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Every once in a while, though, something comes along whose design is so unique, so compelling, that I have to look twice. Or three times. And then, you know, I've just GOTTA have it. |
I'm a practical woman. I lead an extremely full life, wearing dozens of hats as the occasion demands, and I've never seen the virtue in spending decades working at perfecting ideal karate movements when I could be searching out defense training I can use right now. I tend to like stuff that works for me, quick and dirty, and over the years I've trained in a variety of techniques so that I'd have an assortment of skills to put into my survival bag of tricks.
It's not usually about hardware for me. I've acquired my share of exotic blades, it's true (I have several swords and I went far out of my way to take a couple of classes with Steve Tarani and to buy one of his folding Karambits after seeing him work), but generally speaking, it's a plain old Spyderco Endura I've got clipped to my belt, and it's guile I use as my first line of defense. Every once in a while, though, something comes along whose design is so unique, so compelling, that I have to look twice. Or three times. And then, you know, I've just GOTTA have it.
I'm talking about Richard Ryan's new "Raptor Talon," manufactured by BladeTech. Steven Dick asked if I'd be interested in writing up a review of it for this magazine. "Another knife?" I thought. "Eh." And then I saw a picture of it. And then I read up on it a little bit. And then I looked at my schedule and said, "Uh, yeah, sure, Steve, I think I can fit it in..."
I knew that Richard Ryan ran a dojo of sorts-okay, a training facility-called Dynamic Combat, in Phoenix, Arizona, but the first class featuring the Raptor Talon was going to be held in November at the Gunsite Training Center in Chino Valley, Arizona. Gunsite's primarily a shooting school, and I've taken a number of courses there, so I knew my way in and out. As for the Raptor training class? Well, I pretty much figured that I could put up with whatever Fancy Dan moves Richard might have for two days, in order to get my hands on a Talon.
No Fancy-Dan Moves!
There weren't any Fancy-Dan moves. Richard and his cohort, Yavapai County SWAT Sergeant John Hutchison, both with heavy backgrounds in tactical martial arts, were teaching what they call the Talon Defense System-"reality-based" moves-in a way that I haven't seen since I first encountered Krav Maga. Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing and the same type of shoes that you'd wear on the street. Are you a little out of shape? Oh, well. Work on that, but in the meantime, here's the Talon Defense System (TDS) triad and the reasoning behind it; and here's how you could apply it, right away, this minute if you had to, in your own defense, regardless of your age or the shape you're in.
John and Richard spent quite a bit of time the first morning discussing the concept of the Force Continuum, which ranges from Least Force to Most Force Expended. The first step, of course, involves spotting the threat, and they focused on ways that you can train yourself to recognize potential trouble ahead of time-early enough, optimally, to avoid it, and therefore, to avoid any confrontation, armed or otherwise. ("You know, I really don't think I need to go down that dark alley...") If trouble becomes unavoidable, however, ("Uh-oh, a challenging Bad Person is coming out of that dark alley and I have nowhere to flee"), then you try "Confrontation Management."
You use your voice, your mannerisms, and your body language to diffuse the situation, or, perhaps more importantly, to disguise the fact that you think you have options if your Con/Man pose doesn't work. After that comes "Unarmed Defensive Action" using the Talon Defense System triangle block, which protects eyes, ears and vitals, including your brain. Then there's "Unarmed Counter-Offensive Action" (a shove, a palm strike, a carotid chop);"Armed Defensive Action" (accessing your blade or stick to ward off blows); and finally, "Armed Counter-Offensive Action" (going after the malefactor with the weapon(s) of your choice in order to bring the attack to a stop).
 Types of Fighters
John and Richard also spent a fair amount of time discussing the types of fighters that would likely attack you, sorting them into three basic categories: the "Precision Fighter" (a person who's had training in some form of combat system (i.e. who has a recognizable approach); the "Artless Fighter" (someone who has no particular technique, but can punch hard, bear hug, kick, or whatever); and the "Erratic Fighter" (someone who just goes nuts on you-hits, kicks, gouges, wrestles, and everything else at once). In all cases, they talked about the need to shield, to put something hard in front of your most vital areas-hence, their TDS triangle of forearms and bone. You need to be able to see, breathe, and think in order to ward off an attack.
