You’re on patrol when a call goes out over the radio. An individual was reported trespassing around an abandoned building nearby. You have responded to calls to this location several times before, as it is a common hangout location for kids smoking pot and making out. You and your partner arrive on scene, and decide to split up to locate the trespasser. What you don’t know is that the person you are looking for is high on a hallucinogenic.
As you step into one of the rooms of the building, the man jumps out from around the corner, pins you against the wall, and grabs your holstered sidearm. You struggle to retain your weapon, but your position against the wall leaves you with no space or leverage to break loose of his grasp. You determine that your only option is to draw your knife with your support hand and cut the suspect off your weapon, so you do. The suspect releases your weapon and you are momentarily able to create some distance and draw your firearm, but you are left with a conundrum.
What do you do with your knife? Do you drop it? Do you try to sheath it? Do you hold onto it and compromise your shooting grip? You decide that ditching your knife is not a good idea because you might need it again. Plus, you don’t want to introduce a weapon that the suspect could pick up and use against you. The suspect regains his composure and charges you. You don’t have time to sheath your blade, so you fire a shot one-handed, but your compromised grip causes your semi-automatic pistol to stovepipe. It’s time for your immediate action drills to kick in, but you are once again faced with the dilemma of what to do with your knife.
What if there was an option that allowed you to draw your knife and cut the suspect off your gun and retain your blade without compromising your two-handed shooting grip? What if there was an option that allowed you to reload, clear malfunctions, and even grab and redirect your threat without the need to discard or secure your blade? Well, now there is!
The Active Response Kerambit (ARK) was co-designed by Dirk Pinkerton and Chad McBroom. The ARK is a specialized blade intended for support-hand use in firearm-retention scenarios, though not limited to such application.
The ARK’s middle-finger ring coupled with its ergonomic finger grooves and an index-finger tension bar allows the user to retain the ARK while manipulating their firearm. The ARK is designed to lock into the user’s hand, offering full dexterity of the support-hand for firearm manipulation. The user is able to reload, clear stoppages, establish an effective two-handed shooting grip (thanks to the specially curved spine), and even grab or redirect an opponent, without having to ditch their edged weapon or lose precious time by sheathing the blade.
The ARK is one of the most versatile, functional, and well-thought-out tactical knife designs on the market. It is the first and only knife designed specifically for the professional gun-toter with the capability of being used in conjunction with the firearm without compromising support-hand function.
The ARK is 5 11/16″ overall with a two-inch blade and constructed from 1/8″-thick 154CM steel with a tumble blast finish (not pictured). The ARK retails for $79.99. Head over to Comprehensive Fighting Systems to order your ARK today! Contact CFS directly for large-quantity orders or department purchases.
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