Tiny Fixed Blade Knives

[That Guy]

CRKT SPEW

I've been curious about that knife. How well does the handle work in different grips? It looks designed to work just with the standard blade forward, edge down grip. What is the sheath like?

[CSW]

I've got 4;

The LA Griffe.
TDI K-BAR.
CRKT Minimalist Bowie.
An this tiny magnum by Boker.


I've only used/carried the LaGriffe a few times.
The cheap minimalist Bowie is a favorite.

[TOTS]

I've been curious about that knife. How well does the handle work in different grips? It looks designed to work just with the standard blade forward, edge down grip. What is the sheath like?

Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and the CP is definitely a more oriented design, but I’m comfortable with its limitations as a last ditch effort knife for $30. It works in an ice pick grip as well, is great with an index finger hiding it as a slasher - really the only downside would be as a reverse hammer puller. Definitely no protection for the web of your hand where the thumb is. I don’t have meaty ham hands and accept that due to the pulling motion keeping the blade away. I’m definitely concerned but the handle is substantial enough to prevent the blade from being rotated deeply which would cause more substantial injury. Especially with the built in lanyard. Those more experienced than I with this may disagree with my mitigation mindset, and I would intently listen to their advice.

The sheath is adequate. Nothing else to say about it. The clip is pretty much as good as factory Glock sights; actually maybe a shade more useless. A clip upgrade or loop definitely takes the setup from toy to tool.

I’m being pretty critical here and don’t want to give the wrong impression. The blade shape is amazing and the steel, while not some super steel that will hold a razor edge after cutting through car doors, takes an edge better than all my other knives. I literally do not cut anything else with this blade- it’s a get off me item. This wharncliffe design is a razor blade and would glide through an arm.

[RevolverRob]

Small vs. Tiny for me is arbitrarily cut off at 4" overall length. As a result, the Clinch Pick, which is 4.5" overall length is so nigh perfect that all other small "neck knives" are largely irrelevant.



I had a HAK for a long time and gave it to a friend. I'm not a big fan of finger holes overall, the HAK was quite sharp around the edges of the capsule hole. I also wouldn't buy a HAK given all the issues they have had over the years in terms of delivery and consistency.

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[Ndbbm]

Imma take a pass on anything you put your fingers through ever since @Cecil Burch told me to Google "deglove".

I’m familiar with the concept, but honestly failing to see how this would be relevant unless I have a gross misunderstanding of the amount of force need. I would think the risk would be a broken finger and that you’d have about the same risk of getting a trigger finger broke on a gun grab.

Jason

[RevolverRob]

I’m familiar with the concept, but honestly failing to see how this would be relevant unless I have a gross misunderstanding of the amount of force need. I would think the risk would be a broken finger and that you’d have about the same risk of getting a trigger finger broke on a gun grab.

Jason

The amount of force needed to deglove fingers is actually not as high as you might think. For well rounded, moderately tight fitting ringers, Class I avulsion injuries (broken, but not 'degloved') it is about 80 N for Degloving it is 154 N, or about 112 lbs of force.

The tighter the fit of a ring over a finger, the sharper the edges of the ring, the tighter the grip, the higher the force transferred to the flesh is. It takes about 500N to destroy a soft gold ring, it takes well over that amount of force to destroy a hardened steel ring. I.e., your fingers are going first in a struggle between you and the steel.

The HAK is designed to fit tightly over the fingers. Sufficiently tight, that I always had to insert it into the sheath and pull it off my fingers with my other hand. The LaGriffe is more generous in its finger hole sizing. But compared to no ring, your risk of degloving is always higher when a finger ring is present and used.

[Ndbbm]

I think I understand what you’re saying, thanks for the extra information. I didn’t realize the HAK fit that tight. My limited experience with finger holes on knives are an Emerson made La Griffe and a Benchmadr sofic dagger.

Jason

[Clusterfrack]

Great post @RevolverRob. I'll add that while finger rings help with retention, they can make grabs to the knife hand more difficult to deal with.

[RevolverRob]

Great post @RevolverRob. I'll add that while finger rings help with retention, they can make grabs to the knife hand more difficult to deal with.

Grabs and frankly there are times where I do not want to retain the tool in my hand. Hand switching, while not my first choice for a knife, is something I have done in training and from watching videos, is something stabbers do quite often. Losing the ability to rapidly changes grips, shift hands, or simply drop the knife, along with degloving, all go to make me not be on team Finger Ring.

I'll note that retention is useful in some context, skinning/processing game, kayaking/canoeing, possibly diving (I don't dive, so someone will have to let me know). But notice you won't find finger ring knives on commercial fishing boats. The combination of ropes, nets, traps, and everything else pretty much guarantees a you'll get tangled in something and those guys like to be able to let go of anything at a moment's notice.

Defensive knife use is an entangled sport and I'm not a big fan of being entangled with both my tools and the person I am fighting.

[Clusterfrack]

Grabs and frankly there are times where I do not want to retain the tool in my hand. Hand switching, while not my first choice for a knife, is something I have done in training and from watching videos, is something stabbers do quite often. Losing the ability to rapidly changes grips, shift hands, or simply drop the knife, along with degloving, all go to make me not be on team Finger Ring.

I'll note that retention is useful in some context, skinning/processing game, kayaking/canoeing, possibly diving (I don't dive, so someone will have to let me know). But notice you won't find finger ring knives on commercial fishing boats. The combination of ropes, nets, traps, and everything else pretty much guarantees a you'll get tangled in something and those guys like to be able to let go of anything at a moment's notice.

Defensive knife use is an entangled sport and I'm not a big fan of being entangled with both my tools and the person I am fighting.

I have one finger ring knife, and it's a CRKT Bear Claw on my kayak PFD.