Care and Feeding of Semicolons: the Karambit.

[freewheeling]

I noticed that there's no separate sub-forum for the karambit knife, which is becoming more popular, possibly because of it's use as a last ditch or weak side defensive option? Anyway, I was looking at some of the fairly limited options and noticed that there wasn't very much in between the cheapos and the high-dollar Emersons, which also tend to be sold out due to burst production. There are the Fox knives, but their primary offering is for largish hands. I have smallish hands for a male, so was wondering about the sizing that would be appropriate. It's not clear what "resized" means regarding the Fox Karambits, but I gather those are for smaller hands given a closed length of a little more that 4.5 inches? I also noticed that women seem interested in this kind of defensive option so there ought to be a niche for versions for small hands. My thumb tip to pinky tip is 8 1/4 inches.

Ultimately I bought the resized Fox Karambit, mainly because the Emerson was sold out at Blade HQ and the 5.11 was identified as inappropriate for small hands. I can't recall what the dimensions of the Spyderco Karahawk are proposed to be, but perhaps it's their intention to fill this niche? Anyway, the Spyderco won't be out for more than a year so I went with the Fox. I also ordered one of the fake Foxes so I could compare it. Strangely, the fakes are smaller than the originals, possibly to cater to the smaller size of Asian hands? Anyway, it's mostly an intellectual curiosity. It's possible the Chinese have identified a market niche that American manufacturers have overlooked? I also suspect that the best fakes are coming from Taiwan rather than the mainland. Anyway, the presence of a robust market for fakes should suggest opportunities and I have faith that competitiveness and innovation can meet that challenge.

Also, I grew up in wheat country, and I guess if the harvester breaks down you could always use the fakes to harvest the crop.

 

[Dorito Monk]

Is there a subforum for Bowie knives? Or Daggers? Or Machetes? Or Santokus?

Why would there be a subforum for Karambits?

 

[freewheeling]

Well, there's a sub-forum on that other knife forum, and there's a sub-forum for balisongs and for autos here. The karambit is no less specialized. There are other curved blades, of course, but they generally don't have the finger hole which is a fairly unique feature. But I'm not lobbying for it. Just wondering about which are good and what the future holds for the knife style and for the "wave" feature as well, since it lends itself to weak side defense.

Also, I gather that the N690 steel used for the Fox Karambit is between 440C and VG10 in terms of properties, but have read that some people put it above VG10.