View Profile
View Forum Posts
Private Message
View Blog Entries
View Articles
Because of my job, my gun has to be super concealed. I know that concealed means concealed, but I have a very physical job involving lots of bending over and reaching up high. I don’t have to deal with that when I am carrying away from work. That allows me to conceal my gun in a way that is easier to draw from. In my "away from work" holster, a cross breed super tuck, I can draw from concealment and put a round in a target in just under a second (give or take a tenth). My work holster, a smart carry, takes 3-4 seconds. This is because due to my body shape I have always had to wear a tight belt to keep my pants in place, even as a child. At work, I have to really get it good and tight with all the bending over and what not. Three to four seconds is terrible. If I am immediately under attack, I will get killed. I will be found dead with my hand down the front of my pants, desperately grasping for my pistol. I have practiced extensively with this holster and I just can’t seem to get at the gun fast enough. I can’t wear it higher because of all the bending over. I tried that once and ended up with a lot of bruises from the constant stabbing I got every time I bent over or sat down. I may give the pager pal or some other holster a try down the road but for now the smart carry is the only holster that gives me the level of concealment I need, which is to say that short of a metal detector, my gun is invisible no matter what.
I have dealt with this problem by staying aware of my surroundings and anticipating trouble. If I am going into a really bad area, then I remove the gun from the smart carry and put it in my waistband. When not in my waistband, the slow draw time basically makes my gun useless in a quick draw situation. If I find myself in a building and I hear gun shots or an armed robber comes in, I can probably get to my gun behind cover so it is not useless, it’s just not any help in charging attacker situations.
That is the problem that has been eating at me for a while. It would seem I have sizable hole in my defenses. I toyed with the idea of one of those little .22 Derringers with the little necklace holster, but I don’t think that would be fast enough either. This led me to the realization that since I can’t carry a gun in an easy to get to position at work, I would have to find a different weapon. It didn't’t take long to come to the conclusion that the time had come to ditch the box cutters I have been carrying for the last 10 years and get a real knife.
The more I thought about it the more I liked it. A knife is fantastic in the ability it gives you to have weapon in hand in public, yet unlike a gun, you can legally (in Texas at least) have it out and open without breaking a law. If I am working and a suspicious character is approaching, I can whip the knife out as if I am working with it. That will either cause the potential Bad Guy to find a softer target (nobody likes the idea of getting cut) or it will allow me to leap into action in an instant if I don’t like where the confrontation is going. If it was just a person going about their business with no ill intent then no harm done.
Imagine being able to draw your gun and just hold it in your hand when you start getting creeped out. Imagine how fast you could take action from that position. I think a good knife will be a great first line of defense especially with my pistol there for backup if the situation warrants.
I love box cutters. They work great as a tool and I love not having to sharpen a knife. If the blade gets dull you just pop in a new one. Unfortunately, the one inch penetration you get isn't’t really up to the task of personal defense. I needed something bigger. I did a lot of research including checking out the knives listed in this thread:
http://americansheepdog.com/Forum/sh...ly-carry-knife
I decided to go with the Spyderco Endura 4 Wave.
Spyderco was founded in 1978 by Sal Glesser. The company is based out of Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. producing knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco was the first to come out with many features that are now common on folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the one handed opening hole. The Spyderco Endura 4 Wave has several features that made it stand out to me. Let’s start with the part where your hand goes.
The Handle
It has a fiberglass-reinforced, skeletonized steel framed nylon handle featuring a super grippy "Volcano" grip. The texture design on the grip moves out from the center of the grip in a circle like when you drop a pebble in a puddle with the grippy part angled toward the center. This means you get a strong slip free grip no matter which direction you are applying force. I tried the grip with wet hands and then with lubricant on my fingers, achieving a sure grip in both instances. The Grip features ridges along the backstrap that continue approx 3/4 inch up the back of the blade where your thumb would rest. This enables you to apply as much forward force as you desire without your hand sliding forward earning you the lifelong nick-name
of "Stumpy".
