This past year I have sold my car (my wife still has a car) and taken up the bicycle, for health reasons.
I do my very best to not get in a car; I've lost 60 pounds and I really enjoy going places, especially commuting to work.
When riding my bike I carry my Chinook II in the small of my back in my waistband, only for self-defense (I use my Native for cutting things).
I have no intention of ever using my Chinook II for self-defense, but my first flight instructor, Floyd Duckworth, told me "whatever you prepare for will never happen."
So far that has proven largely true.
As an EMS helicopter pilot I have seen what a knife can do, and I don't want to do that to another human being, but I figure if I prepare adequately it will not happen to anyone - me or the bad guy.
Anyway, with the cold weather I now wear some pretty heavy duty gloves.
They keep my hands warm, and with my Chinook II open, I can use the knife even with the gloves.
It feels good.
However, getting my Chinook II out of my waistband and opening it with these gloves presents a whole new set of problems.
I can do it, but I don't want to try it in the dark and in a hurry.
This has started me wondering if I need to carry a fixed-blade knife, instead.
I have several very nice fixed-blade self-defense or fighting knives made by John Greco.
The smaller ones don't work so well with the gloves and the larger ones just don't feel right on a bicycle.
Really, nothing works as well (fixed or folding) with gloves as does the open Chinook II.
I could make a sheath and carry the Chinook II open and ready to go.
It has the right size and conformation.
However, I don't like that idea for several reasons, and it mostly boils down to this: if I have to carry a knife open, I'd rather carry a fixed-blade knife for its strength.
OK, so, what if Spyderco made fixed-blade full-tang version of the Chinook II, exactly like the folding Chinook II except for the fixed, full tang.
By exactly, I mean exactly, right down to the hole in the blade (which I use as a place to put my thumb when I choke up on the blade and hold it flat/sideways) and even the scallops in the G10 scales (intended to make it easier to access the hole and open the blade, but which make a perfect place for the index finger to wrap around the handle).
The only thing new or different would involve a sheath system, maybe something like the Dozier Kydex sheaths that one can take apart and reassemble for different carries.
I would like a Kydex sheath that would let me carry a fixed-blade Chinook II on either my right or left hip, in the small of my back or crossdraw, and in or outside of my waistband.
I don't want too much, do I?
With Kydex and machine screws it seems doable, though, to design something where a person could reassemble the clip portion onto the core sheath in three or four different ways.
Put some lightening holes in the tang and scales, and a fixed-blade Chinook II could even make use of a neck sheath.
For those who have not held a Chinook II, one cannot appreciate the effectiveness of the collaboration between Spyderco and James Keating on this knife 'til he holds it and feels how intuitively it works.
Inch for inch and ounce for ounce, I cannot imagine a better (or even as good) self-defense knife.
The current folding version gives away nothing; but, a fixed-blade version, in exactly the same conformation with zero changes, gains everything.
If you already have a Chinook II, open it up, hold it in your hand, and imagine it as a fixed-blade knife.
If you don't have one, go down to the local knife store and hold one, and imagine it as a fixed-blade knife.
Now, think of a four-way sheath for that knife.
Anyway, it seems like a good idea to me.
I do my very best to not get in a car; I've lost 60 pounds and I really enjoy going places, especially commuting to work.
When riding my bike I carry my Chinook II in the small of my back in my waistband, only for self-defense (I use my Native for cutting things).
I have no intention of ever using my Chinook II for self-defense, but my first flight instructor, Floyd Duckworth, told me "whatever you prepare for will never happen."
So far that has proven largely true.
As an EMS helicopter pilot I have seen what a knife can do, and I don't want to do that to another human being, but I figure if I prepare adequately it will not happen to anyone - me or the bad guy.
Anyway, with the cold weather I now wear some pretty heavy duty gloves.
They keep my hands warm, and with my Chinook II open, I can use the knife even with the gloves.
It feels good.
However, getting my Chinook II out of my waistband and opening it with these gloves presents a whole new set of problems.
I can do it, but I don't want to try it in the dark and in a hurry.
This has started me wondering if I need to carry a fixed-blade knife, instead.
I have several very nice fixed-blade self-defense or fighting knives made by John Greco.
The smaller ones don't work so well with the gloves and the larger ones just don't feel right on a bicycle.
Really, nothing works as well (fixed or folding) with gloves as does the open Chinook II.
I could make a sheath and carry the Chinook II open and ready to go.
It has the right size and conformation.
However, I don't like that idea for several reasons, and it mostly boils down to this: if I have to carry a knife open, I'd rather carry a fixed-blade knife for its strength.
OK, so, what if Spyderco made fixed-blade full-tang version of the Chinook II, exactly like the folding Chinook II except for the fixed, full tang.
By exactly, I mean exactly, right down to the hole in the blade (which I use as a place to put my thumb when I choke up on the blade and hold it flat/sideways) and even the scallops in the G10 scales (intended to make it easier to access the hole and open the blade, but which make a perfect place for the index finger to wrap around the handle).
The only thing new or different would involve a sheath system, maybe something like the Dozier Kydex sheaths that one can take apart and reassemble for different carries.
I would like a Kydex sheath that would let me carry a fixed-blade Chinook II on either my right or left hip, in the small of my back or crossdraw, and in or outside of my waistband.
I don't want too much, do I?
With Kydex and machine screws it seems doable, though, to design something where a person could reassemble the clip portion onto the core sheath in three or four different ways.
Put some lightening holes in the tang and scales, and a fixed-blade Chinook II could even make use of a neck sheath.
For those who have not held a Chinook II, one cannot appreciate the effectiveness of the collaboration between Spyderco and James Keating on this knife 'til he holds it and feels how intuitively it works.
Inch for inch and ounce for ounce, I cannot imagine a better (or even as good) self-defense knife.
The current folding version gives away nothing; but, a fixed-blade version, in exactly the same conformation with zero changes, gains everything.
If you already have a Chinook II, open it up, hold it in your hand, and imagine it as a fixed-blade knife.
If you don't have one, go down to the local knife store and hold one, and imagine it as a fixed-blade knife.
Now, think of a four-way sheath for that knife.
Anyway, it seems like a good idea to me.
