Anyone else into knives?

[sobriquet]

Just wondering if there are any other knife nuts out there?

Most of my knives are collector pieces and I try to get hard to find and rare discontinued items. Often these are the knives that no one really considers all that special when they are available but they suddenly take on a value beyond what they were worth when they are no longer made.

One such knife that's on the way out currently is the Spyderco Karambit. The karambit design is one that originates from the Indonesian archipelago. Its two constant distinguishing features are the ring it has at the end of its handle and the sharply recurved blade which leads to a special cutting profile.

They can be held in a variety of grips but the most devastating is the reverse grip where the forefinger goes through the ring and the curved blade faces forwards with the fist closed. In that position its blade is so bitingly sharp that it simply has to be laid upon an attacker's flesh to cut as they work to get away from it.

It's been adopted into many 'silat" Indonesian martial arts and I recall seeing a devastating defensive maneuver where the attacker is left with a cut from their anus through to their scrotum as they are flipped over.

The thing that makes it even more awesome is that it is next to impossible to disarm a person with one of these since the finger is through the ring; whereas other knives are much easier to lose in a struggle or be disarmed of.

This is a drawer queen for me. It's so scarily sharp it goes through a polyethylene bottle and slices it with little friction. I've got many larger knives and many won't even raise a blink from most people, but this one uniformly gets a WTF when drawn out in more public situations.

Interestingly though this knife was not originally a defensive weapon at all. Rather it was designed as an agricultural knife that farmers and men of the field would use!

You can see how it might be useful to score seeds or pods; and cut plant tissue.

Cheers and post up pics or your own knife stories.

[incognito]

cut from anus to scrotum!!

ouch!!!

mental note to self- dont piss off sobriquet!!

p.s whats a drawer queen???

is that a name for a special knife to u that u keep in ur drawer???

Edited September 18, 2006 by jono

[DavedandConfused]

* ABC news intro music*

- Tonight on ABC news;

- Howard decides to sell his soul in an attempt to impress Bush, a storm rages.

- Drug use once again brought into the limelight in front of parliament today as the story of a young man, cultivating knives and psychedelic plants is found with the dismembered bodies of 17 internet forum counterparts.

- Here's Tom with the weather.

[sobriquet]

cut from anus to scrotum!!

ouch!!!

mental note to self- dont piss off sobriquet!!

p.s whats a drawer queen???

is that a name for a special knife to u that u keep in ur drawer???

Yep. Spot on.

I mean I'm comfortable with knives but this baby even has me scared. It has a liner lock that can be quite hard to disengage for a good reason - you don't want this closing on you during gripped use.

But you can imagine that blade slicing a part of a finger closing. It has one design flaw in my opinion and that is that its closing detente isn't as firm as what you would want in such a ferocious knife as this is. If it opened in your pockets, it could easily cut into your femoral artery or get the family jewels.

And believe me when a knife this sharp cuts you, you can't tell how bad the cut is until you actually look!

So yeah, for my own safety it's a drawer queen that I got only for its relative rarity especially in Australia. There are many wowsers who would see an interest like this ie. knife collecting and try to get things prohibited but I can tell you that a sharpened screwdriver is something I wouldn't want to face even with a karambit.

[Moses]

Just wondering if there are any other knife nuts out there?

count me in :drool:

very nice, did you get it local?

most of mine got knicked over the years and I've put away whats left(not much) cos the new laws are a little one sided.

But here's a pic a of my baby,

handmade from the phillipines

do you study silat sobriquet ?

here are some quicktime movies of the karambits use

http://sayoc.com/vidclips/karambit_web_01_160.mov

http://sayoc.com/vidclips/karambit_web_02_160.mov

Edited September 18, 2006 by MOSES

[-bijanto-]

Nice collection, sobriquet. I live in Java, and I also collect some traditional indonesian knives, machetes etc. Here are some references I use:

Teddy Kardin Handmade Knives - Bandung

Paul's Keris Page

Besides kerambit there are several other blade weapons respected here, such as keris, clurit, kujang, rencong, klewang, mandau, badik etc. They come from various ethnics, and more than frequently these weapons are considered by the owners as having certain level of magical things.

[sobriquet]

count me in :drool:

very nice, did you get it local?

most of mine got knicked over the years and I've put away whats left(not much) cos the new laws are a little one sided.

But here's a pic a of my baby,

handmade from the phillipines

do you study silat sobriquet ?

here are some quicktime movies of the karambits use

http://sayoc.com/vidclips/karambit_web_01_160.mov

http://sayoc.com/vidclips/karambit_web_02_160.mov

I haven't studied silat formally MOSES; but I love the fighting techniques of the Phillipines and Indonesian archipelago.

Nice balisong you have there

Not legal where I live but I'd love to own one if I could. The law is an ass.

Almost every knife of note comes from Asia. The karambit and parang/bolo from Indonesia, the balisong and moro barong from the Phillipines, the Katana and other tanto style knives from Japan, the Kukri from Nepal. Just amazingly deadly weapons and masterpieces in terms of the raw engineering behind each of them.

