Wick(ed) Blades, this one is so good, I’m reposting it.
I love John Wick. No secret there. Keanu Reeves does a wonderful job with all the action. Since Reeves is a “Three Weapon” competitor he makes the gun action real and believable. He trains very hard on the judo/mma action, so it too is great.
But I gotta complain about the blade work. Oh, the action is okay, could be better, but it’s his lousy selection of blades. Often his opponents use much better blades like, like Common’s “Cold Steel-Tac” and Ruby Rose’s punch knife. Wick always has this “out the front” (OTF) switchblade. In my opinion they have weak locks, they are ineffective for slash or stab, and prone to not open at the time you need it to open. (IMOO) So I sat down with my buddy Ken Onion and we came up with a couple of alternatives.
For just plain awesome there are these two. On the left is the “Foresight”. Darkened blade, frame lock, with a strong steel/aluminum frame. The blade is a flipper engaged 3.5” inch blade, rolling on IKBS bearings. When opened it becomes short sword as far as slashing and thrusting abilitys. To the right is the “Bump”. The Bump has a “speed-safe” spring loaded opening action, and a truelly ambidexerous locking system. Couple this with a very aggressive cutting curved 3.625” blade and you have a really superior “personal” blade. It fills the hand comfortably and doesn’t have any tendency to twist in your grip. I’m not saying the Microtech OTF is a bad knife, I’m saying I’d carry one of these first.
If John wanted a “visual” or a couple of minutes of screen time, maybe go with the “Field Strip”. He could sit down, strip it like he does his firearms, reassemble and then be ready to go. The knife has a liner lock, comes in several blade lengths, and styles. All are photogenic but I just happen to prefer this wharncliffe type blade. You got to admit, it gives a strong visual.
If Mr. Wick wants a really strong knife, this is the Ikoma Seismic. A “dead bolt lock”, you can ram this into a wall and do pull-ups on all day without the lock failing. This is a 3.69” inch flipper activated blade but it rolls on teflon impregnated bearings that is as fast, or faster, than any blade I have ever handled.( And that’s a bunch.)
For sheer visual stunning, he could try the metallic morphing karambit knife the “Provoke”. Since karambit’s have been used in several of Wick fights, this blade and its mechanic’s would fit right in with John’s other upgrades.
Or he could go to the desert roots of the “High Table” with an upswept Persian blade, like the Ritual. The desert scimitar folder is a handful and it wouldn’t bother me a bit if it were all I had to defend myself. Not one bit.
Okay, so John wants a fixed blade, but one that doesn’t take up too much room. The Dragon takes up much less room than a spare mag, will possibly punch through soft body-armor, and will inflict all kinds of havoc on the other guy while giving our man a serious grip. With a 4.5” blade, and an overall thickness of less than .25” of an inch, Dragon hides and performs well.
Of course, there are always the tried and true EDC blades.One of my favorites is the “Sting” in any of the several variations. The 3-1/8″ spear point blade features two Razor-sharp cutting edges and the integral handle is contoured to fit the bare or gloved hand nicely. The skeleton black comes with thumb detents for grip, while the wood slab has a rather traditional “coffin” shaped grip.
Well, there you have my choices in Wick(ed) Blades. Come on John, give’em a try. Hey Keanu, if you’re on the Big Island give me a call, I can let you handle all of these.
My thanks to my pal Ken Onion for his advice and expertise. He knows what he’s talking about and agreed with most of my picks.
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