Folding Karambit

TallAdam85

3rd Black Belt
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I have recently been starting to get in to karambit and now I plan on buying a nice karambit I order a Spyderco Karambit and it was junk I was wondering what one is the best for the money I was thinking of getting karambit.com journeyman but is there any other good deals?
 
From what I have seen the Tarani Kerambit is pretty cool.

I carry the Cutters Knife and Tool Bengal kerambit myself. Look at the references in the previous thread and the article that Stick Dummy referenced as well in the MartialTalk magazine.
 
I highly recommend the Journeyman. It is smooth, fast and quite durable. It is easy to deploy and has a nice blade/handle balance. I carry everywhereI go!
 
I will be publishing reviews in The Martialist of both the Spyderco and Emerson kerambits. Both are nice. I am not sure why anyone would think the Spyderco is "junk." It is sharp, locks securely, and has good fit and finish. It is a very broad knife in that the handle is wide laterally, but I did not find that a problem.
 
I would still go with Tarani's stuff. He's been tweaking and studying the weapon since the first days that Pak Herman pretty much introduced it to the US. Some of his stuff is made by Strider, a great knife making company. The cost of his karambits can be a little prohibative. He also sells great trainers. I still don't like the Spyderco one. It's not really junk, I just don't like the feel. I tend to like the more traditional designs. I personally would like a Spyderco Civilian or Merlin with a ring added to it.
 
TallAdam85 said:
I have recently been starting to get in to karambit and now I plan on buying a nice karambit I order a Spyderco Karambit and it was junk I was wondering what one is the best for the money I was thinking of getting karambit.com journeyman but is there any other good deals?

The best folding karambit that I've seen so far is one made by Ray Dionaldo. It's pricy as heck - but incredibly well designed. Particularly it's sheath/deployment. It has a kydex sheath that clips on belt or pants and the blade is pinched in the kydex. Hook your ring in the sheath and pull, the blade comes out quick and is ready to go.

Mike
 
pesilat said:
The best folding karambit that I've seen so far is one made by Ray Dionaldo.
Mike

I was not aware that Ray was making folding kerambits. Do you mean the Cutter's Knife & Tool Bengal Kerambit like Palisut mentioned? Tohon Ray endorses that knife and may have helped with the design, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't MAKE them. There is also a fixed blade kerambit that Ray designed and was going to get Hossem (sp?) to make it for him, but I don't think it ever went into production.

I have an Emerson Kerambit. Very nice, but I wish the blade were a little longer and more curved.
 
arnisandyz said:
I was not aware that Ray was making folding kerambits. Do you mean the Cutter's Knife & Tool Bengal Kerambit like Palisut mentioned? Tohon Ray endorses that knife and may have helped with the design, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't MAKE them. There is also a fixed blade kerambit that Ray designed and was going to get Hossem (sp?) to make it for him, but I don't think it ever went into production.

I have an Emerson Kerambit. Very nice, but I wish the blade were a little longer and more curved.

Oops. I made an assumption - and, of course, you know what that means. I know Tuhon Ray makes blades and I know he was selling them - I added 1 + 1 and came up with 3. Yeah, I think that is the blade. But I don't see the sheath there that Tuhon Ray had. Maybe Tuhon Ray made the sheath? For me, the sheath was what made the blade so awesome.

Mike
 
pesilat said:
Maybe Tuhon Ray made the sheath? For me, the sheath was what made the blade so awesome.

Mike

Ray probably did make the sheath, last time I saw him he was playing around with different kydex configurations for his trainers...was it made out of kydex?
 
arnisandyz said:
Ray probably did make the sheath, last time I saw him he was playing around with different kydex configurations for his trainers...was it made out of kydex?

Hi Andy, Mike:

The kydex sheath is made by CKT as well as the Bengal. Tuhon Ray endorses the the CKT Bengal.

Tuhon Ray and Jerry Hossom have an agreement with CKT for the Hossom/Dionaldo production edition "Kerambitch" Kerambit.


Mike: Awesome whip work on your website!!! :)

Palusut
 
Palusut said:
Hi Andy, Mike:

The kydex sheath is made by CKT as well as the Bengal. Tuhon Ray endorses the the CKT Bengal.

Tuhon Ray and Jerry Hossom have an agreement with CKT for the Hossom/Dionaldo production edition "Kerambitch" Kerambit.


Mike: Awesome whip work on your website!!! :)

Palusut

Cool. Apparently, I should pay more attention when I'm looking at/hearing about blades I see at events ;)

Thanks, I enjoy playing with the whip. I'm far from being as good as I'd like to be - my left hand, for instance, is completely retarded with the whip. But I do appreciate your comment :)

Ironically, that vid clip was actually part of a sound check we were doing to see how bad the acoustics were in the place. We were actually pleasantly surprised that they were as good as they were - not great but not horrible either. The guy with the camera said, "Talk or something." That's a horrible thing to hear when a camera is pointed at you - your mind (or at least, my mind) just goes blank and I've got nothing. After I explained this to him - in sign language, of course, because my mouth had quit working - he said, "Well, do something that makes noise." So I grabbed my whip and started playing. When we reviewed it to check the audio, I thought, "Hey, that doesn't look half bad." So I slapped it on the website :)

Mike
 
I have a cheap knockoff of the Emerson trainer that I really like, and carry every day unless I'm traveling. The cool part is that the site I bought it from will sell you a trainer version of the same blade...all they do is grind down one of their live blades and charge you $2 more. Inelegant solution, but at a fraction of the Emerson, I'm not complaining.

Ideally, I'd buy an Emerson, but I don't think my wife would understand my desire to spend that much on a blade. My knockoff has a "Wave"-designed blade that, as near as I can tell, works just as well as the Emerson. The only real downside is that I'm right-handed and the folder has a clip for a left-hand draw. I'll get that fixed eventually.

Cthulhu
 
I've been using the Spyderco Karambit for a couple months now. It's a very fine piece.
 
I don't like the fit of the Spyderco for the money. I picked up an S & W at a gun show for $20 and beat the crap out of it for a few monthes. It still holds up well and fits my hand perfect. I think for a disposable "beat up" blade, it's pretty good.
 
Picked up a Vtech folding kerambit this weekend. Haven't had much chance to play with it yet though.
 
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