According to the statistics on Gerber’s website, the knife weighs 5.7 ounces and is 4.75 inches closed.  The blade, which is ground on both sides (except for the serrations, which are chisel ground)  is 3.8 inches long.  My sample was extremely sharp out of the box and held its edge well during light cutting chores.  As I  see this knife as primarily for defensive purposes, I don’t see much need for exhaustive cutting tests.  It will cut through clothing readily enough and won’t be used for daily utility (a self-defense knife simply should not be used that way), so in that regard it is more than capable.

“FAST” is Gerber’s Forward Action Spring Technology, one of the many assisted-opening mechanisms on the market today.  (It was designed by Butch Vallotton.) When the blade is started forward, it springs open of its own accord with only a slight push of the ambidextrous, graduated thumb studs affixed to the blade.  (According to Gerber, about ten degrees.) I wouldn’t say it opens particular quickly compared to some other assisted openers, but the device is adequate and the blade snaps securely in place.  My sample has absolutely no blade play in any direction.

The lock release is a convenient push-button switch set on the handle.  If your thumb is on the ramp where it belongs, you won’t have any issues accidentally releasing the lock (the mechanism of which I cannot see on casual examination).  Pushing the lock forward releases the knife. It will remain in the forward position, showing a red dot.  Pulling the switch down over the red dot activates the safety, and now the knife won’t open.  I found that pushing the switch forward to release the safety was a very natural motion.

The blade steel on the 06 Auto is listed as S30V. No blade steel is listed for the 06-Fast, either on the website or labeled on the knife itself, other than “stainless.”  There’s no reason to think the blade steel is the same, either; the handle of the auto is machined aluminum, while of course the 06-Fast has grips of G10 (Nylon). 

Fit and finish are good overall and the 06-Fast feels very solid.  It is not an elegant cutter, nore does it feel particularly nimble in my grip, given its blocky outlines and blade shape, but it is ergonomic and easily retained.  Thoughtful grooves have been cut into the G10 on the thumb ramp, the back of the spine, and under the rear portion of the handle (where your pinky and ring fingers go).  The grooves in the handle provide good traction and the integral guard is nice and large.  The textured, grooved handle surfaces are very comfortable and provide a nicely secure grip.  A steel point, suitable for striking or glass-breaking, extends beyond the handle and has a lanyard hole drilled through it.

The pocket clip was very tight out of the box, probably because the lip at the end of the clip doesn’t really rise much.  I had to pry it up with a fingernail to get it onto the fabric of my pants pocket.  Once in place, the knife carries comfortably (but it is by no means low-riding).  The pocket clip can be removed (it is held in place with three Torx screws), but it is suitable only for right-hand, tip-up carry.

This is an excellent tactical folder that is neither too large nor too small.  Gerber has not always been quick to respond to changes in the market, but the introduction of a folder like this is very encouraging.  It is well made, affordable, and has a good set of features for a defensive blade.

At what point does a fad become a trend? We can’t usually say until after the fact. It’s true, though, that as of this writing the Indonesian kerambit (characterized by a finger hole at the end of the grip and most often possessing a hawbill blade) remains quite popular in the knife industry, after a period of “fad” popularity during which many manufacturers introduced their own such models. Even the reluctant Lynn Thompson of Cold Steel, who trashed the popularity of the knife during the height of the blade’s newfound popularity, eventually gave in and started marketing some kerambit patterns of his own.

Other prominent manufacturers who have or who still do offer kerambits include Richard Derespina, Steve Tarani (who has written books on knife fighting and on the kerambit specifically), Ernest Emerson, and Sal Glesser of Spyderco.  Countless others have gotten into the act, too, and inexpensive kerambits made in China for Mtech, Master Cutlery, RAM Instrument, and others are everywhere.

Emerson and Tarani have written articles publicly in which they tout the benefits of the kerambit.  In 2003, Lynn Thompson published an editorial in the Cold Steel catalog’s Riposte column in which he characterized the kerambit as “an obscure knife from Indonesia… being pawn[ed] off” on an “unsuspecting public” with the help of Blade magazine (a publication with whom Thompson has had differences in the past). Thompson also correctly pointed out that the kerambit is small, concealable, allows for powerful slashes and stabs at close range, and is difficult to contend with when attempting a disarm.  He went on to criticize its inherently weak extended grip and the relatively short reach of the reverse grip using this knife.

