Customer Reviews

Smith & Wesson CK5TBS Bullseye Extreme Ops 4.1" 40% Serrated Black Tanto Blade

5 star:		(185)
4 star:		(84)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I recieved this knife as a present last year and was immediately impressed by two things. First, the level of fit, finish, and function, and second, the ridiculously low price for such a quality knife.

The construction is solid...black anodized, micro-grooved scales with large, appealing "lightening holes". Oversized blade pivot, and well-finished, tiny screws holding it all together. On the right side is located a strong, spring-steel pocket clip, also finished in a deep, matte black, attached by three tiny screws just behind the pivot pin.
The blade is just shy of 3.25", a dropped, tanto style with serrations along half its lower edge. The blade is also "single sided" meaning the "front" (left) side has the contour shaping, serrations, and logo, while the "back" (right) side is flat. This is of no import on this type of knife to any degree more than holding the price down since only one side of the blade needs to be machined. The blade is a deep black matte finish of S&W's proprietary process and has proved to be quite durable over a year of less than gentle handling. The blade is activated by a large thumbstud located near the hilt along the spine...on BOTH sides of the blade for ambidexterous use.
Blade locking is accomplished by a spring-steel liner lock affixed to the inside of the right scale (handle), and snaps in behind the blade when opened to positively lock the blade against accidental closure. I've heard of liner-locks failing, but it's hard to see how this one could.
Overall fit is well above average. The blade operates smoothly...VERY smoothly and snaps into lock with a reassuringly audible click. Despite being light, the blade can also be snapped into lock with a quick flick of the wrist after the thumb has opened it about 20 degrees.
Once locked open the blade is solid...no wobble, no looseness. To release the thumb (ideally the right thumb) is pressed against the inside of the liner lock, and the lock disengages smoothly without roughness, completely freeing the blade to be rotated into the handle.
The knife is light...easily carried in a pocket without need for being clipped.
As delivered the blade was sharp...not razor, but quite sharp, and a few strokes with an Arkansas stone quickly brought it up to RAZOR sharp and it has held that edge for a long time now.
For the price it would be hard to beat this knife. I guess S&W is now having its knives manufactured in China, which does keep prices low, yet contrary to what some would imply, the QUALITY of S&W knives in general, and this one in particular is superb...well above what one would expect for the money paid, and quite on par with all the big-name domestically produced blades costing oodles more.
To me a "good" knife not only fulfills a useful function, and possesses well-executed, crisp details, but DOES SO at a price that makes it practical to be USED. I don't know anyone who shells out hundreds of dollars for some faux-custom and then uses it hard. THIS knife can be used to the full extent of what it's relatively light-weight construction was meant to allow...and then some, because it didn't cost a small fortune...on top of being VERY well put-together.
You can generally find this knife and several variations of it listed through various online sellers for around $12....TWELVE BUCKS for a knife this good? Amazing. I've seen truly CHEAP pieces of junk at swap-meets selling for more. Let me be very clear: This knife is a truly outstanding value any way you slice it (pun intended).

Length:: 9:22 Mins

RoughneckNine0 here!
I've had the Smith & Wesson CK5TBS Bullseye Extreme Ops 4.1" 40% Serrated Black Tanto Blade for a few months now and decided to do a video review. Enjoy!

Length:: 1:12 Mins

4 stars, but that is as a knife in general and does not factor in the price. At $10, well worth the cost (5 stars).
The Main Points:
First, I've only had this one day, so these are some initial thoughts.
The thumb stud and liner lock are a nice latch that makes it easy to open and close with one hand.
The serrations are nice, and work OK as a wood saw, not amazing, but there is just a little over an inch of serration, so what can you expect?
The only complaint: I don't like that the blade has an angle bend. A curve would be much nicer for such things as whittling.
Overall, a good tool. I am satisfied with my purchase and would reccomend it to others.

*Update* - yeah guys I have come to understand that a tanto blade has the angle. But I want to point out that particular shortcoming to someone like me, who had no idea what that meant. So to all- This is a great Tanto blade. Enjoy.

This seems like a good knife, especially at the price. I've not been pounding on it with a hammer, or using it to chisel marble, but the constrction seems sound, the blade well mounted and of high quality, the grip easy on the hand, and the mechanism locks positively and well.

