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The Cutting Edge: Strider’s DB

Concealable Crowbar With An
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Edge
By Erick Gelhaus
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From time to time, circumstances arise that result in a solid

piece of gear being developed.

In the mid-1990s, a California officer—whose jurisdiction

included three interstates, an international airport, major truck
stops and a rail line—identified the need for a new tool. This
tool needed to be capable of prying and impromptu breaching,
yet functional as an edged weapon.

The officer’s search warrant gear had a Strider WB fixed-blade

knife on it. The shape was close to what he wanted, but the WB
was too big for uniformed carry. The dimensions of the trauma
plate pocket were used as a guide for size. Knowing exactly
what he wanted, he designed a new tool that would meet the
above criteria.
 One USAF Air Rescue Squadron purchased several DBs for their
enlisted aircrew prior to heading to Afghanistan in late 2001. Note
that “RESCUE” is stamped into the blade. Got to love a blade that
can fix a jammed mini-gun! Photo courtesy Oliver Wingate.

At this point I need to insert a caveat. The designer is a friend,

Darryl Bolke, a retired Ontario, California police officer. Darryl is
responsible for an extensive edged weapons program at his
former agency and is a very sentient tactical thinker.

Darryl worked with Duane Dwyer, half of the Strider Knives

team, on the design of the new knife. Duane’s background
includes service as a Marine and a commercial hardhat diver.

Duane previously studied historical daggers and fixed blades. He

looked at the work of Fairbairn and Sykes (Shanghai Police), Lt.
Col. Sam Yeaton (USMC), Col. Rex Applegate, and blades used by
the Marine Raider Battalions and the 1st Special Service Force.
Duane credits his views on knives to a Marine Corps officer who
said, “A knife is a problem-solving tool.”

Neither Darryl nor Duane wanted a folder. They felt that a folder
would give visual and auditory indications when deployed.
Duane did not recall seeing a grip cut with a reverse angle before
this project. The full-length tang was specifically cut for a
reverse angle grip. A benefit is that, when the knife is handled in
a point-forward grip, this angle cut rests the tang in the palm.
The end result was the Strider DB (Darryl Bolke).

One of the first production DBs, this blade might have one or two
stories to tell.

The DB is made of Crucible S30V steel. Duane views S30V (14%

chromium and 4% molybdenum) as the best choice for this blade
given the environment and user—the war fighter.

A deep choil was added to prevent the hand from running

forward onto the blade when thrusting, rather than relying on a
hand guard.

The tanto-style blade was chosen for its monstrous tip strength.
This tanto tip blade reaches full thickness within the first 3/9-
inch. I compared a DB to a spear point Strider I carried overseas.
The spear point blade did not reach its full thickness for an inch
and a half.

The front end of the blade is not necessarily “dull,” but it won’t
be shaving sharp. The forward edge gets driven through objects
and needs to be ground at an angle that will not chip during
penetration and prying. Most cutting by the Americanized tanto
is done where the two angles come together on the bottom of
the blade in the front. This little triangle cuts as well as the long
edge on the bottom of the blade. Duane has said, “You don’t
shave with a splitting maul, and you don’t split logs with a
straight razor.” The mission drives the design.

Original prototype is in the center. On the left, top to bottom, are an

early production version, the Gunner Grip and a prototype DB-L
made for a firearms manufacturer. On the right, a current production
model, one of the Ontario PD Air Support Unit models and the DB-L
NSN as issued in the USMC Assaulters Kit.

Ontario PD’s chief helicopter pilot and chief mechanic took one
of their helicopters on a post-maintenance test flight. At 70 feet
above the ground, their engine quit on them. They could not
auto-rotate and crashed. They hit hard enough that the
seatbelts had tightened up and they could not un-strap
themselves. While the helo remained upright, it caught fire.
Fortunately, nearby citizens assisted in extracting the crew.

In another incident, a Hughes 500 suffered another hard,

unplanned landing. The doors wedged shut, trapping the crew
until the doors could be pried open.

Ontario PD tested the problems with the doors on a Hughes

500. With a DB, they were quickly able to force the door out of
the frame. Now, the OPD Air Support Unit issues a DB to all
aircrew. They also require that they be carried when flying.

One of the nastier stoppages an AR platform can suffer from is the

“Type Ate.” Using a stout fixed blade, like the DB, can make clearing
this a whole lot easier.