Thompson’s Warrior’s Edge system is based on “long range knife fighting,” and therefore biased towards large knives. While I can see where’s coming from, range is not something one can effectively control when fighting with blades.  Anyone familiar with practical knife “fighting” knows that, in real sparring, the size of the knife and the exact grip used are far less important than body mechanics, footwork, and the positioning of the shoulders (and therefore your limbs) relative to these.  Any “reach advantage” of a knife is a minor factor compared to body mechanics alone.

This debate aside, why would you choose a kerambit (also commonly spelled, “karambit”) over one of the other knife designs available? I think choosing any knife involves making a style choice as much as a utility choice. If you are drawn to the kerambit (which I’ll grant is a very intimidating, flashy blade at first blush), it is because you like it’s style, first and foremost.

The kerambit’s image will work against you legally in self-defense. If you choose to use it in that way, you will be cast as a vicious knife-fighter wannabe. As in all use-of-force issues, however, the context of your actions will matter far more than the aesthetics of the knife itself.  Ignore image, and there are indeed physical advantages to the kerambit, at least for self-defense (and perhaps even for utility).

Because the kerambit is designed to be used in the reverse grip when used martially, it lends itself well to vicious, firmly rooted cutting attacks and hooking thrusts that closely resemble arm movements you’ll already find familiar.  In Jurassic Park, when Sam Neil describes the velociraptor’s talon, he holds a fossilized claw in his hand in much the same way as one holds a kerambit. The talon, extended from the bottom of your fist, rips through whatever the hand passes.

The finger ring of the kerambit acts to stablize the knife, giving you good control over the blade and making it very hard for the knife to be dislodged from your grip. It also facilitates a very positive draw (if the knife is drawn into the reverse grip as it should be).

Some kerambit models on the market, especially inexpensive models, place the clip in the same orientation as would be found on a more conventional folding knife.  This puts the clip on exactly the wrong end of the blade for draw into a reverse grip — if you are right-handed.  If you’re a southpaw, the clip orientation is perfect out of the box.

Is the kerambit useful as a daily utility knife? It’s as useful as any hawkbill blade, really. It cuts well when sharp, has great “inverse belly,” if you want to call it that, to draw material through the cutting edge, and it could be used for horticulture and for cutting linoleum (activities for which hawkbill blades are traditionally used). There’s nothing you can do with a more conventional knife that you can’t do with a kerambit, unless the curved blade is not suited to work requiring a very long, straight edge.

The extended grip is more problematic.  The applications of this method are limited; it is useful for momentary slashing and slicing maneuvers.  It is, as has been observed by many, neither strong nor easily retained.  I don’t see any need to bother with extended-grip techniques, but of course there’s really no reason to discourage you from learning them, either.

What I will discourage you from doing is spinning your kerambit. This is an epidemic among knife people, or at least it was when the kerambit first became popular.  Inner-wrist and inner-forearm injuries are only too common when one starts spinning the kerambit on its finger ring. If you must spin the knife, wear an appropriate leather wrist cuff.  The dexterity developed through such “knifesturbation” is probably of benefit, but please do consider the risks of monkeying about in this way.

The kerambit is a flash, lethal-looking tool that is useful for close-range fighting. It is, in fact, very powerful in that role. It is not the best choice for daily carry if you’re worried about being politically correct, but it certainly has style. If you do choose it, be mindful of its strengths and its weaknesses.

I’m a big fan of several of SOG Knives’ assisted openers, including the Trident folder pictured here. There is a feature built into many SOG folders that acts as a safety mechanism to prevent the spring-assisted blade from opening unintentionally. In normal use, the safety can be used or not used as desired. If the knife is used extensively, however, the safety can sometimes become loose enough that it will engage of its own accord.

I do not use the safety feature and have never found it necessary. The lever is small enough, however, that I would find it difficult to disengage quickly if the knife unexpectedly failed to open because the safety was “on.”

One quick fix for this issue is to take a little super glue and, while the safety is engaged, coat the top of the switch. When you’re done, disengage the safety and wipe any excess glue from the handle. The resulting seal isn’t exactly unbreakable, but it should keep the safety from engaging accidentally if you never use it.

A more permanent solution would be epoxy, such as JB Weld, but of course that would be functionally permanent. It’s possible to break the super glue bond fairly easily, but not so easily (at least so far as I’ve found) that it doesn’t keep the safety “off” during extended pocket carry.

The New York Drop is the preferred opening method of RENOTT, a knife fighting school in Ohio. I reviewed some RENOTT materials and spoke about my reservations concerning this opening method in that review. (RENOTT, as far as I know, was driven off the Internet by The Martialist’s ridicule of its training curriculum.)

