[GreenLeader]

Since you asked so nicely, here you go

 

 
There are a few items that I forgot to mention previously and some that I didn't have at hand. Nevertheless, I'm quite prepared for the coming zombie apocalypse

 
 
I liked Escrima very much and it was a quite shame that I had to let it go. Escrima is a very good martial art for people who need to know how to use sticks, batons and knives (and how to defend from them). It also includes empty hand techniques but according to filipino philosophy of combat, it's the last option. It builds up your stamina and strength very nicely. I practised it for 3-3,5 years in, but then I got a job in another city (Espoo, Finland) and had to move there. Not very many people continued after the basic course, it was pretty hard physically. It was very common to get a few hits of a stick across the knuckles, and since we trained with no protective gear the blows sometimes drew blood. When we moved on to edged weapons training, nobody got hit in the training sessions (at least I didn't witness any incidents).
 
There was a mishap among the teachers (let's call them Professor and Teacher) - they were sparring with long blades (for example a machete would be a long blade) and the Prof. against our head teacher stuck his hand for some reason too close to Teacher's blade (which was moving in a stabbing action). This caused Teacher's blade to slide clean through this Prof's middle finger, nearly slicing it in two. The funny thing was, at first they were unsure whether there had been a contact (this is because of the adrenaline and the fact that a very sharp blade doesn't hurt immediately). Pretty soon they found out that they could see through Professor's middle finger if he clenched it a bit. They were all cool about it but the folks who were just beginning were more or less freaking out. Especially when Prof. and Teacher laughed at the thing ("Look at the damn thing, you can see through it"). Then they went to the hospital to get it stitched.
 
The bottom line of practising Escrima - expect to be hit at some point (but not necessarily with a blade)

 

[Stitch]

I've seen some escrima on tv, human weapon it was i think. It seems pretty effective when you get it right.
Accidents can happen in all martial arts.
I Practice Katori Shinto Ryu(see sig), classic japanese swordmanship, and cut my middle finger even before we started with the live sword kata's. The sheath accidently slipped of the sword and i wanted to grab it. Next thing i know was that i felt some liquid on my hand. 2 Stitches but no bone hit, was close call though.
 
I also practice Pencak Silat, someone ended up with a sickle in the back of his neck. Nothing serious, just a boatload of blood. Wasnt there to witness it though.

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

I've seen some escrima on tv, human weapon it was i think. It seems pretty effective when you get it right.
Accidents can happen in all martial arts.
I Practice Katori Shinto Ryu(see sig), classic japanese swordmanship, and cut my middle finger even before we started with the live sword kata's. The sheath accidently slipped of the sword and i wanted to grab it. Next thing i know was that i felt some liquid on my hand. 2 Stitches but no bone hit, was close call though.
 
I also practice Pencak Silat, someone ended up with a sickle in the back of his neck. Nothing serious, just a boatload of blood. Wasnt there to witness it though.

 
Rule #1:  Never try to catch a falling gun and never try and catch a falling sword.
Yours is a new one though.  Never try and catch a falling Saya.  Wow.  Good thing you survived!
 
Do you use your Dojo's sword, or do you have your own?  If you have your own, any photos?  I love to see pictures of japanese swords.
 
 

 

[Stitch]

Quote:

Rule #1:  Never try to catch a falling gun and never try and catch a falling sword.
Yours is a new one though.  Never try and catch a falling Saya.  Wow.  Good thing you survived!
 
Do you use your Dojo's sword, or do you have your own?  If you have your own, any photos?  I love to see pictures of japanese swords.
 
 

Im used to sharp things for numerous years now so that rule is burned in my instincts. The saya did a instinct-bypass......
Its my own. But its a cheap chinese made sword. Feeling is good though, balance is just a tad before the tsuba. It's a nice starting sword for iaido. When i get more time for it i'll probably get a new one.
 
