Not too long ago, I was surfing the net, looking for any interesting tactical knives that I haven't seen before. And then I saw the P001. I was blown away, because this is the type of knife I've been trying to design, fascinated and hooked, I had to know more about it. I found their official website, www.combtact.com, and I contacted Jeff Thenier, CEO of STI Knives, Professional Body Guard Instructor, Firearms and Martial Arts expert, and designer of these wonderful knives! Jeff trusted in me and my skills and sent me a package.
X-mas came early for me this year!
BODYGUARD P001 Knife Review
CONCEPTS
BODYGUARD P001 tactical knife has been the flagship product of the STI Knives company. It sets the standard, it is truly an amazing knife. This knife links the handgun and knife combat skills together. This knife was designed so that a professional armed with a pistol would have no problem adapting to a bladed weapon when a firearm is not available/legal. The P001 is a highly versatile knife that can be used as many different types of weapons. It addresses lethal and non lethal, emergency rescue and of course CQC.
IMPACT WEAPON
When you first take it out of the box, you realize just how heavy and solid this knife is. In the closed position, it is a monster impact weapon. Just to show how sturdy this knife is, there is a video of designer Jeff Thenier taking it out to the shooting range and shooting it to bits. Ever hear of a soldier surviving a shot because his iPod acted as a shield? Let me tell you, I'd prefer this knife any day! Even in the closed position, there are so many effective ways to hold this knife because there are many areas to strike with. There is another video of Jeff Thenier using the P001 in the closed position to crack open a coconut. I like how he wasn't wearing a glove, and didn't need to swing down on it like a madman, like an experienced carpenter wielding a hammer he just let the P001 do the work.
LOCK
Let me move on to the locking mechanism. It is surprisingly simple. There is a small ambidextrous lever button that you pull back to release the blade. In the closed position, the blade is actually locked in. So if your doing heavy duty physical activities, you don't have to worry about the blade popping open.
PISTOL KNIFE
Once you pull back the lock, the next locking position is when the blade opens into a pistol shaped knife. There are many benefits to this. Since there is less distance for the blade to travel, this can mean a faster deployment. Many gun experts know that the pistol shape grip is anatomically suited for receiving and delivering force. Think of it this way, if you had two P001 knives, it is possible for you to do a pushup, but you wouldn't be able to with a normal knife. The pistol shape knife also provides many unique techniques and grips for a rarely seen devastating knife combat style. What makes this pistol shape work so well is the generously large finger choil, which provides safety from the blade. Also notice the trigger guard is absent, this is a smart move because there are gun disarm techniques that uses the trigger guard against you for brutal finger locks.
STRAIGHT KNIFE
The final locking position is when the blade deploys like a standard folding knife. By having this option, essentially you are getting two knives for one. Even in this standard knife position, the P001 is still highly unique because of the finger hole region. This massive region can be used to protect your finger like a guard on a european sword, or it can be used for simultaneous striking as you stab. I can also see it as an area for blade catching.
CONCLUSION
The P001 is simply the best tactical knife I've ever seen. I believe it is way ahead of it's time. I really don't know why KA-BAR or some other company hasn't teamed up with STI Knives and started making these. I feel so fortunate to have found and collaborated with this fantastic company. I've used many tactical knives, and most of the time, I feel limited, most knives can't keep up with me, because the P001 has so many various grips, capabilities, weapons it can mimic, I find it engaging and challenging. If you want a knife that has characteristics of many weapons such as, Brass Knuckles, Club, Karambit, Pistol Bayonet, Straight Razor, Tonfa, Boomerang, Tomahawk, Yawara Stick, all rolled into one, then this knife is for you!
***** 5/5 Stars
BG911 Knife Review
INTRO
The BG911 is a compact version of the P001. Making it more suitable for women and civilians. I find the BG911 to be an elegant version of the P001. The P001 to me is like a warrior weapon, where as to the BG911 is like a James Bond gadget.
COMPACT
Let me tell you straight up, the BG911 can do everything that the P001 can do, however, do to it's smaller size, some grips are going to feel much more comfortable than others. This is a reasonable compromise. Also remember that in the closed position the BG911 can be used as a Yawara Stick. Most medium sized or larger folding knives can serve as a make shift palm stick, however, it is rare to find a small folding knife that can make an effective self-defense palm stick, the BG911 is one of the few that can do this well. If your looking for a light, discrete knife with good concealment, then the BG911 is for you.
MOD
The BG911 is not just a smaller version of the P001, they really tried to make this thing special by adding small modifications here and there. For example this knife is a spring assisted opener. There is a glass breaker tip mounted on the top fin. The blade now has ambidextrous thumb studs, and the second hole on the handle scale is larger.
CONCLUSION
If you have to choose between the P001 and the BG911, since they are nearly identical, the only major factors come down to size and price. So I would let those two factors determine which one you prefer. The bottom line is that both of these are really excellent knives and I would get either one of these knives before considering any other knife in the market today. When I look at other knives, I can't help but say, can your knife do this? How about this? What about this then?
***** 5/5 Stars
TDZ7 Impact Tool Review
CONCEPT
The TDZ7 is an expansion to the BODYGUARD series of knives by STI KNIVES. It is modeled after the P001, so the skills you develop with the P001 will transfer to the TDZ7 and the skills you develop with the TDZ7 will transfer to the P001.
PISTOL
The P001, BG911, and the TDZ7 are all shaped like a pistol because the professional who uses a hand gun as their primary weapon will have an easier time learning and adapting to these tools. The idea is to be as similar as possible to the primary weapon for comfort under combat stress.
PURPOSE
When you cannot use a firearm or knife, the TDZ7 becomes your number one choice. The TDZ7 is not discrete, it is basically a monster Yawara Stick! During a crisis situation, you will definitely be glad that you have this large beast of a tool with you. I've seen many different types of self-defense palm sticks, most of them are very small, and they fall into the better than nothing category, the TDZ7 is in the I'm so glad I have this category. There are other large extreme palm stick weapons out there, but remember the TDZ7 also serves to unite all 3 skills of your primary weapon (hand gun), your secondary weapon (P001 tactical knife), and your tertiary weapon (TDZ7 impact tool) all together.
FUNCTIONAL
Everyone that has seen this asked me if this was a training knife for the P001. It can definitely be a training knife because it is less dangerous than the P001 knife.
But make no mistake this is a self-defense weapon.
It is pointy, will stabs card board boxes no problem and makes a good letter opener. In a real life situation, the TDZ7 would cut your attacker open into a bloody mess.
The other points can also cause extreme pain because of the hard plastic material. I also like that it's made of plastic because it can go through metal detectors.
HOLES
Very noticeable are the many large holes in the handle that make the TDZ7 even lighter. The holes can be used for key rings for easy clip on carry. But probably the most predominant reason for the holes are for providing gripping variations.
CONCLUSION
There is no extra large Yawara Stick in the market today that not only has many versatile techniques but concepts that go with a knife as an expansion tool, increasing your skills in both Impact Tool and knife combat weapons training. Just like each product from STI KNIVES has slightly unique properties of it's own, the TDZ7 also has some features that the P001 and the BG911 doesn't have. This product definitely stands on it's own.
***** 5/5 Stars
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