The “New York” open previously described appears to be the foundation for RENOTT’s knife defense, in that it is presented as the fastest way to open and attack with a knife. No repositioning of the hand is done (unless there is “time” for that). Rather, the RENOTT trainee opens his or her knife with the handle drop, and then, gripping the razor-sharp blade with his or her fingers, slashes with the exposed one or two inches of the knife. The companion text describes this as follows:

“How to execute the New York Open from a pocket draw. The only type of knife that should be carried is a blade-down clip-knife. The high profile blade (blade sticks up above the handle for gripping — a hole is not needed at all for opening) is gripped with the thumb pointed down to the tip and the index finger bent 180 degrees on the blade so it is pointed to the tang. Remove knife from pocket and keep the last three fingers of the hand off the handle. The knife will not drop out of your hand just because you hold it by the blade. Raise the butt of the knife from vertical in the pocket to horizontal with the ground or even higher.

“Keep the forearm steady and drop the wrist sharply into the body at a 30-45 degree angle. The handle will open and lock into place. If you drop the wrist straight down the handle will hit the palm and fail to lock. …AFTER the knife opens fully you can wrap the last three fingers of your hand around the handle. You cannot cut yourself with this grip. Your three fingers are locked onto the handle and your thumb and index finger are on the side of the blade away from the edge. You lose half of the blade length with a NY open…”

This technique strikes me as quite unsafe, anchored fingers notwithstanding. If my knife is sharpened to RENOTT’s razor standards, I can’t imagine wanting to hold it by the blade (even with two fingers) and execute slashes against resistance (clothing, muscle, skin with bone beneath it, etc.) in this manner. Additionally, I think opening a knife this way under stress would cause the user to drop it as often as not.

With practice it’s very easy to draw your knife by the handle and quickly snap it open as it was meant to be opened. The RENOTT NY Open is useful to know, but teaching it as preferable sounds to me like a solution to a non-problem.

The fact remains that while it is useful to know how to do this, I don’t consider it safe or preferable to a wrist snap (or to simply using your knife’s opening stud or hole if the knife is equipped with one).

PERFORMING THE NY DROP

To perform the New York Drop, grasp the blade of a closed folding knife between your fingers as shown. The more the blade protrudes, the better your grip will be. The New York Drop works very well with Spyderco knives, as most of them have pronounced “humps” in which the opening hole is set. (As there is no functional advantage that I can see to performing this opening over using the thumb hole or a wrist snap, I’m not sure why you would do a New York Drop with a Spyderco, but the fact remains that it’s easy to do with such knives.)

Holding the blade as firmly as possible, snap your hand sharply using the action of your wrist. The weight of the handle should cause it to arc down and lock into place. (This means, obviously, that the New York Drop is easier to perform with a knife that has a heavy handle. Metal or wood-scaled handles are preferable to plastic handles for this reason.)

When the handle snaps into place, aided by the force of your wrist and by gravity, you will be holding the knife by the blade. You could, I suppose, attempt to manipulate it while holding the blade (in the fashion recommended by RENOTT), or you could shift the blade in your hand so that you’re holding it properly.

As I said earlier, the risk of dropping a knife while performing this opening is very great, as is the risk of cutting yourself (you’re holding a knife by the blade, after all). Still, there may be times — particularly in utility scenarios — when it’s useful to be able to open a knife with one hand while taking advantage of the handle’s weight.

Decide for yourself.

It was during my college days that my friend Jay, a self-described redneck from rural Ohio, first taught me to open a lockback folder using the wrist snap. (It was Jay who first taught me to carry a boot knife inside the waistband of my pants rather than in my boot, too.) He was using the plastic-handled version of the Buck 110 (this was before one-handed tactical folders were well known), which required a tremendous amount of force to open with wrist action only. He performed the move without fail, though — and so I learned to do so, too.

When I read Michael Janich’s Street Steel: Choosing and Carrying Self-Defense Knives, I was delighted to see the wrist snap illustrated in it. (The book is an excellent one that describes things a lot of “knife people” take for granted.) Reading it prompted me to post a description of the technique here.

To perform the wrist snap, follow these instructions. If you are left-handed, simply mirror the movements here.

PERFORMING THE WRIST SNAP

Step 1: Grasp the folding knife as hard as you can to keep it from flying out of your grip. You must use the pressure of your fingers to retain the knife because you can’t take a true grip on it. Your fingers must be clear of the blade so they will not intercept its arc as it opens.

