the ground up to take heavy use and abuse. A short chat with Tom confirmed that he had been refining the design of this knife over a six-or seven year period to arrive at his current offering. His intention was to offer a practical and useful knife that is as close to indestructible as could be. It was my job to see if he succeeded.

Knives of the military and survival persuasion are often subjected to severe stress and abuse, which can easily result in failure of the blade, handle, cross guard or other components. By their very nature, combat knives are tools and weapons designed for emergency use. That emergency use can often entail use in a manner that was never intended by the manufacturer of the knife. This is best illustrated with a few examples.

One I recall from Vietnam involved a helicopter pilot who was low on fuel and forced to land at a forward firebase. There were a couple 55 gallon drums of fuel he could use at the firebase but no way to open them. This was a genuine emergency. Being a typical pilot he did not want to spend the night on a firebase and miss sleeping between clean sheets. He opened the drums using a rock and his belt knife. It didn't do the knife much good but it did get the job done. Few Knives are intended to be used for prying, but I am aware of more than a few instances where a knife was used for that purpose in an emergency. Examples include prying open a stuck car door after a crash and prying open crates of ammunition during an attack in Vietnam. I know of at least one case of a soldier on a crashed transport aircraft cutting his way out with his knife through the aluminum skin of the side of the aircraft to make an escape. Also it is fairly common for police SWAT-type teams to use their knives to cut out metal screens on windows prior to making a dynamic entry and to use the butt if their knives to break windows. The simple fact is that the majority of knives are just not up to that kind of abuse. Moreover, attempts to use most knives in that manner will often lead to breakage or other failure that can leave the user without a knife. I was curious whether the Johanning Model 11 was as capable as it looked.

One-Piece strength:

The first thing that strikes you about this knife is that the blade, crossguard and butt are all made from one piece of metal, in this case A-8 tool steel. The first modern custom knifemaker to use this type of construction was probably Ted Dowell of Bend, Oregon, with his famous integral hilt dropped- point hunter. To the best of my knowledge, Johanning is the first custom knifemaker to use this type of construction for a large combat-type knife. The reason someone would not want to use this type of construction is quite simple: It takes a lot of hard work! You have to start with a large bar of steel and then machine and grind away most of it. Needless to say, this results in a large pile of chips and grindings on the floor. However, when done properly with radiused corners as this knife has, it makes for a mighty strong knife.

The integral crossguard is of the single type as is appropriate for a single edged knife. The integral butt cap is similar in size and shape to the crossguard. There is a lined hole for a lanyard and the knife has a dull aluminum oxide blasted finish. The handle scales can be had in black canvas or red linen Micarta® and have a nice palm swell on both side for a comfortable grip. The knife weighs about 14- ounces with a slight butt-heavy balance. The A-8 steel used for this knife is a medium carbon air hardening tool steel with .56% carbon, 5% chromium, and 1.25% tungsten in its makeup. Johanning puts the knife out with a blade hardness of Rockwell 57 on the C scale. This is a compromise hardness that will give reasonably good edge holding with great toughness. The blade is 6 3/4 inches long and .210 inches thick except the last 1 3/4 inches, which taper to the point. It also has a deep fuller on each side of the blade near the back. The edge geometry is quite excellent, with a shallow follow grind to a nice thin edge. When the knife arrived it was sharp but not sharp enough to shave hair. A few swipes with my trusty Eze-lap M diamond lap quickly brought it up to hair shaving sharp.

Strong Point

One of the most distinctive things about the Model 11 is the point. It looks rather abrupt,but actually it penetrates extremely well. To show the strength of the point, Johanning pushed one of his knives through a piece of 1/8 steel diamond plate using a hydraulic press without damage to the point. That is a severe test indeed. I drove it into an oak log and pried it out sideways without bending or breaking the point. While it is a bit ugly (at least to my eyes), the point on the Model 11 is capable of handling severe abuse. To put the knife to a typical survival test I used it to cut a large pile of pine boughs, as one would do to make a bough bed. I then used it to chop completely through a tree about 2 inches in diameter, I found that by hooking my two front fingers just in front of the butt cap, I could get better leverage for chopping and the knife chopped more like a longer-bladed knife. Much to my surprise, after all that chopping the knife would still shave hair from my arm. I then drove its blade full length into the end of an oak log, using a piece of stove wood as a mallet. Similarly, I used the knife to split some kindling by hammering it through pieces of wood of a circumference significantly smaller than the blade length by using another piece of wood as a mallet. None of this fazed the knife in the slightest.

