SARK

{{About||the author and illustrator|SARK (author)|other uses|Sark (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox weapon

| name = SARK

| origin = United States

| image = EKISark.jpg

| image_size = 200

| caption = Emerson SARK

| type = Folding knife

| is_bladed = yes

| wars = War on Terror, Operation Iraqi Freedom

| designer = Ernest Emerson

| design_date = 1999

| manufacturer = Emerson Knives, Inc.

| production_date = 1999 through present

| number = 3,000+

| variants = P-SARK (pointed tip), NSAR (line cutter on blade spine)

| length = {{convert|8.2|in|mm}}

| part_length = {{convert|3.5|in|mm}}

| blade_type = Hawkbill, 154CM steel

| hilt_type = G-10 laminate and 64AVL Titanium

| sheath_type = Pocket Clip

}}

The SARK (Search and Rescue Knife) or NSAR (Navy Search and Rescue) is a folding knife designed by knifemaker Ernest Emerson for use as a search and rescue knife by the US military.

History

After a helicopter crash in 1999, which resulted in the deaths of six marines and one sailor, the United States Navy performed an assessment of its equipment and decided, among other things, that it needed a new search and rescue knife.{{cite journal|title=SARK Knives by Emerson|journal=Guns Magazine |last=Hopkins|first=Cameron|author-link=Cameron Hopkins|page=82|year=2002|volume=42|issue=1}}

The KA-BAR knives issued to the Special Boat Units (SBUs) had catastrophically failed to cut the marines free from their webbing.Combs, Roger (2004), "Emerson Knives", Knives Illustrated 18 (2): 36–41, 65–69

The Navy went to Emerson Knives, Inc., whose owner, Ernest Emerson, designed and fabricated a working prototype within 24 hours.

The Navy found that the knife met its needs, and the model was dubbed the "SARK" (Search and Rescue Knife).

Design

The SARK is a folding knife with a wharncliffe-style hawkbill blade and blunt tip designed so that a rescuer could cut trapped victims free without stabbing them.

The SARK, PSARK, and NSAR, like all of Emerson's knives, are made in the US.

All three models have a wharncliffe shaped chisel-ground blade that is {{convert|3.5|in|mm}} long and hardened to a Rockwell hardness of 57-59 RC.

The handle is {{convert|4.7|in|mm}} long, making the knife {{convert|8.2|in|mm}} in length when opened.

The blade steel is Crucible's 154CM and is {{convert|0.125|in|mm}} thick. The butt-end of the knife is square-shaped and has a hole for tying a lanyard.

Some models are made with partially serrated blades to aid in the cutting of seatbelts or webbing.{{cite journal|title=Emerson Navy SARK: Dedicated to Saving Lives|first=Dexter| last=Ewing|journal=Knives Illustrated|year=2001|volume=15|issue=6|pages=59–60}}

The handle of the SARK is made of two titanium liners utilizing a Walker linerlock and a double detent as the locking mechanism. Titanium is used due to its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance.

The handle's scales are made from black G-10 fiberglass, although models were made for a few years using green G-10. A pocket clip held in place by three screws allows the knife to be clipped to a pocket, web-gear or MOLLE.{{cite journal|title=NASA and Navy go Emerson|first=Joe| last=Kertzman|journal=Blade|year=2001|volume=28|issue=1|page=43}}

Each model is equipped with Emerson's Wave opening mechanism, a small hook on the spine of the blade designed to catch the edge of a user's pocket, opening the blade as the knife is drawn.{{cite web |title=Self Opening Folding Knife |work=US Patent |author=Emerson, Ernest R |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US5878500 |access-date=May 5, 2009}}{{Cite journal |surname=Overton | given=Mac |title=Knives Inspired by the World's Most Popular Combat Rifle |journal=Knives Illustrated |volume=21 |issue=1 |year=2007 |pages=16–20 }}

Variants

= P-SARK =

Seeing another need in the police community, Senior Corporal Darryl Bolke, a police officer of the Ontario Police Department, approached Emerson and asked for a modification to the SARK.{{Cite journal |year=2002 |title=On the Cutting Edge |journal=Police Magazine |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=68–75 |surname=Griffith |given=David}}

Bolke's request was to make the tip of the blade pointed rather than blunt. Emerson replaced the blunt end of the SARK with a pointed end and named it the "P-SARK", or Police Search And Rescue Knife.

Bolke wrote the knife policy for his department, the first of its kind in the United States.

The P-SARK has been adopted by a number of law enforcement agencies since that time.

= NSAR =

In 2005, the Navy changed the requirements on the SARK to incorporate a guthook on the back of the blade for use as a line-cutter.Rescue and Survival Equipment Manual, NAVAIR 13-1-6.5, Naval Air Systems Command, Washington, D.C., February 2007

Emerson made the change on this model, which was designated the NSAR (Navy Search And Rescue) Knife and only made available to the United States Navy.