Thanks for the review. We appreicate your time.. Much of the confusion about the blade can be summed up in a few statements.. One the blade was manufactured for one of our SME's who has been training SOCOM close combat for many many years.. which is why there are aspects about the knife that seem confusing at first.. Its designed for a guy that has been teaching how to do bad things to bad people with a knife for decades. 'The confusion over selling the knife as a kit which included a D2 tool steel live black, a aluminum dagger a retention sheath and a rhino sheath was released at the 225.00 price range.. the issue with that is it melted peoples heads and we have major push back on "making them spend more money then they wanted and forcing them to buy a sheath they did not understand and a trainer which they never intended to use" After about 3000 or more emails complaining about price and us making them do things, we invested several more hundred thousand dollars in manufacturing and released the live blade as a stand alone item.. the good part though our investment is we were able to offer the knife at a lower price point based on our investment in more knives. If you just click a few more times on the website and add the Rhino sheath and the trainer and some grip tape you can own the whole kit for almost half of what we were selling the kit for on our first run... Do understand as a knife manufacture we have at least 100K wrapped up in design and bringing a new product to market. We of course have to re-coup some of that investment so a new product release will always be more expensive then a year or two down the road after we have recouped some of our manufacturing costs and set up costs.. So the summary of that is you can actually own the full kit for about 140.00 now compared to the 225.00 we were selling them for in the last few years. The knife was designed to be carried with the Rhino sheath in the pocket so you could deploy the knife in a less then lethal stance first then hook the Rhino horn of the sheath on what ever and go straight to live blade.. There are many many videos on this subject on our RU-vid Page as well as on The Elite You, RU-vid page and the Hard2Hurt page.. We are also always happy to answer questions rather than making our good customers figure things out on their own.. We appreicate your time in making this and hope you like your knife..
I hope you guys are selling a lot more and making an awesome profit after lowering the prices- I know it's always a weird tension because on one hand specialized purpose knives are expensive and on the other the guys using the belt sanders aren't fucking millionaires and do spend hours doing hard shit to bring it to production: I have a lot of respect for you guys for lowering the prices/releasing a single live blade at your customers behest.
@@elihollingsworth6852 As weird as this year has been in manufacturing and everything else we felt we had to lower to wholesale though the end of the year.. We also have over a 60% return customer rate so this time of year we hate to screw with them with the normal sales that go on this time of year.. up price, down price back up price etc etc.. it aggravates me when it happens to me so i know it aggravates our customers. Thanks for understanding why we did what we did, no doubt it will hurt us in the long run profit wise but we hope to maintain our return customer rate with the added customers we might have added. We will see how that works out. In business you just make decisions and hope they are good ones.. sometimes it takes more then a year to see what is what.. Cheers
@@Skallywagtactical I wouldn't be so sure! I think a lot more people will buy at a lower price rate tbh. I know I saw the price decrease and bought a D2 dagger, and I'll be back for more.
@@Skallywagtactical You guys are good dudes. I'm def picking up one of your products. Tempted to buy 2 actually. Only blade company your remind me of is Shivworks. Cool pragmatic design, are artisans as well (they make your $225 3 piece kit seem very generous. They over double edged versions of their models by multiplying the asking price by 4x :( Any chance we could see a double edged (or like one and a half) mdv? I suppose it wouldn’t really offer much of a difference I guess. If Shivworks had a sale like you do now they might actually see my business.
Get the RHINO sheath!! This blade is awesome, & the compliment of the "RHINO" SHEATH IS AMAZING, I own both the full set, & the new ½ set as well add the monkey 🐒 tape to handle along with the RHINO & you will be pleasantly surprised! As a combat skills instructor we appreciate the ability to use the training blade with many law enforcement members officers purchasing their own as part of their daily kit the blade floats effortlessly through your hand on grip changes & conceals so easily you will always have it with you which means you will always have a backup to your firearm once you start practicing with the blade you will notice you can easily maintain the proper grip on your firearm with this blade IN YOUR HAND THUMBS UP TO SCALLYWAG TACTICAL GREAT TOOL DESIGNED TO BE USED BY MEN & WOMEN WHO NEED A 2ND OPTION!
Definitely make sure you get the rhino sheath if you haven’t already. In my opinion, it is required to carry the MDV, it is so much more convenient to carry it around how they recommend it with the rhino sheath under the belt. Makes for an easy draw and comfortable carry. I also sometimes carry in my pocket with the rhino sheath.
Thanks for posting one of the few non-sponsored-by-Skallywag reviews on this knife. I bought one recently on a blemished sale, and have some observations. First, there seems to be some kind of shake-up happening at Skallywag; they are no longer selling the full $225 package that came with the knife, trainer, belt sheath and rhino sheath. Maybe too many people complained about the price, so now they are just selling the live blade and this new crappy sheath for $125. You can still get the trainer and rhino sheath separately, but that's a disappointing move by Skallywag. Second, the back end of the hook has a distinct "horn" that make it impossible to palm-assist the back of the handle while thrusting. You're pretty much limited to thrusting with a hammer grip, which contorts your wrist at a suboptimal angle. That is, unless you do what I did, which is to file the horn down to allow my palm to somewhat comfortably press into the back of the handle. I think the minimalist handle is both good and bad. Good because it conceals well and you can easily use this in conjunction with a firearm if needed. Bad because you have almost no index to control blade orientation in your hand. Also bad that, when thrusting, you're relying on finger strength alone to keep the blade from sliding back in your hand. The prominent finger guard will keep your hand off the edge, but I prefer an increasing handle girth as it approaches the blade. That way your entire grip works to keep the knife from sliding backwards upon thrusting. Overall, not a bad knife, I like the (extinct) commitment to providing an identical trainer, and the rhino sheath shows some innovation. I don't think that it's worth $225 even with those extras, so definitely hold out for the sales. There are some better designed combative fixed blades (Milmak CCW comes to mind) for that price range.
