Black long has been associated with tactical knives. Why? For one, it offers the lowest profile in terms of visibility to keep operations covert. Study any manufacturer’s tactical offerings and you will see many black handles, and blades coated black as well.
Black can be part or all of the color for G-10, Micarta® or carbon fiber, all popular handle material choices for tactical knives. Or, if the handles are aluminum or titanium, the black can be the result of a hard-anodized finish or a PVD (physical-vapor-deposition)-style coating. For blades you can have a black epoxy coating, Cerakote™ or DLC (diamond-like-carbon) finish.
The black coating is more than just for aesthetics. It actually serves a blade function. A carbon steel tactical fixed blade has a black epoxy coating to protect against stains and corrosion*. Stainless blades can also benefit from the additional surface protection. Meanwhile, some question the durability of black blade coatings. The two toughest ones are Cerakote and DLC. Under normal-to-heavy use, they hold up best at resisting scratches and scrapes. While cost effective, black epoxy is not scratch resistant and will wear away
