While not all gun nerds are the same, there are plenty who are also knife nerds like me. Granted, I’m more of a collector when it comes to blades as I don’t go out of my way to use them as much as I go out of my way to use guns. Most of my knife usage predominantly consists of opening packages and food prep, but that doesn’t mean I never use them for other tasks. At any rate, this post isn’t about my knife affliction. Rather is about the first blade from Toor Knives that I added to my collection which was years before Toor Knives and this blog established an affiliate relationship. That blade is the Toor Knives Serpent.

Let’s back up a little so I can add some context. I picked up a Toor Knives Serpent back in the first half of 2021. During that time, I was still learning a lot about guns in general and my focus was on everything tactical. Given the uncertainty that followed the pandemic, the peaceful protesting during the summer of love, and the January 6th event, I was in full Prepper mode and wanted to make sure I had sufficient kit to protect my family and myself should the civil and societal temperament devolve into some collapse scenario. More specifically, I had a strong opinion that my plate carrier needed a dedicated fighting knife.

It was around that same time that I came across a Flannel Daddy (Garand Thumb) video where he was showcasing a blade from Toor Knives that was on his armored chest rig. I can’t recall exactly what knife it was but I suspect it was a Darter, since Flannel Daddy was often mentioning Haley Strategic and the Darter was a collaboration blade between Toor and Haley. However, I am not absolutely certain about that. What I am certain about is that is where I first heard of Toor Knives and thought the knife that was showcased in the video was the uber tactical fighting knife that I plate carrier desperately needed. The Serpent was what I found on Toor’s website that most closely resembled the knife in the video and I ordered one in FDE (flat dark earth), or as I like to call it, baby poo brown.

About a week and $275 later, the Serpent was in my hands.

From what I can remember and the info I found in the archived email receipt, the knife purchase included a sticker, a cleaning cloth, some frog lube, a Kydex sheath, and the knife.

It’s worth noting that the Kydex sheath did not include a mount option, but several compatible options are available for an additional fee. I opted for a Dots Molle Mount since I figured that would make mounting the knife on a plate carrier easy by taking advantage of the carrier’s PALS webbing. The Kydex has a nice faux leather texture to it and is well designed and made. It is lined with some material that makes unsheathing and sheathing the knife extremely quiet, but I’m not sure exactly what the material is. A weeping hole is included which is great to ensure it doesn’t hold water. The retention is passive friction but the knife does click securely into place.

At 8.25″ long, the 6.7 ounce slim profile knife doesn’t add a lot of weight or take up a lot of space on a plate carrier, chest right, or battle belt. It is small and light enough for concealed carry, although that’s something I’ve never attempted.

While I’m a far cry from even an amateur knife fighter and on the other end of the spectrum from a high-speed low-drag operator, I suspect the combination of a 3.75″ long and Tanto ground blade made from 3/16″ thick CPM-3V steel is a good choice for a tactical knife. My reasoning behind this opinion is as follows. The Tanto grind yields a remarkably strong and incredibly sharp tip. That, coupled with CPM-3V, which is one of the toughest steels available, suggest to me the knife would excel at piercing and prying tasks.

The 4.5″ handle isn’t quite 4.5″ inches since 1.125″ of that length is taken up by the ring hilt. That leaves a little less than 3.5″ of scaled handle to hold on which is a bit on the small side unless a finger makes the ring it’s home. That said, the ring does make quickly drawing the blade from the sheath a breeze. The combination threading a finger through the ring, the small modestly jimped thumb ramp on the spine, and the thin, textured, black G10 scales keep the knife secure in hand.

There are, however, a couple of downsides to the Took Knives Serpent. First, the abrupt sharp angle of the two edges of a Tanto grind isn’t great for slicing tasks. That angle also makes sharpening a more complicated ordeal. Next, while the edge retention of CPM-3V is decent, it’s not the greatest. It’s also not the easiest steel in the world to resharpen, but it’s not the most difficult either. Also, the short thin handle doesn’t provide a lot of real estate to hold on to which can decrease comfort and potentially create hot spots when using the knife for a prolonged period of time. Last but not least, the lack of a sharpened spine and colored coating make creating sparks by striking a Ferrocerium rod (or fire steel) a fool’s errand. These characteristics make non-piercing and non-prying tasks and field maintenance a bit more cumbersome making it less than ideal for anything else other than being a “tactical knife”.

Given those pros and cons, I really haven’t used the Serpent all that much. Other than using it to open a couple of packages and using it as a steak knife a couple of times, the blade mostly sits on the plate carrier and looks pretty. And in my opinion, looking pretty is something that it does exceptionally well. In fact, I dug (and still dig) the aesthetics so much that I could help it but procure another Serpent when Took Knives did their Tropic Thunder sprint run variant of the Serpent about a year later.

The Tropic Thunder limited edition variant, which went for $295 at the time, was the exact same package, but featured a black camouflage finish with a matching sheath, green G10 handles, and a limited edition Tropic Thunder sticker.

Toor has released several different limited edition variants of this knife since then. Additionally, the Serpent has been split into two different products. The Serpent T which as far as I can tell is the same as the original Serpent described in this post. And the Serpent S which features what Toor calls a “standard blade shape” and what I would call a “drop point profile with a flat grind”. As of writing, every variant of the Serpent is currently priced at $295.

Would I recommend the Toor Knives Serpent to others? Assuming it meets the needs of the prospective user who is willing to accept a recommendation for a layman knife nerd, then sure I’d recommend it. While I can’t speak to the Serpent S, I still like what is now the Serpent T a lot. It’s a well crafted tactical knife that can find a good home on a plate carrier, chest rig, or battle belt without adding a lot of bulk or taking up a lot of space. It’s probably also small and light enough to conceal carry on one’s person. Considering its drawbacks, I suspect the Serpent S might work better for those looking for more of a light weight survival knife as opposed to a tactical fighting knife, but I doubt it would be any more comfortable for prolonged use.