A new design by Hardcore Hardware Australia, this reverse grip KALI blade concept popped up recently on Facebook. Made from Bohler-Uddeholm D2 tool steel, the depth of the grinds and aggressive profiling necessitated a thick stock to give the blade the best balance. HHA added a large cavity in the handle to reduce weight, without a compromise in strength. As a bonus, this cavity can be used as a storage compartment in a survival situation, when paired with the hollowed out G10 scale grip.
The Reverse Grip KALI Blade will come with an ambidextrous kydex molded sheath with a TekLok mount, Torx wrench, and PVC patch. It will be available in the following colorways:
Black G10 on Black Teflon
Dark Earth G10 on Tan Teflon
Black G10 on Graphite Grey Teflon
www.hardcorehardware.com.au/home.php
This knife looks like it doesn’t know what it wants to be.
The blade profile and the angle in creates with the angle suggests it is supposed to be used like the claw type blades.This angle also means that if you hold the knife in a hammer grip be it forward or reverse the point wont be the part of the blade that actually makes contact,the edge will hit first.
I’m not a kali practitioner and I don’t know what techniques they think this knife is good for but to me it just looks like a bad design.
…The blade profile and the angle it creates with the HANDLE suggests it is..
I believe its for edge-in grip like the Spyderco P’kal, which is why it looks “backwards.” Curious to see it in-hand to observe the edge/point angles in the intended grip, but I think the curve allows for a bit of extended point reach/ less wrist bend when held in reverse grip edge in.
It looks backwards because the angle it has makes it look like the edge should be on the opposite side i.e. it shouldn’t be reverse edge.
Look at the spyderco pikal,the edge and the handle are in the same line if you draw a straight line from the center of the pommel to the tip the line would be approximately in the center of the knife,a thing which creates good point alignment.
I don’t what reverse grip you are referring to since even in kali the most common if not the only reverse grip is the icepick grip or hammer grip with the wrist locked.
I’d have to see how this knife is in hand, but the curve is similar to my Spyderco C60 Ayoob, just in reverse edge.
At least with the Ayoob, when held in reverse grip the point extends forward a few inches with the wrist locked, aligning the point with the edge of the knuckles. This allows for a bit more reach with less wrist bend on certain high angle moves.
Ayoob grip:
http://www.good-kit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/reverse-grip.jpg
I don’t know about this design or plan on getting it, but I do know that some really weird, curved knives work surprisingly well in hand, so I’m willing to give the knife the benefit of the doubt until an actual review comes out.
“At least with the Ayoob, when held in reverse grip the point extends forward a few inches with the wrist locked” That’s actually a bad thing if you are planning on stabbing with the knife with a locked wrist,I guess it’s an advantage for slashing or if you are using something like the floro fighting systems type stabs,I’m not sure about the latter since floro designed it around straight blades.
The Ayoob seems to have better point alignment(still quite poor) because of the blade profile,at the very least you can slash with it.
As a Kali practitioner, these knives are well thought out. A reverse take on the karambit style blade. May have to pick one up to feel the balance.
I like it!
Even just to hold and “play” with to get the intended feel,but that aside, I am really digging it.
(not jut a ‘nife noob’, but a Martial Artist for over 30 years,not bragging, just so you know where I’m coming from & why I like ’em)
“nife”??? Haha, had to do it. Do roundhouse kick me to the face.
Not sure what you studied, but I have a question for you. I studied Kempo and we would use blocks as strikes to degrade combat effectiveness of our assailants. Do you think that this blade would be used more in that “defensive” role, to deter further attacks?
Adam, I also took Kempo, but my main arts are Aikido and Escrima/Kali.
The main focus of any fight is to attack until the enemy is combat ineffective. Therefor, I think this knife would work well in both offensive and defensive roles.
How much would or should something like this weigh?
Looks like a Jensen Elite Blades – wonder if he’s back under a new name.
Did some research, the designers included Ray Floro, Scott Taylor, Cameron Tronc and HHA. From what I can gather Ray & Cameron had involvement with JEB back early 2000’s so I’d say Jensen has inadvertently played a part.
Looks a little like the Tom Brown design from movie The Hunted to me. Be better if all edges were sharpened IMO. Still it looks cool if nothing else.
Australia heavily restricts double-edged blades, so that probably has a lot to do with why it is only a single edge. It looks like the profile may allow for the back of the blade to be sharpened relatively easily though, or they may produce an international version.
I like HHA’s product design and the build quality is awesome, although I’m not too sure about the D2 steel; I can’t get my tomahawk or knife to hold an edge very well, but they are great for smashing things and will never break. I would be much happier with a high grade blade steel, even if prices were higher.
As for this particular knife, I don’t know much about technical knife fighting and can’t really comment on the design, but it does look pretty cool 🙂
Cheers,
Terry