Smith & Wesson Alliance Fixed Blade Knife – Review

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The Smith & Wesson Alliance fixed blade knife is not only good looking, it is also a functional drop point skinning knife.U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- It’s a well-known fact that I’m a tightwad. In fact, my wife calls me the eternal tightwad. One time she reminded me that I wasn’t still in high school cowboying on a local ranch for $1.50/hr., that I now had a real job. Ok, maybe I had carried to a new level. So with the above said, as I get older, I’ve decided, why carry some junker ugly knife? Why not have a cool looking one? At least I can be cool sitting around the campfire when everyone is showing what knife they carry. At least until everyone else shoots a big bull and I only get a spike. But at least I’ll have one claim to fame. With that said, the Smith & Wesson Allegiance is a nice-looking functional hunting knife. Smith & Wesson Alliance Fixed Blade Knife To set the pace for the “Awe” factor the Smith & Wesson Allegiance comes in a nice magnetic flip top box with an American flag on top. That automatically had me on the edge of my seat expecting something out of the ordinary when I flipped open the top. I wasn’t disappointed. It has a rich-looking cocobolo wood handle. I like wood-handled knives. It also has stainless steel bolsters, brass pins in the handle, and a brass pin with S&W engraved in it on the left handle. All this may not add to the functionality of the knife but it surely all adds up to make a nice looking knife. Now for the functional aspects. The handle is semi-thin and fits my hand great. Of course, so much of what determines if someone says this knife or that one fits their hand is actually according to what size their hands are. Next, I like the finger guard and thumb guard on the top. This allows for a firm grip plus added safety features. The finger guard on the back of the handle further improves your grip. The back bolster has a hole in case you want to tie on a lanyard. I could argue either way for lanyards. Leather thongs can look nice on certain knives and some of my knives have come with one. It comes with a leather sheath. I prefer leather sheaths on my hunting knives. They don’t air out as well as a Kydex sheath but I think that they look richer. I’d recommend using a little thicker leather to make the sheath more durable and putting two more metal brads along the cutting edge of the sheath so if you get in a horse wreck in the mountains that hopefully they would prevent you from getting cut. The knife does set down tightly in the sheath and it is held securely in place by a snap strap around the handle right above the finger guard. The blade is the perfect length to qualify as a sweet skinning knife. It has a drop point that most modern hunters prefer. The last 1 ½ inches of the spine is slightly tapered so it has a definite point which will allow you to cut the pattern when skinning your big game animals. If you’re looking for a nice-looking skinning knife that will set you apart from another hunter then I’d recommend that you check out the Smith & Wesson Allegiance. Mine is marked as 0335/1000 so I assume that S&W is only going to produce 1,000 Smith & Wesson Allegiance knives, so if you want one, I’d recommend that you hurry and buy one. The MSRP on the Smith & Wesson Allegiance is $199.99. And as is usual, we will close with the specs. The Smith & Wesson Performance Center Allegiance was born in the United States meaning it's cut out for the toughest jobs. More than just a knife, make this your family heirloom. Features:

• Blade Length: 4″
• Overall Length: 8.6″
• Weight: 0.5lb
• Blade Material: 14C28N Stainless Steel
• Handle Material: Cocobolo
• Other Features: Made in USA, Limited edition numbered 1-1000, Full tang

About Tom Claycomb Tom Claycomb has been an avid hunter/fisherman throughout his life as well as an outdoors writer with outdoor columns in the magazine Hunt Alaska, Bass Pro Shops, Bowhunter.net, and freelances for numerous magazines and newspapers. “To properly skin your animal, you will need a sharp knife. I have an e-article on Amazon Kindle titled Knife Sharpening for $.99 if you're having trouble.”