Ever want something so bad, for so long, that it becomes a sort of obsession?
Thats how it is with JSPs stuff from Bladerigger. Im a long-time fan of his tools and gadgets, and the simplicity and obvious lethal effectiveness of the CKB-Alpha system appealed to me in a James Bond 007, GET SMART, Austin Powers sort of way. After owning several of Jamess goodies, I decided that it was time to have one of his neato CKB-Alpha systems, only without a wallet. See, at the time I carried a Day Timer personal planner in my backpack, and the thought of drawing a knife out of the planner seemed just WAY too JSP, if you know what I mean. And the planner was usually in my hand at least 60% of the time. A couple of phone calls later, and the deal was done.
Fast forward to last Christmas and my wifey-poo buys me one of those awesome Palm Pilots. Im like a kid at Toys R Us: WHOOPEE!! The Day Timer gets given away, and now comes the dilemma of what to do with my knife order. Hey, I know! Ill get the knives in the stingray wallets, one for me, and one for my wife! (I like to call this TACTICAL SHOPPING, where you can buy yourself something expensive and cool, and you get one for your wife as well, so you can enjoy your new toys but without the guilt and silent treatment from the spouse. I mean, how can she be pissed if she has the same thing as you, but only cooler, in a chick sort of way?)
Two weeks ago they came in a UPS box, hidden among the styrofoam peanuts, sealed tightly in plastic baggies. Two items: A gorgeous dark green stingray wallet for my wife, and a sleek, sexy black wallet for myself. Simple white African bone beads adorn my wifes cord, while mine has silver beads and a black and white bead like the one shown on the website, although mine isnt zebra patterned, but rather cow patterned. MOO!
Oh, and one more baggie. Why its a CKB-Alpha TRAINER! And look! It fits into both sheaths/wallets perfectly! Folks, this trainer is the most REALISTIC training knife EVER. Period. As a matter of fact, it is so realistic that
I have to make EXTRA, EXTRA sure that it is indeed the trainer we are using when training as it is a scary mirror image of the real knife, in weight, balance everything. Okay, James put a different bead set on the cord, and the word TRAINER is inscribed on the blade, but DAMN this trainer looks real!
The bevels are the exact same as the real knives and the edges are rolled, and the point is dulled slightly, but the feeling you get when this cold metal is dragged across your arm is so frightening, so mentally shocking that you actually freeze up. In your minds eye you can see the razor sharp edge of the real blade going through your skin like water, all the way to the frigging bone, and you literally freak out. This is dangerous stuff here people.
Why get a CKB-Alpha training knife? Since this is such a unique blade and sheath system, the two most important techniques IMO are the draw, and the slash. Sure, you can practice drawing the real knife out of the wallet tens upon tens of thousands of times, but you run the risk of cutting up yourself and the beautiful wallet, especially if you practice drawing from different positions, such as seated, standing, holding groceries, a baby, etc. With the trainer, its just SAFER.
Slashing involves a secure grip and yes you can look at the shape of the knife and see that not all of your fingers are going to be on this thin piece of steel and yes you want to practice full power slashes at focus mitts, heavy bags, and your partners arms, but can this be done with any training knife, especially a knife as unique as the CKB-Alpha? So again, a trainer is both a safe and logical solution. With the trainer you find out that your grip is remarkably secure, even enough to thrust into hard objects.
Again, let me state that Jamess trainers are absolutely the most scariest training knives I have ever used, and also the most beautiful. I hated getting that first ding on the knife, but now its a war scar.
GLORIFIED PRISON SHIV
I remember reading a post where someone described the CKB-Alphas blade as a glorified prison shiv. And you know what? Its not that bad of a description. What is the primary purpose of a shiv, or shank? Ahhhh and Id bet dollars to doughnuts that any inmate in any prison would trade their mamas for a knife as sharp and lethal as the CKB-Alphas. Much has been written about the sharpness of Jamess knives, and its all TRUE. When I first took the knife out of the wallet, and examined the fine satin finish of the A2 steel, and the perfect even grind lines, and the mark right next to the serial number that indicated a Rockwell test had been done, I knew this was a winner. A keeper. Then I lightly rubbed my finger across the edge, and the ridges caught. Oooohhhh, a good sign! So I attempted to shave the hairs on my arm. I say attempted, because I ended up slicing a layer of skin off!! DOH!! Now theres a square shaped scab on my left arm
Still wanting to test the sharpness, I casually slashed at a piece of big ass foam I had laying about. (Dont all of us knife knuts have excess cardboard and foam laying around so we can randomly slash and hack away to our hearts content?) Nothing. Nada. Zero. Goose egg. I slashed again. Not even a scratch. OR SO I THOUGHT. I went to readjust the foam, and there it was. Two of the deepest slashes I have ever seen were carved into the foam. Folks, these knives are SO FRIGGING SHARP that they sliced through the foam like Darth Vaders laser sword! Hot knife through buttah. Like Zorros sword through a candle. Like you get the picture.
