In the last few years one style of Filipino fighting knife has become amazingly popular it’s know as the karambit and it seems like most major knife manufacturers have one in production and on the market. Seeing this trend the leadership team at DoubleStar Corporation decided to try their hand at this market and commission renowned knife maker Robert Cabrera to design their version of the karambit. The fruits of that endeavor is the feature of our article, the Halcon X. This American Made knife is the result of the countless meetings, sketches and conversations that took place between Mr Cabrera and the management at DoubleStar Corp. In the end it’s a thing of beauty from tip to tail.
The art of knife fighting is something I will admit I know nothing about but it only takes a few minutes of watching an expert like Dough Marcaida work with the karambit to see how deadly this knife can be in the right hands. It’s interesting though that the karambit like most knives can be used as part of an everyday carry kit as a utility tool and not just exclusively as a close combat tool. I’m sure that all of this was obvious to both the designer and the staff at DoubleStar Corp when they began to launch the Halcon X. Let’s take a look at the specifications of this Filipino inspired knife.
Photo: Rick Dembroski
Specifications
Model Name: Halcon X
Manufacturer: DoubleStar Corp
Place of Manufacture: Winchester, Kentucky
Blade Material: Nitro-V Stainless Steel
Blade Dimensions
- Width: .187″
- Length: 5.75″
Overall Dimensions:
- Length: 6.75″
- Weight: 4.8 oz
Handle Specifications:
- Material: Thick Textured G10
- Material Thickness: .187″
Sheath: .08″ Thick Boltron
Warranty: Lifetime
MSRP: $259.99
Available Retailers:
- www.bladehq.com
- www.brownells.com
- www.midwayusa.com
Photo: Rick Dembroski
First Impressions
My first impressions of the Halcon X by DoubleStar Corp is that this knife isn’t built just to be a showpiece knife and sit on a shelf. The Halcon X arrived ready for a lifetime of hard use straight out of the box. When I opened the plain white box it arrived in I wasn’t sure what to make of the knife. It was only when I picked it up to get a closer look at it that I immediately noticed the blade has a good weight but it’s not incredibly heavy at all. The entire blade is made from one piece of stainless steel and I was expecting it to weigh a little bit more than it does. It would appear that the overall weight of the knife is kept down due to the G10 handles being very lightweight and cleanly pressed onto the sides of the Halcon X.
The handles are a plain black design that appear to be made out of a thick G10 micarta type material. Texturing on the length of the handles provide the user with a surface that grips cleanly but doesn’t dig into the hands too much. A feature of the grips I found nice was the smooth and even beveled edges on the panels. There were no scuffs, marks or tooling lines on any of the edges on our demo knife. Quality control at DoubleStar was certainly paying attention when this knife was made.
The Halcon X features four sections of the blade that are suitable for slashing attacks and three sections that are designed for piercing attacks. Each of the four slashing sections feature a double edge design to enhance the knifes effectiveness. After studying the Halcon X ‘s cutting edges and how they flowed in the knifes design my thoughts immediately turned to the question of how difficult is it to evenly sharpen all of these double edged curved angles ? That’s one that I don’t have the answer to unfortunately but I will be asking other people who are more well versed in knives than myself.
Not Just for Slashing
In doing research for this project I had to watch some videos and read up some on various forms of martial arts that would routinely incorporate the karambit. During this research I found out that the finger loop ring at the end of the Halcon X and all karambit designs is actually a dual purpose feature. The main feature of it is obviously to loop the users finger through it to assist with control of the knife. A secondary feature of this stainless steel ring it to allow the wielder of the knife to use this loop as a striking weapon if the situation is needed. This action is shown in the below video several times during the course of events. Being someone who is not at all versed in knife fighting I would assume that in order to pull this type of maneuver off you would need a great deal of time practicing with the karambit.
Photo: Rick Dembroski
Closing Thoughts
The Halcon X from DoubleStar Corp is an amazingly simple and lightweight knife that is gorgeous in its simplicity. It’s a well built American design made entirely from high quality materials. The blade, the sheath and even the handles all show the hallmarks of great American manufacturing and quality control. The price point on the Halcon X may not be in everyone’s comfort level, but in our opinion it is worth every penny. All of that being said I have to say that a karambit style knife may not be the perfect style knife for everyone. Chances are that if someone wants a karambit they are already very familiar and comfortable with using them long before they make this purchase. If you find yourself in need of a dependable karambit I would say look no further than the Halcon X from DoubleStar.
In order to truly appreciate how fast and lethal a karambit could be in the hands of a skilled user feel free the check out the few minutes of video below. It shows martial arts expert Doug Marcaida going through the motions of exactly how many ways a person can slash, poke and incapacitate a person while using a karambit
