Karambit

The karambit is a small curved knife shaped like a claw, believed to have originated among the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia, where folklore holds it was inspired by the claws of a tiger. It began as an agricultural implement used to rake roots, gather threshings and plant rice across island Southeast Asia before being weaponized, its curved blade sharpened to maximize cutting potential and carried as a last resort weapon when a soldier's primary arms were lost in battle. Trade networks carried the karambit beyond Sumatra into Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.