Product Review --belt buckle push dagger from Burlsusa

Greetings, I seem to be on a self defense kick lately, Expect at least a couple book reviews, but today I'll start with a product review. (Yet, as always, if you like what I say here, consider purchasing a book or maybe two. Check them out on my Peter Huston author's page at Amazon.com . Thanks.) 

Legal of no, push daggers are pretty cool. By that, I mean basically a knife with the handle on sideways, designed to be held in the fist with the blade pointing out over the knuckles. Traditionally a hidden, hold out weapon designed for close combat, these were considered a weapon of Missisipi riverboat and old west gamblers as much as anyone else. Several are available from various manufacturers, including Cold Steel, a company that generally provides good quality for a fair price. 

Instructional materials on how to use a push dagger are available from http://www.jamesakeating.com/  or Brian VanCise at Instinctive Response Training.  I've seen both of these and feel comfortable recommending them. 

Here's a photo showing how the blade slides inside the belt buckle. 

Now, be advised, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the biggest drawback to push daggers for self defense is that they often illegal and even when not illegal attract attention from people who do not approve of carrying weapons in a way that a more mundane knife might not. This is especially true as most push daggers are double edged, and double edged knives are often illegal. If one is forced to defend oneself and uses a push dagger, you may expect questions to be asked as to why one was carrying a weapon and thus could be perceived as armed and ready for trouble, perhaps even looking for it. 

Having said all that, and been all mature and sensible, let me also say push daggers are cool and fun to own. 'Nuff said.

Yet for years now, there's one kind of push dagger I have been looking for, and that is one that doubles and hides as a belt buckle. In other words, one where the blade slid and hid inside a belt while the handle of the knife doubled as a belt buckle. Definitely a concealed weapon, no ifs and ands or buts about it, therefore definitely illegal in many states and localities, and therefore, simultaneously, both extremely problematic as a self defense tool, but way cool as a novelty item. Why anyone who owned one could feel like James Bond! It could easily bring back childhood memories of the Marx Wild West 12" action figure, Sam Cobra, a cowboy villain with a hidden weapon in his plastic belt buckle. (Okay, it was a derringer, not a push dagger, but whatever.) 

Another photo of the belt showing the snaps and the way the blade slides inside the belt. 

A view of the inside of the belt showing the snaps.
Instead of a working buckle, the belt is held in place by a snap on the right hip.

For years, a company named Bowen manufactured and advertised them.  While I never actually saw or purchased one, my understanding is that over time their service and perhaps quality declined and eventually they went out of business. Alas! Gone forever, it seems, and with it my chance to buy a push dagger that could easily be disguised as a belt buckle. 

Then I learned of a company named Burls. Burls advertised such an item, and sold it on their website at burlsusa.com  Burlsusa advertised exactly what I wanted. ( https://www.burlsusa.com/product-page/belt-buckle-knife )  Having missed my chance on a Bowen knife, I had to get one of these. (For the record, I paid for mine standard price.  I did not tell them I was writing this review. No promotional reward or consideration was offered me nor asked for. Believe it or not, while I have written books, remember you can buy my books, I am far, far, far from a household name. ) 

So what did I get. I got what appears to be a pretty good belt. You can check it out below. Note the studs on the side. Also their customer service seems pretty good. My original belt was too small, so I requested a replacement one size larger. They not only sent the new one quickly, but they gave me a choice of how to handle the refund and replacement. Either I could send back the first one and have a second one sent when it arrived, or they could put a second one on my credit card, send it immediately, and then refund the cost of one belt when the first one arrived. I chose the second option and everything  went smoothly. The belt even came in that small burlap bag and the knife in a cardboard box. Nice packaging, and both serve well as long term storage for the items.

The Burlsusa belt and knife, notice the studs on the hip. (apologies for the pandemic lockdown gut.) 

Another shot of the studs on the hip

The studs on the hip are actually snaps. They hold the belt in place as while the knife hides as a buckle, in fact, it is not a functional belt buckle.  As the blade slides in and out of the end of the belt without friction, it cannot provide tension or work to keep the belt in place and hold one's pants up. 

I had wondered about this. After all, what good is it, really, if one finds oneself in a tight situation, yank a frightening knife out of nowhere, flash it around to frighten and disorient your enemies, and then, alas, your pants fall down around your ankles making you unable to move quickly or do any footwork unless you interrupt what you are doing to pull them back up, then continuing the fight with one of your hands already out of commission as you use it to hold your pants up.  

Here you can begin to see how the knife hides inside the belt, disguised as a buckle.

                At this point, the belt is held in place by the snap, not the buckle as there is no buckle. 

The knife can be drawn without the belt falling down.

Sliding forward as it is drawn.

And how is the knife itself? Is it good quality. Truth be told, not great, but serviceable if need be. It doesn't have a great heft or feel and just doesn't feel like a real weapon. The curve on the handle that allows it to pose as a belt buckle unfortunately also gives it a very strange feel when gripped in one's hand. 

Personally, I would put this entire contraption, while much fun to look at and delightful in many ways, in the category of gimmicks or perhaps last ditch hold-out weapons. While it might make part of a great costume, they fact that this is a real weapon with real sharp edges is likely to cause trouble in that role. But if you need to get in touch with your inner James Bond, or are a collector of strange weapons, then this is something fun to own.