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The ARK—or “Always Ready Knife™—is a purpose-designed personal-defense knife conceived by U.S. Army combat veteran John Shirley and his friend Sam Owens. While deployed to Afghanistan, Shirley learned that an alarming number of U.S. personnel were falling victim to sexual assault, particularly while showering. Drawing from his knowledge of the Japanese martial arts and with the help of Owens’ skills as a craftsman, they developed the ARK as a lightweight self-defense tool that can literally be carried anywhere.

The heart of the ARK is its deeply curved clip-point blade ground from H-1® steel—a nitrogen-based alloy that is extremely corrosion resistant. The curved edge packs impressive cutting power into the compact blade and the clip-point profile ensures a strong, extremely sharp point. The ARK’s fiberglass-reinforced-nylon (FRN) handle is molded directly onto the tang and features Spyderco’s proven Bi-Directional Texturing™ pattern and an index-finger groove to guarantee a secure grip—even with wet hands.

To ensure universal carry, the ARK includes an injection-molded polymer neck sheath with a breakaway ball chain. Best of all, the ARK and its sheath together weigh only 2.0 ounces (57 grams), so you’ll hardly know it’s there—until you need it.