Tiger, Tiger... Karambit's here.

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

- Wiliam Blake

Fearful is right, the Emerson Combat Karambit I ordered from Blade HQ showed up this afternoon.

My regular EDC knives are a ZT0560 clipped to my right pants pocket for social purposes and a small custom Kiridashi carried in a Kydex sheath in the same pocket for common tasks like cutting tags, opening packages, etc in view of sheep's eyes that may be offended by fighting steel. One of the reasons for the Karambit is to be carried weak side as a "cut someone off my weapon knife".

I changed over to carrying my CCW AIWB almost exclusively and like the accessibility of carrying midline as well as it is easier to defend against a gun grab. The one piece of my gear I can't easily access ambidextrously is my defensive knife; carrying a folding blade midline just isn't comfortable. A fixed blade works well there, but a folder doesn't for me. The Emerson works well weak side and with the Wave feature comes out of my offside pocket already open. I've set the Combat Karambit up for a reverse grip with my index finger drawing the knife inserted in the Karambit ring.

Knife details: This is my first Emerson, I've owned Benchmade's, Spyderco's, ZT's and many others and have always been completely satisfied; I am happy with this knife as well. I did find the Emerson needed a little tuning from the box. The pivot screw was loose enough to turn with my fingers so I tightened it down a tad. I then found the blade was extremely difficult to open using the thumb hole and impossible to open with the Wave. Back and forth I went until I came to an acceptable medium. I then took the pivot screw back out, applied loctite and set it to the correct tension for no blade play and ease of opening.

I will add here that the knife may break in to perfection, but right now it is still too dificult to open the blade, but loosening the pivot screw anymore would cause the blade to wobble. I shot some powder blast into the mechinism and then re-lubed the knife to make sure debris wasn't causing the tightness. I will carry and work with the Emerson for a few days and see if the issue works itself out. This is a fine knife and I am sure it will work well for the task I intend it.

Have you trained in Pencak Silat or other Indonesian/Filipino Karambit martial arts? IHMO, they're among the most effective knife techniques in the world. Karambits & the methods to employ them are less about fatally wounding an opponent (which can take time) and more aligned with taking away your opponents ability to fight (or stand-up, or move their arm, or breathe, etc.) and generally eliminate the threat MUCH faster. I don't like folding karambits because I think a fixed blade gets in the fight MUCH faster, but I surely am a karambit fan. I also greatly respect how swiftly & deceptively an expert can USE one. Keep us caught-up on your progress.

I've studied silat and personaly found the karambit and p'kal to be limiting compared to a straight blade. My personal choice for a folder if using a se asian martial art would a benchmade 530 or sog pentagon. Just my opinion

+1 on Emerson. The Emerson doesn't break in, at least not much, so adjusting the pivot screw is necessary.

There is no argument that a fixed blade is superior to a folder. That said, if you live in a state that forbids the concealed carrying of a fixed blade, the folder is the next best choice.

For those who not familiar with the karambit, heres a quick vid.

Karambit Blade Work With Doug Marcaida - YouTube