Interesting article, at least for me, on p. 114 of the Nov/Dec 2025 issue of Concealed Carry magazine.
Title: Cutting through tradition / Separating martial arts from modern defense
Although it might be fun to imagine you’re defending against a sword draw while kneeling in a tea house in feudal Japan
Laughable but also made me go 
I wish Tim Hartman and Jason Inay, among others, could comment on it.
I don’t have any delusions that I would be effective in a hand to hand situation, especially a knife fight. I will not carry a knife as a SD tool because I don’t believe I’d be good with it, and I could end up dead.
Having said that, my EDC knife is a $10 special from Harbor Freight that’s fine for opening packages, cutting things that need cutting, and won’t make me sad if I break it or lose it. And, it’s a decent little knife in its own right, regardless of price.
I have two depending on where I’m taking it. Both are relatively inexpensive.
The smaller of the two (middle in pic) is a CKRT M16-10KSCF Tanto knife that I’ve adjusted the screw so I could flip it with one hand.
The bigger one which is more showy is my Cobratec CTK-1 Large stonewashed look OTF (Out the front, 3.75” blade) with a serrated tanto blade.
edit: downside to the OTF is that if you let any debris get into the opening, that can cause the blade to stick on either retraction or extending, with the CRKT you just gotta get it open, no spring to worry about.
Nice looking knives.
Question… why do you choose a serrated blade? I’ve carried a knife for a while with a serrated blade, and found it just didn’t give me enough smooth cutting surface for most things. Some people seem to prefer serrated, and some not. Is this kind of like the .45 vs 9mm question, one that will never be answered, or am I missing something? I’m not a knife guy, just carry one as a basic tool in my pocket.
If you’re the outdoors type, the serrated part can be better for ropes, Paracord, branches, dense vegetive materials etc, and on minor cases can be like a small saw. The plain side course better for most other things.
I’m more likely to be cutting a rope than whittling a stick.
It would be a different story if I had a much more expensive knife with good experience in sharpening with a whetstone or something like that. In which case wouldn’t be serrated.
Thanks. Makes sense.
Anyone have a suggestion for a 2.5 inch blade knife for edc? I know 2.5 inches isn’t much, but it’s what I gotta stick with. Would prefer closer to $100 or under. Here’s a couple i’m considering:
Tekto a3 delta mini A3 DELTA MINI Folding Automatic Knife | Tekto Knives
Civivi mini shakan
https://www.bladehq.com/item--CIVIVI-Mini-Shakan-C20052F-DS1--223702
would love to hear your suggestions.
Try MidwayUSA for options.
Currently my favorite knife in that size range is discontinued: Leatherman Crater C33Tx. However, it’s listed as a 2.6” blade. This is one of my go-to short bladed knives for EDC (not my pic):
Or the Spyderco MicroJimbo:
A fixed blade option might be the KaBar TDI:
Thanks for the suggestions!
I totally avoid knives with serrated edges, they serve absolutely no purpose other than they look cool. You cannot properly sharpen the serrated portion of the blade and it’s the part that will get stuck in bone. If you are in a knife fight with someone else who has a knife, you both are going to get stabby, stabby wounds. The person who is going to win is the one who can do more stabby, stabby. You want a knife that will go in clean and exit clean quickly so you can do the next thrust. If you shove your knife in and the serrated blade is caught on a rib bone, that is a problem, because your opponent just did 5 clean jabs on you while you are still trying to get your knife out of them.
Kershaw Federalist Folding Pocket Knife - less than $50 from Bereli.com
Not sure how USCCA pulls off that price point
That’s awesome!!
Blood or PB&J?
Neither, looks like garden soil. I haven’t asked yet where she found it. Glad I didn’t buy another knife. 
Wife stabs guy, returns ‘husbands’ knife. 
