Catfang

Call It Slicer

Try pulling this puppy out of your sternum.

Chuck made a small African-style knife for me last year, as well as his early kerambit style, when he was still in the early stages of his apprenticeship for bladesmithing. They were good knives, simplistic and straightforward, and I was grateful to have received them.

He came down for the Iowa seminar, and mentioned that he had made a few goodies for Jay and I. I was thinking perhaps he had another little specialty knife or something, maybe another kerambit. So you’ll understand when Chuck gave me this new knife, a rare thing occurred: I was stunned into silence. The boy has clearly grown in skill. This thing is TASTY.

This knife is great, a good sized 0-1 high carbon steel blade with a thick spine and full tang. To say it has some heft is an understatement, it’s at least twice as heavy as any other knife of it’s class or size, and you can’t simply maneuver it the way you would a spiderco, or a Cold Steel of similar make. The handle is something else as well, some well finished Amboyna Burl. It’s not overly fru-fru, but there is a simplistic elegance to it that draws you attention.

It’s not a common shape, nor is it so far into a particular design that it restricts its uses. The feel and handling of the knife flow well, and after a little practice the weight doesn’t hinder me in application. Personally, I prefer knowing my knife isn’t going to shatter on me when it hits bone, and honestly, I could probably replace my Chinese cooking cleaver with this bastard. I gave it a little test when I made it back to Seattle, and I’m pleased to report it cuts through a smarmy third year Silat student with no problem and very little screaming. Oh, and Chuck also presented it wrapped in a nice Indonesian Batik as well, which is the background for the picture atop this post.

For scale, I've scanned it next to a paperback novel.

I’ll post a couple of youtube vids of me using the blade later, so you can get a better scale of it. If I were to make a guess, I’d say I could easily shell out about $200 - $250.00 bucks for this guy, and felt justified in the purchase. It is now a part of my everyday carry.

You can find his website, Tribal Edge Knifeworks, HERE, or in the links in my sidebar.

I can’t wait to see what he does next. Hey Chuck…Put me down for a free sword when you graduate to that!!