KA-BAR LDK

This is the KA-BAR TDI LDK, my newest acquisition. TDI is the Tactical Defense Institute and LDK stands for last ditch knife. It is intended as a backup weapon, for self defense when you can't access any other weapon. It is very small, but seems like it is pretty good quality, which one would expect when buying any knife with KA-BAR written on the side. The knife is made from a single thin piece of steel. It has a flat ground blade and an extremely acute point. It will go right through just about anything softer than the knife itself. It weighs next to nothing and has been riding in my pocket for a week and I can't even feel it in there. the blade is listed as 1.58 inches long and is pretty sharp right out of the box.



One of the scenarios that helped to inspire this type of weapon is the classic "gun retention" situation where someone is attempting to take a pistol away from you, usually when it is in a holster. One idea is that you hold onto the weapon as tight as possible, draw the knife with your weak hand and apply it generously to your assailant until they cease attempting to take your weapon, or until you can back off and draw said weapon. That scenario is mostly for law enforcement types, but as some application to anyone who might be attacked in the street.

The sheath is black glass filled nylon and feels pretty sturdy. It is about the size of a credit card and can be laced into your shoes or boots, or behind a policeman's badge for example. It came with some 550 type cord to wear around the neck, but I considered that a no-go, because you can be strangled on purpose or on accident with strong cord around the neck. I outfitted it with a ball chain, but I didn't care for wearing it around my neck that way either.


I've seen others use different grips, but the the pic below shows what feels more comfortable to me. Middle finger through the hole in the grip, index finger in the "trigger area" and thumb laying across the left face of the knife and onto the serrations along the spine. If you have big sausage fingers, this will not work for you. In fact, if you have real big hands I would recommend that you skip this neat little knife altogether. One thing I like about this type of grip is that it would be very difficult to take it away from me. There is nowhere to grab the weapon that isn't sharp and if you tried a martial arts-style wrist grab you very well could end up with a set of very nasty, deep cuts as the small blade is very easy to move around compared to a big knife.


A pretty neat little knife if you ask me, and one that will likely be in my pocket for well, ever. The LDK usually goes for about $20 US, but I got mine for a song at $11.99, from Midway USA, which is an awesome company. (Hey Larry, how about some free swag for the free advertising?)