- Length: 7 inches (blade: 2.75″ / handle: 4.25″)
- Thickness: 1/4″
- Weight: 4.9 Ounces
- O1 Tool Steel
- Deferentially heat treated – Edge hardness: 60 Rockwell
- “Stone-Age” and “Striation” pattern
- “Antique Etched”
- Heat Treatment coloration
- Kydex Sheath with deer skin lace
This knife is based on the well known Japanese utility blade, the kiridashi. The Sage Blades version is a sturdy, 1/4″ thick, all steel knife. It measures about 7 inches with a full length handle and ring to give excellent control and grip retention. Although the blade is short, it will retain it’s super sharp edge very well and performs great over a wide range of cutting tasks from delicate, scalpel type cutting to batoning through wood. When held far back by the ring, it can even hack quite effectively. It is well suited to urban use, as well as wilderness bushcraft. In an emergency situation, the thick steel can come in handy for prying, and, with no handle material to get in the way, it can be quite easily lashed to a pole to create a spear. The sheath is also simple, yet very effective. It involves a basic system of using an attached deer skin lace to lash the sheath to the belt. There is a long list of benefits to this simple method: the lace can be replaced with any other cord if necessary; it can be mounted horizontal or vertical, left or right, up or down; it will work with any belt size; and it keeps the sheath tightly secured in place on the belt and close against the body with a low profile. (photos and instructions on how to do this can be provided) The cord can also be used to carry the kiridashi as a “neck knife”. Also, the design of this sheath, with only the ring showing, means that it can only be drawn by putting a finger through the ring which makes it unlikely to be drawn by someone other than yourself. Last, but certainly not least, the sheathed knife can be carried in the pocket of most types of pants with the ring at or slightly below the top of the pocket. Because of the shaping of the sheath (the point above the ring), the knife can be drawn from the pocket with the sheath catching and remaining in the pocket. This is done with only the forefinger through the ring and preferably drawn into a reverse grip. This means that the kiridashi is kept secure and hidden in the pocket, yet can be drawn – into a good self-defense grip – in a split second, without actually reaching into the pocket.