I though i had some shots on my google albums but it seems not. I'll upload them tomorrow. Getting too late now.
Here is a link to get an idea. My shots are obviously better It's in dutch though.
http://www.shogun.nl/zwaarden/john-lee/katana/john-lee-musashi-ichi-katana.html
 

 

[DodgeMD]

Quote:

 

 

WOW! And how about traditional finnish knives? I don't see any =)
 

 

[CrocsRock]

EDC is a Kershaw Shallot in ZDP composite. A number of reasons I'm less than keen on it, but it fit the bill for larger handle size (I'm a big guy), assisted open, index open, and no thumb stud. Surprisingly few knives tick all those boxes.

 
And a RAT Cutlery Izula (from before they were ESEE) for more outdoorsy stuff.

 

[Psychochink]

Not knives but just in case people are interested, I'm a sword guy (note these pictures are not of my specific swords, don't have any decent ones sitting around, but are those that I own)...
 
Semi-custom Angus Trim Type XIII Triple Fuller. Handles like a dream, and Gus is known for having the best steel/heat treatment, blade geometry and attention to balance, weight distribution and harmonic resonance in the business.

Angus Trim "Little Tigress" Tactical Katana. Likewise in terms of above comments.

 
Cheness O-Katana (33" blade). This one is more for the hell of it, to be honest. Really too big for me and my regular-sized katana is the one that actually sees any use, but what can I say, who doesn't love a big-ass (yet very well balanced) sword. Not up to the same quality standards as my ATrims, which are made by Gus himself, rather than a company employee like these - but then I'm a Euro sword guy.

 

 
I do own others, but the top two are my pride and joy - and I included the O-Katana because I know people tend to like them.

 

[crayonhead]

Hey, I need a knife.for self defense.
my specifications:
4-5 inch,fixed-blade
light, tactical
with a budget of about 40 USD
easily concealable,
with a sheath.
HAS TO LAST FOR A GOOD 5 YEARS. (okay to be resharpened)
links and models please.
 
Thanks.

 

[beerguy0]

No pic yet, but I just got a Benchmade 585S Mini-Barrage. (A "thanks-for-all-your-hard-work" gift from my boss.) Love it so far, great feel, very sharp, and is very fast to open.

 

[Lazerboy2000]

Quote:

Hey, I need a knife.for self defense.
my specifications:
4-5 inch,fixed-blade
light, tactical
with a budget of about 40 USD
easily concealable,
with a sheath.
HAS TO LAST FOR A GOOD 5 YEARS. (okay to be resharpened)
links and models please.
 
Thanks.

Check out the ESEE Izula. It's a 2.88" blade and 6.25" overall. It's very comfortable easy to conceal. The sheath is very well made and has lots of different configuration options. Best of all, it comes with a lifetime no questions asked warranty and they'll replace it. They're very strong though with 1095 steel so you dont need to worry. 
http://eseeknives.com/neck_knife.htm
http://newgraham.com/store/product/5716/IZULA-Black-RCIZULAB/
 
They also came out with an Izula II. It has the same length blade, but a 0.50" longer handle so its better for gloves or big hands. The Izula II comes with removable micarta scales too.
http://newgraham.com/store/product/8097/IZULA-II-Black/
 

 

[Stitch]

Quote:

Hey, I need a knife.for self defense.
my specifications:
4-5 inch,fixed-blade
light, tactical
with a budget of about 40 USD
easily concealable,
with a sheath.
HAS TO LAST FOR A GOOD 5 YEARS. (okay to be resharpened)
links and models please.
 
Thanks.

