I bought a pair of these, one for myself and one for my fiancé. They are nice-looking, and decently sharp, and I purchased them purely for aesthetics. We both have small knife collections, and while I have some for decorative purposes, I also know good knives. With that in mind, here are my thoughts ... 1) If you're buying this to display, you're in luck. It has very nice coloring, and it definitely looks kind of cool. The plastic looks good enough, and your friends will remark on it. (The Raptor claw design helps with this.) 2) If you're buying this to use as any kind of practical knife, just don't. The tip will poke holes, and the blade itself will cut paper, packing tape, etc. It will also most definitely cut skin, and because of the design you could badly hurt someone. I'm saying this to make sure you understand this isn't a toy, it's not for play, and absolutely keep it away from young kids. Someone can easily take a trip to the ER if they aren't careful, and it can and will seriously hurt someone if they're jabbed/slashed with it. 3) That said, this is not a self-defense/fighting knife. The tip will break, and the curve is pretty severe, limiting its striking ability. Some will want to say it's a karambit, and while it's sorta-kinda one, I would say it's more the karambit style than anything else. (Someone who's more into Escrima/Kali may disagree, but I think it's a minor point regardless.) If I had to defend myself and this was all I had, of course I'd use it, but my standard pocketknife would be a better choice. 4) Do NOT try and wear this thing around your neck. The sheath doesn't hold the knife firmly, and I imagine if you wore it and jumped up and down the knife would fall out. I could see someone trying to wear it and having it fall out, cutting them, potentially very badly. Remember, when it's got a point like this, it doesn't have to be all that sharp to cause damage. God forbid someone falls on it, because if you landed right, you better hope you're near a hospital ... or else. After reading this (thanks if you did), you may wonder why I'm giving it 4 stars. As I said, it's nice for what it is: An inexpensive, cool-looking knife. Get it to display, to keep on your desk for conversation, give it as a gift for the same reason, and you will be happy. Get it to carry around with you, or to try and defend yourself with, and you will be cursing yourself in no time. Someone with training could probably do serious damage with it, but they would also want a better knife for that purpose.
