The Tyrant Designs TDC 001 Folding Knife is a rugged everyday carry (EDC) knife with outstanding fit and finish. The durability of the materials and the quality of the craftsmanship make it superior to the average EDC knife.
The 3-inch, saber-ground, tanto blade is made of D2 steel and is 0.33 inches thick. The black nitride finish on the blade is unusually resilient. The blade opens easily by rotating around a ball-bearing pivot.
The dual thumb studs are more robust than those on any other knife I have used. The aluminum handle is a convenient shape, and the textured durameter rubber grips enable the user to grasp that handle securely during use.
The reversible deep carry pocket clip makes the knife stealthier than most other EDC knives. The blade is held securely in the open position with a liner lock.
The knife cost $79.75 at the time of this writing at Tyrant CNC. (Full Disclosure: Tyrant CNC is an affiliate advertiser of SurvivalBlog.com. SurvivalBlog earns a modest commission on the sales of any items that are derived from visits to the Tyrant CNC site from clicks on the affiliate ad link at SurvivalBlog’s Affiliates page.) That is an excellent value for a high quality knife that is built in the USA.
If you are looking for a good EDC knife, the TDC 001 is definitely worth a second look.
Background
The items that I most enjoy testing are the equipment that I use most often in my daily life. I bring a deeper level of experience to the testing of those items, and I am able to test them more thoroughly and effectively.
Since I carry a knife pretty much every day, EDC knives are one of my favorite pieces of equipment to test. So when I saw that Tyrant Designs make a couple of sharp-looking (no pun intended) EDC knives, I was immediately interested.
I contacted Tyrant Designs to ask about where the knives are made. They replied, “The blade is made in Germany, the rubber sides and clip are from Taiwan, and the aluminum of the handle of the knife, the lock, and the hardware are all machined locally just outside of Chicago. The knife is also assembled here.”
That sounded good to me, so I asked if they could provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. Not long afterward, a black plastic padded envelope arrived in my mailbox via USPS Ground Advantage
First Impressions
The padded envelope was sent from Tyrant CNC, 1640 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL 60612-2508. It contained the knife box, a packing slip, and a card advertising the Haley Strategic/Safariland Incog X Holster from trueshotammo.com .
The paperboard knife box measures approximately 6.38×2.25×0.88 inches. It has a picture of the TDC 001 knife on the top. TDC stands for “Tyrant Daily Carry.” Specifications for the knife are also printed on the box. The knife weighs 3.4 ounces, has a 3 inch blade, and is 7 inches overall when open.
The blade is held securely open by a liner lock. It is smooth-shaving-sharp right out of the box. Jimping on the base of the blade gives better control for delicate cuts. A chevron design on the spacer in the handle adds a decorative touch. The sample I tested has black trim to match the black of the blade and handle. There is another model with gold trim.
My Use Of The TDC 001 Folding Knife
I used the knife for almost a month for the routine tasks of daily life. These included:
opening a box containing a portable wood stove that I was reviewing for SurvivalBlog.
cutting the plastic tie binding two new shoes together. The shoes had been purchased by a family that we were camping with.
cutting fish line while rigging a rod and reel that my grandson had received as a birthday present.
opening a box containing a 75+ foot rope that I was reviewing for SurvivalBlog.
cutting away twine that was binding the coil of rope together for shipment.
opening the dog’s monthly dose of heartworm medicine.
opening the dog’s monthly flea treatment.
cutting twine to tie around sections of carpet that we were removing from our living room so that the sections could more easily be hauled away for disposal.
cutting twine to bind up tack strips to be hauled away for disposal.
cutting the end from a tube of caulk that I used to seal under the sliding door in the living room in preparation for the new flooring.
opening letters.
opening a package of aftermarket scales for a Swiss Army Knife. I was reviewing the scales for SurvivalBlog.
cutting twine to bind extra sandbags after helping my daughter with a basement flooding emergency.
opening a package of devotional books for placement in the church foyer.
cutting a piece of string to tie a battery-powered lantern to the ridge pole of a camping pavilion. This allowed us to continue to play games in the pavilion after dark.
opening the seal on a new jug of windshield washing fluid.
opening the seal on a jug of motor oil while changing the oil in my truck.
cutting off the bottom of a gallon milk jug to make an improvised water dish for the dog while working outside by the pole barn.
breaking down cardboard boxes for recycling.
opening the box for a tripod that I wanted to use with a spotting scope that I was reviewing for SurvivalBlog.
opening the seal on a jug of motor oil while changing the oil in my wife “Kari’s” car.
cutting the top off a Gatorade bottle in order to make a container for mixing antifreeze. When I was finished mixing the antifreeze, I cut open the bottom of the Gatorade bottle and threw it away so that it would not accidentally be used for drinking purposes.
opening boneless bacon wrapped pork eye of round cuts for grilling.
The knife performed all of these tasks well.
I was especially impressed by the durability of the finish on the blade and handle. Usually by the end of a testing period, a knife will begin to show some faint signs of wear. In contrast, the TDC 001 still looked like it was fresh out of the box at the end of the testing period.
Although I generally prefer drop point or straight back blades to tanto blades, I found the secondary point where the two bevels in the tanto blade met to be quite useful in opening packages.
Tyrant Designs
Tyrant Designs is a CNC shop near Chicago, Illinois. They primarily make various upgrades for AR-15s and handguns. They make grips, muzzle brakes, compensators, magazine extensions, triggers, barrels, charging handles, sights, and a host of other items.
Their website also includes a blog with many useful posts. It includes information about dry firing, hot weather concealed carry tips, hearing protection, red dot sights, gun storage, concealed carry ammo, and a host of other topics.
D2 Steel
D2 Tool Steel is a semi-stainless steel that offers better wear resistance but less corrosion resistance than some of the older stainless steels like 440C. I actually prefer D2 and 440C to many of the newer steels, since those older steels are much easier to sharpen. The older steels are also less expensive. The superior edge retention of some of the newer steels is not particularly useful if it is overly difficult to re-sharpen the blades once they become dull.
D2 was patented in 1927 by Gregory Comstock of the Firth-Sterling Steel Company of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. The first known use of D2 in knife blades was in 1965 or so by D. E. Henry.
D2 is composed of approximately 81.13% iron, 12% chromium, 1.5% carbon, 0.9% molybdenum, 0.45% manganese, 0.4% silicon, and 0.02% sulfur.
I am indebted to knifesteenerds.com for much of my information about D2 steel. That website contains copious detailed technical information related to various knife steels. This information includes helpful charts and graphs and microscopic photography illustrating the crystalline structure of various steels. It is nice to find a well-written, interesting, accurate, and well-documented source on the subject. This was another case in which human-produced content was noticeably superior to content that was produced by AI.
Conclusions
The Tyrant Designs TDC 001 is an excellent EDC knife. It is attractive, well machined, highly functional, easily gripped, robust, and sharp. It is superior in quality to other EDC knives in a similar price range, and has the added attraction of being built in the USA.
Tyrant Designs also has a slightly smaller TDC 002 with a 2.75 inch blade with a slightly different blade profile. The TDC 002 looks extremely interesting as well, and I hope to test it at some point in the future.
Disclaimer
Tyrant Designs provided me with a sample of their TDC 001 Folding Knive for testing and evaluation. I tried not to allow their kindness to interfere with my objectivity, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.