Scarlet Fang Handmade Damascus Karambit Knife with Black G10 Handle, Red Liners & Leather Sheath | Collector Tactical Gift | BMK-1185

Description

Everything on Scarlet Fang is black except the steel and one thin red line. The G10 scales are black, the fasteners are black, the finger ring is black, the leather is black — and running between the scales, visible only as a hairline where the edges are chamfered, sits a red fiber liner. It is a small piece of theatre and it works.

The pattern in the blade

The hook is pattern-welded Damascus: alternating layers of two steels forge welded into a billet, drawn out, folded, cut and manipulated until the layer boundaries wander, then ground to shape and etched in acid. The acid bites one alloy faster than the other, and what is left standing is a genuine topographic map of everything that happened to that billet on the anvil. Look along the flat and you can follow individual bands curling around the belly of the curve.

This is structural, not printed. The pattern exists all the way through the cross-section, so a resharpened blade shows the same figure years from now. If you want to know how to tell the real thing from a laser-marked fake at a glance, we wrote a short field test for spotting fake Damascus.

Black G10, red liners

G10 is woven glass cloth soaked in epoxy resin and cured under heat and pressure. It is dimensionally stable in any weather, chemically inert, and hard enough that shaping it eats belts. Ours is contoured into a slim palm swell rather than aggressive grooves, so the knife works in a forward grip and a reverse grip equally well. The red liner is a separate sheet laminated behind each scale; chamfering the edges exposes it as a fine crimson outline around the whole handle.

Two black-coated fasteners hold each side, and the finger ring — coated to match — is cut from the tang itself. There is no glue in the handle assembly.

Living with a curved edge

A hawkbill karambit cuts on the pull. The material is hooked, drawn into the deepest part of the curve where the mechanical advantage is greatest, and sheared. It is startlingly efficient on rope, strapping, hose, cardboard and hide, and it makes a poor slicer of vegetables, which nobody buys one for. Sharpening the inside of a curve wants a round stone or the edge of a bench stone rather than a flat plate; take it in short sections and follow the arc.

The sheath

Black veg-tan leather, wet molded around the blade, hand stitched in bone-coloured thread that deliberately breaks up the monochrome, closed with an antiqued brass stud and hung on a wide belt loop. It is stiff at first and softens into shape over a few weeks of wear.

Keeping the etch

Damascus is not stainless. The etched surface is thin and it will lighten if you scrub it with an abrasive pad, so clean with a cloth and warm soapy water only, dry it properly, and leave a whisper of oil on the flats. Fingerprints are acidic and will mark the pattern if left overnight. Do not store it inside the leather. Our page on looking after a Damascus edge goes into detail on stones and strops.

From our Memphis shop

The billet is forged, folded and etched here, the handle is fitted to that individual tang, and the sheath is cut and stitched to that individual blade. Because the pattern depends on how the steel moved, yours will not be a copy of the photograph — the family resemblance is strong, the details are not. Prefer a warmer handle under the same steel? Look at the burl-handled Sunfire Claw. Presentation packing is available if you ask while ordering. Manufacturing faults are covered for the life of the knife, and more than 2,000 verified five-star ratings have accumulated since we opened.

Model: BMK-1185