Zee grippe?? From taking a casual glance at the shape of the knife, one can assume the grip is not at all secure, what with no guard and all. Im here to say, NO WAY! Heres how it works: As you draw the knife from the wallet, your pinkie finger curls around the cord and your ring finger rests securely against the finger notch. Your thumb is positioned on the hole and the rest of your fingers grip tightly. This grip (foil grip?) allows for full power slashes, abanicos, redondos, and short tight picking type thrusts with no danger to your fingers.
Speaking of thrusts and picking, the tanto shaped point of this knife is perfect for these types of techniques. Its also perfect for slashing as well. The angled edge bites deeply, and due to the extreme sharpness of the edge, cuts through all types of fabrics, leather included. I even put the blade through the old frozen hot dog test, and it passed with flying colors. Of course, these organic turkey meat hot dogs did NOT go to waste, as I ate them afterwards with rice and ketchup, followed by a six pack of San Miguel beer.
Now, the CKB-Alpha knife is NOT a primary carry. One does NOT practice fast draws from the wallet; this is what we call a SLASH AND DASH weapon. A last resort. A nasty surprise for the bad guy. A knife thats always on you for the moment you hope never comes. But if it does
And for that role, its hard to beat the CKB-Alpha system. The thin knife, 1/16th, isnt felt at all while carrying, and doesnt interfere with the wallet in any way. Sure, its all steel, and being A2, its a high carbon steel, so its prone to rust. My trainer is also made from A2, and its been handled by sweaty hands, slashed sweaty arms and torsos, and even been used as an impromptu pacifier by my nine month old son, but a couple of coatings from my Marine Tuf Cloth has kept the rust away. So far, not one problem. The knife is VERY SHARP though, so be careful re-sheathing. I already made the mistake of not being careful, and sliced a small piece of leather out of my wallet. DOH!
OOOHH, THAT WALLET!
Sting ray skin. Exotic. Durable. Looks sweet. My wifes wallet, a brilliant dark green, with the white nodes contrasting nicely with the green, looks beautiful. It looks EXPENSIVE. Classy. Look hard enough inside some of the pockets, and yes you can see the rivets for the thin kydex sheath. Youd have to look really hard though Nine credit card pockets all together. A cash slash pocket, and a deep pocket for the check register, or important papers, whatever. Its thick, but not THAT thick. If youre not used to thick wallets, then this may not be for you.
My wallet is black, with the white nodes. These nodes are so shiny that at night the wallet looks like its wet. The cord hanging off the top of the wallet looks like its the tail of the stingray too cool!! Ive carried this wallet in my back pocket, with the cord hanging out. Ive also carried in my inside jacket pocket, again with the cord hanging out. Either way is great. If you sense trouble, carry the damn thing in your HAND. Heck, in most situations, hold the wallet in your hand. You now have a razor sharp knife in your hand at a moments notice, and NO ONES the wiser how cool is that?
My wife and I have gotten a lot of compliments on our wallets, and its funny when cashiers try to guess what our wallets are made out of. One person actually asked if it was armadillo skin! Whats even funnier is that here I am walking around with this expensive wallet, and all I have in it is FOUR BUCKS!
If youre leaning on the fence deciding whether or not to join the JSP Bladerigger fan club, then all I have to say is TRUST ME. Buy something. Get a CKB-Alpha system. And if you do, get the trainer as well. You wont regret it. I wish I had a digital camera so I could post some pics, but a link will have to do: http://www.bladerigger.com/images/CKBAlpha.GIF
If any of you out there would like to make a small ($100 minimum) donation to the Help MrG put some cash in his new wallet fund, please e-mail me and Ill give you my PayPal account.
Thank you for reading and drive safely.
