Ka Bar TDI Karambit

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foilboy

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Nov 22, 2009
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Hey all,

I've been looking at Ka Bar's TDI series because of the affordability and design of the knife. I'm a fan of karambits and I was thinking that it would be pretty easy to turn a TDI into a karambit simply by taking off the existing grips and replacing them with a set of new grips (I'm thinking g-10), possibly with a liner of steel on the inside for extra strength. All it would take is the materials, the right tools and some longer screws to attach the new grips.

Here's my concept:

TDIKarambit.jpg


If anyone is interested in producing the new grips, let me know!

Thanks,
Sean
 
I considered something as well. If I were you and you want this just figure out the handle dimensions and make them in something like sketch-up. Print them out 1:1 and then get to work on cutting/filing/grinding etc whatever material you choose. Buy a few sets of handle material, shaping them can be a lot harder than it sounds.
 
I'm gonna' bring this thread back from the past. I've recently become interested in karambit history & technique. After seeing a demonstration of how much faster a fixed blade (Ka-bar TDI) can get into the fight than a folder, I bought one. Looking it over I agree with foilboy's original post. it seems an ideal candidate to modify into a karambit. In looking over the market in available fixed-blade model karambits, they seem all are either too cheap (shoddy) or excessively expensive. I wanted to spend ~$50-75. With ~$40 in the TDI I have a bit of budget left for the mod. Would y'all suggest welding/brazing a ring on to the tang or creating new grip scales (G10 or Micarta) with the ring incorporated?
 
I'm going to go a bit out on a limb here and suggest that this might not be the forum where you'd find a great deal of interest in taking a production knife and converting it into a pseudo karambit.
 
Sorry, I got a bit testy with the sardonic tone in your response. I've edited all that away.

Where, oh wise & respected Gold Member, would you suggest that I continue this conversation? Your quite quick to point out I'm in the wrong neighborhood but slow with any directions home. I didn't start the thread & you expect me to move it? Wow, where was your so-very-gracious limb willingness in Feb. 20, 2011?
 
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Well dang it tryppyr, you get in a wee-weeing match over in "who can & who can't" & decide to take a pirate stand with little ol' newbie me about adding a post to an old, existing thread that, only NOW, is in the wrong place? Geez, someone needs a time-out.

Please, can someone move this to a more appropriate venue ("Ka-Bar Knives"?) or tell me how to move it? I need to steer clear of the oh-so-gracious KnifeMaker/Craftsman/Service Provider types who are monitoring for mistakes.
 
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Thanks, Jason. Can't decide whether the orange is TN Big Orange (where I was born) or TX burnt orange (where i spent much of my adult life). :)

Ghost, I don't know where you should seek someone willing to do that mod. I've seen requests like yours in this forum before... sometimes someone steps up... usually not. My point was that most of the people in this forum that COULD do that type of work, generally aren't interested in doing it, and especially not for the kind of money mentioned in the base post.

It's a pretty easy project conceptually... something pretty much anyone could do with just a few tools and supplies. If *I* was doing it, I wouldn't make scales. I'd carve the handle from a block of G10 and cut a channel for the tang to slide into, then epoxy and pin it into place. That's probably more challenging than most folks would do... scales are easier.

- Greg
 
Greg, Your RIGHT! This is bound to be a "Tinkering & Embellishment". I just saw this tread already started & asked a question. I'm gonna' do whatever gets done so I'm not shopping for a "Service Provider". I mentioned money only because I've got spare "phenolic funds". As a senior member around here I'll ask you, it is better to CONTINUE a conversation or START a new thread that's being/been talked about elsewhere? Do you know how to move a thread?
 
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I think only Mods can move it. You can start a new one but I doubt there'd be much interest in it.
 
Only mods, supermods and admins can move threads, so far as I know.

I'd just start a new one in the other forum. I'd have pointed you to it, but I don't explore all the forums on this site enough to know what the best fit would be.
 
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