Karambit as part of your EDC?

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  • Sylvain

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    Any of you fine folks carry a karambit of some sort?

    I've been looking at a few options, both folders and fixed blades.

    I'm not sure if they have any value as a utility knife or if they are purely defensive/offensive.
     

    kawtech87

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    I have tried several times to carry a karambit of some kind or another. Fixed and folders. My favorite and the one that lasted the longest was an Emerson Combat Karambit carried in my left pocket. Also had a fixed blade Emerson Karambit, and a few others. All fixed blade karambits for me had the same problem. Due to there unique shape the sheaths are always bulky and awkward. Folders are better but still just not my preference after about a year of trying to like them. Straight bladed knives with karambit style rings are much easier to carry. Like the new Bark River Donnybrook fixed blade or Fox DART folder
     

    Sylvain

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    I have tried several times to carry a karambit of some kind or another. Fixed and folders. My favorite and the one that lasted the longest was an Emerson Combat Karambit carried in my left pocket. Also had a fixed blade Emerson Karambit, and a few others. All fixed blade karambits for me had the same problem. Due to there unique shape the sheaths are always bulky and awkward. Folders are better but still just not my preference after about a year of trying to like them. Straight bladed knives with karambit style rings are much easier to carry. Like the new Bark River Donnybrook fixed blade or Fox DART folder

    Thanks.The Emerson and Fox karambits seem to have the best designs.

    I've seen some much cheaper karambits where they have mounted the pocket clip upside-down.
    They don't seem to know that you need the ring sticking out of your pocket to deploy the knife. :scratch:
    Or maybe I'm just missing something.

    TF-578SW.jpg


    The Fox DART seems interesting even though it's not a true karambit design.

    OAOgXcF.jpg
     

    kawtech87

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    A regular customer of mine carries a Fox DART. I've handled it once and it was smaller than I thought it would be was my only complaint. About the size of a Spyderco Delica. Which brings up another option which is the Signet ring by Wise Men Company for Spyderco knives. On a waved model Delica or Endura they are slightly more economical than the Fox and much more so than the Emerson
     

    kawtech87

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    Also yes the hawk bill shape of a traditional karambit makes for a very good general utility knife for EDC especially on fibrous material like rope or cord. It was originally developed as a threshing tool and later pressed into use as a weapon when weapons were outlawed in the Philippines and found to be particularly good as slashing flesh as well as grain.
     

    KokomoDave

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    Buy a trainer said the clumsy guy who got stitches from going way too fast...
    Doug Marcaida and Steve Tarani are very good instructors for a karambit.
     

    Sylvain

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    Buy a trainer said the clumsy guy who got stitches from going way too fast...
    Doug Marcaida and Steve Tarani are very good instructors for a karambit.

    I saw some videos of Doug Marcaida.Impressive stuff.

    I know some guys carry trainers as a less-lethal self defense tool as well.
    Might even be a good options for places where a live blade would be illegal.
     

    rhino

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    Any of you fine folks carry a karambit of some sort?

    I've been looking at a few options, both folders and fixed blades.

    I'm not sure if they have any value as a utility knife or if they are purely defensive/offensive.

    The karambit (lihok or sanggot in the Philippines) was originally a utility knife used for all kinds of things, but the hawkbill blade is especially useful for cutting cordage, webbing, packaging of all kinds, and vegetation or even harvesting produce. Anything any other hawkbill knife can do, a karambit can do because it's the same thing, just with a retention ring on the handle. It's a lot like a Wharncliffe in that you can exert a lot of cutting pressure at the tip, but it's curved instead of straight.

    Like many other weapons, it was a hand tool in common use that was adapted for use as a weapon.

    Given that, some modern western interpretations would make them less useful for utility purposes. Weird blade shapes and stylized grips could make a specific karambit-style knife a less than stellar work knife.

    If I were going to carry one, I'd go with a fixed blade. Folding karambits with waves and similar features work great to open the blade . . . until they don't.

