FAQ

General/Ordering

Q. What is the delivery time on your knives?

A. Due to the demand for our knives, we usually run about 4-6 weeks delivery on our standard models. Our custom shop and customer designed knives usually run about 8 weeks. We continually try to build up stock, but it is usually sold before we complete it. However, we do have knives in stock at times. Please e-mail or call to see what we have in stock at the moment.

Q. Do you require a deposit or payment up front?

A. No, we do not require a deposit or any payment at the time of order for one of our standard models. We charge the full balance when the knife is ready to ship. However, we do require a 50% deposit on customer designed knives and personalized knives. 

Q. Do you offer a discount to military and Law Enforcement personnel?

A. Yes, we offer a 10% discount with a copy of your military, law enforcement, EMT or firefighter identification.

Q. Are your knives made in the USA?

A. Yes, all of our knives are hand-crafted in Berryville, Arkansas.

Q. Can I order a knife with changes to the current model?

A. Yes, we will gladly customize one of our designs to accommodate your needs. Please contact us for a price/delivery quote.

Q. Can you make a knife of my design?

A. Yes, we enjoy building customer designed knives. Once you submit a drawing to us, we will provide you a price and delivery quote. We do require a 50% deposit on customer designed knives.

Q. Do you work on knives manufactured by other companies?

A. Yes, we can modify other knives, make sheaths or refinish them. Please contact us for a price/delivery quote.

Q. Can I have my name/initials put on my blade?

A. Yes, we can personalize your knife for $19.99. Please note exactly what you want on the blade when you order, we require this in writing. We do require a 50% deposit on personalized knives.

Q. Do you need my knife to make a kydex sheath?

A. Yes, we will need your knife, kydex sheaths are form fitted. Our knives are hand made and vary from knife to knife. We usually run less than a week to make a kydex sheath for a customer’s knife.

Material/Features

Q. What is D2?

A. D2 is an air-hardening, high carbon, high chromium tool steel that is often called semi-stainless. It offers excellent abrasion resistance, due to a large volume of carbides in the microstructure. D2 is commercially used for stamping dies, blanking dies, shear blades due to its high wear resistance. It holds an edge longer under the most extreme use, sharpens scary sharp and is pretty much indestructible. D2 will take more abuse than most steels which is important in a serious tactical knife.

Q. What is 440C?

A. 440C is an excellent, high chromium stainless steel that resists rust well. It is fairly ubiquitous, and is generally considered the penultimate general-use stainless. 440C takes a nice edge and is fairly easy to sharpen.

Q. What is CPM S30V?

A. CPM S30V is an American made and developed premium grade stainless steel created especially for knives. It is a powder made steel with uniform structure and clean steel properties. It is a martensitic stainless steel designed to offer the best combination of toughness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance. Its chemistry has been specially balanced to promote the formation of vanadium carbides which are harder and more effective than chromium carbides in providing wear resistance.

Q. What is ATS34?

A. ATS-34 is very, very similar to 154-CM and is a premier high quality stainless steel. It holds an edge very well and is extremely tough.

Q. What is N690C?

A. N690C is an Austrian made stainless steel, which is comparable to 440C in performance and value. It has keen edge qualities with excellent corrosion resistance.

Q. What is Damascus?

A. Damascus is a specially forged, layered steel makeup of a variety of steels. It offers excellent toughness and edge quality. The surface layers are exposed through an acid etch, which creates a very unique visual effect.

Q. What is 6AL4V Titanium?

A. 6AL4V Titanium is a light weight, modern metal offering incredible strength and resiliency. It is non-magnetic, corrosion resistance and works as a spring on frame-lock folders.

Q. What is Carbon Fiber?

A. Carbon Fiber is a premium composite of thin strands of carbon tightly woven into various weave patterns, then set in resin, which is most commonly clear but can be color tinted. It offers great looks and is extremely strong for its minimal weight. Carbon Fiber cannot be sharpened to a cutting edge.

Q. What is Micarta?

A. Micarta is a composite material designed for ultra durability. It is made of layers of linen cloths soaked in resin and pressured together. Micarta is available in paper, linen and cloth configurations. Wilson Tactical uses the linen version in black or black/green.

Q. What is G10?

A. G10 is an extremely durable material made of woven fiberglass soaked in epoxy resin, then highly compressed and baked. It is impervious to moisture or liquid and physically stable under climate change.

Q. What is Desert Ironwood?

A. Desert Ironwood is a very dense/heavy wood from the southwest. It ranges in color from a light to very dark brown to a golden color sometimes with dark streaks. Desert Ironwood has a lot of character. It is a very unique and durable hardwood.

Q. What is Coco Bolo?

A. Coco-Bolo is a dense wood from South America. It ranges in color from dark brown to dark yellow with a lot of character.

Q. What is Antique Stag Bone?

A. Antique Stag Bone is cow bone that has been jigged to provide character and then died to give it the appearance of aged stag.

Q. What is Cord Wrap?

A. Cord Wrap is a handle made from wrapping 550 cord around the handle. It provides a secure grip and is removable if the cord is needed in an emergency.

Q. What is a Kydex Sheath?

A. Kydex is a type of plastic that we heat mold to your knife. There is no need for straps or other means to hold the knife in the sheath as the tension of the kydex holds the knife securely in place. Kydex is extremely durable and will outlast a leather sheath. We supply our kydex sheaths with a Tek-Lok attachment that allows the knife to be carried upright, upside down, sideways and right or left handed. Our kydex sheaths will also attach directly to a Safariland 6004 leg shroud utilizing the hardware from the Tek-Lok.

Q. What is a Sharkskin Sheath?

A. Our sharkskin sheath is a high quality leather sheath with a sharkskin panel on the front. The vertical carry belt loop is wide enough for a 2” belt. It is dyed solid black and has a retention strap.

Q. What is Concealex?

A. Concealex is a type of plastic that we heat mold to your knife. There is no need for straps or other means to hold the knife in the sheath as the tension of the concealex holds the knife securely in place. It is manufactured with a carbon fiber appearance for cosmetics.

Q. What is a Bead Blast Finish?

A. Bead Blast is a process of texturing material with sand and air pressure. It is a non-reflective textured finish that is silver/gray in color.

Q. What is a Hand-Rub Finish?

A. It is a satin/polish finish obtained from rubbing the steel with sandpaper in progressively finer grits until we get a uniform finish. This process is done by hand and is very time consuming. The end result is a very quality finish that holds up better than polish and is not as shiny. You will see this finish on most all of our custom shop knives.

Q. What is Tacti-Kote?

A. Tacti-Kote is a protective finish developed specifically for knife use to provide a surface finish with optimum corrosion protection, abrasion resistance. It permanently bonds to the surface of the knife to form a barrier from acids, oils, paint remover and other strong industrial solvents. Tacti-Kote has a very attractive satin/matte surface finish that looks very similar to an ultra-fine sandblast blue job. Tacti-Kote is available in matte black or matte OD green.

Q. What is an Automatic Knife?

A. An Automatic Knife is a switchblade. It is opened and closed with a push button. Their legality is different in every state, and Wilson Tactical will only sell them to military/law enforcement personnel with a copy of their identification.

Maintenance

Q. How do I sharpen my knife?

A. It is best to maintain an edge without letting it get completely dull. We suggest using a Spyderco Tri-Angle sharpener to keep it sharp. We will re-sharpen your knife to the original edge free of charge except for return shipping.