Dear Mas

[cmontrose1]

Thank you so much for being a member here and sharing your expertise with us. You are one of my heros and most respected authority in the gun world.
My question is this. I live in New Mexico, where for whatever reason, we are allowed to only carry 1 firearm at a time on our person. Because of this, I choose to carry a HK p7. It is more reliable than my glocks, more accurate, and safer to carry. I want to carry a dedicated blade as a backup to my pistol since I can't carry a bug. I choose a Emerson Karambit. Is this a defendable combo God forbid I ever have to use my pistol in self defense? Or will I be hung out to dry because of the appearance of the karambit? Fwiw, I carry winchester Ranger T's based on your recomendation and you giving them to your girlfriend. I always try to do what you recomend whenever legal in my state. Thank you so much!
Chris

[Mas Ayoob]

Ernest Emerson makes some of the finest knives in the world. His section of GATE is right above this one, and I'd touch bases with him if I were you. You definitely want to be trained in the techniques that work best with the Kerambit.

A lawyer who has no case will try to fabricate one. That's where we get the "assault weapon" BS applied in court to demonize the defender, and the "Rambo knife" thing would be the blade world equivalent. Since the Kerambit is optimized for cutting rather than stabbing, a solid argument can be made that it is LESS lethal than an ordinary knife.

Since your state's legislature has seen fit to make backup guns for civilians impossible, and since it will be easy to explain to a jury that when you carry a gun, it is responsible to think about retaining it against a criminal disarming attempt, it would be worth your while to do a Google search on the use of a defensive blade in handgun retention. It is widely recommended among both police and private citizens, and this research will give you one more tool with which to validate your decision to carry the Emerson Kerambit as backup to your HK P7.

Best of luck,
Mas