Karahawk?

[freewheeling]

OK, this is just a general thread about opinions on the Spyderco Kerambit. I've decided to punt the legal questions over to the appropriate sub-forum.

 

[Bimmer1]

Just waiting for it to become available. There shouldn't be any legal concerns that wouldn't be involved with any other karambit on the market.

 

[freewheeling]

Just waiting for it to become available. There shouldn't be any legal concerns that wouldn't be involved with any other karambit on the market.

That's what I figured. I have no idea whether they're legal in Virginia, and I'm not buying anything until I do. I can think of lots of reasons for carrying a straight folder up to 4 inches that don't involve their deployment in violent situations, because there are lots of non-aggressive uses for them. But what use is a kerambit since we don't reap grain by hand any more? I guess you could say you use it to cut the grass...

The Spyderco version looks nice, though. I've often wondered why there's nothing between the $10 ones and the $200 ones. I guess the specificity of use is the primary reason.

 

[freewheeling]

OK, I think glistam dealt successfully with the legal issue of carrying a kerambit like the Karahawk in Virginia, here. That leaves the question of whether or not it's actually any good for self defense. I'd say it probably makes a good weak side weapon not only because of the potential last ditch use as a slashing weapon, but because it can be drawn with the Emerson wave and can be used effectively as a non-lethal weapon to throw a punch in order to regain control of the primary strong side weapon.

And that sort of leaves questions about size and cost. Is the Karahawk a weapon for women or men with small hands, or is it primarily for men with medium to big hands? I don't know enough to extrapolate from the data sheet, but there doesn't seem to be a data sheet anyhoo. Guess it will have to wait until the darn thing comes out, although you can pre-order it so maybe I've missed the data sheet somewhere?

 

[EricV]

Extrapolate from a datasheet? This is gonna be like discussing lethality in calibers with an ME isn't it?

Watch youtube video of average sized male gripping said knife. DONE

 

[freewheeling]

Extrapolate from a datasheet? This is gonna be like discussing lethality in calibers with an ME isn't it?

Watch youtube video of average sized male gripping said knife. DONE

I don't think so. The fit is critical in a kerambit and everyone's idea of an "average-size male" is a bit different. The best option that doesn't involve actually handling the knife is to get the dimensions. With that you could actually create a mock-up in cardboard if you needed to.