Small Blade For A Parkour Athlete

[Abyss_Fish]

Small fixed blade like the swick, or a backlock like the native 5 salt. I feel the safety concerns for sure, I’ve had a number of liner locks and axis locks open in my pocket while cycling or hiking. Back locks won’t fail ya, or stab ya.

[TomAiello]

My preference for a knife that must stay closed is to put it in a kydex sheath. I carry my keychain ladybug HB (and previously LB ZDP) and my pocket Dragonflies this way.

Ben, how quickly do you want to be able to deploy the knife? Deep pocket carry in a kydex sheath would solve the accidental opening problem. If you attach the sheath to your pants with a cord, you can also use that to 'draw' the knife out of the sheath pretty quickly.

For what it's worth I regularly carry knives in a dynamic environment where accidental opening could prove injurious (or fatal) and I've never had an issue with a folder inside a kydex sheath. I _have_ had accidental openings on folders that were not in sheaths, and also accidental 'drops' of fixed blades inside sheaths.

edit to add: Super cool video, by the way. My younger daughter is into Spartan racing, and I'm definitely going to show her that and see if she might want to try parkour.

[potahto]

Get the Persistence.

- G10 won't slip like FRN (FRN slips, especially on synthetic material, because of the smooth logo opposite of a smooth metal clip. Metal, carbon fiber, and smooth G10 (Sun and Moon) also slip)
- Clip is very tight (Dang near impossible to secure without second hand assist. Because of the low cost, no problem bending the clip a little if need be)
- Controllable open/close (Liner lock is tight but smooth. These don't come with super polished washers)
- Realistic size (You could go Chap but it requires using the finger choil if your pinky is to fit)
- Low cost (Important if you're sweating all over your steel and your particular activity might send it flying)

Too small? Tenacious. Too big? Ambitious. One for the pocket, one in the glove compartment and you're good to go. You also won't go home in tears when you hear it smack the concrete.

[Naperville]

Back locks rock, and so do small knives if you know what you are doing. Probably the #1 and #2 edged weapons taken away from people by the police are kitchen knives and utility knives respectively. Utility knives have a 1 to 1.5 inch blade on them.

If you know where the targets are a small knife is not an issue at all.

[JRinFL]

My preference for a knife that must stay closed is to put it in a kydex sheath. I carry my keychain ladybug HB (and previously LB ZDP) and my pocket Dragonflies this way.

Ben, how quickly do you want to be able to deploy the knife? Deep pocket carry in a kydex sheath would solve the accidental opening problem. If you attach the sheath to your pants with a cord, you can also use that to 'draw' the knife out of the sheath pretty quickly.

For what it's worth I regularly carry knives in a dynamic environment where accidental opening could prove injurious (or fatal) and I've never had an issue with a folder inside a kydex sheath. I _have_ had accidental openings on folders that were not in sheaths, and also accidental 'drops' of fixed blades inside sheaths.

edit to add: Super cool video, by the way. My younger daughter is into Spartan racing, and I'm definitely going to show her that and see if she might want to try parkour.

Well, that's two votes for sheathed folders. I think I'm going to get a Delica neck sheath and try it out as a pocket sheath.

[Cl1ff]

Definitely want to here more from the OP, but I’ve been thinking about myself and what I’ve seen during exhausting activity.
When I go to pause for a moment, maybe while hanging, whatever I’m doing needs to be as simple, stable, and timely as possible. My body is still under a lot of tension and my hands might be a little shaky or prone to small spasms if I’m fidgeting too much.

That’s why something with moving parts or a hole like the Swick is not my preference.
I might drop it or just decide it’s not worth the effort to deploy. It’s really easy to see myself pushing a Swick back into its sheath and then pulling my hand away to grab back on to whatever I may be hanging from (to go with my previous scenario). It’d be very possible to pull away before my finger is fully out of the loop and fling the knife or just slightly loosen it enough to fall out later.

That’s because I’m either under a lot of strain causing me to be too spastic for fine motor skills, have a limited timeframe to safely deploy a knife while hanging for example, or both.
Same goes for opening a folding knife, fidgeting with a lock, and then clipping it back to the pocket. That’s very simple under normal circumstances, but less so in the kinds of activity I do that somewhat overlap with parkour. During or after a hard “run”.

The super confident hold that the Swick’s finger ring protects from dropping or disarming might be more detrimental when a quick release is needed to maintain a safe hold or position in your environment.

A lot of things, like the Swick or a folder could work. In fact, the knife which has seen the most use in this sort of action for me is a SE, non-locking, Endura Clip-It. However, I’m brainstorming what would be most optimal in my opinion.

[skeeg11]

You don't have to put your finger in the ring in order to use a Swick.

