Al Mar Warrior 3103 - A review

[bouddha0357]

I recently had the great elation of receiving an Al Mar Warrior!

Isn't she an absolute beauty?

To say this is one of my grail knives would be a euphemism of epic proportion and believe me a lot of things in this knife are of epic proportion!

From its history to its design and its rarity, the Warrior Knife has a unique place in the evolution of the fighting knife that granted it an almost legendary status.

Yet, this status bears a simple question: Is the Warrior Knife, as made by Al Mar, a the greatest fighting knife ever?

And as much as the question is simple, the answer is unfortunately beset by complexity.

This will take time reader so hopefully I will not bore you to death because there's a lot to unpack there.

1. History and Specifications​

I will not rehash here the details of the history of the Warrior Knife, as fascinating as it is, it is well documented from a variety of trustworthy sources top among which you can find the book "Battle Blades" by Greg Walker which dedicates a whole chapter to it.

If you can find it, the booklet "The Warrior's Path" by Michael Echanis is a goldmine of information on the Warrior Knife, unfortunately I haven't yet had a chance to acquire one.

The easiest place to start for you, dear reader, would be the Warrior Knife's Wikipedia page which will give you the right baseline information to better comprehend the somewhat complicated birth of this knife

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_knife

Below you will find the specifications for the knife, lifted straight out of Al Mar Knives' 1993 Catalog

I will add the following elements though.

In regards to Al Mar's version there are three variations:

- Uncoated, black handle (the most common)
- Black coated, black handle (somewhat common)
- Black coated, camo handle (pretty rare)

A grand total of 2'000 knives were ever made from 1991 (TBD) until 1995 as proven by this pricelist below:

https://archive.org/details/al-mar-knives-retail-price-list-santard-engraved-pricing-1995

I have read on a forum a long time ago that the initial 52 Warriors were individually engraved which lead to a ritual that Warrior Knives engraved for a specific event or celebration were made in batches of 52.

Mine is is engraved with #43 and this leads me to believe that it may be one of the original 52.

This will most definitely need more research for confirmation!

The preface Al Mar signed in Battle Blades is dated August 1992 and the Warrior 3103 had barely gone on sale when the book was written.
Al Mar passed away in October 1992 and I cannot help but reflect upon the fact that I hold and own some of the last objects that he had an impact on in this world.

These are some of the last testaments of his love for knife making and seeing them in front of me as I write these lines is a real privilege to me.

 

[bouddha0357]

2. Design

You and I are about to enter into the meatiest part of this essay.

I believe that we can all agree that the design of the Al Mar Warrior knife is rather unique, and to be honest whether you are a knife lover or not, it will leave an impression on you.

This design is most definitely part of this knife's history and legend and as such, it brings one question... Why?

Why such a unique shape? Why the serrations? Why this handle? Why? Why? Why?

To begin understanding the thought process of the designers we need to follow two paths, the junction of which will land us on what could only be qualified as a rather radical design for its time.


2.1.The Shape of the Target

The first path is that we are balls and cylinders.

This is a cylinder, it's round and it's long:

If you were to simplify the shape of a human being, we could be represented as a set of cylinders:

- 1 for the head
- 1 for the neck
- 1 for the torso
- 3 for each arm (upper arm, forearm, fist)
- 3 for each leg (thigh, lower leg, foot)

And these cylinders can make spherical/rotational motions as well as straight motions to the extant of the spherical/rotational motions which is why most of our joints could be represented as balls attached in between each cylinder.

When designing a knife, not only does the designer need to think of how a human being moves within the limitation imposed by body mechanics, but also what the knife has to face which is a set of cylinders and how these cylinders must be damaged or destroyed.

The second path is one of compromise


2.2. The Shape of the Knife

This one is unfortunately more complex but needs to be understood as well, feel free to skip to 2.3 if you are already knowledgeable in this.


2.2.1. The Fighting/Utility Compromise

You can imagine the design of a knife as a functional spectrum between fighting and utility with fighting at one end of that spectrum and utility at the other end of that spectrum.

A knife specifically optimized for one end of the spectrum will be almost useless when used in functionalities that are related to the other end of the spectrum and all this will be for the most part dictated by the shape of the blade and more specifically by its tip and its belly.

A rather hyperbolic representation of this would be a butter knife. Great for spreading butter but not something that I would choose as a fighting knife.

Often nowadays it makes more business sense for a knife company to try and find a design that's a good enough compromise between these two beds of the spectrum as it is a great way to maximize sales since the company would be catering to both audiences with only one design.

In most cases the design will favor one end or the other end of the spectrum such as drop point knives which are more utility knives but can also be useful as fighting knives although penetration are not necessarily their forte (we will come back to this later)

A better example of this compromise are the Bowie knife and all other clip point blade knives which are good for both utility and fighting but also have a tendency to have a weak tip which could break if a stabbing blow were to land on a bone.

