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How's your knife...

4K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  Rob72 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
recieved this a few days ago, sage advice from someone that knows....

Ten Points About The Fighting Knife

1). The knife is always with you, even in places where the gun cannot go.

2). It becomes the first line of weaponry when the pistol is not available by choice, policy, inaccessibility or loss.

3). If things have gotten bad enough to need the knife, the use of the knife should be aggressive, brutal and terminal, and not "defensive".

4). There is a place for using a knife against the unarmed adversary if that adversary is younger, stronger or faster than you are...or more numerous.

5). There is a place for keeping them away with your edge, but there is also a place for closing and stabbing.

6). A knife worthy of combat carry should facilitate stabbing and be simple and instictive to use.

7). The more complicated and complex a knife is, and the more elaborate its system of use, the less desirable it is.

8). Conversely, the simpler the knife and the system and more gross motor dependant it is, the better it will do in a fight.

9). A fixed blade is more desirable than a folder, but a folder may be required in some applications. If a folder is used, the lock should be robust and not technically clever.

10). Learn to be violent with your knife



Ten Attributes To Select Your Fighting Knife

1). Sharp as hell and pointy as [Edited], you can't stab anyone or cut anyone with a dull round nosed blade. If this sounds vulgar, it is. There is nothing dainty about ramming a 3" piece of steel into a man's thrioat and tiwsting it as he fights to get it out.

2). Point in line with the handle. Upswept blades may be the acme of the knifemaker artist, but they suck eggs for ramming through a clavicle.

3). Long enough...but not too long. We hear that about lots of things.

4). Rough handle. Either G-10 or rough designed zytel handles. When you stab another man, his juices will get all over your blade and hand.

5). Solid lock. Liner locks suck. I don't care how graceful or cool they are...they suck. Axis lock as seen with benchmade or with Cold Steel is the way to go, or with an old style lockback design.

6). Solid opening method. This being 2009, and the "Wave" concept being as old as the pyramids now....a combat blade should have a wave feature if it is a folder.

7). Good steel. That does NOT mean stainless. I don't give an airborne fornication about stains on my knife...I WANT IT SHARP!

8). Again, if a folder, it needs a movable clip so operators may carry it as desired. The more I work on this Killing-focused system, the more I am liking reverse grip - edge in. That means for a righty, you carry point up- blade forward.

9). It must be cost-effective. Notice I did not say CHEAP. Cost-effective means that if I decide to ditch it, I will not be heart broken to lose my special one-of-a-kind....nor will that special one-of-a-kind be tied to me.

10). There should be a boatload of them out there in society....like Glocks. Thus you cannot be identified or tied to the gear you use.

If some of this stuff sounds like it comes from the world of the criminal rather than the world of the law abiding good guy, it does. One does not go to a clean shaven altar boy to learn to cut a throat.


Ten Points About Using The Knife In A Fight

1). A fighting is knife is fueled by rage and ferocity, not by cleverness and showmanship. I recall seeing CWS go ape (or was it AMOK) on a knife expert we brought in one year. The best the very clever and artistic knife expert could do was match CWS stab for stab. But that was after CWS had stabbed him three or four times.

2). Learn to stab....HARD

3). Learn to hold the knife in a way that you will not lose it when you STAB HARD.

4). Since few of us go about with a 10" bowie, learn your targets. You may not be able to behead an attacker, but you can in fact rip out his jugular even with a 2" box cutter.

5). Footwork gets you off the line of the attack, but also gets you close enough to STAB HIM HARD.

6). The instant you pull steel your intent should be to stick it in his neck and rip it out a different way, and not to spar, fend, or ask him to stay back.

7). The grip area of your knife MUST be rough enough to stay in your hand if your hand is covered with blood (hopefully not yours).

8). The point must be in line with your stab. A Cold Steel Scimitar or a Spyderco Chinook do not have this, but a Cold Steel AK-47 and a Spyderco Endura do.

9). To train it, each knife must have an identical trainer (dulled knife) and a wooden/rubberized trainer (like Nok's). The identical trainer is used for technical and access drills. The wooden type trainer is used for attacking the heavy bag or the stabbing post.

10). Contrary to the advice of others, use your fighting knife for everything. From opening letters to cutting cheese or tomatoes. Handle your knife daily, keep it sharp, keep it handy. make accessing it as natural as scratching your butt.
__________________


Gabe Suarez

One Source Tactical
Suarez International USA
Christian Warrior Ministries
 
#8 ·
Have to agree with everything above by unloved. I'll just add that a curved blade doesn't = can't possibly stab EVAR. Heck, plenty of folks have been stabbed and killed by katana, tanto, and wakizashi over the course of their use.
And I have about zero interest in trying to stab, or ram for that matter, through a clavicle with a knife, thanks.
 
#9 ·
10). There should be a boatload of them out there in society....like Glocks. Thus you cannot be identified or tied to the gear you use.

