Cold Steel's Nightshade Karambit is just one of ten models of both classic knives and strictly Cold Steel inventions now available with absolutely no steel. Instead of high carbon steel blades, the Karambit and its counterparts are constructed of a new fiberglass reinforced plastic called Grivory, with grips of reliable and well-proven Kraton.
The qualities Cold Steel touts as good reasons to own the Nightshade Karambit include total immunity to rust and corrosion as well as resistance to UV damage, a common weakness with synthetic construction. Inexpensive and functional, the Karambit can be stashed here and there around the home as an emergency weapon. Even if you've been disarmed, something sharp would be close at hand with a Grivory arsenal secreted in the nooks and crannies of your castle.
Low cost certainly makes this feasible, but those of us accustomed to heavyweight steel tools may be skeptical. Cold Steel did cut back on the testing challenges of these Grivory weapons, but considering that the blades and tangs are plastic, the potential for havoc is still fairly impressive. Stacks of cardboard show that reasonable penetration without serious blade damage is possible, but the blades don't excel at cutting. Grivory edges are shaped, not sharp.
Clearly there's self defense potential in the Grivory and Kraton Nightshade Karambit, with a four-inch long claw blade and a 4-1/2-inch Kraton-covered handle with pinky finger retainer ring. As an everyday tool, it's only a letter opener, but you could count on it in an emergency situation -- at least once.
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