> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Edwood: Tracker Dan's Honeybadger karambit

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6/24/14

Edwood: Tracker Dan's Honeybadger karambit


Ed has all the nice toys, doesn't he?

If you can draw your attention away from the MP-5, you'll note a small blade in his support hand. That's the Honeybadger, a wicked little karambit made by Ed's buddy, Navy SEAL Tracker Dan.

When he's not putting boot to ass for the country, Dan brings his considerable real world experience and training to making custom knives. You may remember seeing one of Dan's tomahawks here on T-Blog a little over a year ago, when we asked Ed to share his thoughts and experiences with 'hawks in modern/urban defense.

While on the opposite side of the size spectrum, the Honeybadger is no less impressive than Dan's Graymatter 'hawk. In fact, it's probably the single best design for a concealable retention blade that I've seen. I'm a huge fan of the karambit for self defense in general and weapon's retention specifically, and the Honeybadger takes that to the next level. It's small enough that you can still use your support hand to perform weapons manipulations (as Ed demonstrates above), yet more than effective enough to cut someone off of you in a clinch.

More details and awesome pictures after the jump.



A full view of the Honeybadger.

Note the copper finish to the k-bit ring - that's intentional, helping it to blend in as just another piece of jewelry if the knife is palmed.


A close up of the working end. It's double edged, which is ideal for a karambit, allowing you to cut on the forward and back thrusts. That hook on the back edge is just plain nasty...not much imagination need to come up with uses for that. A single edged version of this knife, called the Boxbadger, is available for carry where double edged blades are a no-go.

Digging the finish Dan is putting on the blades, too.


Unlike most knife makers, Dan puts as much thought into his sheaths as he does the blade. He carries these as backups while on the job, so he intimately understands the importance of a good sheath.

 From his site, he explains:

The sheath I designed from a lot of trial and error -- some involving blood spots on the floor. This sheath keeps a kerambit secure and snag free. And it's the only practical grip it and rip it sheath I've seen. Meaning under duress you can get this tiger claw into battle without getting hung up in the sheath.

Dan had to put his knife making on hiatus while on deployment to the Sandbox, but just recently returned and is looking to fire up the grinder and kydex press once again.

Like all custom knives, Dan's blades aren't inexpensive. He hand makes his blades and sheaths, and there is a lot of meticulous detail work in a design like the Honeybadger.

You're talking hours of work per blade and sheath, and that doesn't account for the countless hours of training and combat zone R&D that goes into these designs. Yep, these are hand made by a legit SEAL reservist and professional bad ass, and I'd be pissed off if one of our nation's elite warriors wasn't demanding fair payment for his work.

The Honeybadger and other Tracker Dan designs are available directly from TrackerDan.com or by e-mail Dan at info@trackerdan.com

Stop by, spend some money, support an operator and tell him T-Blog and Ed sent you!

Big thanks to Edwood for the great pictures and heads up!