    Something like this Bark River or the Emerson below it would make both an excellent utility knife as well as a defensive weapon. The thing is, you probably don't want to use a knife whose primary purpose is defense for a lot of every day cutting. You need it to be ultra sharp if you need it in hurry for defense or to cut a seatbelt or some other emergency.

    ghost-2-a2-black-canvas-micarta-239.95__71864.1514398229.500.659.jpg
    timthumb.php
     
    Last edited:

    rhino

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    As far as folders go, if you can find an original 5.11 Tarani CUB, it was probably the best value on the market. The current version has an AUS8 blade, but the original had a CPM S30V blade and at the end, you could get them for $50. They did not have a wave, but you could modify the back with a dremel to simulate a wave that worked really well. The size was perfect, the curvature of the blade was perfect, the angle of the grip was perfect, but you'd expect that from a knife that had Steve Tarani's name on it.

    Which brings us back to the most infamous time someone Pulled a Rhino. A 5.11 Tarani CUB is what I was flipping around that night I got distracted and hooked the front, inner part of my right calf. I can testify that with appropriate sharpening techniques, the Tarani CUB will pass through human flesh with negligible resistance. That knife and the other I had paired with it are now "lost." I hid them from myself shortly after that incident and now I really can't remember where I put them.

    I have to stress KokomoDave's advice: if you get a karambit and have any intention of using it as a weapon, get an inert trainer and practice, practice, practice (preferably with some training). Because of the shape, if you get hooked, it's going to bite deeply with very little pressure applied and you can have a very serious wound before you realize what happened. The most common injury is, of course, sticking the point in your wrist when you practice extending and retracting with the reverse grip. I know several people on INGO who have done just that.

    If you're going to use it as a utility knife in the forward grip and aren't ever just going to flip it around, then you can treat it like any other knife/tool.
     

    MindfulMan

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    But I have a Fox folder.

    It's in my closet.

    I'm afraid to get it out.

    Your post (#9) is all that the OP needs to know ! :yesway:

    I also own a Fox folder, with a wave, but when I carry a Karambit, it's this fixed-blade.

    i-MLNjtSk-L.jpg



    Carried in this belt sheath, it's never cut anything .... yet. And it won't unless it's true purpose is needed. :chuck:


    i-LvdNmrb-L.jpg



    And of course, get a matching trainer, and learn how to use it ! :)


    i-NkTf8zJ-L.jpg
     

    chezuki

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    As far as folders go, if you can find an original 5.11 Tarani CUB, it was probably the best value on the market. The current version has an AUS8 blade, but the original had a CPM S30V blade and at the end, you could get them for $50. They did not have a wave, but you could modify the back with a dremel to simulate a wave that worked really well. The size was perfect, the curvature of the blade was perfect, the angle of the grip was perfect, but you'd expect that from a knife that had Steve Tarani's name on it.

    Which brings us back to the most infamous time someone Pulled a Rhino. A 5.11 Tarani CUB is what I was flipping around that night I got distracted and hooked the front, inner part of my right calf. I can testify that with appropriate sharpening techniques, the Tarani CUB will pass through human flesh with negligible resistance. That knife and the other I had paired with it are now "lost." I hid them from myself shortly after that incident and now I really can't remember where I put them.

    I have to stress KokomoDave's advice: if you get a karambit and have any intention of using it as a weapon, get an inert trainer and practice, practice, practice (preferably with some training). Because of the shape, if you get hooked, it's going to bite deeply with very little pressure applied and you can have a very serious wound before you realize what happened. The most common injury is, of course, sticking the point in your wrist when you practice extending and retracting with the reverse grip. I know several people on INGO who have done just that.

    If you're going to use it as a utility knife in the forward grip and aren't ever just going to flip it around, then you can treat it like any other knife/tool.


    tumblr_nfm6rxn3zE1tgh0k5o1_500.jpg
     

    rhino

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    Your post (#9) is all that the OP needs to know ! :yesway:

    I also own a Fox folder, with a wave, but when I carry a Karambit, it's this fixed-blade.

    i-MLNjtSk-L.jpg


    Who makes that? It looks like TOPS or ESEE, but I don't think it is.

    Edit to add: found it. It's an Ontario, which is why it looks like an ESEE.
     

    ISP 5353

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    I have carried a Fox folding Karambit quite a bit. I have never really used it as a utility knife. I always carried a SAK Pioneer with it for utility cutting chores. If you get one, I strongly suggest getting a trainer. I did and it has saved me many cuts!
     

    Expat

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    I watched a couple of youtube demos for beginners on the karambit. So how are people cutting themselves? Cut their arms while trying to spin it? Flying off their finger during the spinning?
     
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