2.2.2. The Fighting Technique Compromise

You remember in 2.1 when we were talking about spheres, cylinders and motions? Well we are coming back to it as the possibilities offered by the human body in terms of body mechanics dictates the three main techniques used in knife fighting.


- Stabbing which can be a straight motion when stabbing forward (imagine a boxer's jab) or a circular motion when going overhead or underhand.

- Slashing which turns into a circular motion the more we extend our arm but can be a straight motion if you bend your arm and drag across the target.

- Chopping which is entirely a circular motion

For the purpose of this essay we will limit ourselves to the first two techniques as the third one requires a heavy knife which would go against the expectation for a fighting knife which should be light and handle quickly.

A fighting knife can therefore be specialized for one technique or the other and a few examples would be the Emerson CQC-7 and Al Mar Back-Up 1 both of which have an Americanized Tanto blade shapes with no belly whatsoever. Both have an extremely strong tip by virtue of their shape and are ideal for stabbing. On the other hand the Spyderco Civilian and Al Mar Back-Up 2 both have a hawkbill blade and are most definitely designed for slashing.

It must be noted that for slashing techniques the hawkbill shape is not the only solution. A knife with a belly will also be great for that purpose.

When a knife is designed for fighting, the next obstacle the designer will face is not only optimizing it for its purpose, including or excluding utility from its design, but also optimizing it for its technique.

2.3 No Compromise as the Solution to the Compromise

This is where the design of the Warrior Knife makes a thunderous entrance.


What if someone designed a knife that is on one hand solely optimized for fighting but also optimized for every possible knife fighting technique? A knife with no compromise but to be a dedicated fighting knife?

This, I believe, is the question the Warrior Knife is trying to answer, the creation of a knife that would be ideal regardless of the technique the user favors.

You like slashing? That's great the edge of the blade is all belly!

You like stabbing? That's great the tip of the blade is reinforced and actually gets thicker at the tip after the serrations!

You like hammer grip? ice-pick grip? That's great because the handle was optimized for both grips!

You want a skull crusher? That's great because there's one and it's massive!

You want to use the knife for trapping techniques? That's great because serrations were added at the back of the blade!

You hold it in your hands and you will instinctively feel how it was designed to be used.

When compared to other fighting knives like the Fairbairn/Sykes or the Shiva you can see how the blade was also optimized for slashing.

On the Fairbairn-Sykes, due to its lack of belly the slash would be more akin to dragging the blade across the target.

Same problem for the Shiva until you reach the belly but that's at the last third of the blade and you quickly run out of space to perform your technique

The Warriors Knife's blade design makes it ideally suited to face those pesky cylinders by decreasing the amount of blade edge that's in contact with the target therefore increasing its cutting ability and allowing for a continuous slash from its ricasso to its tip!

So did Al Mar, Bob Taylor, Randy Wanner and Michael Echanis actually manage to solve the impossible problem of knife fighting design? Did they actually manage to design the perfect fighting knife?

In my opinion not entirely but it is not a design problem, it is an execution problem.

 

[bouddha0357]

3. How to Compromise an Uncompromising Design

When I first held the Warrior Knife, I immediately thought that something was wrong. Where is the complex COBOL programmed design study? Why isn't it feeling like an extension of my hand, something as quick as a though? This is meant to be the perfect fighting knife, why doesn't it feel perfect?

That's because the knife is a beast!

I do not have a scale handy at the moment but the thickness of the blade is 6.5mm or 0.25-0.26 inch. It's almost as thick as my Becker BK-2 which is the definition of a sharpened pry bar!

The reason for the thickness is that the initial design called for ATS-34 steel (it was an absolutely excellent steel in the 90's) but G.Sakai somehow managed to get it replaced by AUS-6 thickening the blade to compensate for the use of a lesser steel and this had acascading effect on the overall knife design.

What a tragedy because even when holding it it and handling it you feel the weight of it of course but you also feel that any other design would have felt much heavier with the same weight.

And this an indication of the Knife's great potential. It is balanced just below the guard and in such a way that tremendously help in managing the weight when recovering from performing a big circular motion. This also makes it less than ideal for chopping as you would need a balance that's much closer to the tip but that's okay as that wasn't part of the design brief. Chopping motions are slow. Slashing and stabbing are fast.

Nevertheless this knife is coming so close to greatness. And it is endlessly frustrating to realise that it's not and it won't, all due to the normalisation of deviation (if you know you know)

The second issue is the guard. It is thick which goes well with the beast aspect of the knife but also curved towards the hand which is great to act as shield but would dig into the wrist when violently stabbing in the ice-pick grip. This could be one of the reasons why Spyderco's version of the Warrior went the other way around.

