The Northman

The Northman is a small fixed blade knife designed to replace the cutting tool carried in your pocket. Quickly deployable and rugged enough for backcountry use, this blade is also great for combatives. The blade, firesheath, trainer, and storage sheath are included.

Standard, Sterile and Non-Serrated

In addition to the standard serrated and serialized Amtac Blades Northman, we are now able to offer a non-serrated Amtac Blades Northman and a sterile version of both. The sterile version is exactly the same in all other ways but has no serialization or other distinguishing marks. Check product description for availability and expected shipping dates.

Recent Upgrades

The Northman “Standard”

The Northman “Sterile”

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Belt Fire-sheath

Due to demand, we now have a belt version of the fire-sheath available for separate purchase. It has the same features as the Northman pocket fire-sheath with the following modifications:

• Discreet Carry Concepts Mod 1 belt clip
• 7/8 inch high sweat guard to aid in re-sheathing 
• Adjust to your preferred retention level with two screws at the top of the sheath

All Amtac Blades Northman Sheaths

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Replacement Sheaths and Trainers

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Purpose

The Amtac Blades Northman grew out of a need to have a small fixed blade knife in your pocket. I wanted a blade that could handle daily chores of cutting rope (hence the serrated portion of the blade), opening boxes and also be able to handle backcountry jobs like whittling shavings to start a fire. That is its primary purpose.

At the same time I wanted the blade to have an edge geometry that would lend itself to thrusting during combatives. That is it’s secondary purpose. I have now run various Amtac Blades Northman prototypes in my pocket during combative training for the last year.

The more I used it, the more I saw the great combative advantage in being able to quickly deploy a fixed blade from your strong side even when while wearing multiple layers of cold weather clothing.

Combative Application

Violence happens very quickly.

One minute it is business as usual, the next you are in the fight of your life. Adding the Amtac Blades Northman to your strong side front pocket gives you an additional weapon to deploy from a location that is less affected by additional layers of clothing. The Northman is quick to deploy whether you are standing and striking, stand up grappling or if the fight has gone to the ground.

Fire-Sheath

Having the ability to start a fire is part of being responsible and prepared.  If you carry the Northman daily you will always have the tools to do this in your pocket. 

The Northman comes standard with an Amtac Blades Fire-Sheath. 

A ferro rod is molded into the side of the Kydex sheath. The back of the sheath is covered with two pieces of soft velcro, creating a very thin pocket. You can use this pocket to store a micro ziplock bag with tinder, or some cash, a key, etc..

This small, high quality sheath is designed to be carried ambidextrously in your front pocket.

Trainer

The trainer comes with a storage sheath that can be used to hold your live blade while using the trainer.

History

Amtac Blades started as a conversation between myself and my friend the “Northman”.  I wanted a fixed blade knife that would fit in my front pocket to replace the folding knife that was currently filling the role of my cutting tool. Read more here.

Upgrades

Based on countless hours of use and student feedback we have made the following upgrades. First, the spine of the blade will now be square/ more sharp to allow you to use the spine of the blade to strike the ferro rod.

To create a more positive draw stroke, the punyo has been opened up by about 1/16 of an inch.

We also added a little jimping on the top and the bottom towards the rear of the handle.

Lastly, we removed a small amount of material in the handle and were able to lighten the overall weight of the blade by .4oz. Ounces = pounds and every little bit helps.