Discuss.

Yay
They have their place.

EDC? Not that useful.
To have and to hold, yes!
So many nice ones, they're almost organic.
Consult Doug Marcaida as to their value.

i make a ton of them for customers and have carried them on occasion. folder in pocket and fixed blade karambit on the belt in a horizontal sheath. i have a good customer from Italy who studies knife fighting with the karambit and i am working on his third or fourth custom build. they certainly have a following. these are a couple of the ones i made for him recently.

dozer

I have a quarter inch deep and wide scar on my wrist from an Emerson Combat Karambit.
No more Karambits for me

As what?
A multi-purpose pocket knife- do-able but not my first choice.

As a self defense knife, oh yeah! Just learn how to use it.

Collecting- depends on the maker, but yes.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
I have a quarter inch deep and wide scar on my wrist from an Emerson Combat Karambit.
No more Karambits for me

How did it happen?

quote:

Originally posted by photoman12001:

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
I have a quarter inch deep and wide scar on my wrist from an Emerson Combat Karambit.
No more Karambits for me

How did it happen?

Basically my inexperience combined with alcohol.
We were at our usual drinking spot and I pulled out my new knife for a little show and tell, and was trying to demonstrate spinning it and proceeded to bury the tip of it in my wrist pretty deep.

(Not my pic, but pretty much the same outcome)

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:

quote:

Originally posted by photoman12001:

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
I have a quarter inch deep and wide scar on my wrist from an Emerson Combat Karambit.
No more Karambits for me

How did it happen?

Basically my inexperience combined with alcohol.
We were at our usual drinking spot and I pulled out my new knife for a little show and tell, and was trying to demonstrate spinning it and proceeded to bury the tip of it in my wrist pretty deep.

(Not my pic, but pretty much the same outcome)

I figured that was it. A lot of people get hurt spinning them but I wondered if maybe the lock failed. I used to own a bunch of Emersons including a couple of karambits but sold them all. Every one developed issues of some kind and I didn’t trust them, especially the lockup. Their karambits seemed particularly dangerous if the lock failed. I kept only the trainer shown in the photo since the blade is dull.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: photoman12001,

I bought a Bark River on a whim. It is a massive Karambit, not really suited to anything, too big to carry for self defense and too impractical for anything other than self defense but man, if you have a need for a self defense knife like the Emerson I can see where they’d be wicked in the right hands.

Knives that are impractical to my needs, I just buy the trainer versions now to play with. That includes butterfly knives and Karambits.

i have to admit, i built most all of my karambit designs from customer specs. now, i am a large man with large hands and if you try to spin a small karambit with big bear paws, bad things can happen. luckily, i was smart enough to only try that with an unsharpened blank. the tip still popped me a time or two and drew blood. lesson learned. i am not trained enough to fart around with those things. i make knives and love knives. just shoot me, if that is what it comes to. i have seen some NASTY knife wounds. just give me the bullet.

dozer

Ok, now I want.

No need, just want.

Not a good knife for daily use.

They are a specialized design for a certain kind of fighting. If you can use one right, I assume they can be effective, but I don't know how that style compares to other forms of knife fighting in effectiveness.

If I am knife fighting, things have gone horribly wrong.

I've never had the urge to have one.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Ok, now I want.

No need, just want.

I really like the WE (all black) and Spyderco Karahawk (bottom) shown in my photo. If I could only have one it would be the Karahawk. It's small, thin, and easy to carry. The Emerson Wave feature works extraordinarily well with that design and deploys very quickly. Older versions did not have a spacer between the rings. I recommend getting a newer one with the spacer. I would also get an all black version which wasn't yet released when I bought this one to replace my older version.

As I stated previously, I would avoid an Emerson or really any liner lock in this format. I don't trust Emerson locks in general but with this design a liner lock of any kind scares me. If you're using this in a self defense situation and happen to fall I feel there's a good chance a lot of force could be applied to the spine of the blade and possibly cause lock failure. Your fingers are going to be in a lot of trouble if that happens. The WE or any other frame lock would hopefully be held in the locked position by the force of your hand. The Karahawk has a good back lock that I think would be unlikely to fail. Of course a fixed blade is the best option if you're looking for the most solid design. That is my opinion. Others might disagree.

I would also suggest looking at a TOPS Cockpit Commander (second down, left). It's not a karambit but it offers some of same advantages in a more conventional, EDC-friendly design. It comes with a good IWB sheath. If I can't carry a pistol that often sits in its place. The one next to it is a double edged version called the Calcutta. That is a rare, older knife that would be difficult to find. I'd recommend the Cockpit Commander over it anyway.

I would really like to get a real one. I made myself a cheezy trainer out of aluminium, that was fun to play with. If I got a real one, I'd want to get some training from a professional. Unfortunately there's nobody around here that does it.

Back in the late 90s early 2000s there was a guy that was a big proponent of the karambit. His name was Ken ???? He had his own design of one. He wrote articles in gun mags and taught classes etc. for the life of me I can’t remember his name.

I knew a guy who EDCd one. However, he was well-trained in Filipino Kali, and knew how to use it.

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:
Back in the late 90s early 2000s there was a guy that was a big proponent of the karambit. His name was Ken ???? He had his own design of one. He wrote articles in gun mags and taught classes etc. for the life of me I can’t remember his name.

Steve Tarani was one of the guys that did Karambit stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:
Back in the late 90s early 2000s there was a guy that was a big proponent of the karambit. His name was Ken ???? He had his own design of one. He wrote articles in gun mags and taught classes etc. for the life of me I can’t remember his name.

Steve Tarani was one of the guys that did Karambit stuff.

That’s the guy! Thanks

this is one that started all our karambit models. i stabbed myself with it twice just screwing around. it was not sharpened, i was basically just checking the size of the grip area. you have to make sure it fits the hand comfortably in use and i got a bit too enthusiastic with my extremely professional testing procedures. ya'll buying any of this?

dozer