Tarani Folding Karambit

[brownie0486]

I received one of the first 50 Blade-Tech produced Tarani folding Karambits yesterday from the big brown truck.

Initial inspection showed the blade extremely tight fitting and some effort to deploy quickly as I'm accustomed to on other high end folders. This will need some breakin period and many openings and closings to get it where I want it.

The blade came very sharp but I still touched the ceramics to it briefly and it is where I want it now.

It appears well made overall. The serrated thumb placement after deployment are the best I've seen.
They have sharp teeth, yet when held are not uncomfortable, very positive grip.

The "ring" at the rear of the folder will take some getting used to as well. The ring does make it very easy to grasp the folder out of the pocket. Likewise, the ring is big enough and either the index finger or small finger of the hand easily slips into and out of it dependant on whether you are holding it reverse or sabre grip for use.

After a day of playing with it I have not cut myself "yet" but I'm sure I will as I do with any new folder I play with. The fingers and hands need to ramp up through muscle memory and I think at this time will take more effort on my part than a normal tactical folder would. Thats not surprising and certainly not indicative of anything wrong however. Its just a whole new ball game.

In drills yesterday I can already see this will be quite the defensive knife. I like the blade being only just over two inches in length. Should not have any issues in any locale in the US unless knives are restricted completely from that area.

I have modified some of the quick defensive techniques to work around this knifes design and it appears initially that this knife may be better at some and put restrictions [ they'll need modification as well ]on others used by a traditional tactical folder in defensive moves.

More to follow. I like it and feel once it has loosened up some for faster depolyment from the pocket this will make one hell of a defensive knife.

Brownie

 

[Soap]

Karambits are...well I haven't formulated an opinion yet. Its nice to have someone with experience evaluate a new design. So keep us updated on how you like it!

 

[brownie0486]

Daniel Flory:

Hi Dan,

In playing with it today I have decided it is not a folding knife at all like I thought it would be.

It's more a folding tool. The ring and overall design parameters with the short hawksbill type blade changes how this will be used.

I can see great possibilities with this tool and the more I play with it the more I like it. Having been a round or two with knives in general it can't even be compared to say, the spyder harpys as some may think due to the ring and hand/finger forming general grip, as well the pinky in the ring.

I have taken off the clip which came set up for right hand carry if you are using it in forward grip. Put it on the other side thereby making it retrieved in reverse grip.

Once in that config I tried to grasp the ring, pull from the pocket and open by throwing the blade downward on clearing the pocket. No go--
The blade is too small and designed so that the normal action to do so is negated.

When in reverse grip there is no way to reach the blades opening hole effectively except by the pinky. The blade is too stiff for me to pull this off however and I decided to go back to the original config of right hand opening to what would be a sabre grip on a normal blade.

Once I determined this is the only way to carry it for now at least [ we'll see if it will loosen up so I can reverse it again ]it will be faster to deploy if the blade falls away upon retrieval than the way I'm carrying it now.

Once opened in the hand it is solid and probably not capable of being knocked from your hand unless you give up a grip on the tool.

Some of the things I'm doing today with it in drills and defensive cutting have been extremely fast. It definatley is fast to redirect the blade left to right and gives me a feeling of control and flexibility at the same time due to the ring.

It's only the beginning, this tool and I, and I'll reserve whether it will replace my normal EDC knives[ which it has for the time being ]or whether it is carried as the tool it is knowing it can be deployed and once opened becomes devastating to anyone within it's reach.

The handles is g-10 and cut to fit your hand in overall shape with finger cuts in the g-10 to index the tool in you hand when clearing it from the pocket.

Thats what i have so far, except I still haven't cut myself with it [ yet ] but I know it's coming. I need more work on the aluminum trainer I got from Steve as well before going all out with this just yet.

I like it, it's nasty at what it can do if you know some techniques, easily adapted to what I know for the most part.

It is limited in it's abilities somewhat and I remain confident at this time the tool can be made to sing one day.

Brownie

 

[brownie0486]

Update on the Blade-tech Karambit.

Having spent several hours becoming one with the tool by depolying from the pocket using the thumb hole in sabre grip, I can now have it opened and defending in one second. When I started it was more like 2 seconds or close to it.

I'm accustomed to retrieval of the EDC's from the pocket in sub 1 second times with the "Brownie Pop" developed years ago for defensive purposes.

In that vain, it is still much slower for me to have deployed and defending in "startle mode". I'm comfortable with it's retrieval time for now but have gone back and forth the last few days with my regular carry EDC [ military the last few days, elishewitz custom, sypder large wegner, MT LCC, Socom ]as it bothers me with the Karambits slower times [ If I touch these others on the pocket they are opened and moving to target in thousands of a second with my technique ].

The knifes pivot screw loosened after 500 or so opening. I noticed lateral play when opened [ not a lot but I check them when new and until I loctite them afterwards ]. I blue loctited the pivot screw back down just enough to keep the blade from lateral movement when opened. Let it sit overnight and "said hello" the next morning.

To my surprise the blade was actually easier to open than when I set it down for some reason still unexplained. No knife has done this when loctited so it became very evident immediately.

Another 200+ opening and I'm still at a second to ready from the pocket but it has really smoothed out nicely and remains tight in the pivot area. The clip screws had been loctited the day I got it because I changed the clip to reverse right side carry [ which didn't work out ] and then put it back to sabre right side as it was shipped.