Step 2: Snap your wrist in a tight circular arc counter-clockwise. If you were to stop moving after this step, you’d probably find the blade half-open and pointing at a right angle to your wrist. On some very loose folders, this action alone is enough to snap the blade in place, but don’t count on that happening.  It’s important that you remember you are rotating your wrist, not trying to snap the knife forward, back, up, or down.  It’s the rolling of the wrist (as if you are turning a doorknob) that makes this technique work reliably.

Step 3: Snap your wrist in a tight circular arc clockwise. The blade will open the rest of the way and snap in place. Once this movement is complete, shift your thumb to take a proper grip on the handle.

Practice this until you can perform it in a single, smooth motion rather than in two discrete jerks.

The wrist-snap is not subtle and will startle people who fear knives because it can make any knife (particularly those that are very loose when closed) look and sound like a switchblade. Snapping a knife open in this manner also increases wear and tear on the locking mechanism, as parts that lock into place when the knife is simply thumbed open are slammed into each other when it is wrist-snapped open. (This increased wear is usually negligible in a well-made knife.)

LIABILITIES

From a “tactical” perspective, the wrist-snap has other liabilities. Making too wide and open a motion leaves you vulnerable during the snap. Snapping with the arm extended too far from the body leaves you similarly vulnerable during the motion. There is also the chance that, despite exerting all the pressure you can, you could snap your knife right out of your hand, throwing it across the room when you need it most.

CONCLUSIONS

My friend Jay first learned to do the wrist snap because his lockback had no other means of one-hand opening. Working on a campground, he frequently found himself in the field needing to deploy his knife while his other hand and arm were occupied.  The knife industry has since introduced many one-hand opening methods, especially for “tactical” knives.  In most cases, it is not necessary for you to use a wrist snap to deploy a blade.  However, on those rare occasions when you need to open a knife with one hand and there is no other way to do it, the wrist-snap is a useful skill to possess.

The first time I saw a balisong being “flashed” open was at the school bus stop when I was in sixth grade.  An older boy was opening and closing his brass-handled butterfly knife.  In those days, kids carried things like that without being sent to concentration camps for reeducation.  While I’m sure he shouldn’t have had the knife, he wasn’t looking to murder anyone.  The same boy was in my Boy Scout troop and always had a thing for knives, now that I think about it.

I was fascinated by the way the handles opened and closed.  I couldn’t figure out how he did it without flaying his fingers.  At the time I assumed it took a great deal of skill.

Well, opening a butterfly knife “the pretty way” (as a young woman I knew in college put it) isn’t really all that hard, nor is it unsafe if you know what you’re doing.  The first thing you have to do is determine which of the two handles is the “safe” handle.  On most examples I’ve seen, including my legal Benchmade Trainer, this is the handle that does not bear the latch.

Manipulating the balisong is a simple matter of keeping track of the safe handle versus the “live” handle — the handle facing the blade.  When you hold the safe handle, the opening action of the knife puts the blunt spine of the knife in contact with your hand, but not the edge of the knife.

There are plenty of books out there on flipping balisong knives, including Jeff Imada‘s excellent texts.  Presented here are the methods I use most often.  They’re not particularly complicated, but they work.

Simple Flip Opening to Forward Grip
	Grasp the balisong in your hand so the latch handle  is accessible to your smallest finger.  Squeeze the handle or flip the latch with your pinky to disengage the latch.
	Shift the closed knife to put the live handle to the outside, away from your palm.
	Flip the live handle out and away from your palm while grasping the safe handle.  As you flip the handle open, rotate the safe handle in your hand…
	…and let momentum swing the live handle around as you do so.  Done properly, the first shift, flip, and rotate are all one motion.
	As the safe handle rotates, snap your hand to flip the life handle back against your hand.  The spine of your balisong will slap lightly against your hand on the outside.  If you’re using a double-edged balisong, you have to learn to time this just right so the momentum of your flipping stops the blade just short of your flesh.  (Double-edged butterfly knives are not recommended for beginners.)
	Snap your hand again to let the live handle snap back down, into your palm.  The act of rotating the safe handle to snap the blade spine and live handle against the back of your palm, then into it, is what gives this opening its flashy look.

Closing the Balisong
	To flip the balisong closed, snap the live handle up and over the back of your hand, rotating the safe handle as you do so.
	As the live handle comes around and falls down, snap it against the back of your hand…
	…and as it stops, snap it closed, moving your fingers out of the way to let the handles close.
	When you’re done, you’re back where you started.

