Talk to me about the Shabaria...

[Christian]

I've been eyeing the CF Shabaria lately- I love the looks of it. Those of you that are fortunate to own one, what are your thoughts? What do you think are it's strengths, or it's weaknesses? Why should I get one? (Other than the fact it looks sexy as hell.) Thanks in advance.

 

[Gollum]

I had been wanting one for a long time when the Sprint came out but was turned off when I found out they were still tip-up carry only. Then I handled one at Jim's of Howe's at his table at a gunshow up in MI and was hooked and bought it.
I carried mine for several weeks after that and found that not only is it a great looking knife but a very useful design.
The ergo's are better than they look and blade is far less fragile than it looks. The spine stays thick all the until the very pointy tip. It won't out slice a Stretch but is more than adequate for most EDC tasks.
Highly recommended while you can still get one.

 

[bh49]

it looks sexy as hell.

Absolutely.
This was good enough for me to get a few. I wanted this knife for few years, but couldn't shell out $200+ for original. Finally couple years ago I was able to find one at better price. Love it. It is one of my favorite "display queens". So for me was out of questions to get sprint or not. I place pre-order with NGK and got it right away. I am not a big CF lover, but I love sprint more than original. I never thought about utility use of Shabaria, I always thought about this knife as a dagger or weapon if you wish. Most comfortable grips for me the same grips like you would hold a dagger, but lately I few posts about utility use. Also design intend considered utility use as well. I have a spare, but probably will never EDC it. Shabaria is little too big for my EDC taste
It is a great knife, if you can afford, get one. It looks like that dealers are running out of stock, still possible to find at decent price, much less than I paid for my first, but I couldn't wait

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I got one of the originals, then later got a user, and recently: a carbon fiber. I like this knife.

How about a history lesson?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144844

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

I find the knife very interesting and love the heritage, but.... the fact that the spiderhole seems to span nearly half the blade gives me some concern about its strength.

What is your feeling, Esav?

Andy

 

[Christian]

Esav- thanks for the history lesson. I think I will be picking one up this week.

 

[bh49]

One more history lesson related to this knife. This one is tragic. It was told by Sal on USN

The Shabaria was one of the very early "Ethnic series" models. The original Shabaria was been dated to 300 AD in the Jordan Valley. The shape still is used today for status in the area.

The design was created by Eduard Bradichanski. He was a very gifted Russian/Israeli transplant. Very bright with a good eye and magic hands.

He was originally going to create each of the "Ethinic series" models for us. Unfortunately, he was targeted and killed by Hamas in the West Bank 2 weeks before his models were introduced. They burned his car and his body. Authorities were able to identify him because he had the prototypes for the Shabaria and the Spydercard in his possession at the time. They didn't burn. (The Spydercard was another of his designs).

We sent Royalties to his family for years.

It's a very special knife. You made a good find.

sal

http://usualsuspect.net/forums/showthread.php?t=402432 post #9

 

[bammann45]

I have an original spydercard and an original partially serrated shabaria. I've really enjoyed both of them. I lost the clip off the shabaria many years ago -- been meaning to send it in and get a new one put on every since.

 

[brownshoe]

I find it an excellent utility knife. I bought one of the original ones because I liked the looks. The handle is not really "perfect" in any grip or cutting situation, but overall it is "good" in every grip and cutting situation, which makes it a great utility knife. I was afraid the tip might be fragile, but I've had no problems and the tip is still in its original shape. The recurve makes it excellent for cutting bread, salami, anything rounded.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The handle is not really "perfect" in any grip or cutting situation, but overall it is "good" in every grip and cutting situation, which makes it a great utility knife.

Years ago, a friend of mine returned from a trip to Ethiopia with a cavalry saber -- a long curved "scimitar" blade with a handle like the Shabaria. Strangely enough, the handle was about the same size as the Shabaria! I guess Ethiopians have smaller hands.