A Case of Stretching the Truth?

gundude73 · #1

a friend of mine sent me a link called "15 future weapons that will certainly make a mess"

the 2nd weapon is the spyderco warrior. the write up on it said

"this particular weapon made the list for one specific reason. According to a representative of Spyderco – the company that created it – the serrations on the inner edge were designed with one thing in mind – beheading." :eek:

link here if interested

i was under the impression that the serrations were used for trapping your opponents arm. maybe the author stretched the truth a tad? :D

Jordan · #2

Hehe, thanks for the laugh... beheading... :p

HotSoup · #3

Thats what they are actually there for, almost.

The very curved PE side is not ideal for taking out a sentry from behind. It would not slice deep enough, but serrations could destroy the windpipe/ major artery in one motion.

Sure Spyderco doesn't advertise almost any of their knives as weapons, but this knife was designed for soldiers, and it ain't for prying open ammo crates.

I_like_sharp_things · #4

Even if that is true I don't think it belongs on that list.

The Deacon · #5

Contains a grain of truth, but definitely stretched. Kristi made a comment when talking with, IIRC, a reporter from Wired Magazine at last year's SHOT Show that the Warrior was designed for sentry de-animation.

Handwrecker · #6

The Deacon wrote:Contains a grain of truth, but definitely stretched. Kristi made a comment when talking with, IIRC, a reporter from Wired Magazine at last year's SHOT Show that the Warrior was designed for sentry de-animation.

That makes sense. Dude probably skimmed said Wired article and read de-animation as decapitation.

MCM · #7

#2? on the list?

Its just a knife.

Only as lethal as the one who is holding it.

Get real............

What a silly thing to print.

Right up there with the H bomb. LOL LOL

Now, watch the sales of this fixed blade go through the roof. LOL LOL

Don't tell them its a 20 year old design.

And please keep the whole Roman empire under your hat.

Jordan · #8

HotSoup wrote:Thats what they are actually there for, almost.

The very curved PE side is not ideal for taking out a sentry from behind. It would not slice deep enough, but serrations could destroy the windpipe/ major artery in one motion.

Sure Spyderco doesn't advertise almost any of their knives as weapons, but this knife was designed for soldiers, and it ain't for prying open ammo crates.

Nope, incorrect. The serrations on the spine are there for trapping and to a lesser extent to allow the use of a backcut. Sentry deanimation or decapitation has nothing to do with it. Since I wouldn't take my word for it, allow me to let someone far more knowledgeable explain.

Someone far more knowledgeable. :p

Blerv · #9

The serrated edge has actually been blessed by a priest. This enables vampire beheading as well.

Freediver · #10

Blerv wrote:The serrated edge has actually been blessed by a priest. This enables vampire beheading as well.

Very true. I also combat tiger sharks with them all the time.

DeathBySnooSnoo · #11

I took on Godzilla and won!

dj moonbat · #12

There's a lot of misinformation in this thread. The serrations are put on the back so that people won't have to carry a separate comb.

chuck_roxas45 · #13

Get that magazine out to the mall ninjas and they're going to want a few warriors.

The Deacon · #14

Link to the original thread on this subject which contains one to the WIRED story that StumbledUpon stumbled upon. WIRED got it wrong, StumbledUpon merely repeated their error.

Dr Heelhook · #15

Spyderco released this wicked looking knife, which they have dubbed The Warrior. Fantasy soldier might be a better name. Although its design was inspired by the work of the Darwin-award-worthy mercenary Michael Echanis, we don’t expect to see a lot of contractors carrying these things around. A sales representative told us that the serrations on the inner edge are designed for beheading people. It’s made with H1 steel, so it won’t rust even if you bring it along on a Hawaiian snorkeling trip.

What's so Darwin award worthy about Michael Echanis?

JacksonKnives · #16

Wow. Just... wow.

The greatest irony here is probably that you could apply most of the copy text very accurately to a lot of the knives 'designed' by a certain former high-profile custom maker who cashed in on Jimmy Lile's legacy after the _First Blood_ knife became the de-facto one-man-army survival knife.
(Come to think of it, the description fits just about everything manufactured by a certain high-volume knife & sword manufacturer.)

The real kicker is when the speculate that it won't be popular with 'contractors.' It was practically a special-order item from the beginning; we're just lucky that Sal knows we'v been waiting for a new version ever since REKAT stopped making them.

angusW · #17

I remember when Kristi joked around about a reporter asking what the serrations were for and someone from Spyderco said it was for beheading. Now another mag reports on that. Most of today's reporters just copy from one another and don't do any real reporting. That's why I don't read or watch any mainline papers. They're not interested in facts.

markg · #18

In my experience...

If you speak to a reporter, they will misquote you.

If you refuse to speak to a reporter, they will make something up and say you said it...

chuck_roxas45 · #19

markg wrote:In my experience...

If you speak to a reporter, they will misquote you.

If you refuse to speak to a reporter, they will make something up and say you said it...

I agree, I have been a reporter in a small town paper and my editor wanted me to deliberately misquote for more controversy. He says ha can always print an erratum in the inner pages later in case of any lashbacks.

And that's why I quit after a few months. I couldn't take any more hypocrisy.

#20

To clarify a bit, the inspiration for the Spyderco Warrior, Israeli martial artist Guy Rafaeli, teaches knife tactics to the Israeli military. Among the techniques he teaches is the removal of a sentry by using a pull cut with the serrated back edge of the Warrior. That input was the source of Kristi's explanation at SHOT, which was dutifully misquoted by the Wired reporter.

The original Warrior design used offset saw teeth for trapping. The idea was to snag a limb, pull the opponent forward, and then bring the primary edge into play. According to Bob Taylor, the sawteeth also increased the severity of the would channel during thrusts.

In my opinion, sentry removal is one of the reasons we have things like MP5SDs and other suppressed weapons. The serrated back edge of the Warrior gives it great utilitarian function. Serrated H-1 cuts extremely well, and the concave shape of the back edge is almost like having a hawkbill blade on the back of your knife. From a combative perspective, traps and pulling draw cuts with the serrated edge, in combination with pressure cuts with the primary edge, make it a formidable close-combat weapon.

I also agree that #2 on the list is flattering, but misguided, and that most reporters wouldn't know the truth if it kicked them in the groin.

As far as Echanis and the Darwin Award, he was killed in Nicaragua while working for Somoza. According to Bob Brown of SOF magazine, Echanis maintained a very high profile--something that undoubtedly contributed to him being targeted. He was killed when his plane, piloted by a general he was bodyguarding, exploded over Lake Nicaragua, a fresh-water shark-infested lake.

The full story of Echanis, the development of the original Warrior knife, its many variations, and the Spyderco Warrior, is presented in the book The Warrior Path.

Stay safe,

Mike