Last but not least, the handle. It is great and I can see why it was so complex to modelize. When you hold it in the proper position the knife literally locks up in your hand and you feel that it won't role in your hand regardless of the violence of the impact you would feel when strongly stabbing or slashing. In that regard it is amazing. Furthermore the thick nylon handle plays the role of shock absorber amazingly well. But it is once again not perfect. You need to perfectly line up your hand in a certain fashion to fully get the ergonomic benefit of the handle and somehow my pinky never feels fully comfortable especially in ice-pick grip as the handle gets thicker the closer it goes towards the guard.

Great for hammer grip not so great for ice-pick grip which is ironic considering the initial design brief.


Conclusions

In many ways, the Al Mar Warrior is at the nexus of what Al Mar intended when he created his company, a knife well ahead of its time, seminal in terms of design and production technology and created thanks to numerous friendships that Al Mar cultivated not only in the knife world but also in the military world and I think that all this elements together are what gave me a passion for Al Mar Knives.

So is the Al Mar Warrior the greatest fighting knife ever made? I think those who have held it or even used it will have already made up their minds.

This is where one has to manage their expectations. There is a difference between greatest fighting knife and perfect fighting knife. I went into this review thinking I would find the latter and I set myself up for disappointment.

Expecting it to be the greatest fighting knife ever made is also unfair on the Al Mar Warrior knife as it needs to be put back into its 1991 context or even better its 1978 context when it was initially designed in which case at that time it may very well have held the title and it is clear to me that the design solutions found were excellent for the intended purpose.

If G.Sakai hadn't compromised the designed by changing the steel and beefing up the knife to compensate for it then the Al Mar Warrior would likely be the greatest fighting knife ever made...If...

What's left though is a beautiful knife that was extremely well produced in all its details and with an amazing fit & finish as one would expect from an Al Mar Knife of yore

So then, if the Al Mar Warrior is not the greatest fighting knife of all time then what is? The Fairbairn-Sykes? The Applegate-Fairbairn? The Smatchet? The Gerber MkII? The Ka-Bar? All are fantastic knives for this purpose and would serve the user very well if they ever were in such a dire situation (I sincerely hope you will never, ever found youself in a situation where you have to protect yourself or your loved ones against cylinders).

Ultimately, your knowledge and you experience will guide you into what makes the greatest fighting knife ever.

Personally, I strongly believe in the design choices that were made at the time. Human beings are the same as they were 10'000 years ago and will remain the same for the next 10'000 (if we ever make it there). Just a bunch of balls and cylinders.

Therefore maybe the answer lies in Spyderco's Pygmy Warrior which is a much closer rendition of Bob Taylor, Randy Wanner and Michael Echanis' initial design brief, a knife with the right design but bereft of all the production compromises that Al Mar's rendition of the Warrior Knife had.

Unfortunately I have yet to have the chance to own this knife.

One day maybe...Another grail knife...

Edit: Corrected the blade thickness

 

[LimpCroissant]

Nice write up my friend! I love me some Al Mar knives, always have since I first layed eyes on them at Excalibur in the local mall back in about 2006. They had a sweet collection of Al Mar knives and I lusted over them every time I went. I'd go to the mall just to look at them. I've only ever owned a SERE 2k and a mini SERE 2k, but they are one of my favorite knives ever made as well.

 

[DMG]

Is it really almost 1/2 inch thick? Most Al Mars are thin and light.

 

[TC]

Is it really almost 1/2 inch thick? Most Al Mars are thin and light.

Spec sheet in the first post says 1/4" / 6.5mm - the one top view of the blade further down makes that seem about right.

 

[bouddha0357]

Is it really almost 1/2 inch thick? Most Al Mars are thin and light.

Spec sheet in the first post says 1/4" / 6.5mm - the one top view of the blade further down makes that seem about right.

You are right. I will remeasure it and take a picture of it.

Do note that the measurement I took was at the ricasso.

 

[numbersman]

It certainly has lots going for it, but as far as slashing goes....gee, the Wharncliffe design has been shown to cut pretty well. One of hte things about the Warrior design is that if oyu hold it in icepick grip and stab, the edge will always be pointing at the target at a good angle for penetration, which isn't true for other designs. So I think it has an advantage there.

 

[DocJD]

Spyderco Warrior , IDK if better overall , but more evolved and highly effective .

 

[TC]

I'm guessing the edge bevel not extending all the way to the ricasso is just an operator error. Looks very obvious though. Q/C asleep that day?

 

[DocJD]

I'm guessing the edge bevel not extending all the way to the ricasso is just an operator error. Looks very obvious though. Q/C asleep that day?

It's by design , maybe to allow a finger to be hooked around the guard .