Reflecting upon another review, it is possible that a smaller hand might find the thumb-knurl on the small side and difficult to open, for lack of leverage and inadequate purchase. This is only a guess, but may be a matter of consideration for others. As already noted, I find the blade easy to open and the lock mechanism tight and solid.

One other point of approval -- the belt-clip is very solid, tight and well-mounted. Many other manufacturers seem to go cheap on the clip, which makes carrying the knife a problem after a while. The clip loosens up and the knife will easily fall off the belt if one is in an awkward position or brushing past things. This guy looks like it will stay on the belt long after the belt itself has fallen away. This, for me, is another positive.

The price is really good, but there are reasons why the price is so cheap. I've had the knife for three months and there have been some problems. The biggest problem is the joint, the joint is made of low quality plastic that will become very flimsy in a short amount of time. The other problem that isn't as big of a deal is the liner lock, the liner lock is weak and doesn't feel good when being used. Overall the best thing about the knife is the price, if that's the only reason you want the knife you will be satisfied. If you want a knife that you plan on using for more than just light labor this isn't the knife for you, you might want to try Gerber Knives.

It's the best ten dollar knife I've ever bought.

I wasn't expecting much. I read the reviews and said to myself, "I know this is a waste of money but why the hell not?" I'm glad I did.

I'm kind of a knife nut. I've been one since I was a kid and that was a lonnnnngggg time ago. Over the years I have collected dozens of knives and I've used all of them for various tasks around the house, on the job and while camping or travelling. I have several big knives from Swamp Rat, Becker and SOG, a few martial arts knives from Cold Steel, hunting knives from Lakota, Puma, Fallkniven and Buck and boxes full of folding knives from Victorinox, Spyderco, Buck, Kershaw, Al Mar, Benchmade, Gerber and numerous others. A few purchases were junk--like a CRKT folder that refuses to take an edge no matter how much I hone it. A few were disappointments--like an Ontario/RAT military/survival knife that cost a hundred bucks and the handles fit like a three buck dimestore toy. A few were surprises--like the Byrd knives made in China and imported by Spyderco.

This S&W was one of the surprises.

It's made in China by Taylor Cutlery. It's badged as Smith & Wesson but S&W doesn't really make it and probably has nothing to do with the design, choice of materials or anything else. It's a cheap knife that is made to be sold and should be junk. But it's not.

This is not the sharpest knife I've ever bought but it can be sharpened to a good utility edge. The serrations are good for utility purposes as well and they can be touched up nicely with the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It's not the prettiest knife I've ever bought but I bought it as a "beater" so looks are not important. The tanto-point blade has a good, even grind and the thickness of the blade makes for a pretty strong utility knife overall. The clip is a bit on the flimsy side but it holds the knife inside the pocket well suspended. The aluminum handles have good gripping surfaces that helps to prevent your hand slipping when wet. Opening and closing is smooth and easy to perform one handed. Really, it's a knife that just seems to fulfill the purpose of being a folding knife.

The best part is that it's a ten buck knife.

I don't expect this knife to last for decades. I won't be passing it down to future generations. It's going to be rode hard and put up wet and abused and neglected. It will get a sharpening when dull and an oiling when the joint is sluggish but it's not going to get the treatment I give to my expensive knives. I'll use it for dirty jobs and if it gets lost in the process, I will not feel too much pain. It's just a ten buck knife.

EDIT 04/07/2010: What they say about the lock is true. It wears pretty quickly, turning this folder into a fixed blade until you can find a screwdriver or other tool to pry the lock out of the way and close it. About the same quality lock mechanism as I've seen in some $40 Chinese Gerbers. Difference is, in a $40 knife it's garbage and in a $10 knife it's expected.

I'd never had one of these liner lock knives before & when I saw this one for the price on here while researching the Victorinox knife I also purchased (Farmer's pocketknife, excellent!) I figured I'd try it, what could another letter opener hurt.

Well, it hurt me! First time I opened the blade it didn't lock and I didn't realize it and closed the serrated part a little on my finger like an idiot. Yes, it's very sharp! After playing with it some more, the lock seemed so stiff that I was thinking of returning it, there was no way it could be operated one-handed.

However, playing with it some more, I tried flicking the blade open. I was able to do this easily even with it fully closed (another customer mentions flicking it open from a partially opened position, but I've had good luck doing it with the knife fully closed.). The blade easily locked! I did this a few more times just to hear the nice locking sound it made. But then I noticed, I was able to easily open and lock the blade with one hand. I suppose the flicking sped up a breaking-in process that a few more two-handed openings would have done.

