I waited to get used to the C-redesign Kerambit by Dil Kami (from DOTD beginning of February, there are probably others stilled unclaimed!), but here comes the review finally.
It is a great little fighter. 9" OAL including the ring and all. 4.5" usable blade and almost an inch of sharp swedge on top. About 5/16 inch spine thickness and even thicker on the handle, making this a sturdy little guy. Long before something happens to the tang after a botched cut/stab, your pinkie would have broken in the ring from the torque.
The convex edges (plural) are not thin by any measure and especially for such a short blade, but they can be made really sharp by someone with experience. They came about as sharp as any other HI Kukri which by my standard is sharp enough after only 10 minutes of work on the edge with minimum tools. I cut myself all the time playing with my knives so as far as I am concerned they are sharp enough. The cardboard boxes around me felt the pain immediately with very little momentum required in the swing. Especially gratifying was the stabbing motion because the tip (while not very angular) makes for a great penetrating tool at least two inches in. I would hate to be on the receiving end of a stab to the ribs with one of those.
Now for the hottest issue around: the handling. It took me a few hours of playing with the handle to get comfortable with the grip, but I now love it. There is the choke hold using the groove for the index finger on the very blade (great for detail work), and then there is the slashing hold with the pinky in the ring. The ring itself is huge; two of my pinkies fit in there, so no problem if you have winter gloves on. If I have to say anything negative at all about the grip, I would like to see the inside of the ring be radiused a little like in the original design for smoother edges, but that is a modification easy to make by the consumer to their taste.
All in all, if you don't have one, you don't know what you are missing! Note: Given the sharp swedge, this counts as a dirk/dagger, i.e., a stabbing implement and California knife laws are okay with such knives as long as you have them in a sheath on your belt in open-carry fashion (it seems that it doesn't matter if you cover up with a jacket or shirt). However, any fixed blade above 2.5" is illegal in k-12 or college/university, and in any public building, public meeting, or airport.
It is a great little fighter. 9" OAL including the ring and all. 4.5" usable blade and almost an inch of sharp swedge on top. About 5/16 inch spine thickness and even thicker on the handle, making this a sturdy little guy. Long before something happens to the tang after a botched cut/stab, your pinkie would have broken in the ring from the torque.
The convex edges (plural) are not thin by any measure and especially for such a short blade, but they can be made really sharp by someone with experience. They came about as sharp as any other HI Kukri which by my standard is sharp enough after only 10 minutes of work on the edge with minimum tools. I cut myself all the time playing with my knives so as far as I am concerned they are sharp enough. The cardboard boxes around me felt the pain immediately with very little momentum required in the swing. Especially gratifying was the stabbing motion because the tip (while not very angular) makes for a great penetrating tool at least two inches in. I would hate to be on the receiving end of a stab to the ribs with one of those.
Now for the hottest issue around: the handling. It took me a few hours of playing with the handle to get comfortable with the grip, but I now love it. There is the choke hold using the groove for the index finger on the very blade (great for detail work), and then there is the slashing hold with the pinky in the ring. The ring itself is huge; two of my pinkies fit in there, so no problem if you have winter gloves on. If I have to say anything negative at all about the grip, I would like to see the inside of the ring be radiused a little like in the original design for smoother edges, but that is a modification easy to make by the consumer to their taste.
All in all, if you don't have one, you don't know what you are missing! Note: Given the sharp swedge, this counts as a dirk/dagger, i.e., a stabbing implement and California knife laws are okay with such knives as long as you have them in a sheath on your belt in open-carry fashion (it seems that it doesn't matter if you cover up with a jacket or shirt). However, any fixed blade above 2.5" is illegal in k-12 or college/university, and in any public building, public meeting, or airport.
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