My Emerson Combat Kerambit thoughts

[grayfox4000]

I would like to share my thoughts on them. I think these are the best defensive knives ever made. I carry one with me all the time. I have never needed to use them that hard or in a fight yet, but I have recently tested it on objects such as slashing wood wile training in fighting arts.

I have opened packages, cut through that annoying plastic packaging that electronics come in like cheese, all kinds of fabric and such. I found that my knife was too sharp at the edge and too thin, on a piece of wood the tip broke off because it was so week it was about as thick as a nail that broke off the blade.

But after I resharpened it with 5 different kinds of stones I reshaped the tip and it now has a stronger tip to slash with and the blade itself shaves up wood now and holds a seemingly stronger scary sharp blade, sharper then it originally was. I like it more then I did before. I was somewhat surprised that a piece of wood took off its tip before, but after it was resharpened the tip holds. Must have been sharpened too thin on the tip before.

I like how it opens so smoothly now after broken in, it will lock tightly but can be opened not only by the wave feature, but by the flick of your wrist like a automatic held in both ways. Even on a belt clip you can take it off your belt and open it like a automatic by flicking your wrist down and it opens wile totally closed tho it takes some force to do this. It can be opened as fast as a auto folder.

If you know how to do it it makes these knifes illegal. Only the military and police are only meant to have autos. LOL You can show off with these knifes with its O ring at its end. Gives it a grip like no other and its nearly impossible to get out of somebodies hand. I don't like any other knifes but the kerambit for mainly this type of handle. And its grip feels like the grips off my XD45 Handgun. Emersons feel like you have more then just a knife in your hand they feel like a handgun.

In close up and personal a person with a regular knife doesn't stand a chance agenst a skilled fighter with this type of knife. It still looks new I got it 6 months ago. Tho the teflon has worn some on the tip and on the blades edges from sharpening it, still looks nearly the same. The steel is just tough to sharpen so it takes awile to make it razor sharp.

It will cut through paper with very little effort with only its own weight on it. And thick cardboard is easily penitrated and cut through with just a little pressure to push the blade through the cardboard. And ofcorse it makes little work of seatbelts and other materials of that toughness. I wouldn't be surprised if it could cut through steel wire like I have heard from its military use. I got a titanium liner with mine and a SS 400 series on the other side of the frame of the handle. Thats the only thing I don't like, why the hell would you use a standard quality steel for one side of the handle and on the other side as well as the rest of the knife made out of premium materials.

Great knifes Emerson makes tho!

I'd still like to have Emerson make me a custom Kerambit of my own.

 

[Haze]

The EKI folders are some of if not the best production kerambits available, If you could search the forums you would find this has been talked about alot here and the same things are said time and again :thumbup:

One or two things that seem to be a common misconception with kerambits though.

I found that my knife was too sharp at the edge and too thin, on a piece of wood the tip broke off because it was so week it was about as thick as a nail that broke off the blade.
I was somewhat surprised that a piece of wood took off its tip before, but after it was resharpened the tip holds. Must have been sharpened too thin on the tip before.

The kerambit is not designed to be rammed into wood or chopping or anything like that. Its for getting at soft targets on the human body.
The techniques are in the most part about locking up or holding down an opponent and finding a leathal target to blead him out from. So im not at all surprised the tip broke off if you were going to town on a bit of wood.

You can show off with these knifes with its O ring at its end. Gives it a grip like no other and its nearly impossible to get out of somebodies hand. I don't like any other knifes but the kerambit for mainly this type of handle.

This is sort of true but the spinning of the kerambit has no practical purpose and is just for show really (other than loosing and bringing back) the ring is also useless if i just cut your hand or arm off so again this a misconception of the reality of kerambits and combat in general. Even a heavy cut to the forarm or inside of the elbow can stop your hand working pretty much compleatly and will mean you are not only seriously injured but now easy to disarm with a lock up or similar technique.

In close up and personal a person with a regular knife doesn't stand a chance agenst a skilled fighter with this type of knife.

This is really down to the individuals skill, any one who is good with a knfe will cause you problems in colse quaters no matter what the shape or grip or the knife is.
I so often hear people thinking they can throw out a few slashes with a kerambit and its game over. Or that the kerambit is some sort of magical device that is so much better than anything else. Its not, its just a knife at the end of the day. You still need to find specific targets that will have the biggest effect same as you would with any knife.
Splitting someones stomach open is a fight finisher for example but the person is not just going to let you do it to them so you still need to find or create openings by executing sccesfull lock ups or what ever. This is an integral part of the kerambit principles as well as any edged weapon for that matter.