The handle is also contoured along the front strap with wide finger grooves.
The lockback feature on this knife is positioned over the center of the handle. It has a dip in the lockback release to prevent the lock from releasing accidentally if you are holding the knife in a death grip. Spyderco said they chose the middle of the handle because when people held the knife in a "tactical grip" (slasher movie style) they were hitting the lock release with their "trigger finger". I am not formally trained in knife fighting, but it is my impression that you don’t
usually want to hold your knife that way. I would assume you would want the reach, stabbing and slicing that a traditional grip affords as opposed to the over-handed stabbing "tactical" grip. All the same, if you are into wearing a hockey masks and killing horny teenagers then you can be sure Spyderco has you covered and your knife won’t snap shut on your favorite nose picking finger.
The Spyderco Endura 4 Wave has a repositionable clip. It can be moved tip up or tip down, left or right - whatever your pleasure. The entire knife can be disassembled with an Allen wrench for ease of cleaning, oiling, repairing, or just if you feel the need to lose tiny Allen screws in your carpet.
The Blade
The Spyderco Endura 4 Wave's blade measures just under 4" hilt to tip. Spydero makes a little twin of this knife called the Spyderco Delica 4 Wave with a blade just under 3". The Spyderco Endura 4 Wave features VG-10 steel. VG-10 is a one of a kind formulation of steel with a high carbon content, containing Chromium, Vanadium, Molybdenum and Cobalt. The steel was specially designed for high-quality professional chef cutlery. VG-10 is often called "super steel," because it is designed to maintain durability and sharpness without becoming susceptible to shattering, a major fault usually associated with extremely hard steel. This makes the VG-10 steel the best of both worlds, and is ideal when extreme sharpness is desired, since most other steel will not take or keep an edge like VG-10. When VG-10 steel is used in a knife, it is usually encased in layers of steel providing greater corrosion-resistance, leaving only the "super steel" exposed at the edge for fine cutting. The tip of the knife is re-enforced to avoid chipping.
Thus far (I have had the knife 2 weeks) the knife has remained razor sharp despite 20+ uses per day. The blade is the thickest blade I have ever seen on a folder. I suppose that is great for strength but somehow it seems awkward to me. I don’t really have a good reason why i don't like it so I suppose I will get used to it.
The back of the blade features Spyderco's thumb hole. This enables you to flick the blade open with one hand and very efficiently at that. I personally prefer it to the post type thumb opener on previous knives I’ve owned. It makes for a positive grip for your thumb and the design eliminates any awkwardness when the blade rotates open.
My favorite feature of this knife is the "wave" in front of the thumb hole. This is a feature designed by Emerson knives licensed to Spyderco for this knife. This was the selling feature for me. The wave, or hook, causes the knife to open as it comes out of your pocket. All you have to do is pull the knife out of your pocket while applying light pressure either toward the back of your pocket or twist the hook toward the outside of the pocket. As you are pulling it out, the blade will open OUTSIDE of your pocket. It is completely safe and intuitive. It makes it look like you are pulling an open knife from your pocket. It is very, very fast. It allows you to have an open blade in your hand with the same speed as if you pulled a hunting knife from a sheath. From a work standpoint it is fantastic. From a personal defense standpoint it is genius!! See the wave feature
in action below:
The Spyderco Endura 4 Wave measures 5” closed and weighs 3.6 ounces. It is available with a variety of blade styles, including a plain edge, SypderEdge (serrated), and combo edge. MSRP for the Spyderco Endura 4 Wave is approx $120 but i found it all over the web for $65
Spyderco also makes the Endura 4 and Delica 4 without the wave feature. The Wave feature is patented by Emerson knives. If you want the wave feature but would prefer to spend $300 instead of $65 they have a lot of cool knives too.
One thing the Spyderco wave can do that the Emerson knives can't is open beer!
Sections
Recent Articles