[This message has been edited by MrG (edited 05-07-2001).]
Thats how it is with JSPs stuff from Bladerigger. Im a long-time fan of his tools and gadgets, and the simplicity and obvious lethal effectiveness of the CKB-Alpha system appealed to me in a James Bond 007, GET SMART, Austin Powers sort of way. After owning several of Jamess goodies, I decided that it was time to have one of his neato CKB-Alpha systems, only without a wallet. See, at the time I carried a Day Timer personal planner in my backpack, and the thought of drawing a knife out of the planner seemed just WAY too JSP, if you know what I mean. And the planner was usually in my hand at least 60% of the time. A couple of phone calls later, and the deal was done.
Fast forward to last Christmas and my wifey-poo buys me one of those awesome Palm Pilots. Im like a kid at Toys R Us: WHOOPEE!! The Day Timer gets given away, and now comes the dilemma of what to do with my knife order. Hey, I know! Ill get the knives in the stingray wallets, one for me, and one for my wife! (I like to call this TACTICAL SHOPPING, where you can buy yourself something expensive and cool, and you get one for your wife as well, so you can enjoy your new toys but without the guilt and silent treatment from the spouse. I mean, how can she be pissed if she has the same thing as you, but only cooler, in a chick sort of way?)
Two weeks ago they came in a UPS box, hidden among the styrofoam peanuts, sealed tightly in plastic baggies. Two items: A gorgeous dark green stingray wallet for my wife, and a sleek, sexy black wallet for myself. Simple white African bone beads adorn my wifes cord, while mine has silver beads and a black and white bead like the one shown on the website, although mine isnt zebra patterned, but rather cow patterned. MOO!
Oh, and one more baggie. Why its a CKB-Alpha TRAINER! And look! It fits into both sheaths/wallets perfectly! Folks, this trainer is the most REALISTIC training knife EVER. Period. As a matter of fact, it is so realistic that
I have to make EXTRA, EXTRA sure that it is indeed the trainer we are using when training as it is a scary mirror image of the real knife, in weight, balance everything. Okay, James put a different bead set on the cord, and the word TRAINER is inscribed on the blade, but DAMN this trainer looks real!
The bevels are the exact same as the real knives and the edges are rolled, and the point is dulled slightly, but the feeling you get when this cold metal is dragged across your arm is so frightening, so mentally shocking that you actually freeze up. In your minds eye you can see the razor sharp edge of the real blade going through your skin like water, all the way to the frigging bone, and you literally freak out. This is dangerous stuff here people.
Why get a CKB-Alpha training knife? Since this is such a unique blade and sheath system, the two most important techniques IMO are the draw, and the slash. Sure, you can practice drawing the real knife out of the wallet tens upon tens of thousands of times, but you run the risk of cutting up yourself and the beautiful wallet, especially if you practice drawing from different positions, such as seated, standing, holding groceries, a baby, etc. With the trainer, its just SAFER.
Slashing involves a secure grip and yes you can look at the shape of the knife and see that not all of your fingers are going to be on this thin piece of steel and yes you want to practice full power slashes at focus mitts, heavy bags, and your partners arms, but can this be done with any training knife, especially a knife as unique as the CKB-Alpha? So again, a trainer is both a safe and logical solution. With the trainer you find out that your grip is remarkably secure, even enough to thrust into hard objects.
Again, let me state that Jamess trainers are absolutely the most scariest training knives I have ever used, and also the most beautiful. I hated getting that first ding on the knife, but now its a war scar.
GLORIFIED PRISON SHIV
I remember reading a post where someone described the CKB-Alphas blade as a glorified prison shiv. And you know what? Its not that bad of a description. What is the primary purpose of a shiv, or shank? Ahhhh and Id bet dollars to doughnuts that any inmate in any prison would trade their mamas for a knife as sharp and lethal as the CKB-Alphas. Much has been written about the sharpness of Jamess knives, and its all TRUE. When I first took the knife out of the wallet, and examined the fine satin finish of the A2 steel, and the perfect even grind lines, and the mark right next to the serial number that indicated a Rockwell test had been done, I knew this was a winner. A keeper. Then I lightly rubbed my finger across the edge, and the ridges caught. Oooohhhh, a good sign! So I attempted to shave the hairs on my arm. I say attempted, because I ended up slicing a layer of skin off!! DOH!! Now theres a square shaped scab on my left arm
Still wanting to test the sharpness, I casually slashed at a piece of big ass foam I had laying about. (Dont all of us knife knuts have excess cardboard and foam laying around so we can randomly slash and hack away to our hearts content?) Nothing. Nada. Zero. Goose egg. I slashed again. Not even a scratch. OR SO I THOUGHT. I went to readjust the foam, and there it was. Two of the deepest slashes I have ever seen were carved into the foam. Folks, these knives are SO FRIGGING SHARP that they sliced through the foam like Darth Vaders laser sword! Hot knife through buttah. Like Zorros sword through a candle. Like you get the picture.