 


Quote:

Check out the ESEE Izula. It's a 2.88" blade and 6.25" overall. It's very comfortable easy to conceal. The sheath is very well made and has lots of different configuration options. Best of all, it comes with a lifetime no questions asked warranty and they'll replace it. They're very strong though with 1095 steel so you dont need to worry. 
http://eseeknives.com/neck_knife.htm
http://newgraham.com/store/product/5716/IZULA-Black-RCIZULAB/
 
They also came out with an Izula II. It has the same length blade, but a 0.50" longer handle so its better for gloves or big hands. The Izula II comes with removable micarta scales too.
http://newgraham.com/store/product/8097/IZULA-II-Black/
 

 
+1 to the Izula(2)
Its 1095 steel so it sharpens easy and takes on hell of an edge. Needs a bit of oil for maintanence.
They even replaced some torch-cut and angle-grinded knives.
 
 

 

[Novalis]

Been looking to buy a new knife-set for the kitchen and considered a ceramic set, but I wanted to see what all the fuzz is about.
 
So before buying I thought I'd get just a small, cheap ceramic knife to test it.
 

 
Being a cheap Chinese knife, I was actually impressed by the build quality.
The blade is firmly in place and has no play at all, the wood looks good, and it has a generally good feel to it.
On the downside the white blade is really light, which gives it a weird balance and for some reason the tip is blunted. Not being a connoisseur I have no idea if this is infact normal.
 
It is really really sharp, but the white blade is kinda hard to take seriously. It sort of looks like a toy knife.
 
In retrospective I should probably have opted for a small kitchen knife to try out. With the fragile blade, and blunted tip, it really isn't much of an allrounder.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Been looking to buy a new knife-set for the kitchen and considered a ceramic set, but I wanted to see what all the fuzz is about.
 
So before buying I thought I'd get just a small, cheap ceramic knife to test it.
 
Being a cheap Chinese knife, I was actually impressed by the build quality.
The blade is firmly in place and has no play at all, the wood looks good, and it has a generally good feel to it.
On the downside the white blade is really light, which gives it a weird balance and for some reason the tip is blunted. Not being a connoisseur I have no idea if this is infact normal.
 
It is really really sharp, but the white blade is kinda hard to take seriously. It sort of looks like a toy knife.
 
In retrospective I should probably have opted for a small kitchen knife to try out. With the fragile blade, and blunted tip, it really isn't much of an allrounder.

I have found that ceramic knives are not good all rounders.  They're still rather fragile compared to good steel knives, but they have their place.  I have a few ceramic knives and they generally are sharp out of the box and stay that way for a long time if you treat them gently.  They excel for slicing.  Not good for boning or chopping.  Probably the best value I can think of is a set of two ceramic kitchen knives I bought at Ikea.  They're good for slicing meats, soft cheeses, most vegetables and fruits.
 
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50152034
 

 
 

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

Been looking to buy a new knife-set for the kitchen and considered a ceramic set, but I wanted to see what all the fuzz is about.
 
So before buying I thought I'd get just a small, cheap ceramic knife to test it.
 
Being a cheap Chinese knife, I was actually impressed by the build quality.
The blade is firmly in place and has no play at all, the wood looks good, and it has a generally good feel to it.
On the downside the white blade is really light, which gives it a weird balance and for some reason the tip is blunted. Not being a connoisseur I have no idea if this is infact normal.
 
It is really really sharp, but the white blade is kinda hard to take seriously. It sort of looks like a toy knife.
 
In retrospective I should probably have opted for a small kitchen knife to try out. With the fragile blade, and blunted tip, it really isn't much of an allrounder.

I love the white blade, why do you think its Chinese? It comes from California...
 
Quote:

I have found that ceramic knives are not good all rounders.  They're still rather fragile compared to good steel knives, but they have their place.  I have a few ceramic knives and they generally are sharp out of the box and stay that way for a long time if you treat them gently.  They excel for slicing.  Not good for boning or chopping.  Probably the best value I can think of is a set of two ceramic kitchen knives I bought at Ikea.  They're good for slicing meats, soft cheeses, most vegetables and fruits.
 
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50152034

Your guy's stupid remarks made me think of this again!

 

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

I love the white blade, why do you think its Chinese? It comes from California...
 

Your guy's stupid remarks made me think of this again!

 

I actually enjoyed watching that