They also talked about the key to a violent encounter, which is, as quickly as possible, to get violent in return. The goal is not to be stylish or to focus on reacting well to the assailant, but to end the fight as fast as you can. "When you pull the trigger, go," Richard said at one point, and "Stop the attacker, not the attack;" was one of John's many quotable remarks. Their years of practical experience and the thought they'd put into developing their system were evident throughout the two-day class. I thought this was a very useful, very quickly assimilated set of lessons that works well for defensive armed or unarmed conflict, and yes, I'd highly recommend Richard Ryan, John Hutchison and Dynamic Combat's Talon Defense System training for yourself or for loved ones.
Raptor Talon
As for the review of the "Raptor Talon" folding knife itself-well, you already know I'm enamored. I bought myself one of the first-run Talons as an early Christmas gift while I was at Dynamic Combat's TDS class at Gunsite. I love the way this knife fits in my hand when it's open, and the definitive angle at which it presents the blade edge and tip. The serrated/notched horn where the thumb naturally presses and the partially serrated liner-lock piece on the opposite side under the index finger both work particularly well as control points. I've found that I'm not worrying, even subliminally, about my hand getting slick and slipping off the knife while in use. I particularly like the easy way I can use the inside of the horn to flip out the blade as I draw it, and I'm grateful for the extra "anti-cut" rounded inch of the underside of the blade.
The premise is that should the liner-lock fail and the blade start to close under pressure, I'll still keep my fingers (to which, you know, I'm attached). It also creates another bracing point for my hand, and so would keep my fingers from running up onto the blade if my thumb should, for any reason, slip off its position on the serrated horn. Beyond feeling great in my hand when I hold it (and looking so fine), the Raptor Talon's a well-thought-out knife.
All right, so the Raptor Talon's very ergonomically designed, not to mention aesthetically pleasing, but really, what's it good for? Is it just another pretty folder in the overcrowded knife field? Another oddly shaped blade to purchase and then leave lying around, idle, in your weapons drawer? Not so. Knives need to be useful for a variety of purposes-there's that practicality aspect again-so besides its obvious self-defense function, I've been told by people who hunt that they can see the Raptor Talon as a great skinning knife out in the field. Me, I had no fish to scale or bucks to skin during my Talon trials, but I tested it out by chopping chicken that was fresh from the grocery store; I sliced twine, cut cord, and even-oh, blasphemy opened cardboard boxes with it, and it worked excellently for all. A utility tool!
It's true that the Talon's not quite as comfortable carrying as I'd hoped it would be. Much was made at the class about how well adapted the shape is to hip-pocket carry, with the curving side particularly suited to the hip-joint fold that occurs when you're bending or sitting. Me, I tend towards appendix carry rather than hip-pocket carry, with the knife tucked into the waistband of my sweatpants or shorts, so the sharp horn jabbed me periodically while I was wearing it. That likely wouldn't be a problem for most hip-pocket carriers, and it's notable that the Talon comes with four sets of pre-drilled holes so that you can easily swap the knife clip around to carry the Raptor Talon crescent-side up or down, right-handed or left, whichever suits you. Because of the appendix carry, though, the horn's gotten caught on my clothing a number of times when I've been testing its quickness of draw.
I tend to agree with Richard and John that speed-drawing has no particular tactical value - I generally count on stealth draw, myself-but the clothing-snag issue is something to be aware of, and to plan out ahead of time. None of this was serious enough to gi ve me pause, and all of it, I'm sure, is fixable as I adjust to the differences in the Talon shape from that of my Spyderco, and experiment more with its easy acquisition.
My only real difficulty with the Raptor Talon now, is that my husband's decided he wants it. I understand that, truly I do, and I try to be a good wife, self-sacrificing, caring, but, hey, you know, if you've GOTTA have one, go get your own! TK
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