The kerambit is great but in reality its no greater than the person holding it.
Train hard be smart and the kerambit will be what you want it to be.:thumbup:

I hope this post is not taken the wrong way ?

I have trainied in Silat and similar fighting systems all over Asia for a long time now and just cant help to clear these things up.

 

[stabman]

In close up and personal a person with a regular knife doesn't stand a chance agenst a skilled fighter with this type of knife.

Karambits ARE neat, but that sentiment is just mistaken.
It's the person rather than the tool which determines the outcome of an altercation...and a knife altercation AIN'T pretty.
There may indeed be guts involved(perhaps on the ground), but no glory, and there is nothing romantic or chivalrous or "cool" about it.
Knife TRAINING is fun and an art onto itself, but the real-life application is messy, brutal, and NOT something to look forward to.

 

[lagriffe]

I cant seem to flick open my karambit. Is the screw on too tight? I tried loosening it a bit and the washers had a gap from the blade. I agree that spinning the karambit is mostly for show. However it does give me something to do while watching the news. Lastly, Grayfox mentioned that his unit has a titanium liner and stainless steel for the other. I was always under the impression that both liners were supposed to be made of titanium.

 

[SIFU1A]

k'bits are "ok" i suppose but arent anything superior to a lot of other designs for SD, just depends on what ya are familiar with and trained with imho, i have probably 4 or 5 knives i can think of right off the bat i would prefer to a k'bit if i was gonna go fight someone with a knife, a crawford perfigo or kasper for 2, a emerson custom '13 or '8 (or '6) but if ya are trained on a k'bit they would be "ok" too.

 

[Lycosa]

Well said, 1A. Give me a traditional chisel ground kozuka, anyday.

 

[grayfox4000]

Thanks for the posts. And K'Bits are very old and have been around longer then most knife shapes specially the tiger claw type blade. They have proven their effectiveness in history.

True that a knife is only as good as the person using it. I have seen the videos in the past and done sparing with them agenst people with regular knives in a few martial arts classes of mine. You would be very surprised what advantages you have with this type of blade to disarm and inflict fatal wounds quickly and how hard it is to get this knife out of ones hand compared to other knives. My master in the past taught me some things as well. We had kbit training in part of the martial arts training. That was some time ago.

These are hard use knives tho not made just to open boxes and stuff. These knives are made to be brutally used agenst tough fabrics, saw wood, and even cut steel cable. CM154 has impressed me even tho I got unlucky with the tip it was too little to even notice like I said it wasn't anything major like a CM piece of the blade. It was very little about as much as "l" the width of that lower case L without the quotes not even half the thickness of the bade itself.

When I redid the tip it has no problem taking on wood. It would have held up better agenst wood with a commander shaped Kbit blade more made for that type of slashing. But the quality of the steel should have held up to the wood better then it originally did, but the tip of the blade was I believe done too thin. When I sharpened it I sharpened the tip in a way that it would have a shronger shape wile still being sharper. So problem solved. It also doesn't get dull even tho I have sawed wood with it to test how well it keeps a edge. I don't question the quality of super steel, it does what it was made to do.

I do want a full commander as well but I love the ringed handles so much. And with a claw shaped blade, something about them scares people, the not wanting to get cut by them because of the shape of the blade is instinctive, and sends a message to the brain. I know its made for ripping and pulling. A regular blade just doesn't do that kind of painful damage like a kbit does. You might not even feel it when you get stabbed by a regular knife even tho you were fatally wounded.

A Tiger claw Kbit is known for not only its painful damage but also its stopping power. I know people have their opinions, but I agree with emerson himself that this is one of the most superior types of knives ever made for self defense. But since I collect knives, out of all the knives I have in my collection none hold up better then a emerson. I only trust this knife more then any other to carry around.

And to do the opening of the blade real quick like that, it takes some practice and its got to be worn in.

Both the frame and the liner are sipose to be made out of titanium, but for some reason they now make the frame part out of steel. Its not going to matter much as long as they keep the titanium liner and I have a titanium liner you can tell by the thickness of the plates and how smooth the plates look. There is a difference, you can tell what is titanium and what is steel.