I suppose the West had moved beyond blades and were well into more destructive weapons of warfare, so blade arts were lost there.

My favorite that goes with me every bush or camping trip is my Cold Steel mid size Kukri (no longer made). The sigmoid blade increases the cutting blade length and eficiency for a given length of blade and can evidently decapitate a person in a single stroke according to testimony from the Gurkhas who served on the side of the British in the World Wars.

[sobriquet]

Nice collection, sobriquet. I live in Java, and I also collect some traditional indonesian knives, machetes etc. Here are some references I use:

Teddy Kardin Handmade Knives - Bandung

Paul's Keris Page

Besides kerambit there are several other blade weapons respected here, such as keris, clurit, kujang, rencong, klewang, mandau, badik etc. They come from various ethnics, and more than frequently these weapons are considered by the owners as having certain level of magical things.

Hi -bijanto-. Thank you for the links!

My next purchase will be another Indonesian blade. A 'golok' machete for clearing bushland. I have found a source for original Indonesian bladed tools and am looking forward to getting this soon.

I wasn't aware of the so many varied knives of the Indonesian archipelago but it is understandable given the sheer number of islands and different cultures who have developed tools according to their own special environment.

Peace.

[naja naja]

Isn't it funny how they banned they fancy looking knivces, but u can walk down the street with a knife wrap full of these.

As if ya can't tell, but I'm really into my cooking. :drool:

[Moses]

Nice balisong you have there

Not legal where I live but I'd love to own one if I could. The law is an ass.

who said anything about legal

i attended all the consultations with the police and goverment on the new laws in S.A. and half my stuff is still illegal for me, but not if i was somebody.

the law is not an ass it's corrupt.

tried to attend a knife defence seminar last year(the school in the quicktime links in my previous post) but was told it was only for security /gov because they(the gov) dont want the wrong people learning this.

it was ' knife defence' so what they are saying is that they dont want the public to learn how to save themselves from a knife attack.

the instructor had no problems but his hands were tied.

is this who you are getting the golok from?

http://www.knivesaustralia.com.au/knives.html

[Andrew]

If you want learn knife defense in Australia,look for

a filipino martial arts(arnis,eskrima,kali) school and

you wont be disapointed.I trained in arnis for about

4.5 years,plenty of knife defense and attack as well

as stick and knife,stick,pole,unarmed and filipino

boxing.Its fun and you learn some self defense but a

knife fight is something I would,nt want to be in as

there is not much chance of escaping injury no matter

how good you are.Here is a pointer,if you have to fend

off a knife strike with you hand/arm use the outside,all

the tendons that allow you to close your fingers are on the

inside.

[Moses]

If you want learn knife defense in Australia,look for

a filipino martial arts(arnis,eskrima,kali) school

done that,started training in pekiti tersia kali silat 12 months ago,and i've been studying other arts for most of my life.

Its fun and you learn some self defense but a

knife fight is something I would,nt want to be in as

there is not much chance of escaping injury no matter

how good you are.

exactly how the seminar was approached (the seminar was by Tom Sotis)

there is no winner in a knife fight but you will survive if you keep it simple and understand the body mechanics of what your assailant can and cant do.

Here is a pointer,if you have to fend

off a knife strike with you hand/arm use the outside,all

the tendons that allow you to close your fingers are on the

inside.

ha I love the face on someone when you suggest taking the cut to save the limb

[sobriquet]

In a knife fight where my life was at stake what I'd ideally want is a handgun.

There is a well known saying that 'an armed society is a polite society'. One of the reason why violent crimes proliferate is that there is no resistance to it. People are forced to be cowards and victims against criminals who are armed better than they.

But yes in a self defence situation which I believe people have the right to (incredibly there are some who believe that self defence is NOT a basic human right); then unless you have the right mindset you are a deadman.

You have to know that you will be cut; and that the important thing is to focus on how to get the other person out of action as soon as possible. The karambit is a utility knife but it can be put to good use quickly. The keys are:

1. Don't reveal your hand too soon. If you have a knife keep the surprise factor.

2. Know how to mobilise the weapon quickly and use it without delay. There's no point in showing the other guy. If it has had to come out it should only be when you are 100% certain you need to use it. And if that's the case its best to get to work right away.

3. Go for major tendons. Hamstrings, pectorals and groins. If you can incapacate a few major tendons you could exercise the option to run. But make no mistake, if you have started with knife then its because your life is in danger. Kill or be killed.

Yes it sounds frightening and it is and no one would ever wish to be in that situation but in the situation where its your life or theirs you know what counts.

[Dirty Old Man]

I'm into knives but the cooking kind.

Just recently scored a set of these:

http://www.homecouture.com.au/index.cfm?ev...&idBrand=76

[occidentalis]

Just recently scored a set of these:

http://www.homecouture.com.au/index.cfm?ev...&idBrand=76

Sweet

That's a very good price. I have one of those (the 13cm cooks knife) and it's almost the only knife that gets used in my kitchen. It can do pretty much anything.

