There is a lot to be said about John Wick’s guns, and lots has been said. He uses some pretty cool blasters to dispatch a seemingly limitless number of assassins. Any John Wick fan will tell you it’s not just about the guns. He’s a man of willpower who will use nunchucks, his bare hands, knives, and, of course, when the time calls for it, a pencil. Let’s back it up a hair and talk about the knives of John Wick.
From the very first movie, we’ve known that Wick has a thing for sharp and pointy things. Sometimes, you need something to silently dispatch a bad guy or a tool to eliminate another in between reloads. Other times, he might need to clean the blood from under his fingernails and open envelopes and Amazon boxes. Let’s dig into the knives of John Wick.
The Knives of John Wick
John has a real love of automatic knives, a.k .a. switchblades. He specifically has a love of out-the-front or OTF knives. Along his very violent journey through four films, we see him use the occasional karambit and fixed blade, but today, we will focus on the knives John specifically chooses to carry, not the ones he picks up along the way.
John Wick 1 – Microtech Ultratech OTF
In the first film, John cuts his way through a number of bad guys with the very nice and very expensive Microtech Ultratech OTF knife. If you’re an assassin who depends on your tools, you might as well carry one of the best OTF knives on the market. This OTF knife deploys via a thumb switch and deploys a 3.4-inch blade in a fraction of a second. It’s a double-action knife that closes and opens via a switch.
The quasi-tanto style blade gives the tip reinforcement that makes it a great stabber. The blades have been made in various steels, but every one of them is of a premium grade. An integrated glass breaker doubles as a handy close quarter’s skull smasher.
John Wick 2 – Microtech Combat Troodon
Another John Wick movie, another Microtech. In the first film, it was a happy accident for Microtech, but in the second and third films, Microtech worked with the production to provide knives. The Combat Troodon is a big knife with a 3.8-inch blade with a dagger-type design. There is a standard Troodon, but the Combat Troodon is the largest model.
A Troodon is a bird that lived in the days of dinosaurs and reportedly had some real groovy talons. There are a number of different Troodon designs, and the specific model we have here is a double-edged dagger design. It’s most prominently used in the train fight scene in JW2.
John Wick 3 – Cypher OTF
Every John Wick movie goes a little bigger than the last. In the third film, we see the biggest Microtech yet. The Cypher has a 4-inch blade in a dagger-style configuration. The Cypher features a smooth handle and a stonewash finish. The blade is made to cut and stab, and Wick does plenty of both in the film.
Like the other Microtechs, it’s a double-action knife with a side-mounted deployment button. John Wick 3 has lots of knives in it, from throwing knives to the OTF Wick carries. It’s the most knifey John Wick by a long shot. This article could occupy an entire knives of John Wick article.
John Wick 4 – Deadlock from Hawk Knife Designs
John Wick 4 is the first film in which we see Wick turn away from the Microtech knives and embrace a new OTF. The Deadlock from Hawk Knife Designs is reportedly the best OTF on the market. If price is any indication of quality, the Deadlock oughta to be pretty fantastic. At around 1,800 for a bare-bones model, they are quality knives.
The Deadlock has zero-blade play; it doesn’t wiggle in the slighted. The deployment is rapid with a double-action thumb-driven design. The thumb release is centered in the middle and deploys a dual-edge dagger blade made from various high-quality materials. The latest drop of Deadlocks cost a mighty 3,500 dollars. As far as the knives of John Wick go, this one would definitely cost a few gold coins.
Honorable Mention – KA-BAR Tanto
In the first film, John Wick digs up a stash of guns and gold coins. In that stash sits a KA-BAR Tanto. I don’t think we ever see it get used, but he thought enough of the knife to stash it away for later. It also lends credence to the fact Wick might have originally been intended to have been a former Marine before the next films more or less clarified his background.
Slash and Stab
The guns of John Wick are always notable and almost always high-quality blasters. As you can see here, the knives of John Wick follow the same route. Every knife in these films is a high-quality tool that carries a premium price tag. There is something to be said for a film series that stacks its high-end assassins with high-end weapons, and that’s why these films succeed.
