Exoric Blades: The Karambit

MSgt said:
... I've no real knowledge about this particular style blade, but after reading it I'm thinking of buying one for my son who is going to deploy to Afghanistan late this year. Any thoughts, comments would be appreciated.
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Thank your son for his service.

Since 99.999999% of the time, he will be using his knife as a tool (and not a weapon), and since a karambit isn't a particularly useful utility blade (unless one is pruning branches)....then he may not get a whole lot of use out of it.

Seems like the vast majority of people who have served say that the most useful "sharp" for them was a multitool.
 
As I indicated to another poster who was thinking about getting a karambit as a defensive knife, unless your son has specific training with the karambit, he would be much better off with:

1. a heavy duty half pry-bar/half sharp implement to carry on his person and use for every task imaginable.
2. then, he could probably use a decent 3.5"-4" folder with decent steel and a slicing style blade for smaller cutting tasks

THEN, and only then, if you REALLY want to get him a knife for fighting, get him a 6" double edged dagger style blade like the Gerber Mark II, Blackhawk UKSF, or single edged fighting blade like the Meyerco Terzuola CQB. Fact is, though, that in combat, his knife will really never come into play.

Just my $0.02, but I spent 7 years in, with quite a bit of experience in theater, so I do have a good sense of the right gear to pack.
 
MSgt said:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3025856/posts

I just came across this article on the Free Republic. I've no real knowledge about this particular style blade, but after reading it I'm thinking of buying one for my son who is going to deploy to Afghanistan late this year. Any thoughts, comments would be appreciated.
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thanks for your your son for his sevrice for me as well, best of luck to him

As far as a karambit goes id highly recommend NOT getting him one, they are cool but like Jester said its more of a defensive tool. if he doesn't already have one get him a Leatherman Mut or a Strider of some sort, he will get alot of excellent use out of these types of tools than a karambit.

I have seen some Marine that carry karambits as boot knives, but its not that common
 
As a backup "claw your way outta trouble" blade they work as advertised. They suck at most chores, but absolutely chew through rope.
 
I love kerambits and hawkbill blades in general, but I don't think they are what a soldier would find most useful. I carry my kerambits as urban defence tools (gun carry is not always an option in my country) and train with them often. As with any specialized weapon, you need a good teacher to show you how to take advantage of its strengths and understand its weaknesses. They suit my personal needs well.

As a utility knife, any hawkbill is rather limited when compared to more versatile blade shapes. The curved handle on most kerambits only makes this worse (plus some are chisel ground).

I'm not in the military, and have no first hand knowledge of what a soldier needs, but from the opinions of people who have served it seems that your best bet is to go with a quality multitool and either a compact fixed blade or a good folder (or all three if funds allow).
 
I actually like karambits and hawkbills as utility blades, but using them for some tasks takes a significant shift in mindset. For fighting use I guess I view them more as a weapon retention aid for a pistol more than an out and out combat knife. Basically, I don't feel like it would be my first choice if I was going into combat, but I would defer to anyone with more experience than myself.
 
I wouldn't be buying a kerambit for a soldier either. It is a special purpose tool, ie for self defence, and is unlikely to be all that useful for the many chores that will be required of it. Further, for its intended purpose of self defense, it is a fairly non-intuitive tool, requiring plenty of training. A straight bladed knife is not only more intuitive to use, and can be used in a forward grip (unlike a kerambit), allowing more reach. It is also going to be easier to access knife training with a knife in forward grip, especially in the military, where knives are not really encouraged for combat. (Much easier to just shoot the enemy.) By which I mean that there are far more likely to be people around who can train him in forward grip knife fighting. A general purpose knife should have a fairly straight blade, and will be useful for camp chores and, God forbid, if he ever needs it to save his life then it will serve him pretty well there too.
Not having any military experience at all, I can't really recommend anything with authority, but I have always liked the look of the Buck Nighthawk, which is very affordable. I own a Muella Military myself, and find it very handy for camp chores, but it is not full tang. No soldier should own such a knife, since his life may well depend on it being as tough as nails, but I do like the shape of the blade, and it does cut pretty well. Maybe check it out online and look for something with a similar shape, but full tang.
Good luck, numbersman.
 
I thank you all, and appreciate your input. When in RVN as an young Airman all I carried was a no name folder, but I want what's best for my one and only son. Guess I need to call him and find out what he already has, but knowing him, I bet he'll say "sure dad. buy me a new knife:)
 
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