The knife is solid as a rock closed and opened. I have practiced some closed retrievals and with the pinky finger in the ring [ thats how I retrieve the tool ], knife grasped in fist with thumb on the top of the knife, and hitting objects with the ring. Gently pressing the ring in this fashion on hard targets and using the thumb to keep the Karambit from moving when pressure is applied I find that I could realistically use this technique to inflict much damage to soft body targets as well while closed. I don't believe I can damage the knife with my own strength in this fashion.

The Blade-tech Karambit's lock is incredibly strong as well. They advertise that the knife lock was designed to not allow the blade to close until you have depressed the lock completely with the thumb. THEY ARE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!! Thats just how mine works and I'm happy that they did this as I am very confident that I will not unlock the blade under heavy/hard use with my hand in either sabre or reverse grip. They did this right. It is easy to use the thumb to purposely depress the lock and release the blade.

I was real careful initially, closing the knife with two hands, as I have never carried a blade of this shape before. Now, I retrieve, open, use, unlock and close the knife with either hand without assistance from the other hand as I am accustomed to on my former EDC's.

Yep, this is my EDC primary defensive tool now, sitting clipped on the RFP. Other than the speed of deployment issues I have [ which are not solveable for my tastes ] I can't find anything I don't like about it and a lot I do like that a normal defensive folder can't do. It's about parameters and their differences which are enormous between this and ANY other tactical folder unless some variant on this theme.

Another plus to many will be the under 2 1/2" blade length which should meet every states, cities ordinances if you can carry in the area at all to begin with. I don't travel often out of my area in the last couple of years but it's nice to know I can be in any state and be legal. One worry no longer about what the laws are relative blade length when moving about.

In the hand in sabre grip with the pinky in the ring and the thumb on the serrations at the top of the spine, the tool becomes a serious lever capable of putting a lot of pressure onto the shapened edge in downward/outward and pulling movements. I believe this tool could easily take a wrist off pretty clean with enough force applied through an arcing hard defensive slash. If it didn't remove it completely I have a feeling the receiving individual would have a useless hand and need immediate medical attention or lose the use of it anyway. Catch a defensive cut to a finger or two and I don't even want to think about what they'd look like from then on.

Do I like it? I'd say so. It fits my needs as well as the states statutes needs anywhere in the US as far as I know at this time. The most restrictive I have seen for laws anywhere was 2 1/2" blade lengths in places which includes Boston after 9-11.
It's well under that so there shouldn't be any problems there.

As an aside, the folder does not have a sharpend outside edge as in the straight Karambits. The design does not allow it to be and it would be dangerous as the edge would be exposed when closed. In reverse grip the knife could be used to pound a defensive block with the outside of the blade onto an offending limb hard enough to cause great pain and in the right places, nerve damage.

I have asked for and been granted, by Mick Strider who makes Tarani's straight bladed double edge Krambits, a special order Karambit from the run being made now that has the outer blade edge softened slightly so it will not be considered a "sharpened edge", which would make it illegal in my state and most others.

It's due date is in about 60 days when the present run of these goes out to customers. Ordered the video from Sandy at Karambit.com and will take possesion of the Strider Tarani Karambit and video at the same time.

I want to play with it on my own with no outside instruction for awhile. I have found my own way of reversing the grip and back to sabre, first using the Tarani aluminum trainer for a few days to save the figers.

I'll be interested in the video content and how they perform the reverse grip to sabre and back to reverse. I'm doing it this way as I want to see how my mind figures it out for me and how the tool has been designed to be used by those more knowledgable than I on this format.

One more thing, Sandy at Karambit.com is extremely easy to speak with and very accomodating. If you are interested in a street legal Strider Tarani Karmabit as I have ordered I'm sure the Mick and her can get you up to speed as well. Great service and Sandy makes sure you are kept up to speed on deliveries and questions about their products. Sandy made the connection with Mick Strider to get me what I wanted. Can't say enough about both companies at his point.

Brownie

 

[Soap]

I never even thought of the short blade advantage in certain locales. The knife itself sounds like a nice piece of equipment. Let us know what you think of the karambit as a defensive blade. Thanks for posting the updates!

 

[brownie0486]

Hi Dan
I'm a proponent for defensive cuts/slashes to the offending limbs as they reach into my "inner circle", as you know.

This blade works very well in sabre grip at the specific techniques I show others and it is in a purely defensive stance if you have warning.

The techiniques are with your arms in tight and work good at reactive "startle" attacks where you don't have a lot of time. If you can get the blade deployed even as it starts you have a defense.

You could stab someone with it in modified techniques which are easily adapted though keep in mind it has a short blade up front. Once you sink the point into a target the act of pulling it out would slice through anything in its way making for a nastier wound all around.

In lieu of pulling it out you could give him a serious zipper from the entry point to exit, all dependant on how far you want to create the zipper I suppose. I don't profess this as a valid defense of course, but these are things the blades design parameters allow it if one so chose.

It has no real reaching abilities while grasped in the hand and the tip extends and gives one a further reach by about 3 inches though the cutting surface as previously stated is only 2 1/8 or thereabouts. A short blade indeed.

It's no Bowie or large tactical folder. It's a tool that can exhibit great leverage at the cutting edge and will make deep nasty cuts easily.

Brownie

 

[Bonker]

There's some cool Karambit videos here:

http://www.emersonknives.com/karambitvideodemos.htm

The one hand drill is pretty cool to watch


I was never a Karambit fan because, as a fencing instructor, I feel better with a thrusting point in my hand, but maybe they deserve a second look