- Joined
- Jun 7, 2004
- Messages
- 173
My new Spyderco karambit arrived today. It's my first karambit and it's not at all what I expected. Before I even opened the box I knew I was in for a surprise. The box was quite heavy. For a moment I thought there might be two or even three karambits inside. I had thought the Spyderco karambit was going to be a smallish knife, perhaps because the blade is just a shade over two inches long. Well, it ain't so small. This is a large heavy (but thin) handle. I thought the blade might be a bit too small, not intimidating enough or capable of inflicting serious slashing wounds. I was wrong on both counts. The blade is plenty big enough to do serious damage and it's the sharpest blade of any knife I own out of the box. The Spyderco karambit is also the most sculpturesque knife I own. It's beautifully designed. I predict the Museum of Modern Art in New York will snag one for it's permanent design collection. Even if you don't plan to use the thing, it's as much an objet d'art as it is a knife, and its all-stainless-steel construction perfectly complements its high-tech looks. On the down side, the sculpted depression in the handle that guides the thumb to the liner lock is pretty but useless; there isn't enough of the liner lock exposed to simply press the lock with your thumb to release the blade. Perhaps the stiffness of the lock will loosen up over time but I doubt it. Also, you can't open the blade part of the way and then open it all the way with a flick of the wrist, as you can with other Spydies (including the Dodo). You have to open the blade all the way with your thumb in the thumb hole, although at the end of the maneuver there's a loud, satisfying click (but so loud you couldn't sneak up on someone while opening the knife in the process and not give yourself away, although the knife wasn't designed for that purpose). Also, if you have small hands, this surprisingly large knife may feel a bit unwieldy. Try before you buy. It may only have a two-inch blade but this is one good-size weapon. Another surprise: I wanted a karambit because I thought it would be easier to use than a balisong. Those butterfly knives take a good deal of practice to get the hang of. Well, so, I now know, does a karambit. I saw Ernest Emerson's 10-second video clips of basic karambit maneuvers and thought, like an idiot, "Oh, that doesn't look too hard." Well, switching grips and spinning this big knife with your index finger through the very ample finger hole in the handle is just as difficult in its own way as mastering a balisong. A klutz like me will probably never get the hang of it. After the knife arrived, I downloaded two 10-second Emerson video clips and used Windows Media Player to stop each of them at fraction-of-a-second intervals to try to figure out how the guy in the video was working the karambit. Damned if I could figure it out. He was so fast most his movements were a blur, and even those I could see I wasn't able to duplicate. If you want to use this knife with a forward and a reverse grip using only one hand, you have a heck of a lot of practice ahead of you. I tried spinning the Spyderco karambit with my forefinger in the finger hole and the knife closed. I could see how, if the knife were open, I could easily peel the flesh off my hand like the skin off an orange. It's not for the faint-hearted. So for me, and probably for most people, this is a one-grip, forward-grip knife. Also, because the handle is beautiful, smooth stainless steel, it isn't as grippy as knives with textured G-10 or micarta scales. Well, the finger hole is supposed to give you that good grip, but the hole is so large you really need a large hand with a thick index finger to fill it. Otherwise your finger fits loosely in the hole, and with the rest of the handle being quite large, it's hard to get a really secure grip. Once upon a time, I thought I'd use the karambit with my index finger in the hole and the entire knife--blade and handle--extending out beyond my knuckles. No way, Jose. I can't make a fist tight enough to keep the knife from wobbling. I could see an assailant grabbing the knife and yanking out of my hand--there's that much play when the knife extends out from your hand. However, with a forward or reverse grip with your pinky through the finger hole in the handle and your fingers gripping the handle, the grip is secure. But the handle isn't as comfortable to clutch as other Spydies. I own a Peter Herbst, J.D. Smith, Civilian, Eduard Bradichansky Shabaria, Dodo, and a Spydie credit card knife. All are comfortable to hold except the credit card knife. The karambit approaches that in discomfort. But, when all is said and done, the Spyderco Karambit is a gorgeous, thin, weighty, large, wicked, though for most of us probably one-grip knife. And it has one indisputable virtue: because the cutting edge of the blade is only 1.9 inches long, it's street-legal in all 50 states.
I'd guess the knife was designed more for holster carry than pocket. Anyone know of a good sheath for this knife?
I had a pretty similar experience when I got my Karambit, but mine was even more surprising. I took it out of the box, played with it, saw how terrifyingly sharp the tip was, and then went to see what steel type it was and *gasp* there it nothing on the blade. I looked at the pictures online and it said "Spyderco, VG-10" on all of them. At this point I'm thinking hey, cool, I got an unmarked one! But then I start to close it and see letters "Sp" sticking out from just under the handle. So it is marked, just way deeper, and it made it so much more special, and more surprising... 
