Meet Tamara

Some of you will read this and think I'm paranoid. Of course, you probably think I'm paranoid anyway because I carry a concealed pistol. Oh well.

Anywayz, earlier in the week an article was brought to my attention by Tamara Keel, the gunnie Patron Saint of Snark. After I read her post, I read that article, and then I read on a couple other blogs (whose names escape me at the moment, sorry gents) about how someone had tried to forcibly disarm them from behind.

All these posts got me to thinking, "What would I do in a situation like this?" After I thought about it some I consulted with my mother, who despite her age is a third-degree black belt in Shotokan karate. We both decided that the best course of action would be as follows:

1. Grab my holster with my right hand to move the butt of the pistol against my body. This makes it difficult to remove the pistol from the holster since my waist is now in the way of the draw.
2. If possible, use my elbow to lock the guy's arm. 
3. With my left hand, draw a knife. 
4. Rotate to my right. This will probably break my opponent's grip on my gun. Use momentum to power knife attack to opponent's face or neck. 
5. Use whatever means necessary to remove opponent from my immediate area, allowing me to draw my pistol. 

A few practice sessions confirmed this. The only problem was that I had no fixed-blade knife I could draw and use with my weak hand. Therefore, like a proper girl, I went shopping for accessories.

I originally thought about getting a karambit of some kind, because they did exactly what I wanted and looked mean to boot. However, karambits are big, expensive, and (allegedly) useful only with specialized training. That's when someone -- I think it was guest contributor Jeff W. -- suggested I look into a Ka-Bar TDI.

Oh my, yes. This will do nicely: less expensive than a karambit, expressly designed for exactly what I want, and it's law-enforcement issue to boot. So I went ahead and ordered one.

Imagine my pleasant surprise, then, when my choice was blessed by none other than St. Tamara, who said "Kabar TDI is a fine knife, and specifically designed for defending gun grabs. Don't worry that it doesn't have any mystic woo-woo. ;)"

Well then. Not only did I make the right choice, but clearly this is some form of divine providence, as the woman who got me thinking about it approved of my decision. Obviously, my only course of action was to name the knife Tamara.


(My guns are boys because they are big and loud and, let's face it, phallic. But knives, swords -- anything sharp, really -- are girls. This is because while it's easy to make a boy go bang, females require skill and technique. Also, they'll cut you if you fuck with them.)


So this is Tamara, my new EDC knife:

Pointy!

And this is her with Oleg, my EDC pistol. Don't they make a lovely couple?

Black makes it more tactical.

Hopefully both Tam and Oleg will understand that naming my tools after them is meant as praise and not mockery. I have nothing but the deepest respect for them both.