 

[The Whip]

Congratulations on your Warrior acquisition, boudda0357! And thank you for your great photos and your thoughts on the design. I really enjoyed your write-up!

I won't delve too far into the best fighting-knife attributes, as I'm guessing that the moderators would prefer that we reserve that for Practical Tactical discussions. But suffice it to say that martialists and industry designers have been seeking the "perfect fighting knife" for generations. The fact that they keep coming up with new approaches shows that "perfect" is a continually moving target, with a different definition for everyone. I would also argue that the generally rapid disappearance of dedicated fighting knives from the company catalogs tells me that most people just aren't interested in them, for a host of reasons.

Interestingly, your observations regarding the Al Mar Warrior's failings are the very things that Wanner and Taylor also objected to. You will find that they corrected all of those attributes (except, regrettably, the rear-angled guard) in their REKAT Hobbit Warrior.

REKAT also made its own version of the Warrior called the Gijan Warrior. I've never held one, but it strikes me as more of an homage to Al Mar (and perhaps an attempt to recreate the Warrior without its weight/bulk shortcomings). It was short-lived and was supplanted by the superior Hobbit Warrior.

The Hobbit Warrior is an amazing knife that feels alive in the hand from the moment you grasp it (at least it did for me), just as you were expecting from the Al Mar version. If you're looking for your next knife, look for an old REKAT before you try the Pygmy Warrior. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

-Steve

 

[jfk1110]

Cool blade!! Always thought it was wicked!!! Nice job n thanx for your thoughts!!

 

[d762nato]

Pretty wicked, back in the day I had a couple of Buds that did some training with this specific knife you have listed. Nice score Congrats and nice writeup.

 

[Burke]

The REKAT Hobbit Warriors are awesome. Spyderco’s version did some neat things with the concept but I’d love to see someone take another stab (pun intended) at a design closer to the original roots.

 

[bouddha0357]

The REKAT Hobbit Warriors are awesome. Spyderco’s version did some neat things with the concept but I’d love to see someone take another stab (pun intended) at a design closer to the original roots.

I think that this is where Spyderco's Pygmy Warrior would come into play. It was designed by Bob Taylor, one of the original designers of the Warrior Knife.

 

[bouddha0357]

Congratulations on your Warrior acquisition, boudda0357! And thank you for your great photos and your thoughts on the design. I really enjoyed your write-up!

I won't delve too far into the best fighting-knife attributes, as I'm guessing that the moderators would prefer that we reserve that for Practical Tactical discussions. But suffice it to say that martialists and industry designers have been seeking the "perfect fighting knife" for generations. The fact that they keep coming up with new approaches shows that "perfect" is a continually moving target, with a different definition for everyone. I would also argue that the generally rapid disappearance of dedicated fighting knives from the company catalogs tells me that most people just aren't interested in them, for a host of reasons.

Interestingly, your observations regarding the Al Mar Warrior's failings are the very things that Wanner and Taylor also objected to. You will find that they corrected all of those attributes (except, regrettably, the rear-angled guard) in their REKAT Hobbit Warrior.

REKAT also made its own version of the Warrior called the Gijan Warrior. I've never held one, but it strikes me as more of an homage to Al Mar (and perhaps an attempt to recreate the Warrior without its weight/bulk shortcomings). It was short-lived and was supplanted by the superior Hobbit Warrior.

The Hobbit Warrior is an amazing knife that feels alive in the hand from the moment you grasp it (at least it did for me), just as you were expecting from the Al Mar version. If you're looking for your next knife, look for an old REKAT before you try the Pygmy Warrior. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

-Steve

Thank you for sharing so much information with us Steve!
I will most definitely acquire one if I have the opportunity

 

[bouddha0357]

I'm guessing the edge bevel not extending all the way to the ricasso is just an operator error. Looks very obvious though. Q/C asleep that day?

It's by design , maybe to allow a finger to be hooked around the guard .

I see what you mean TC. I think it's actually part of the design as every other Al Mar Warrior is this way but not in the same way the DocJD means.

DocJD if you look above the ricasso and below the bottom of the edge there is another unsharpened space that looks like it should have been sharp. You may want to check for coated variations on google images and you will see moe clearly where the edge stops.
That's actually something that's not on the REKAT Gijan Warrior

 

[bouddha0357]

Spec sheet in the first post says 1/4" / 6.5mm - the one top view of the blade further down makes that seem about right.

I remeasured and you were right, my calipers were not properly calibrated hence my mistake.

This being said my statement still stands as the thickness is almost the same as my Becker BK-2 and the knife is still a beast of a blade

 

[bouddha0357]

Spyderco Warrior , IDK if better overall , but more evolved and highly effective .

The guard is most definitely an improvement and I've heard that the knife is much lighter which is due to it being much smaller