The knife’s usage is not limited to law enforcement aviation. In

2001, a U.S. Air Force air rescue squadron purchased DBs for
their deployment to Afghanistan. One was issued to every
enlisted air crewman—flight engineer, aerial gunner and para-
rescueman. Each blade was stamped with RESCUE and a serial
number.

These knives flew throughout Operation Enduring Freedom,

including Operation Anaconda. Several of these crews were
awarded Silver Stars and Distinguished Flying Crosses as a
result of their efforts in the fight. One aerial gunner who carried
a DB-RESCUE described it as a “small, compact powerhouse
with a wide range of uses” and said the air crewmen carried the
DBs religiously.

These blades were used to clear stoppages in various weapons

systems such as the mini-guns and heavy machineguns. In the
case of the mini-gun, broken bolts blocked the elliptical cam
path. A DB was used to pry tool the barrels along their regular
firing path, until the broken pieces could be cleared out. The
aerial gunner said another flight engineer had broken a different
maker’s custom blade trying the same technique on a similar
problem.

USMC selected the DB-L for inclusion in their Assaulters Kit. As a

result it was assigned a National Stock Number (NSN). Some blades
marked with the NSN were sold commercially. The sheath, included,
is made by CSM Gear.

One reason for the popularity of the DB in the aviation

community is that it is small enough to carry at all times,
especially in the confined spaces of a rotary wing aircraft, yet it
can still be used to cut oneself out of a “flaming beer can” and
then used as an E&E (escape and evasion) tool.

Not every use is as high profile as helo extrication. Lower profile

uses are far more frequent. Need to keep a suspect’s partially
opened door open? How about sliding the blade in between the
door and the frame on the hinge side? Or those locked stash
containers that no one ever seems to have the keys to (or so I’ve
been told)? With proper application of a DB, the containers open
up quickly.

One evening, Darryl handled a welfare check on a female

thought to be suicidal. Looking through a window into the
second floor apartment, he saw what appeared to be a staged
“death scene.” He pried the window frame and popped the lock,
entering the apartment. Inside, Darryl found neither a body nor
anything further out of the ordinary. He secured the window and
departed via the door. Far less damage than booting the door.

In this 1999 photo, Pat Rogers was running a DB on the shroud of

his holster (he still does). It was not just for cutting back then, and it
isn’t now either. Photo courtesy Patrick A. Rogers.

There are a few variations on the basic DB design. Others

include the following:

Some versions made with blade thicknesses of 3/16” and 1/8”.

These were too thin to be used like the standard thickness
blades and are no longer made.

The GB is a folding variant for those who could not carry a fixed
blade on duty due to policy issues.

The EB-DB had a larger, fatter blade with a DB shaped and G10
covered handle.

The DB-4×4 has a 4” handle and a 1” choil with a 4” blade that

has almost no angle to its front. Few exist, as they were done
for use by an entity needing a mission-specific pry tool.
The DB-L was intended to be openly carried. It is 8 1⁄4” long with
a blade length of 4 1/8th”. Originally these were done at the
request of an employee at a firearms manufacturing company.

Next is the DB-L NSN. NSN stands for National Stock Number,
which this model has. It means the item in question can be
ordered through the supply system. This version has the actual
stock number stamped on the spine and it is part of the USMC
Assaulters Kit.

Finally there is the DB-GG, a standard DB with Gunners Grips

scales instead of Para-cord wrap. The grips are made of G10.
Very few of these exist. The reason for the G10 scales on the
DB-L is interesting. The Marine Corps specifications called for a
service life that would exceed that listed as the serviceable life
of 550-pound test parachute cord. Organic material could not be
used because of rotting or absorbing fluids.

Darryl is now working with Strider on a Law Enforcement

specific line. Two projects are in the works. The current plan is
that designs will come in tiered versions to meet certain price
points.

The DB was intended to be a good, solid general-purpose knife

that could easily be concealed. Within those parameters, Darryl
designed and Duane executed one heck of a tool. Looking
around the user community, I know I am not the only one who
thinks this way. Suggested retail is $250.00.

[Having referenced Operation Anaconda, all Americans should be

aware of the bravery displayed in that battle. The aerial gunner
mentioned in the article recommended the book None Braver for the
Air Force perspective of the early war in Afghanistan. Two other
books, Not A Good Day To Die and Roberts Ridge, focus on Operation
Anaconda.]

SOURCE:

Strider Knives
Dept. S.W.A.T.
120 N. Pacific St. Unit L-7
San Marcos, CA 92069
(760) 471-8275
www.striderknives.com

Tags: March 2008

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