What do you think of these "Karambits"?

[TimWieneke]

So I'm reading one of the blade magazines (probably Blade) and I start reading up on this article about these new fighter knives called "Karambits" - I guess based off a phillipino or malasian knife (looks like it's based of a sickle or carpet knife to me, but anyway).  I go on to read how the author is stating how this is the next wave in knife-based self defense basically because of the nasty cuts one can make with it and the different moves you can do with them.

I had to wonder, looking at the design of this blade - it looks like a great utilitarian knife for cutting rope, opening boxes, etc.... but I have to wonder about it's "self defense" merit.  

First of all, I have to defer this to the military guys - for a knife this size, in a defensive situation, would you want to rely on having to slash someone until they stop or would you rather opt for a well-place thrust?  Remember, I say knife this size - kukris don't count...lol  Every historical record I've read on edged combat seems to have the line of thinknig that slashes are for wounding (on a battlefield, this can be an advantage) and thrusts are for "ending" you enemy.  In a defensive situation, do you want to wound someone and potentially anger them or "end" the threat?  The karambit just doesn't look to me like it's built for thrusting, maybe I'm wrong but I have to ask.

The second thing I have to ask is how many  "slashing" targets does the human body present as opposed to "thrusting" targets?  It would seem to me (and again, I am asking this because I do not know and I fully defer to the military guys who have the training) that every slashing target would need to be a "soft" target (i.e. neck).  Doesn't this pretty much rule out the entire rib cage and sternum area?  Can't every "soft" target also be hit with a regular straight blade?  Can you not also hit the "harder" targets such as organs behind the rib cage and such?

As you can see, I approach the topic of the "karambit" with a certain amount of skepticism.  I would have to wonder why this is a "better" self defense blade design than the straight blade or slightly curved forward blade (my personal favorite), especially considering that the sickle has been known to virtually ever race for centuries - and just about all have opted for a more "straight" bladed knife design for "self defense" knives.  Nevertheless, I am always on the lookout for better defensive tools than I have.  If someone has an argument for the karambit, I'd love to hear the points in favor of it.

Tim

[JeffG]

Just caught your post.  I have one of Szavo's kerambits.  Because of it being so specialized, it wound up in a dresser drawer as a "collector".  It is very effective when coupled with open hand and fist defense in close.  A stout folder or fixed blade turned out to better for me.

[JeffG]

Tim,
I am going to assume nobody is going to address your "target " questions.  I will try to take them one by one, if I miss something let me know.  
     The size and blade geometry in a defense knife is very important.  I regularly wear a 14"oal Ishtar made by Dervish Knives.  It is all slash, it would take out an arm, or cut through a rib cage, or reach a carotid on the first pass, because of is size and blade design, with some of the fighting style I use, a knife becomes an arm velocity accelerator, like a flyswatter.  With one of the knives I wear, an RJ Martin 5" Kwaiken, The fulcrum of the tip will part flesh, etc very quickly, and is very capable of piercing the skull, or body armour.
     When a body is under stress of extreme survival, several uncontrollable biological things happen, small motor sklls and untrained "moves" can't be found...a conventional blade with good to excellent blade geometry will be delivered in a natural, or hammer grip, and weilded by your ancestral instincts...translation...make sure it it sharp, big enough to deliver lethal strikes, and keep the design simple, no moving parts.  

     Slashing targets are used in combination with finishing thrusts.  one "complete " slashing target involves a technique that diarticulates the liver, another "defangs the snake" in the event of a grasping or choking attack, by cutting all of the tendons and connective tissues in the hand or forearm; slashing the femoral artery will cause unconciousness quicker that some handgun wounds would.
 
     Whatever style you decide on remember this: knife cuts are immediately and acutely painful, often causing an attacker to rethink his bright idea to attack you, but you have to remember simplicity is the key, the very definition of self defense means that you are already under attack, and behind the 8-ball.  Get some good tapes ofdifferent styles, Kelly Worden, and James Keating being the most comprehensive.  Keating offers camps for trainng if you are up to it, but you have to practice your style to keep your fighting brain trained.

I am being factual, if not somewhat technical here, I hope I have not offended any one. Tim, if this turns out not to bewhat you want, that's ok, it's not for everyone.
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