a great karambit under $100?

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Phyrexia

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Oct 14, 2015
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ive been poking around knife sites for quite a while now and happened upon mantis knives (ill get to that in a moment) and I saw the Vuja De, which ive been quite attracted to for the last few days and was extremely tempted to buy. LUCKILY enough I checked to see if their fabled M-VX steel was any good, which lead me here to all of you diehard mantis fans, and as much as it breaks my heart to know that a knife as pretty as that isnt all its cracked up to be leads me to asking you guys, what would be a great karambit that looks something like that, I generally prefer a fixed blade under 4 inches (law in CT and a few other places im sure) or a folder that doesnt go the extra mile to look "tacticool". any responses or good knife sites are much appreciated!
 
There really aren't many great karambits under $100. The Cold Steel Steel Tiger is under $100, but it's also a 5.5 inch blade, then there's the 5.11 C.U.B. Master folder which is right around $100, and...that's about it.
 
afraid he's right, I've been looking for the perfect Karambit for over a year now, and have yet to find it....they seem to fall into 2 groups.

Group 1 : Flea market and gas station 14.99 knives
Group 2: hand made customs made by retired tactical operators that run 250.00+ up to 500.00+

Because of the style of blade not being overly mainstream, challenging to produce with a quality grind, and thusly overly expensive to manufacture on large scale ....none of the mid range guys have really shown any interest in throwing their hat in the ring.....

But hey, there are always those hand made in Pakistan Mystery Damascus knives on FleaBay which MIGHT end up being better than they appear.....if you decide to risk it on one, please let us know...
 
Cold Steel Tiger Claw is a little more than you want to spend, but it's the least expensive folder I would recommend off the top of my head.
 
Yep, this is a tough one. Kind of like trying to find a great Balisong for under $100.

I generally hate the advice that starts with "Save up some more $"... but I'm afraid this fits the bill.
 
Spyderco has a Karahawk which is a karambit and a Matriarch that is similar - the finger loop. They have very nice hawkbill style blades and the ones with the Emerson "wave" area of the blade makes it super fast for one handed use. Prices are a little over a hondo toward $150. Good quality.
 
Hello :-) MTech actually has some good ones, the "fixed blades" ones, that are neck knives... that have very short blades 3 inches or even under.
I don't know if it's ok to post links here or not, but if you do a search on amazon.com for MTech Karambit you will see what I mean. One great one that I had for a while is the tan one, with g-10 handle scales.
If you don't have an issue with 440A or 440C steel, then I recommend those.. because the price is good (like under $20.00 USD), the size is small like your looking for, and they sharpen pretty easily.
 
Since I've carried one for years, I'll say this: the 5.11 needs two mods: 1) it needs to be waved, and 2) it needs a Boye dent. In standard index finger in ring grip, your grip will deactivate the lock without the dent. A friend helped with the dent, and Charlie Mike did the wave, way back when he was still doing them. The 5.11 has so much material to remove you'll need a belt grinder--a Dremel won't do.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Cold Steel Tiger Claw is a little more than you want to spend, but it's the least expensive folder I would recommend off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

Despite the ring, the Cold Steel Tiger Claw actually lacks the curvature a true karambit should have...it's really more a ringed hawkbill than a karambit. If you just like the forward curved blade it's fine, but if you want a true karambit, that's not it sadly. The 5.11 has quality materials as well, and is more of a true karambit, for a little lower price.
 
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