As has been announced here recently, EKI has decided to make the N-SAR available to the public. Previously, it was only available to Naby rescue personnel. Now, I hesitate to claim any credit for this, but the fact is that I was invited to contact a member of the Emerson family for some information on this knife, and in doing so, I pointed out how this knife could also be useful to civilian rescue personnel for the same reasons that it is to the Navy. The response I received to my email was that EKI would make this knife available to the public.
I ordered one, the shipping of which has been discussed in another thread, and it arrived today. I did speak with someone at EKI who confirmed that mine is indeed the first authorized sale of an N-SAR to someone outside the military. Of course, these knives have wound up in the hands of civilians in the past, by unauthorized (maybe technically unlawful) means, so I'm certainly not the first civilian to own one. But mine is apparently the first one authorized for civilian sale. (Although due to a shipping error, one with a lower serial number may eventually be sold to another civilian.)
Now, this is a specialized knife, one made for a specific purpose: rescue operations. This is not a knife that the average person looking for an EDC would be interested in. This knife is good for cutting through clothes to help get them off a victim's body, which is necessary in rescues to visualize and assess injuries. The tip is blunt, so as not to accidentally stick a victim. The cutting hook inset into the main blade is for cutting through straps to disentangle a victim, or webbing, such as seatbelts. This cutter can also be used to slice through clothing. When folded, the cutter is fully exposed, so it can be used without unfolding the blade.
Here are some photos...
What more suitable way to open a package from EKI than with another Emerson knife?
An unboxing photo...
Unfolded...
Blade closeup...
Next to a regular CQC-8, to give a size comparison. The N-SAR is my second Emerson knife, therefore this is my complete collection so far...
I ordered one, the shipping of which has been discussed in another thread, and it arrived today. I did speak with someone at EKI who confirmed that mine is indeed the first authorized sale of an N-SAR to someone outside the military. Of course, these knives have wound up in the hands of civilians in the past, by unauthorized (maybe technically unlawful) means, so I'm certainly not the first civilian to own one. But mine is apparently the first one authorized for civilian sale. (Although due to a shipping error, one with a lower serial number may eventually be sold to another civilian.)
Now, this is a specialized knife, one made for a specific purpose: rescue operations. This is not a knife that the average person looking for an EDC would be interested in. This knife is good for cutting through clothes to help get them off a victim's body, which is necessary in rescues to visualize and assess injuries. The tip is blunt, so as not to accidentally stick a victim. The cutting hook inset into the main blade is for cutting through straps to disentangle a victim, or webbing, such as seatbelts. This cutter can also be used to slice through clothing. When folded, the cutter is fully exposed, so it can be used without unfolding the blade.
Here are some photos...
What more suitable way to open a package from EKI than with another Emerson knife?
An unboxing photo...
Unfolded...
Blade closeup...
Next to a regular CQC-8, to give a size comparison. The N-SAR is my second Emerson knife, therefore this is my complete collection so far...
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