Reunited With My Beretta Tanto Folder after Seven Years

I’ve recently found my Beretta Tanto folder. As the title of the blog states, she was lost to me for nearly, if not more than seven years.

It was probably in the late 90’s or early 00’s when I attended a Beretta armorer course. During the course I ordered two Beretta Tanto folders. One was all stainless and her sister was all black. The girls sported 4” long, semi-serrated blades.

I looked online for information about the steel used for the blades and one site said the steel used is AUS-08. http://www.knifesupply.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=BE639

The same thing that makes the Beretta sisters cool=looking also makes them to not the best choice for a defense knife. The folders are all metal and using it in a defense situation can be difficult to hold on to if perspiration and blood gets onto it.

To remedy this, I put safety tape on the handle.

I carried the black Beretta at work. She’s relatively thin and fits in my pocket with very little bulk. Perhaps too little bulk, when she fell out my pocket all those years ago, I didn’t feel it and didn’t miss her until I got home. I don’t remember the exact time and date when I lost it (The knife that is).

Several weeks ago, I noticed a familiar knife clipped inside one of my co-worker’s pockets. Generally, a Beretta folder isn’t a knife commonly seen.

I asked to look at it and saw it was a Beretta with the familiar safety tape cut into the same pattern I had on my Beretta.

He told me the story of how he came to possess the Beretta.

She was found in the workplace parking lot. Whoever found her took her to one of the supervisors, who placed her in his lost and found drawer until someone asked for her.

Silly me, I assumed if a knife was found I would be the first person someone would try to return it to, which has happened several times in the past.

She remained in the drawer for several years until the supervisor retired. She stayed there for several more years until another supervisor got tired of looking at it and kept her for his own for another several years until the day I noticed her in his pocket.

He let me have her back, and I gave him a Benchmade folder as a replacement.
The Beretta tanto is not one of my most high-quality knives but her stainless steel sister (and me) did miss her.

Now the only other knives I need to be reunited with are my Buck 110 W/Flicket, my Benchmade CQ7, and my foliage green Spyderco Endura.

Bargain Blades from Boker: A Working Man’s (or Woman’s) Auto-Knife

If you’re in the market for one of the EVIL switchblades, you may have found the only evil thing about them is the price. Many switchblades are in the $200 range or more. Even the very well-made Pro-Tech, California-legal auto-knives are roughly $125-200.

Granted, the ones in the $250+ range are fantastic and if you only plan to have a few knifes, one of the expensive auto-knives would be a good deal.

However, if you carry your knife for self-defense and ever have to use one to protect yourself (This is assuming you live in an area where switchblades are legal) the fuzz will take your knife while they investigate your self-defense incident.

But then again, you may prefer the cut and run method of personal defense. That’s an alternative to having to defend yourself against a DA who wants to make a name for himself or get elected Governor by prosecuting a person for defending themselves with a knife.

Another possibility is being sued by either the thug or his family for using “excessive” force on their hoodlum relative, who despite having multiple violent, felony convictions is “trying to turn his life around but doesn’t know how, etc” in that event, you’ll want to toss your knife (and any clothes you were wearing during the incident) and that may hurt a bit with a knife costing $250+

Of course if you’re rolling in cash, buying another knife will be no problem. However, if your luck was like mine and you have only one folder, it would happen when you don’t have the funds to buy a decent replacement, and if you’re like me you’ll refuse to buy a $20, Big 5 special.

Enter Boker Knives. The most expensive knife I bought from them is a folder with a ceramic blade. It cost me nearly $200 and that was about ten years ago. Checking the price online now, I see a dealer who was the same knife for $108. I’ll be *%$$#!

By the way, if you want a good deal on a knife, visit www.KnifeSupply.com.

http://www.knifesupply.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=BO89

The two auto-knives in the above photo cost me less than $50 combined, not including shipping. The larger of the two costs $24 and the smaller version costs$19. (I like having two blades on me).

The knives are made in Taiwan and the blades are made from 420CC steel.

Once open, the blades are fairly tight, which is one thing I demand in a folder especially one intended for defense.
Most of the higher quality knives have a safety so the blade doesn’t open in your pocket. Boker, rather than adding a safety, which presumably would increase the price, has the release button recessed into the handle where it makes accidental opening nearly impossible. Indeed, I’ve found with the larger knife, intentional opening is difficult. Not that I’m complaining. Switchblades aren’t legal to carry in California and my autos are collector’s pieces.

http://www.knifesupply.com/eshop/10browse.asp?category=magnum%20tactical%20knives&ReturnTo=http://www.knifesupply.com/magnum_knives.html