Hammering with the butt:

What can you do with a 6- pound block of tool steel and a milling machine? Tom Johanning uses the two to create his TAC 11. An integral guard and buttcap help make the knife one of the heavy-duty kind, and it is a glutton for test punishment.

TAC Test

The TAC 11 is extremely strong, so I wanted to get a "little wild" with it, though I started off slow. First, 1/2-inch sisal rope barely dulled the edge after 45 cuts. The handle worked great. With my thumb on the top, cuts were made with a motion similar to a paper cutter. I pivoted off the tip and just dropped the handle down. Usually with all machine-made knives, the handle seems to have a sharp protrusion when it comes to chopping. The little finger or index finger will have a telltale sore spot within a few minutes-- but not with the TAC 11. Johanning's knives are made for using, so I selected a good, knotty 2x4 as a test medium to gauge the feel of the handle. With its slightly grip-heavy balance, the TAC 11 parted the 2x4 four times. Again, I experienced no sore spots on my hand. A blade-heavy knife is the better chopper but the TAC 11 still held its own. The edge sustained no damage whatsoever and continued to stay keen. Since the basic tests did not provide much of a challenge, I decided to "nick up the edge a little" by driving the blade through a car door. No problem! I peeled strip after strip of car door can-opener style. The large buttcap aided greatly getting started. A quick hit on the butt with my palm drove in the blade tip. Johanning said the TAC 11 undergoes an even tougher test at his shop piercing diamond plate! He uses a hydraulic press to apply enough pressure to push the knife through the plate. He said he gets an inch bend in the blade before it goes through. Amazing thing is, he noted, no damage occurs to the knife. As a matter of fact, he said the knife that he pushed through the diamond plate is the one I tested for this installment of "spec sheet." It is one extremely tough piece!

High Carbon A-8

Tom starts off with a 6-pound billet of high carbon A-8 steel, then mills out the basic knife shape. At that point in the construction process, the handle is way too heavy, so he drills out metal until the knife balances out. The Micarta® slabs are then fitted and attached. The entire knife is bead blasted for a non-reflective finish.

Loaded Sheath

Made from 8-ounce leather, the sheath is heavy duty, too. It comes with a leg tie-down and a handle loop. The loop secures the handle tight to the sheath so it does not catch on anything. For sharpening, a 3-inch fine India stone accompanies every sheath.

Rucksack Time

This is a bear of a knife. The steel and heat treating are a perfect combination to give maximum toughness. The TAC 11 is definitely one to add to your rucksack.

With the knife Johanning sent me came a letter from a Special Forces soldier who had a TAC 11 while attending the Special Forces SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape) school created by the late Colonial James "Nick" Rowe. COL Rowe spent five years as a prisoner of the Viet Cong before making a daring escape. He used his hard-learned knowledge to develop a course that would challenge and help future generations of soldiers whose duties would take them in harm's way.

I contacted Staff Sergeant (SSG) Tom K. at the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) and arranged to meet him. When I met Tom at his Team Room I found that he was a 18D (SF Medic). I asked him about his experiences with the TAC 11 and why he had selected it in the first place. He explained that he had contacted several knifemakers, but that only Johanning had got back to him (hint to knifemakers!) and that he was looking for a knife that was "as close to indestructible that I could find." His previous knife had become a "casualty" of the harsh environment in which he normally operates. Remember: Survival for someone in the military is a down and dirty proposition. You are trying to stay alive long enough to be rescued, and the last thing you need is a piece of gear that fails you!

At SERE School, Tom had used the TAC 11 to cut through a pine branch some 8 inches in diameter, cut down numerous saplings, dig holes, as well as clean and dressed out a goat, three rabbits and a chicken. He then split 10-inch-thick cedar logs by pounding the TAC 11 through with a large rock, repeatedly stabbed the point into logs as well as doing delicate work like making fishing lures. Another time he pounded the TAC 11 about 4 inches into a tree so he could stand on the knife to observe a likely avenue of approach, the TAC 11 handled his 200 pounds with no problem. Throughout the course, Tom had no problem keeping the TAC 11 sharp and rust free, even though they had a lot of rain during the course.