Streamlined Balisong Opening
	Release the latch as before and shift the knife so the live handle is pointing out, away from your palm.
	Flip the live handle out and away, rotating the safe handle as you do so…
	…and letting it come down and around in one fluid motion.  Open your fingers to receive the handle…
	…and the knife is open in one simple rotate-and-flip without flashy handle snapping.  You can arc the knife closed by reversing the flip and arc.  This was the first opening and closing I ever performed.  It’s pretty intuitive.

Reverse Grip Balisong Opening
	Grasp the balisong with the handle pointed up.  Release the latch and make sure the knife is oriented with the live handle pointed out, away from your palm.
	Flip the live handle down, rotating the safe handle as you do so…
	…And jog your hand to snap the handle back up as the knife rotates.
	If you’ve done the steps in one fluid movement, you can open your fingers to accept the handle as it snaps up and into your palm in a reverse grip.

If balisongs are legal where you live, make sure you take the time to buy or make a trainer.  You must have a dull edge with which to practice.  I know a young lady who permanently disfigured one of her knuckles playing with a “live” butterfly knife.  

Train safely and flip actively.

Thanks to restrictive weapons laws, the push dagger is not a weapon I would recommend for daily carry. In many localities it will be seen as a “dirk or dagger” and thus restricted. In others it is banned explicitly. Push daggers are, to my understanding, not legal in Canada, for example. You may well encounter the push dagger, however – wielded by those who have less respect for the law than do you. The design of this knife limits what it can and cannot do when used as intended, making it relatively easy to understand. Understanding the push knife makes it easier for you to defend against it. Be warned, however: I can cover only the basics here. I cannot possibly mention every conceivable permutation, nor can I predict or anticipate all of the knife’s applications.

Cold Steel Safekeeper II push knife with Concealex sheath.

Understand, too, that dealing with anyone armed with a knife is an inherently dangerous (and possibly fatal) activity. I do not in any way encourage you to engage in it. The reader assumes any and all risks associated with self-defense in this context.

The push dagger, when gripped as it is designed to be gripped, can do two things. It can thrust forward and it can be used for lateral slashes. Lateral moves generally feel more awkward than do thrusts – and thrusting is what is supposed to make the push dagger so intuitive. When facing a push dagger, it is these knife-punches for which you should be most on guard.

Push daggers vary, but they all conform to this general T-shape.

The two basic thrusts you’ll encounter are a standard straight punch with the knife and a an upper-cut style shove that might come in straight or might be canted upward. The blade might be held vertically or might be held horizontally, depending on the type of punch used. In the pictures blow, the straight punch looks like a vertical (sun fist) strike. The upper-cut style thrust is canted to come in under the rib cage into the gut. Any possible variation on these angles could be used, at any “altitude” on the body. The upper-cut thrust can be delivered with savage power and is particularly dangerous because it can come in below the level of your vision.

Straight thrust with the push knife.

Upper-cut thrust up and into the belly below the rib cage.

Slashes with the push dagger can be straight (including diagonal, but straight in relationship to the lateral movement of the arm) or they might be canted, with the blade held at an angle and moved through the same horizontal arc. A knife slash is a knife slash, really; what you’re hoping for will be an opening to trap the elbow or shoulder of the knife arm. In the completed canted slash in the figure below (left), the trap to the shoulder and elbow should be obvious. The picture shows the slash almost completed.

Slashing with the push knife. Canted (left) and simple horizontal (right).

Two of the more common and traditional locations for carry of a push knife are the waistband (in front, behind the hip, or at the small of the back) and the boot. Boot carry is generally quite awkward for all but back-up carry (or for drawing when seated). Waistband carry, by contrast, can be adapted for a variety of body types and clothing. If you’re a large man like me, you find carry behind the hip to be most comfortable. Some advocate small-of-back carry, but it’s best to avoid any carry method that puts a piece of metal directly over your spine.

Carrying the push knife behind the hip (not over the spine).

Some knives may be carried clipped inverted inside an outer piece of clothing like a vest. Keep an eye out for movements that are precursors to a draw, including going for something inside an outer shirt (very obvious), dropping to access boot carry, or distracting hand movements and verbalization that mask what the other hand is doing.

Going for something inside a shirt or vest (left) is pretty obvious, as is
dropping to access a knife carried in a boot or around the ankle.

