{"id":2622,"date":"2012-09-13T11:22:22","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T15:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=2622"},"modified":"2015-01-31T10:40:19","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T15:40:19","slug":"ka-bar-tdi-knife-review-unsafe-for-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=2622","title":{"rendered":"KA-BAR TDI Knife Review: Unsafe for Duty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When I arrived at work yesterday, there was some buzz about a training incident between an FTO and a recruit that had occurred earlier in the day.\u00a0 It seems that it was our new recruits’ first day in the blue uniform.\u00a0 Some of them were assigned to Daywatch.\u00a0 After roll call, they were examined by their training officers.<\/p>\n

One of the FTO\u2019s noticed a strange handle sticking out of the front of the recruit\u2019s gun belt.\u00a0 Yes, it was a KA-BAR TDI knife, ostensibly designed for an officer\u2019s last ditch self defense.<\/p>\n

The FTO had never actually handled a TDI, but he had heard of them.\u00a0 To demonstrate the vulnerability of the knife, the FTO reached out just to tug on the handle of the TDI.\u00a0 To his surprise, the blade came right out!\u00a0 The recruit instinctively went to grab his knife and bang!\u00a0 He got cut.\u00a0 Oh, dear.<\/p>\n

I purchased a KA-BAR TDI two years ago.\u00a0 I threaded it into my underbelt and situated it in the recommended location, behind my gun belt’s double magazine pouch on my support side front.\u00a0 Tactical Defense Institute said the knife could be mounted in either a forward or reverse grip for the support hand.\u00a0 I have trained in a reverse grip.\u00a0 In either position, I was immediately concerned with its lack of security.\u00a0 It did not stay there the whole shift.\u00a0 A fellow sergeant also had the same experience.<\/p>\n

The problem is not with the knife itself.\u00a0 The TDI positions the blade aggressively in the hand for cutting and punching with a straight wrist.\u00a0 Its handle is relieved to lock the index finger and prevent one’s digits from sliding on to the blade.\u00a0 With training, the TDI can be wielded with great martial lethality.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ultimately, I find the sheath of this knife to be its Achilles’ heel.\u00a0 The molded polymer sheath has no retention, save a friction fit.\u00a0 For a knife that is going to be carried out in the open, it should have a locking device similar to a Level II retention gun holster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On 12\/24\/2010, Austin, TX Police Ofc. Frank Wilson found out the shortcomings of a KA-BAR TDI, firsthand.\u00a0 During a physical struggle, suspect Maurice Pierce was able to pull Ofc. Wilson\u2019s TDI from its sheath and slash Wilson across the neck.\u00a0 Seriously injured, Wilson transitioned to his firearm and shot Pierce, who was killed.\u00a0 Ofc. Wilson recovered from his wounds.\u00a0 Austin PD banned any knife not carried in an enclosed case or secreted on the officer\u2019s person.<\/p>\n

The KA-BAR TDI was designed by Tactical Defense Institute (TDI) President and Chief Instructor John Benner.\u00a0 Benner is an Army veteran and a police officer with over thirty-seven years of service.\u00a0 The intent of the TDI knife, as a back-up blade for law enforcement, is admirable.<\/p>\n

As I said, I like the actual knife, but I strongly feel the sheath and its intended carry placement of the TDI are unsafe for duty.\u00a0 It would increase the price of the TDI to re-engineer the sheath to give it a retention quality, but that would minimize the platform as a danger to the user.\u00a0 If you have a co-worker carrying a TDI, please pass along this info.<\/p>\n

Randall<\/p>\n

Update 3\/22\/2014:\u00a0 KA-BAR has new TDI’s out with a locking sheath.\u00a0 Read here:\u00a0 New KA-BAR TDI Hinderance and Hell Fire Knives<\/a>.\u00a0 Problem solved!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Another Update 1\/31\/2015:\u00a0 I got to examine the new TDI knives and sheaths at 2015 SHOT Show.\u00a0 Click here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I arrived at work yesterday, there was some buzz about a training incident between an FTO and a recruit that had occurred earlier in the day.\u00a0 It seems that it was our new recruits’ first day in the blue uniform.\u00a0 Some of them were assigned to Daywatch.\u00a0 After roll call, they were examined by their training officers. One of the FTO\u2019s noticed a strange handle sticking out of the front of the recruit\u2019s gun belt.\u00a0 Yes, it was a KA-BAR TDI knife, ostensibly designed for an officer\u2019s last ditch self defense. The FTO had never actually handled a TDI, but he had heard of them.\u00a0 To demonstrate the vulnerability … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,4],"tags":[493,495,443,494],"class_list":["post-2622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-knives","category-officer-safety","tag-ka-bar-tdi-knife","tag-ka-bar-tdi-review","tag-police-back-up-knife","tag-unsafe-officers-knife"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28xkp-Gi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2622"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9118,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622\/revisions\/9118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}