Very articulate and well spoken. I sanded my sheath down so that the whole grip is exposed. I also did a single gutted PARACORD wrap on the handle. Feel good now
So correction you can buy the live blade and as you say Crappy sheath which is not so crappy for 80.00 and then if you choose you can buy the Rhino sheath and trainer separate. I would recommend you watch some of the videos we have produced to show you how simple you can deploy and use the knife in ice pick grip.. We do appreicate you making the blade your own as Michael has suggested thousands of times.. Much of what i would reply to you on price and what you say shake up within our company was responded to in this feed on this video.. I am sure you are aware there are substantial supply chain issues going on in manufacturing and for the most part the world is on fire.. we try our best to bring value and tools with experience to our customers most of which are Military. Thanks for your business.
@@Skallywagtactical Mr DonVito didn’t seem too enthused with the prior manufacturer-provided belt sheath, and this new sheath just looked like a gen2 of that. That plus the holes not lining up with the belt clip attachments in this video review drove me to the adjective “crappy”. That said, your responses cleared a lot up, and I applaud you trying to make the package more attainable by allowing us to only buy what we want. You guys have a good product; don’t let internet asshats like me goad you into comment section battles.
@@RyanSmith-op5vu Ryan, you cant even imagine what its like bringing a product that is designed for a SME to open market. Not to mention what a clusterfuck manufacturing is right now.. We know why pistol manufactures dont supply holsters with pistols, cause there is on one holster that will make every pistol owner happy. Its no difference with knives, its impossible to make one sheath that fits everyones crazy way of mounting a knife.. unlike the pistol world when you get a pistol you know you need to decide how you want to carry it and then go get a holster made for the purpose or have one made.. But knives, are expected to have a sheath that fits all needs and mounting styles for everyone.. its quite ludicrous. We tried doing that with the first "Kit" for the MDV supplying a basic sheath with a clip mounted and the Rhino sheath which is a pain in the ass to make and someone has to sit around and put 2 ranger bands on each one.. Literally we have thousands of dollars of labor into installing ranger bands, lol.. Anyway. just trying to give you a glimpse into why decisions have to be made to bring products forward.. Oh and by the way.. the retention clip goes right on the sheath the way it was designed so you have a deep IWB or deep pocket carry with the clip on.. I cant post a photo here but if you want to see an example you can write us at Sales@Skallywagtactical.com and we will be happy to send you a pick.. We really did not plan on most people putting a clip on cause the sheath the way its designed is really good for pocket carry the way the knife was really designed and or IWB with a lanyard tied to your belt or belt loop so when you pull the knife out the lanyard pulls the sheath off.. We are doing more videos to help explain this but this is also what happens when you put a professionals tools out in the open market.. lots to be learned by everyone.. us how to present it and you all to understand why a guy that uses a knife for a living wants it this way.. good stuff. We appreicate you all and thanks for even taking the time to check it out..
@@RyanSmith-op5vu Also i forgot to mention, we do appreciate all comments and we do not feel goaded into any battles, we have all ready fought enough of those on many levels. We just like to clear misconception when we run across it, as you can imagine we have millions of dollars invested in the company, its feeds 5 families and donates thousands each year to Veteran causes that tends to keep you up at night always trying to keep your reputation clean.. Seriously, we do appreciate you even taking the time to pick one up and look at it.. Cheers
@@JARG ...is it up yet, I don’t see it? Def check out the rhino sheath behind your belt buckle for this knife. That is how I carry it and I have it so I can pull it out “Ice Pick” grip with my non-dominant hand to give me space to get my dominant hand to draw my gun. I use it in a similar way to Greg Thompson’s SOCP dagger and overall approach. The “tickle the tonsils and then stir the pot” method. 😉 The other reason I like this is it’s legal in more states. Because it’s a single sided blade and it’s blade is less than 3” it is not considered a “dirk or dagger” and is legal to carry/conceal in almost all states. If you travel you don’t have to worry about it as much.
@@JARG .. it costs extra but get the rhino sheath and the trainer. Carry it horizontally right above your belt buckle. Practice with the trainer for a little bit and you’ll get used to it. Very useful self defense tool. You can also shoot a handgun WITH the MDV in either hand. It does not yet in the way of your grip, similar to the SOCP.
@@JARG ...if you haven’t seen this video, check it out. This is the guy that designed the MDV. Talks about the intended way to carry it and use it. Good video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-btGpVzi3HS8.html
@@JARG another good video about carrying the MDV just popped up in my feed. Goes over practical application/use of it in self defense. Check it out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g6OcsGS5YE8.html
If like to see you do a video with better options. I think this knife is overrated. Making a Rhino style Kydex sheath for this or any similar purpose knife is not difficult.
@JARG It is funny but it is also a serious issue in the self defense world. The guy who designed the Skallywag has a video with Hard2Hurt in which he demonstrates how he would use it against an unarmed dude. He was literally recommending murder or at best manslaughter.
This knife is by far not perfekt. The sheath sucks because the knife does not stick in, so carry like a neck knife is Impossible. Knife has 3 hot spots which might hurt you a bit. This parts should be rounded urgently.
