Gerber wanted a new series of tactical folding knives to replace SKUs that were beginning to falter. Instead of mererely refreshing knives to look the part, we investigated the functionality that makes a knife ‘tactical’.
The result was a pair of knives that embody the values of the tactical consumer, while being approachable enough to appeal to a wider audience.
The tactical knife was originally defined by its feature-set, but has recently become shorthand for ‘pointy, black, and scary-looking.’
Our objective was to offer all the function and ruggedness of a tactical knife, in a package that appealed to a broader set of users.
A knife you can't draw is a knife you can't use. Interviewees ranked speed of deployment a one of their highest priorities.
Users need to be confident they're not going to drop the knife while manipulating it. The knife should also provide grip in a variety of different holds.
Put simply, these knives get abused. Though actions like prying with a knife are never recommended, in an emergency they may be unavoidable.
For a user to be able to quickly get the knife unclipped from their pocket and put into use, there needed to be no protruding features to snag on clothing.
Though we worked on a condensed timeline, we were able to take this project through the full ID process, from sketching to final tooling.
