Don't Underestimate The Knife!

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  • cb51

    Active Member
    I've seen this and other videos like it before. A criminal with a knife can strike so fast, you really can't do anything as far as drawing a weapon of your own. This is why I have to laugh at the people carrying a knife for self defense. When some low life gets in front of you at half an arms length, has a knife in hand, and tells you to 'give it up' do you really think you will have time to go grabbing that pocket clipped Spyderco, Benchmade, or whatever tactical knife of the month you have?

    I very much agree, never under estimate the knife! If the criminal punk knows what he's doing, you'll never get that baby Glock or whatever out of ti's holster.
     

    WeaponsCollector

    EXTREME GUN OWNER
    Mar 30, 2009
    12,120
    Southern MD
    I've seen this and other videos like it before. A criminal with a knife can strike so fast, you really can't do anything as far as drawing a weapon of your own. This is why I have to laugh at the people carrying a knife for self defense. When some low life gets in front of you at half an arms length, has a knife in hand, and tells you to 'give it up' do you really think you will have time to go grabbing that pocket clipped Spyderco, Benchmade, or whatever tactical knife of the month you have?

    I very much agree, never under estimate the knife! If the criminal punk knows what he's doing, you'll never get that baby Glock or whatever out of ti's holster.

    I think the video helps to show that knives can be a very effective self defense tool just like guns. Everything depends on the situation and your preparedness.
     

    Dogabutila

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 21, 2010
    2,359
    While I've long said that a knife is better than a handgun inside contact distance it requires a lot of training. Further 100% of people on the street are NOT Inosanto. Calling him a legendary martial artist is still almost not respectful enough. If you get within arms reach and he wants you dead there is no answer.

    Edit: Watching again the second officer might have a shot at survival.
     

    Roneut

    Active Member
    Oct 10, 2010
    279
    Here's an even better vid that is more recent:
    http://youtu.be/jwHYRBNc9r8

    In this case, the knifer is Michael Janich, also considered fairly formidable with a knife though certainly no Inosanto. It is worth taking note that in one of the simulations he is shot during the attack and continues to stab. This is completely realistic! Fatal wounds are rarely instantaneous, especially in the low center mass.
     

    stu929

    M1 Addict
    Jan 2, 2012
    6,605
    Hagerstown
    Anything inside 21ft a knife poses a significant threat and should be treated as such. The time it takes to close that ground is minimal and even if you can get a shot on target you could be badly wounded at the same time.
     

    JBinDC

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 29, 2012
    1,252
    MoCo - Silver Spring
    I've seen this and other videos like it before. A criminal with a knife can strike so fast, you really can't do anything as far as drawing a weapon of your own. This is why I have to laugh at the people carrying a knife for self defense. When some low life gets in front of you at half an arms length, has a knife in hand, and tells you to 'give it up' do you really think you will have time to go grabbing that pocket clipped Spyderco, Benchmade, or whatever tactical knife of the month you have?

    I very much agree, never under estimate the knife! If the criminal punk knows what he's doing, you'll never get that baby Glock or whatever out of ti's holster.

    So are you suggesting one not even bother carrying a folder if you can't get your CCW permit? At least you have some force multiplier equal to your would be assailant...

    As for deployment in enough time, yes, there will be some times when even the most trained can be caught off guard, but one can train to be situationally aware of a potential threatening situation. For example, I go into a lot of vacant houses for work...sometimes in not so great neighborhoods... Upon entry, I either already have my folding knife or stun gun already in hand. I do the same walking through less than desirable neighborhoods - hand in pocket so as not to "brandish."
     

    cb51

    Active Member
    So are you suggesting one not even bother carrying a folder if you can't get your CCW permit? At least you have some force multiplier equal to your would be assailant...

    As for deployment in enough time, yes, there will be some times when even the most trained can be caught off guard, but one can train to be situationally aware of a potential threatening situation. For example, I go into a lot of vacant houses for work...sometimes in not so great neighborhoods... Upon entry, I either already have my folding knife or stun gun already in hand. I do the same walking through less than desirable neighborhoods - hand in pocket so as not to "brandish."

    Yes, it's silly to think that you're going to have the time to go and grab some folding knife in your pocket if attacked. A seasoned street thug that has pulled many muggings will give you slim to non chance to resound, and Slim is in Ocean City on vacation. You need to have something already right in hand if you become the would be victim in a street crime involving a knife. If you are going into a lot of vacant houses, you have the perfect reason to have a nice sturdy Maglight right in there in hand.

    Street thugs practice this stuff. They have the knowledge of how and when they are going to strike, while you are placed in the position of the defender. You're coming from be hid in this game, and to try to fight it on their level is just insane. A force multiplier is not something to let you slash away in even terms with your attacker, but to block and smash your attackers hand/wrist as he tried to take you down.

    I grew up in a not-so-nice neighborhood in Washington D.C. It was no secret as to why the menfolk went about their business with a stout walking stick, hammer handle in a paper bag, blackjack in a back pocket, (they were legal back then) or some other impact weapon in hand. Even today, go down to the rougher neighborhoods, and you see a lot of the resident males carrying some sort of stick. I grew up with the idea that knives were basically a street punks weapon. It's a weapon of intimidation. It makes for a poor self defense weapon because it lacks any ind of shock or stopping power. If they are hyped up for the crime, they may not even feel a stab or cut, and it takes too darn long for someone to bleed out. But brake some bones, or smash a jaw with a 'butt stroke' of a good stick, and you'll have an instant effect.

    Carry a weapon by all means, but just make sure it's an effective one that can go anywhere. Blunt force trauma is much more effective than a cut or stab. For a knife to have any quick effect, you're going to have to stab repeatedly, and think how that's going to look in court. And that my friend, is the end result of using a knife on another person. It's as inevitable as the sun rising in the east. Look at how much trouble just shooting someone once is, think how the liberal press, not to mention the poor perpetrators family is going to react at your repeatedly stabbing him. Why, he was a choir boy when he was 12 years old in his grandmothers church. He was a good boy! Just ask his family. You will look like a crazed butcher. Use a knife on another person, and you'll pay thousands to a lawyer, even if you slide on it. Break a would be muggers arm with a cane and they have nothing to run with.

    And that brings us to the aftermath. And there will be an aftermath. What kind all depends on you and what you use. Any way you cut it, a knife is very bad for a defense weapon, in both effectiveness and liability after the fact. We're living in very very weird times, and they are not going to get better any time soon. The inmates are running the asylum. Best keep your head down, stay off the radar. And stabbing someone is going to be a really large blip on the radar.

    A good solid stick, pepper spray, and just staying out of the bad parts of town late at night, goes a long way to keeping you hard earned money out of the hands of lawyers. But if someone pulls a knife, stay the heck away from it, retreat like a coward. Run like heck if you have to, or retreat while spraying him down with O.C. like he was a big cockroach. But to keep close, or even close in to go one on one with knife is just TV/Hollywood BS crazy. If you'd ever had the misfortune to witness a real knife fight, you'd never carry anything but a small pen knife that couldn't be used for fighting. I do, because I once did. I'll never go there.

    I go downtown very often, but I don't carry a knife for defense. My blackthorn or hornbeam stick is right in hand, and I go where I need to go. There's pepper spray in a side pocket if I can see them coming and get it out, but I depend on my stick to give me 34 inches of clearance. My pocket knives are for utility.

    Edit to add; some parts of D.C that I go to regular are V street NE and Irving street. Not real good areas.
     

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