When someone gets aggressive or starts waving one hand around,
you had better start looking for the other limb. Where is it?

A precursor to drawing from behind the hip could be a clothing sweep, often in conjunction with raising the guard hand to cover the draw. If you’re thinking of charging the guard hand when you see this, reconsider. Controlling that extended limb will do you no good if he’s stabbing you with his other hand.

There is little you can do to counter savage, reciprocating thrusts except not to be there. You can try to get off the line of the attack, you can try to arch your body and then perhaps backpedal to put you out of range, and you can try to slap down at the incoming limb. None of these options is particularly attractive (and this is why facing someone intent on killing you with a knife is not something you want to do).

This is a quick swivel of the body in which the drawing hand goes
behind the body as the guard hand comes forward. The weapon
hand then comes forward as the guard hand comes back.

While slashes are nothing you wish to suffer if you can help it, a much greater risk of death is presented by thrusts into the body. A thrust into your vital organs can kill you. A slash can kill you as well, of course, but unless you are hit in an artery, a thrust represents more immediate danger. As such, the push knife is a weapon designed to kill you.

Respect it and understand it to better defend against it.

That debate is moot where knives are concerned, specifically because — with rare exceptions — restrictions on handguns aren’t based on the dimensions of the gun. To “stay legal,” a handgun owner rarely needs to consider the physical proportions of the weapon. He or she is more concerned with licensing for the firearm as such.

Knife owners know, however, that their blades are restricted often based purely on blade size. We are assuming, for purposes of this article, that you cannot or will not carry a firearm for whatever reason, or that you desire a knife to use as a backup weapon. We will further assume that you have selected the knife as a defensive implement as well as a utility tool. Finally, we will assume that you work in an environment that demands the discretion of a “mouse knife,” or that you operate under legal restrictions on blade length that leave only tiny knives as options.

How does one get the most defensive use out of a very small knife? You must recognize it for what it is: a cutting implement that, regardless of blade length, can slash, sever, and lacerate to the depth of its cutting edge.

Hock Hochheim, in his The Knife Fighting Encyclopedia, describes an incident in which a man was killed by another man armed with a two-inch pocketknife. The blade pierced the victim’s heart just far enough to be lethal. This, however, is the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, the larger your knife, the more effective it is as a fighting tool (up to a point). That’s just a fact. No sane person would choose to fight with a two-inch blade when a five-inch blade was an option. It stands to reason that thrusting techniques are increasingly less advisable, then, as your blade shrinks in size.

For that matter, the design of many small knives precludes thrusting. No, for our “mouse knife” defensive theory, we must focus on cutting, slashing techniques in recognition of the small knife’s design limitations.

We won’t get into drawing and cutting too specifically here. Your small knife could be anything from a neck knife to a Spyderco Cricket. It could be a fixed-blade or it could be a folder. No matter what it is or how you carry it, practice deploying it. Practice opening tiny folders and gain an appreciation for the challenges of opening and holding securely a very small knife. If your little blade is slippery to the touch, apply grip- or friction-tape. You should also practice palming the knife (concealing it with your hand) and deploying it from that position, if applicable.

Tiny knives are excellent tools for giving you an advantage in tight quarters and at close range. Think of them as a means of growing claws. Fight as you would normally fight at close range, but know that each strike with one of your “paws” will rend flesh and draw blood.

The way you grip your small knife will depend largely on its design. I prefer the “modified saber” grip for a knife like my Cricket, which is wide and flat and lends itself to this thumb-stabilized grip.

The Spyderco Cricket, great for discreet office carry.

The specifics are really up to you and your individual fighting style or system. Armed with a tiny knife, you must keep in mind that you have almost no additional reach and cannot perform thrusts to much effect. Tailor your responses to these limitations.

Given what I’ve just said, I will now admit that there is an exception to the rule. If your small knife does not facilitate slashing (the most utility can be gained by choosing one that does), you can still use it to deliver rapid poking attacks. Picture being stabbed repeatedly with a pencil stub. It might not kill you, depending on its length, but you would find it… deterring. Small punch daggers, neck knives, and other short thrusting tools can be jabbed like mad into an attacker’s extremities. The defender pumps his or her arm like a jackhammer in executing the technique.

Diminutive Cold Steel push dagger.

Small knives are not ideal for self-defense and would be few martialists’ first choices. They have a surprising amount of power, however, and may be the only equalizer available in some situations. Do not dismiss them.

A tiny knife is still a knife and must be treated with respect.