Umm, I guess I should add, if you're going to try flicking the blade open MAKE SURE YOU CAN HANG ONTO THE KNIFE. I'm a big guy with big hands and nobody was in the room with me; I wouldn't make a habit of opening a knife this way, because it only has to go wrong once when you get careless to really be a bad thing. And I'm going to be closing it with two hands just to be safe.

So now I'm fully pleased with the knife. Easy one-hand open and lock. It's got a really well-machined appearance and feel to it, seems to be well-made in every area. Feel's good in the hand, I don't think it'll get away from you any while you're cutting or sawing. It's very light, too, I could slip it in a pocket and forget it.

Overall, for this price and quality, I can only recommend it. If you're a nOOb like me to these kinds of knives however, this is no toy, it will cut you if you're a moron. So be careful, and enjoy this incredibly cheap, amazing little piece of hardware.

This knife in and of itself is not at all disappointing. What is disappointing is that I carry this $10 knife so often that my $200+ Emerson folder does nothing but collect dust(Doh! Money down the drain).

While the Emerson is a slight bit nicer, and the blade a better quality of steel, I have owned one of these for a few years now(recently lost it and bought another) and it has held up extremely well to stress. Keeps an edge for a decent amount of time, is easy to resharpen when it does lose its edge, and I have not had any issues with the lock, nor blade wiggle. While there is a problem with the black anodized handle wearing out somewhat quick, this is a cosmetic problem and when it pertains to a perfectly functional $10 knife, totally negligible. I do understand that other customers have had bad experiences with the same product which tells me that these most likely follow a similar path to Taurus firearms. Which is to say, you may get a good one, or you may get a lemon. However with the particular blade I received, I would have to recommend it. It is sturdy, sharp, and I wouldn't be too heartbroken if I lost it. 5 out of 5.

This is a really great knife for daily carry purposes. The workmanship is quite good for a liner lock and it even has nice touches like plastic washers between the blade and handle. Makes for very smooth and easy operation when opening and closing it.

The blade is made of 440C stainless which is a much nicer metal than the 440A blades I've owned. The knife came out of the box ready to shave arm hair with and takes little effort to make the edge even sharper. It slices paper, cardboard, plastic wrapping, and other such items like it's nothing.

The clip sits a bit low on the knife; below the hinge joint. So the knife sticks out of my pocket more than my Gerber Evo Jr. does. However, it's actually kind of nice. Makes the knife easier to get out of my pocket to do work with. Makes it more accessible and usable at the cost of a tad bit less discretion in public. The clip is removable as well via 3 torx screws.

The liner lock portion locks up securely, even when creeping the blade open. So no problems there.

Some of my old liner locks didn't hold their blades closed -- the blades would sometimes open a tad bit in my pocket. This knife has a subtle blade hold-in indention on the blade and liner lock strip. So when the blade is pushed closed, it is held in place ever so slightly. It has enough tension to prevent accidental openings but not enough to make opening it on purpose a problem.

The knurled handle patterning combined with the drilled holes allow for a very secure grip. The knife as a whole weighs much less than I thought it would. The handle is lightweight and balanced well with the blade's weight.

Smith and Wesson did a great job on this model by creating an inexpensive liner lock knife that feels solid, sharpens extremely well, has a solid lockup on the liner, is lightweight, and very affordable. It's a shame I saw this knife after buying a Gerber Evo Jr. They sold for roughly the same price at the stores I bought them at and the S&W CK5TBS has much better metal in the blade. I like my knives to stay sharp and so far this one excels at that job.

The knife is the perfect size, it felt solid, i was impressed with the sharp right out of the box. I work landscaping so I was using it to open mulch bags, cut landscape paper, packaging and other things of the like. A few other reviews mentioned when you flick open the knife, the lock jams which is simply a design flaw but its fine once you know to just open the knife slowly. I was cutting through a small root when the blade closed on my finger and took a nice deep slice right down to my fingernail. After trying to figure out what happened I discovered that the flaw with the lock is dangerous. If you put enough pressure the lock pushes too far over to the opposite side of the blade which no longer holds the blade in place. I've been working with knives my whole life and have cut myself many times but I do believe this is largely a problem with the knife's design. The knife seems really good quality aside from the design of the lock which seems to be a common problem. Aside from the lock problem the knife is sturdy enough for smith and wesson to keep me as a customer.