If some of this stuff sounds like it comes from the world of the criminal rather than the world of the law abiding good guy, it does. One does not go to a clean shaven altar boy to learn to cut a throat.

I don't like the tone of that either. I does sound like the thought process of one who has used deadly force outside of the lines or at least thinks that they have. I am in NO WAY suggesting that Mr Suarez has done that! I'm just saying that it sounds like bad advice to anyone who uses a blade to apply deadly force to an attacker. One has to wonder where Mr Suarez learned this lesson. I have an opinion on that. Google search his name along with "SMPD" for the published news articles.
 
#10 ·
One thing to keep in mind is that Mr. Suarez, to put things bluntly, has been teaching people to kill other people in the fastest, most brutal manner possible (which strongly relates to the former more often than not) for a while now. While he has some good points above and I'm quite sure is an excellent source of tactical instruction, he also has a mindset demonstrated above that doesn't relate well to the realities of civilian self-defense in the US and the legal ramifications of the same.
 
#12 ·
What people are missing here is that if you need to use the knife in self defence, then things have really gone bad. You should be willing to kill your attacker as fast as possible to stop the attack. If you are not willing to kill your attacker, you should not be carrying a knife for defence. If you stop and worry about being arrested, you won't be because you will be dead. You have to be willing to use deadly force or shouldn't even be carrying a knife or gun for protection. I carry knives for daily use, if I am forced to use it in defence I will, but that is not the reason it is carried.
 
#13 ·
What people are missing here is that if you need to use the knife in self defense, then things have really gone bad. You should be willing to kill your attacker as fast as possible to stop the attack. If you are not willing to kill your attacker, you should not be carrying a knife for defense. If you stop and worry about being arrested, you won't be because you will be dead. You have to be willing to use deadly force or shouldn't even be carrying a knife or gun for protection. I carry knives for daily use, if I am forced to use it in defense I will, but that is not the reason it is carried.
I wasn't discussing this at all, actually. I'd like to think that "willing to do the deed" would be already be covered by the people reading these posts or at least giving the people not willing to do the deed a bit of pause to think about how serious they are about defending themselves, especially with bladed weapons that will fling blood all over themselves while the other guy is begging for his Mommy as he bleeds out.
I was discussing the points #9 and #10 in the "selection of your blade" section. The attitude shown here will serve criminals and various high-speed/low-drag covert operators much better than a civilian who had to use a blade in a self defense situation. In fact, if you were to flub even a little bit and this attitude were to come out in court, you'd basically be hosed. Knowingly choosing a weapon because it's harder to trace doesn't bode well with the investigators or the DA who might be prosecuting you.
 
#14 ·
Just had chance to check out the two blades mentioned in #8 of "Ten points on Using a Knife in a Fight" and I fail to see where stabbing (hard even) would be impossible (or even difficult) to accomplish with these blades. Yes, they have a bit of a curve but you're (hopefully) stabbing soft areas leading to major blood-bearing organs, blood vessels, or airways and not slabs like the skull, back of the pelvis, or scapula even if you do have a straight line from tip to grip on your knife.

Any clue why these two were specifically mentioned in regards to being the suck?
 
#15 ·
Any clue why these two were specifically mentioned in regards to being the suck?
Okay, not uncommonly on the Ballistics forum, we note that penetration is the "fight-stopper" measure for HG rounds. Strangely, it is discounted with knives.

The Chinook and Scimitar have upswept points, that in a jab, are already predisposed to curve off the line of penetration, and will more easily de deflected by bone, keyrings, heavy stainless snaps on a jacket, etc..

We've hashed out the point-driven/slashing philosophies before, I doubt there will be any conversions. If you prefer edge-methods, the Chinook and Scimitar are very well suited; if you prefer point-driven, as noted, the Endura or Cold Steel's knock-off are spot-on.

I disagree with SI on more than a few things, largely because it seems to have become less innovative and more dogmatic of late. However. His philosophy is the same as mine: it doesn't matter if I have to use zip-guns and pipe-bombs, I. Will. Go. Home.
 
#25 ·
Don't think it's just the high-speed/low-drag types. My Kajukenbo sensei was the same way and had many a similar story.
My favorite was when he and his sensei went to a bar one time. Some idiot was ticked off at his sensei over something or other and decided to stab the old guy in the shoulder near his clavical with a switchblade in an ice pick grip. Well, the stabber seemed to have an idea that this would be some sort of devastating finishing blow or something. The old guy just turned to look at his assailant with the ol' Animal in full effect and the knife still in his shoulder with the stabber's hand still gripping the handle and told him, "Take it out." The stabber, looking rather sheepish now, slowly pulled the blade free and stood there rather uncertainly with this bloodied knife in his hands. "Now run", was all the old man finished with and the punk pulled a full-on jack rabbit while the crazy old coot went back to his beer without another word being said about it.
 
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