[Cl1ff]

You don't have to put your finger in the ring in order to use a Swick.

I’ve not handled one and I’d think it’d be uncomfortable, but point taken!
The ring is still prone to hooking things while not in hand though.

[VooDooChild]

You don't have to put your finger in the ring in order to use a Swick.

I’ve not handled one and I’d think it’d uncomfortable, but point taken!
The ring is still prone to hooking things while not in hand though.

You could have a sheath that covered the whole hole.

[Blnd]

The best little knife is the dragonfly.
Maybe the Snapit is something for you.

Dragonfly2. Next subject. :D

[Salty Dog]

Two things id never have guessed would go together, parkour and knives lol
But why not!

[VashHash]

I'd recommend a street beat and a custom kydex sheath. I would tell the kydex bender you want a taco sheath with a thumb push off and a little extra retention. Then I'd wear it IWB so it doesn't snag anything while moving. I have a large dagger that I told the maker I would carry upside down. It will not come out no matter how much running or jumping you do. But a firm grip and brisk pull will reveal it. Most factory sheaths leave something to be desired. I prefer the smaller profile of a taco sheath especially for IWB. I carry at 3 o'clock most of the time. I wouldn't think such a small knife carried that way would be detrimental to your movement. You also have many different attachment options now. I use a G clip because I wear a belt. The ulti clips are very secure and probably work better if you're clipping to fabric. I would probably avoid pocket carry but that's just me.

[TomAiello]

Well, that's two votes for sheathed folders. I think I'm going to get a Delica neck sheath and try it out as a pocket sheath.

I went to a sheath for mine after an accidental opening on my keychain (DF2, ZDP189) cut me through my pants.

I've been very happy with the rock solid nature of a back lock (close bias) in a sheath. It slows your deployment time slightly, but since these are knives I'm carrying inside a pocket or bag, that's not an issue--I have to dig them out anyway. When I'm doing things that need faster deployment (actually, pretty much whenever I'm not super concerned about keeping things closed) I carry a much more accessible knife for faster deployment. I just find that when I'm moving around quickly and concerned about accidentally stabbing myself, the kydex sheath is absolutely the way to go.

[BenSpaloss]

Hi Ben, Avocado,

Welcome to our forum.

Hey Ben, Thanx for the support and thanx for the thread. There are few suggestions that make sense to me, like VooDoo's. But I think I would like to take it to the next level. Hopefully Mike J, will join in.

As an aside, We make a type of Challenge coin for Military and Law enforcement. When I was creating the coin, on the Spyderco side of the coin, I put the lines: Never give up. Never back down. Never back up. Those lines were inspired by Parkour. An activity that I personally appreciate.

I agree that a zipped or velcro pocket is probably the most secure. It could be a small fixed blades or a folder. A small fixed blade that can have the sheath popped off with one hand while in the pocket would work. First thoughts are a "Swick", Perrin's "Subway Bowie" with a lanyard for purchase or Perrins "LaGriffe" with a lanyard for purchase and a thumb push off sheath.

What I'd really like to do is to get together with Mike J and Fred P and design the ideal Parkour blade.

Thoughts?

sal

Hey Sal! It's great to hear from you. I would love to learn more about your interest/involvement in the sport of parkour.

I would love to try out the swick 6. I don't know about zipped pockets, the closer the knife is to my body the more secure it is. If it is loose in my pocket, I imagine that could chafe heavily.

It would be awesome to have a small fixed blade that someone could have on their person in the most movement intensive conditions. I think ultimately (as mike J said) the "sheath design and carry platform" would be the most important aspects. Pocket and belt carry works alright if the knife is small and unintrusive enough (minimalist works well) but for low to ground, flowy movements, contact with your hips to rails and obstacles would be extremely uncomfortable. I think regardless of what the design is, it will be intrusive during some form of movement, but I also feel like there are certain areas that would be much less intrusive than others (Initial Thinking: lower front quad, Shin/calf, inner wrist, Tricep, strapped to chest) but as Michael J also said, certain areas are less practical for knife deployment. I must say, I DON'T have practical applications for the knife. You don't fight ninjas in tag, nor do I do massive cutting when training parkour. I just love having a knife on me. Knives are a passion of mine and a part of my identity even, so I want to figure out ways to carry them on my person.

That isn't to say that there aren't applications for this. I imagine there would be interest in the parkour community, as well as people who are interested in athletics. I also do Brazillian Jujitsu, and I'd be curious if a knife securely attached to the body would work for that application as well.

