Any love for the Mercator KAT knife?

What is wrong with this picture? The Mercator is not 10 inches long, does not have a 5 inch blade and does not have a button to unlock the blade. Sounds more like a stiletto of some sort.
That's just to make the knife sound more "weapony" and "sinister". Geoffrey Canada is an outspoken gun control advocate, he has a whole chapter dedicated to it in the book referenced.
 
Maybe he hs it conflated with the Okapi/Kudu. The Kudu, a thug's knife if ever I saw one, goes pretty close to 10" open, but even there, the blade is only four and a quarter inches.
 
I have an older version of this knife I think but it has nothing on the handle. It's definitely a Mercator blade. What erea would this be made in?
 
Everybody should have one, it's an iconic knife.
Agreed. The clip looks very nice, in keeping with the design. But I have two of these guys, and I am happy having one of them in my pocket without a clip. Nice addition, but the historic design is just fine in my book. :thumbsup:
 
The clip helps me out. I tried to tie a suspension clip to the bail, but it was too long to hang vertically in the pocket. I’ll bet the clip makes it a better hang in the pocket. I’ll get one when they come to Canada.
 
When I first compared my K55 to my Douk Douk, I could not help but thinking this (and still do)... The K55 may be cheaply made because of it's simplicity in design, but it's not at all cheap looking in hand. On the other hand, my Douk Douk is not only cheaply made in it's simple design, it also has a cheap/crude look about it (although still very solid for it's purpose).
The K55... Simply a very cool knife, with an even cooler history! :)
 
What I didn't like about the douk douk is how it kind of locks on the half closed position, then you have to overcome it and watch your hands aren't in the way. didn't like that feature..
 
I have an all black Kat, with no logo, a NiteIze clip and a black thumb stud for one handed opening (I have very limited use in the left limb). Very sleek, very classy. Great knife,
 
Check out the book "Fist, stick, gun, knife" by Geoffrey Canada. It was a very popular knife used by youth
Growing up in Harlem.
 
What I didn't like about the douk douk is how it kind of locks on the half closed position, then you have to overcome it and watch your hands aren't in the way. didn't like that feature..
That is designed to PREVENT it from snapping closed on your fingers. If you have to "watch your hands aren't in the way" when closing it from the 1/2 position, how would it be safer/better to have to worry whether your fingers are in the way with a blade that powerfully snaps right to the closed position as soon as it passes the halfway point? If you can't be sure your fingers were out of the way before, what will happen then? It's meant to give you a way to safely grasp the handle firmly when closing it. You can grip the handle with your fingers wrapped around it, and you can close it, either with the other hand, or by pressing it against your thigh. THe 1/2 position prevents it from just snapping shut on your fingers like jaws; you have time to move your fingers before closing it.
Of course, you can easily close it without ever getting your fingers in the way, if it worries you. Just hold it with the spine/handle in your palms, edge downward, and fold the blade. Fingers never need to get in the way.
Really, the more I think about it the more if baffles me, how a person who feels unable to keep his fingers out of the way of the blade of a knife with a safety stop feels the knife would somehow be made SAFER without that stop. Makes no sense at all. That's like....I don't know...like a person who feels unsafe using a decocker lever on a pistol, and so they buy a gun that has to be uncocked manually instead. That's not an improvement, even if you feel like it is.
 
When I first compared my K55 to my Douk Douk, I could not help but thinking this (and still do)... The K55 may be cheaply made because of it's simplicity in design, but it's not at all cheap looking in hand. On the other hand, my Douk Douk is not only cheaply made in it's simple design, it also has a cheap/crude look about it (although still very solid for it's purpose).
The K55... Simply a very cool knife, with an even cooler history! :)
Yes, the K55K is better finished (typical of German products), but I'm not convinced it's better quality overall. I can get a sharper edge on a douk-douk, and much easier (although it doesn't retain very well at all). The "cheap" finish is part of the charm of the knife, and I don't mind using and abusing the douk-douk in ways I'd feel awkward using the K55K. It's more rugged, the blade is more usefully shaped, overall. The finish isn't going to get messed up at all. The only thing I don't like (once I got used the weird looks) is the ergonomics. The handle is very uncomfortable, and slippery as well. Maybe chrome-finished ones like mine are worse, I don't know. They are more durable though. I took black friction tape and wrapped it around the handle, cutting it off flush with the edge so the blade can still fold. I am sure it won't last, and it will look even more ragged and cheap soon, but it can easily be replaced or removed, and it really helps a LOT with the grip.
I only got the douk-douk because it looked interesting, but I've actually found that it really grows on me, and I've been carrying it since. There really is something to be said for a knife that can be sharpened with a brick; I a scared to really use some of my oither knives for fear of damaging the edge, but the douk-douk is easy to fix. And it's cheap. And it's still made by hand in a family shop in France. That goes a long way with me.
 
I have an older version of this knife I think but it has nothing on the handle. It's definitely a Mercator blade. What erea would this be made in?
Does it actually SAY "Mercator" on it? Or is it just the same design? Because a lot of other companies made knives in the same style. Not necessarily lower quality either. But also I think Mercator always made numerous version of it. Only some versions had the black cat and K55K logo, others didn't. The "Katze" version was just a specific model of "Mercator knife", and after the patent expired, Mercator was just one manufacturer making "Mercator knives". Like Band Aid, Kleenex, etc. I'm surpised that polymer handguns aren't called "glocks" today, really. Or maybe they are in some places, who knows?
 
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