REVIEW: Extrema Ratio Mamba

If it's going to be a Mamba, then a Black Mamba. Ours is one of those. The knife from Extrema Ratio comes in several colors - Desert, Ranger Green, HCS, and Wolf Grey - therefore. Black is tactical and Extrema Ratio is style ...

Long and thin, like a venomous snake. The association is not bad at all. Here are the technical stats of the knife:

The handle is designed in such a way that you can immediately recognize it as an Extrema Ratio, even though it is extremely slim. The material used is Fortrenne. It lies lightly in the hand, is positioned so that it is not gripped with the fist ...

... instead, the thumb is used on the back of the blade, gripping the handle between the remaining fingers. The knife itself has a seamless transition between the blade and handle. The thumb provides grip. It's called Full Tang when the metal also protrudes at the back end, passing through. This can be easily felt.

Here is where the Mamba resides: the knife comes with its own sheath system. Aspis is meant to protect the blade and also serve as a mounting.

Eleven centimeters is the length of the blade, the end is designed in Japanese Tanto style. Two grooves on each side are meant to reduce weight. The knife itself already gives a very light impression through its shape and length.

On the Aspis sheath, there is a unique locking system waiting to be used: press and unlock. Then the Mamba can come out.

The mounting system consists of two closures that are movable on the sheath. Here set on two MOLLE straps. This does not work when the fabric behind is not stiff enough, the Mamba will detach quickly.

Look inside. Here the sheath comes through.

And mounted. A small bar on the sliders fixes the movable mounting system twice.

Test on a MOLLE loop. It works quite well with one, not so securely with two. But even here, the closure ultimately fails under too much pressure. If you don't want to lose your Mamba, you might want to consider an additional securing of the knife or carry it in your pocket.

CONCLUSION: The Mamba is an elegant knife where a bit of (extreme) shape triumphs over function. We would advise against hard impact movements, as the blade quickly slips into the fist. The sheath system does not seem trustworthy to us. If we don't want to lose the beautiful Mamba, it should be additionally secured. Beyond that: those who like Extrema Ratio will love this knife.

You can get the Extrema Ratio Mamba directly from Extrema Ratio or from TacOpsGear. HERE it costs 157 Euro.

EXTREMA RATIO on the internet: www.extremaratio.com