Mike J, you mentioned how the Minimalist, Delica, and Police 4 are very different knives. I would completely agree (lol). I am trying to do testing to see which knives do best for carry. For the police, I found it uncomfortable to wear the knife in the front pocket, but I was surprised to see that it was fairly unnoticeable in the back pocket. I explained how the clip exposure, let it to catch into the ground, and I also know if I were doing groundwork like rolls on concrete, the knife would be extremely uncomfortable. The Delica works well in the front pocket, but its limitations for a parkour carry also have to do with the placement of the front pocket, since that can be an area that comes in contact with hard surfaces.

For what I would like the knife for, I would like to have a knife that I could carry as close to my body as possible. Kinda like the concept of the A.lways R.eady K.nife or the ARK, but evolved to be even more carryable, closer to the body, and able to be placed in an unnoticeable location. I know a really big parkour athlete (Amos Rendao) who figured out a way to carry all of his necessary items in unintrusive areas while training. Here is a quote from his website:

"...I hate carrying a backpack when training. For quite a few years I had been designing a parkour harness that distributed all my needed training items across my body in spots with which I almost never contact surfaces. I also spread items out in ways it doesn’t mess with my center of gravity the way a backpack can. In order to achieve this with parkour, you’re also looking at a lot of straps, zippers, and retraction yo-yos so things like easily accessible keys and tools don’t go flying mid jump."

I just got off the phone with him. (I am really interested in this idea) I talked with him about his parkour harness, and he is open to discuss further this idea. He told me about the design process, where he would design a harness, pay someone professional to make the harness, test it out, and then modify the design and repeat. He made it a modular design, with the intensity of the training determining how many layers and the placement of the items. Just talking to him was quite incredible to hear. He would carry a phone, first aid kit, a knife, a wallet, keys, cards, a water pouch and more. He also designed the placement of each item to be easily accessible depending on the use of the item. He is enthusiastic about the idea of an ideal parkour knife and open to discussing more. He has a lot of experience that might be helpful for a parkour knife design.

Overall, I would love to talk more about an ideal parkour knife that would either fit for athletic applications, tactical applications, or both.

Thanks Mike J, Sal, and everyone else who responded. Let me know what you think!

[Wartstein]

sal

......
I must say, I DON'T have practical applications for the knife. You don't fight ninjas in tag, nor do I do massive cutting when training parkour. I just love having a knife on me. Knives are a passion of mine and a part of my identity even, so I want to figure out ways to carry them on my person.
...
...I talked with him about his parkour harness

Hi Ben,

interesting read and thoughts! :)

- I fully understand that knife passion making us want to carry a knife even in situations where we most likely won´t need one!
"Part of identity" is well put, and perhaps why I always at least clip a Chaparral to my pocket or IWB, even just for a short one hour run.

- "Parkour harness": Does this look like a more specialized (for your sport) kind of running vest? I use the Salomon Advanced skin 12 (https://www.salomon.com/en-us/shop/prod ... olor=20174) for really long runs (up to a full day) and the Salomon Agile 2 (https://www.salomon.com/en-us/shop/prod ... olor=19949) for shorter ones where I just bring some water, two or three bars, a cell phone and a wind breaker.
Both really make me forget that I carry anything, sit very tight but comfortable, weight is distributed around the upper body, and nothing bounces around

[Donut]

I don't have a ton of experience carrying fixed blades. I've been carrying folders to the gym for a while. I enjoyed carrying a G-10 UKPK Drop Point, the closed retention is very strong on that model.

I have a small fixed blade from another manufacturer that has a canvas and kydex sheath with a little belt loop and the canvas goes over the end of the blade and holds with velcro. It might not be perfect.

Your Ark might be an ideal knife, but maybe you're just looking for a different sheath. I'm not super sure why they didn't make a wharnie Ark.

I was thinking of the odd chance that maybe you'd get your hand or foot caught on something and would need to cut yourself free.

[Cl1ff]

I agree with Ben and Donut that the ARK seems to be a pretty good blade. It’s close but not exactly what I’m looking for.
The method of carry is extremely important, though, so the Spyderco ARK’s neck knife attachment also isn’t what I prefer for the same reasons Ben mentioned.
I also like to carry a knife with me because they are just part of who I am, but can definitely find uses for a parkour blade while doing some of my, as Ben put it, “movement intensive” exploring where most other knives would be in the way.

[vivi]

I agree with Ben and Donut that the ARK seems to be a pretty good blade. It’s close but not exactly what I’m looking for.
The method of carry is extremely important, though, so the Spyderco ARK’s neck knife attachment isn’t what I prefer for the same reasons Ben mentioned.
I also like to carry a knife with me because they are just part of who I am, but can definitely find uses for a parkour blade while doing some of my exploring where most other knives would be in the way.

Its easy to add belt loops or a g clip to an ark.