Grayman Knives: The Sub-Saharan

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Straight up, this is the most bad ass knife I've ever had the pleasure of cutting, hacking, or slashing with.

The Sub-Saharan from Grayman knives is made for killing. I searched far and wide but was unable to find a Nazi, communist, or terrorist to sink this blade into. I killed the s**t out of a downed tree for you though to give you an idea of the kind of damage this knife can deal out. The picture above shows the tree after maybe five or six chops on each side. The Sub-Saharan has more in common with a Roman short sword than the type of fixed blade knives that most of us are familiar with.

For comparison, look at the Sub-Saharan next to my Yarborough knife and the Benchmade knife I carried in Iraq; both are completely dwarfed.  Know what you are getting into with this knife, it isn't something you are going to mount on a plate carrier and forget about, much less some wimpy knife you will clip in a pocket until you need it.  This is a heavy knife for heavy duty work.

With a double edged blade and some serious length for penetrating major organs, this is the weapon you want if you have to go to blades or bayonets with the enemy.

If need be, the knife has notches above the hilt to allow you to choke up on the blade for detail work.  My only real critique of the Sub-Saharan is the handle.  Killing is an ugly, messy business, and while I've never experienced it at this kind of close range (David Grossman calls it the "sexual range" in his book, On Killing), I am sure that the enemy is literally going to give you the fight of his life.  In that type of situation, I would like more width to the handle to help keep a grip on it.  As it is, I feel that the thin handle would leave you hard pressed to hold onto and maintain control long enough to kill an opponent.

Mike and Sue at Grayman knives also do custom engraving.  Sorry, no “STMFVI” for this knuckle dragger!

*Update 1, to show the sheath in action.  This picture is from a review I'm working on for the Kifaru ZXR:

Kit Up! contributor Jack Murphy is a former Ranger, Special Forces Soldier and is the author of the military thriller Reflexive Fire.

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