Zee grippe?? From taking a casual glance at the shape of the knife, one can assume the grip is not at all secure, what with no guard and all. Im here to say, NO WAY! Heres how it works: As you draw the knife from the wallet, your pinkie finger curls around the cord and your ring finger rests securely against the finger notch. Your thumb is positioned on the hole and the rest of your fingers grip tightly. This grip (foil grip?) allows for full power slashes, abanicos, redondos, and short tight picking type thrusts with no danger to your fingers.
Speaking of thrusts and picking, the tanto shaped point of this knife is perfect for these types of techniques. Its also perfect for slashing as well. The angled edge bites deeply, and due to the extreme sharpness of the edge, cuts through all types of fabrics, leather included. I even put the blade through the old frozen hot dog test, and it passed with flying colors. Of course, these organic turkey meat hot dogs did NOT go to waste, as I ate them afterwards with rice and ketchup, followed by a six pack of San Miguel beer.
Now, the CKB-Alpha knife is NOT a primary carry. One does NOT practice fast draws from the wallet; this is what we call a SLASH AND DASH weapon. A last resort. A nasty surprise for the bad guy. A knife thats always on you for the moment you hope never comes. But if it does
And for that role, its hard to beat the CKB-Alpha system. The thin knife, 1/16th, isnt felt at all while carrying, and doesnt interfere with the wallet in any way. Sure, its all steel, and being A2, its a high carbon steel, so its prone to rust. My trainer is also made from A2, and its been handled by sweaty hands, slashed sweaty arms and torsos, and even been used as an impromptu pacifier by my nine month old son, but a couple of coatings from my Marine Tuf Cloth has kept the rust away. So far, not one problem. The knife is VERY SHARP though, so be careful re-sheathing. I already made the mistake of not being careful, and sliced a small piece of leather out of my wallet. DOH!
OOOHH, THAT WALLET!
Sting ray skin. Exotic. Durable. Looks sweet. My wifes wallet, a brilliant dark green, with the white nodes contrasting nicely with the green, looks beautiful. It looks EXPENSIVE. Classy. Look hard enough inside some of the pockets, and yes you can see the rivets for the thin kydex sheath. Youd have to look really hard though Nine credit card pockets all together. A cash slash pocket, and a deep pocket for the check register, or important papers, whatever. Its thick, but not THAT thick. If youre not used to thick wallets, then this may not be for you.
My wallet is black, with the white nodes. These nodes are so shiny that at night the wallet looks like its wet. The cord hanging off the top of the wallet looks like its the tail of the stingray too cool!! Ive carried this wallet in my back pocket, with the cord hanging out. Ive also carried in my inside jacket pocket, again with the cord hanging out. Either way is great. If you sense trouble, carry the damn thing in your HAND. Heck, in most situations, hold the wallet in your hand. You now have a razor sharp knife in your hand at a moments notice, and NO ONES the wiser how cool is that?
My wife and I have gotten a lot of compliments on our wallets, and its funny when cashiers try to guess what our wallets are made out of. One person actually asked if it was armadillo skin! Whats even funnier is that here I am walking around with this expensive wallet, and all I have in it is FOUR BUCKS!
If youre leaning on the fence deciding whether or not to join the JSP Bladerigger fan club, then all I have to say is TRUST ME. Buy something. Get a CKB-Alpha system. And if you do, get the trainer as well. You wont regret it. I wish I had a digital camera so I could post some pics, but a link will have to do: http://www.bladerigger.com/images/CKBAlpha.GIF
If any of you out there would like to make a small ($100 minimum) donation to the Help MrG put some cash in his new wallet fund, please e-mail me and Ill give you my PayPal account.
Thank you for reading and drive safely.
[This message has been edited by MrG (edited 05-07-2001).]