[naja naja]

Globals cheap Go the Wusthof trident culinar :drool: Thats what my good cooks and bread knives are.

[sobriquet]

Sweet

That's a very good price. I have one of those (the 13cm cooks knife) and it's almost the only knife that gets used in my kitchen. It can do pretty much anything.

I got sucked into the more expensive Wusthof line when they were on special at DJs (I think 40% off) and they still cost about $250 for a six piece set. The steel is rubbish and doesn't keep an edge for long. More disturbingly I noticed some flaking of the edge like you get on cheaper knives.

Wouldn't touch them again, and the idea of 6 knives is silly as you only need at most two that you maintain well. A plain and a (broadly)-serrated edge knife both about 11-15 cm.

The Global brand is definitely a winner in this respect. Reasonably priced, great manufacturing and materials and they are commonly seen on Iron Chef on SBS in the knife cases of international 'superstar' chefs.

It's what I'd buy next time to replace this set.

[naja naja]

Dude, I own both global and Wusthof and can only come to the opinion that u have a fake wusthof knife. My wusthofs hold their edge 10 times longer than the global and not only that, but I can get them way sharper than the globals because of their superior quality metal.

I have many friends who are chefs and they all love wusthof, but don't use them at work, victorinox are alot cheaper for work knives. Their personal, special knives are however wusthof. If anything is wrong with ur wusthof, send them back for their LIFETIME warranty!!!

I also have a friend who owns a 20+ year old wusthof and it's still as good as the ones they sell today. Only difference is a wooden handle.

I have the culinar range, but thats only a diff handle, the blades are the same, So yeah, I rekon u got ripped!

[botanika]

 

I've never been into knives really but I bought this falcon knife in brisbane a few years ago. I have to admit it felt really powerful and heavy in the hand and looks pretty wicked too!

[sobriquet]

Dude, I own both global and Wusthof and can only come to the opinion that u have a fake wusthof knife.

Being bought from DJ - David Jones I would think it's unlikely. The only way I can see how that could have happened though is that someone buys a genuine set for $500 say, and takes them back substituting a fake or rubbish set in its place and getting their money back in effect stealing the knives.

The set I have is genuine though. It is too perfectly manufactured in fit and finish as well as having proper fonts on the laser etched markings etc.

I've only had them 3 months or so (bought at half year sale) and sharpened them a month ago for the first time with my Spyderco triangle sharpmaker. The edges show small defects of flaky steel when examined with a 10x loupe after only a month of modest use. I like my blades razor sharp and after a sharpening even the plain edge knife easily cuts through a thick tomato skin. After a month with proper maintenance (weekly steel treatment) they are back to crappy again.

I'm going to give them at least a year. My thoughts are that the Spyderco sharpmaker has put a different angled edge on the blade and this is what has made the edge a bit fragile. With time I'm expecting the new profile to 'take' on the newer steel emerging as I keep on sharpening it.

Doesn't take away from the disappointment of constantly blunt knives in the short term though.

[devance]

There is the aluminum [handles] vers. total stainless steel.

I like the total stainless folder.

Also a couple of hex screws that not even machined but using metal/powder impact tech.

[naja naja]

Yes, wusthof DO have a diff angle to all other knife brands. Only use a ceramic stone and ceramic steel on this fine of a metal. It is brittle, as it says in the instructions, but it has to be that brittle to get that sharp of an edge. Also, wat do u have for a cutting board?

For tomatoes and all fruit, I find it much nicer to use a scalloped edge knife.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that global do have a better range made to a much higher standard. Their lower grade range is wat I have and they are good, but nothing fantastic. They should be better for the price. On special thoughj, like they are regularly, they are a good buy IMO.

But hey, it all comes down to personal preference and wat u do most. I find the top edge of global knives are too sharp and when using them for a few hours at a time, really abrasive to my index finger. They are much lighter, which is good most of the time, but the weight of a Wusthof blade really helps get through a big pumpkin.

Globals, ceramic steel is the bomb though!

[coin]

the thing i like about Global's is the very thin blade...makes fine dice much easier and essential for chiffonade

how are the Wusthof's in that regard?

i know a few people that don't like the grip on globals..some people find them too slippery when hands are slightly wet or oily...and chunky-handed people get crampy hands...but otherwise have no complaints

shamefully, i've never learned to use a steel...i use the Global Shonen ceramic sharpener...too scared I might get the angle wrong and destroy them...i almost made a mess of my globals once using a whetstone..

Edited September 19, 2006 by coin

[Fenris]

I think my tastes are a little more...agricultural It lives under the bed, not really a knife but scary as hell.

Did I mention there is a dragon right on the blade. (sorry couldn't help myself)

Edited September 19, 2006 by Fenris

[Prophet]

Say hello to "Buckey"

he to lives under my bed ;)