J. Pickard
Brown Belt
I bought some of these sharkee chalk knives and they are great! So I figured I would give some quick info for anyone else considering these for their training. We got the "tactical folder" model.
The Chalk strip: So far we have used them over a dozen times and they are still holding up great! they have a suede strip along the blade that can be marked with the provided chalk on one side or both. A few of the strips so far have started to fray but it has not affected the ability to hold/transfer the chalk. The company does sell replacement strips as well for if they get worn out. The strip on the blade holds enough chalk for about 4-6 good slashes, or about 3-5 stabs before it needs to be re-chalked. The chalk lasts too, we haven't even gon through a single chalk stick yet and each blade came with one.
The Construction: Its light weight but durable. keeps a good grip even when sweaty making them really difficult to disarm or drop on accident (like a real, quality knife). Ours have been abused pretty well but have no real visible damage. If you get stabbed pretty hard with one, because of their firm construction, it can be a bit painful and leave bruising but I like that because it adds a bit more realism to the training.
The cons: If you are training hard and are all sweaty when marked with the chalk it soaks into clothing making it difficult to get out. I have a white shirt that even after bleaching still has some blue chalk in it. It seems to come out of dark blues and blacks pretty well though. If you slash toward the neck of a sweaty person, the sweat takes off most of the chalk and you need to let the strip dry a bit before re-chalking.
Overall for the price ( I think I paid about $12 per knife) they are totally worth the price. and a lot of fun to use. I can share some pics of ours when I get in today to show what they look like after a month of use if anyone wants to see.
