Ontario/Frank fighter

E

edgetrip

Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Messages
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Anybody got one of these yet? Comments, criticisms, looks cool as a dedicated defensive blade.
 
I wonder what the heck that "Gunting" bump on the spine is supposed to be good for. It's quite steep for a thumb ramp, might maul your thumb if you stab with it. An impact device on the spine of a fixed blade just doesn't sound like a useful feature to me.
 
I've handled the originals, and they were super nice. I have a trainer that I used for a very long time, and it is a great, well-designed tool. The hump has a few different functions; guard, thumb ramp, and brecause it's textured, works for trapping applications.
 
Seems reasonably priced and the materials are good. It has the Gunting handle shape, which I like a lot on the Gunting and ought to work on a larger blade as well. However, my knife SD tactics are based on small blades, so I will probably pass on this one.
 
Dijos said:
The hump has a few different functions;
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Dijos said:
guard
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Uh yeah, a secondary guard that's bigger than the primary. Doesn't make sense to me.

Dijos said:
thumb ramp
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As I said, it's so steep that it will crush your thumb when you happen to stab a hard medium with it. Bad idea.

Dijos said:
and brecause it's textured, works for trapping applications.
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So you want to trap a blade right where your thumb is located? Wow... :rolleyes:
 
Quiet Storm, I believe he's refering to arm and wrist traps/locks, not trapping an opponent's blade.
 
Quiet Storm said:
Uh yeah, a secondary guard that's bigger than the primary. Doesn't make sense to me.



As I said, it's so steep that it will crush your thumb when you happen to stab a hard medium with it. Bad idea.



So you want to trap a blade right where your thumb is located? Wow... :rolleyes:
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Y'know, Some folks use the thumb ramp to aid in precision cutting.
Trapping-the Filipino martial art concept.
I'm confused by the strength of your opinions, but hey, to each his own.
 
Bill Siegle said:
Quiet Storm, I believe he's refering to arm and wrist traps/locks, not trapping an opponent's blade.
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I have to admit that I haven't seen an Abaniko in person yet, but the bump looks incredibly small and too rounded to me to be useful for trapping limbs, that's why I never even considered that purpose in the first place...and why would you want to trap a wrist anyway? With a double-edged knife you could simply slash the BG's wrist (that could double as a trap by the way) instead of simply trying to trap it in such a situation.
Don't get me wrong, I don't discard trapping at all. But IMO that's what a knife's spine - or even the main edge (think pikal) - is for, not a much smaller guard.
 
Where could one find a picture of this knife? I've searched in internet and found nothing!
 
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/s...eqCATE CODEdatarq=ONT&eqKEYWORDdatarq=abaniko


That should take you to a page where you can view both sizes. While I'm not an expert on knife fighting, Bram Frank is, and a respected one at that. I see many possibilities in his designs. If these were 3V or even A2, I would pick one up. I admit that I can be a bit of a steel snob, and won't pay that much for something made of 1095. I love carbon steel (owning a Fehrman turned me onto carbon blades, especially 3V), but I'm not a fan of carbon steels that will rust if you look at them too hard (and, while completely servicable, 1095 is, in my opinion, inferior to many other affordable carbon steels).
 
J.Davey said:
While I'm not an expert on knife fighting, Bram Frank is, and a respected one at that.
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I'm not sure why that would negate honest and IMO well-founded criticism against his design, if that was your point. Besides, it's not like he doesn't have any critics anyway.
 
It seems to me that there was a great deal of thought put into the design of the Abaniko. The grip ergonomics lend itself to ecellent grip retention and blade orientation. Also, 1095 is a steel that is easily sharpened, which lends to the Abaniko's practicality. You could sharpen it on a rock if you needed to. A good feature if you're out in the bush without all of your gear.
 
I think 1095 is OK for a fighting knife. The type of steel is more important for utility knives, where long edge-holding is a desirable characteristic.
 
I think this is a real neat knife in every respect except the hump.
If it were a single guard design I would purchase one in a heartbeat.
 
averageguy said:
I think this is a real neat knife in every respect except the hump.
If it were a single guard design I would purchase one in a heartbeat.
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I'm reasonably sure that you would change your mind if you had one in your hand for more than a minute.

That "hump" or ramp is part of the ergonimics that is such a great feature of the knife. In reverse grip it creates a separation between the spine of the blade and your forearm that facilitates hooking and trapping. The ramp also helps you maintain positive control of the knife when you choke-up on it for doing close cutting work like making stakes and other necessary tools that you might have to make out in the bush. I know some deer hunters that love the positive control they get from the knife even while its bloody from dressing out a buck.
 
I'm confident there is a functional value to the design - I just can't get beyond the aesthetics. And I just generally prefer single guards.
 
It seems's nice to me, I don't know how will it perform but the design is really agressive, and I like that :)
 
Take my word for it; it performs nicely and is "user friendly" in terms of sharpening and handling. It's a damn good knife.
 
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