I love karambits. Their extreme CQB capabilities are powerful when wielded with a knowing hand and mind. In a clench, karambits’ fight stopping potential is off the charts. I have a problem, though. Most karambits don’t fit my hand. I have small to medium mitts. I loved the Emerson Combat Karambit I carried for a while, but in the end it was too large in the handle for me.
I met the frenetic Lad Mandiola, Development Manager for TheUltimateKnife.com, hucking his wares at the Fox Knives booth Blade Show 2013 booth. He was on fire–snapping open his orange karambit trainer and talking at 1.6093 kilometers in a sixtieth of an hour. He said he was, “Billy Mays without the cocaine!” Wow.
Lad said he came up with the break-through idea of scaling down the Fox Knives 470/480 series of karambits into a smaller package that would still fit the hands of most users. Hmmmm. He demonstrated how the new FX-599 series karambit fit his rather large hand. Lemme see that. It fit my hand well, too. I think he’s on to something!
The FX-599 has a 2.55″ blade of N690Co steel that is finished in black Teflon®. It measures 6.88″ from tip to ring. Handle length is 4.75″. There are T6-6061 liners under G-10 scales. The right or left tip up pocket clip is 420J2B steel. Total weight is 3.52 ounces. I prefer the bare ring to one with a handle overlay.
I saw that the FX-599 uses Ernest Emerson’s patented Wave Shaped Opening Feature or remote pocket opening system (“the Wave” is patented by Leatherman Tools for one of their products). I find this pocket-hooking opener great for a small karambit. By inserting my index finger from the pocket side of the ring while withdrawing the knife, the karambit rotates in the pocket and instinctively catches the fabric. In this way, the karambit snaps open and is ready in the hand without the user thinking about his draw. I’m a fan.
The black knife at the top is the production FX-599, the orange is Lad’s well-used trainer, and the green/black 599 is a custom scaled version that is Lad’s personal knife. The black version is available at TheUltimateKnife.com for $129.00. Sets with either the knife and trainer, or the knife, trainer, and instructional DVD are also available. This is a terrific karambit for the price!
Randall
Great Karambit, superb scaled down compact ‘smaller’ design.
Faster than lightening deployment.
However, a heads up to prospective buyers not fortunate enough to be able purchase one on the spot at a knife show: you should be and need to be aware that due to the demand and obviously short production supply (similar to the availability or often un-availability of a Spyderco Para 2), the Fox Karambit FX-599 most likely will take several months for a buyer to receive once ordered and paid for, as did mine which took a little over two months.
(keep in mind they are imported in from Italy, customs in Italy plus customs in your particular country also contribute to the inevitable wait)
Other than the waiting period, well worth purchasing.