TAC 11 Close-up

The TAC 11 that I tested has a 6 1/2-inch long, 1 3/16-inch wide, and 3/16-inch thick, sleek looking tanto pointed blade, with a 4 1/2-inch long handle (overall length 11 inches) and a tough, black Titanium Carbonitride finish. This finish adds hardness to the blade and reduces cutting friction. For the handle, Johanning has changed from his old red linen Micarta slabs to what he describes as black canvas Micarta slabs. The slabs on my knife are more a charcoal-gray with green stripes; they are more attractive than the old red slabs, and certainly more subdued. Johanning starts with a 6-pound billet of tool steel, and mills off everything that does not look like a blade, guard, tang or butt and ends up with the TAC 11 is so incredibly strong; the other is the steel he uses.

Using A-8 Steel

A-8 is a medium carbon air hardened tool steel that has 0.5 Carbon, 1.0 Silicon, 0.5 Manganese, 8.0 Chrome, 1.5 Molybdenum, and 0.5 Vanadium - a combination that provides excellent toughness and wear resistance and a RC of 57-58 which seems about optimum for A-8. As did SSG K., I found that edge retention was a very good and re-sharpening in the field was easy.

The TAC 11 came with a black Kydex sheath that has several interesting features. In addition to a standard web loop that easily fits on a military web belt, it includes a built in web extension that allows you to wear the knife from about 5 to 12 inches lower than the conventional loop. It has two retaining straps, one diagonally across the guard, another that goes horizontally around the top of the handle. This second strap would only be needed for jumping or movement over the most difficult of terrain. It has 8 tie down holes along the sides of the scabbard and 2 leg straps.

I have never liked leg straps and neither did SSG K. The only ones I have used that I liked had some sort of elastic material; otherwise they slip down your leg, especially when you kneel down. Johanning also offers the original leather sheath as well as a nylon sheath with a Kydex liner, both of which are black.

Testing

When I first received the TAC 11 it was just short of hair shaving sharp. Johanning says he knows how people normally use his knife, so he feels a rough working edge is the best answer. He will, however, hone a sharper edge if requested. A few swipes on my part with a fine diamond, and the edge shaved hair.

To test the TAC 11, I headed into the woods and proceeded to limb up a pile of fallen trees, then chipped through the trunk of one. The large downward sweeping butt allowed me to hold the TAC 11 with just my first two fingers and thumb. This allows a good, secure snap cutting motion. Cutting through the trunk proved no challenge. The very shallow, almost flat ground edge performed fine. Edge retention was very good. The flat, straight edge also allowed me to use the TAC 11 as a drawknife.

The guard and the butt each have three lightning holes, and I used them and my lanyard to make a spear. I first cut a 5-foot-long section of the top of a fallen tree, keeping about 1 1/2-inch thick at the top, about 3 inches at the base. I cut a right angle about 4 inches from the top to make a shoulder for the butt to rest on, then just using the lanyard, tied the TAC 11 to the shaft using the two outermost lightning holes. Now I had a stabbing spear similar to a Zulu Assegi. I stabbed it into a truck body as well as throwing it into several trees, again with no damage to the TAC 11. After pounding the TAC 11 through the pickup truck door I did have to re-sharpen the edge. That took about two minutes, and the black Titanium Carbonitride finish held up well. I deliberately did not wipe the blade off during over several weeks of testing but had no problems with corrosion.

Comments

Like SSG K., I found I would have liked a larger handle. He suggested 1 inch, but I think that 1/2 inch would be all that was needed. Both of us have fairly large hands, so that might not be a problem for you. Lastly, I would like to see the same knife with a tang 3/16 inches thick, just like the blade (it is now 5/16 inch thick). After all, if a 200-pound man can step on the TAC 11 stuck into a tree and the blade does not break, does the tang-further strengthened by the Micarta slabs-need to be 5/16 inches thick? This way you could have a longer handle with no added weight.

Johanning offers several other finishes, plus A-8 with a bead blasted finish (which is what was on the TAC 11 that went to SERE School). If you think the TAC 11 might be too big for you, then try the TAC 10 that has a 5-1/2-inch blade and weighs 13 ounces. The TAC 11 with the bead blasted finish is $375 plus S&H. With the black Titanium Carbonitride finish it is $495, and whichever knife you choose, you will be getting an incredibly tough knife that you can be assured will not let you down when the going gets tough!

TK