After attending a November 2016 program development course, which focused on one’s self survivability while engaged in close quarter, fully entangled situations while fighting in unorthodox positions and environments, it became crystal clear that a purpose built, highly concealable, every day carry (EDC), fixed blade knife was necessary to help survive these violent encounters. After scouring the internet, it became apparent that there was nothing on the market that truly “checked all of the required boxes”. There are plenty of knives out there that are great options for self-defense, but they were usually adapted from their intended design, they are either too large to truly carry concealed every day or they are too small to obtain a full indexed grip the first time while deploying. Anyone that has at least a medium sized hand, who has picked up a small knife, has recognized the fact that their hand (skin) is very close to the cutting edge, especially when squeezed with the amount of pressure they would use in a fight for their life.

So, while on vacation in 2017, we began the process of designing a true self-defense, EDC, purpose-built fixed blade knife and accompanying deployment system, built from the ground up based on the following elements:

• Fixed blade
• <6” Overall Length (OAL) Dual blade with 2” blade
• Clearance between skin and cutting edge
• Concealable behind a 1.5” belt
• Downward draw: An advantage of not having to lift a cover garment to clear the knife and reducing the chance of opponent to “trap” your hand under your cover garment while the blade is already drawn.
• Ambidextrous
• Penetrating and slicing characteristics
• Flat design:  Reduce the risk of knife rolling in hand under extreme leverage or pressure and slick conditions, like sweat or blood.
• Ability to deploy it naturally and repeatedly w/o adjustment of grip
• Lightweight and thin for true EDC
• Razor sharp, cut on contact 
• Low maintenance
• Flexible mounting solutions
• Compatible with OWB, IWB and AIWB carry
• Natural extension to your hand

Why is the LexT Different?
Since this is a purpose-built knife, every design element was selected for a reason.

Innovative Design: The LexT measures approximately six inches in length with a curved handle and duel broadhead blades.  The top blade measures approximately 2 inches with the bottom blade measuring approximately 2.25 inches. 

Broadhead double-edged: The broadhead arrow design is literally time tested- broadheads have exceptional cut on contact characteristics while delivering devastating kinetic energy transfer to penetrate thick outer clothing. 

Quillons: Protrusions that stop your fingers from sliding forward onto the blade; no matter which hand or which grip you are utilizing; we have incorporated 3 redundant hand stops to minimize the possibility of your hand making contact with cutting edge.

Jimping: The aggressive notches to prevent your fingers from sliding while promoting accurate indexing.

AEB-L stainless steel:  Selected for its excellent edge retention with thinner blades and the corrosion resistance. 

Finish and Coating: Stealth gray matte Cerakote® finish selected to reduce light reflection and proven industry standard durability of Cerakote.

Taslon wrap: Taslan is a modern, high-tech, woven polyester fabric that is quick drying and stain-resistant. It is strong, durable and will not become smooth like 550 cord or twine ensuring a secure grip regardless of what substances is on your hand (blood, sweat, oil, etc). 

Deployment system: This is more than just a Kydex® sheath. Most standard sheaths for concealable knifes require the knife to be deeply inserted into the sheath in order to create positive retention or some mechanical locking system to be used. A micro sized knife requires regripping since it is virtually impossible to obtain a full purchase on the handle due to the sheath. Our design embeds a small but powerful rare earth magnet into the core sheath sandwiched behind a third layer of very thin Kydex. This magnet, in conjunction with form factor molding, is what allows strong positive retention while offering a smooth and mechanically frictionless draw.  Additionally, the design promotes full grip purchase by assisting in perfect indexing with the first touch to aggressive jimping.

Carry options: The LexT was designed to be worn or mounted almost anywhere with six rivet points to connect, the supplied soft loop strap, converted into a neck knife, use most commercially available EDC clips, use it as a boot knife or attached to molle or a shoulder strap using shock cord.

Trainer: The LexTR was designed to be almost identical to the LexT except for a few specific elements:

• Blaze orange CeraKote provides for immediate identification purposes when training in a group.
• Greater thickness increases the surface area when striking “BOB” or a heavy bag and reduces damage to training equipment.
• Shortened training “blade” to encourage full extension when training. This promotes the compression of body tissue while obtaining full penetration during a real life encounter.

So how did we get Krooked?
We knew we wanted the knife’s primary carry position to be centerlined, concealed between the users pants and behind their belt and be accessed with a downward draw. We knew we wanted a blade to run parallel with the waistband/belt but still leave the grip accessible for a naturally indexed grip. We knew that we needed a 2” blade with a 6” OAL, yet still have clearance between your hand and the cutting edge for larger hands. 

We realized during our first conversation back in 2017, that conventional, straight line knife designs would not work for our specifications and application. There was no way to take a 6” knife with a 2” blade and make it work, so after almost two years and 14 design iterations using cardboard and plastic, we ground our first blade out of 1095 steel. It looked strange but it felt right… It was -KROOKED- and the Lex Talionis (LexT) was born.

Using version #14, we begin to cut (thrust) and slash different things from beer cans and leather work gloves to different organic mediums. We were impressed with the performance. In March of 2019, we shared a LexT prototype with a small group of law enforcement professionals for testing and evaluation. Their comments could have killed the effort, but their positive reviews on our design inspired us to keep going. 

Lex Talionis: the law of retaliation, whereby a punishment resembles the offense committed in kind and degree…”Eye for an Eye.”

This is the ideology behind the Krooked Knife Company’s LexT. We designed a self-defense knife that is conveniently carried, out of sight and out of mind, until the time comes when you must protect yourself and your loved ones by enacting law of retaliation.… We produced an escape tool that will allow you inflict a punishment for the violent act that has been committed against you.

On September 11, 2019, the Krooked Knife Company was established in Georgia, USA.  The Krooked Knife Company is proud to design and make products using consciously selected MADE IN THE USA materials. Every knife and deployment system are crafted, ground, heat treated, jimped, molded, riveted and buffed by hand. There will never be two knives or deployment systems that are identical.  

The Krooked Knife Company donates a percentage of our annual sales to Law Enforcement,  Military / Veteran,  and First Responder organizations.