Professional Knife Fighting Rig $97.00

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If you’ve read Bloody Iron: Practical Knife Fighting you know there are only three proper ways to carry a fighting knife concealed: in the small of the back parallel to the floor (the way the Spanish Conquistadors carried theirs, though in the open), between the shoulder blades and, if you are right-handed, in the left forearm, handle down, under your sleeve or coat.

Now go on the Internet and see if you can find such a rig. We did, and we couldn’t.

Ergo, we built our own. Our "up-the-sleeve" professional fighting knife rig consists of one-quarter inch leather with Velcro fastening straps. The knife is a double-edged 5½-inch blade (you can slash in both directions) with a checkered composition handle (a non-slip surface to help you maintain your grip when it’s soaked with blood). The entire rig weighs less than 10 ounces.

A Velcro tab on the knife handle locks onto a Velcro strip on the scabbard. The knife is held securely in place with the Velcro, with one exception: there is no faster way to get a sheathed knife into position for use once you tug on the handle.

The sheathed knife can also act as a piece of armor to block clubs and the like or, if you really want to ruin someone’s day, hit him with that part of your forearm.

In most urban locations you will need a concealed weapon permit to wear this rig.