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I am not deigning to speak for flintknapper here, just speaking for myself . . .

pbandjelly wrote:

flintknapper wrote: Point (3): Is a very dangerous assumption to make. A trained knife fighter will have skills that you may not be aware of. A good knife fighter is not just trying to "cut you" or "trade blows". Any properly trained KF is probably going to disarm you (defang the snake). Every cut/thrust is purposeful in that they are calculated to disable you bio-mechanically.

so, the advice you're offering would be to just give up? cause he may be trained proficiently??
I think Kev's advice to keep your head about you and believe you're going to get out alive is very valid. it's that old adage about thinking positively.
from what you're saying, you should just believe it's all over, I guess.?

There are no guarantees in any type of fight. The fight will be what it is, not what you want it to be, and you have little way of knowing the skill level of your opponent before the fight is on. That said, I am not sure whether the criminal element has taken to the bio-mechanical cutting/MBC knifefighting style in appreciable numbers. I was under the impression that the point-oriented, repeated thrusting prison shanking method would be statistically more likely.

pbandjelly wrote:

flintknapper wrote:Don't think that because you "have a gun" that you will necessarily come out the winner. Even a "mutual kill" is unacceptable.

so.... run? hope he can't catch you?

If the circumstances and your health and physical fitness allow, yes. The best fight is the one you avoid, even if it means avoiding it at the last possible moment. Exit is generally the preferred option when faced with violence, unless you have nowhere left to go. Otherwise, flintknapper has reminded us again of the uncertainty of the fight and that a person's life is at great risk in this situation.

ChrisStevens wrote:I think the real point is, "If you are facing a guy with a knife and you could have only one, would you rather have a gun you were trained and familiar with or a knife you were trained and familiar with?"

Any comments on that one?

Short answer? Whatever tool I can get into action the fastest, while I am running away as fast as I can.

Even though there are many folks who carry both handguns and blades, when faced with an adversary with a blade, they will likely only have time to access one tool (gun or blade), if any.

The following commentary may be unsolicited, but in my view the two tools (guns and blades) seem to offer different relative probabilities for damage:

Blades: potentially faster/greater bleed-out, insignificant potential for immediate physiological stop

Handguns (more specifically, handgun slugs): some blood loss/bleed-out; greater potential for immediate physiological stop

Here, my definition of physiological stop is a disruption of the central nervous system which causes instant paralysis from the waist down or death. Well-placed bullets with sufficient penetration (sound familiar?) can accomplish this. Generally, blades which are legal for carry cannot accomplish this as the handgun slugs can (the spinal column is in the back).

I know the subject is not exactingly this-or-that, but maybe this makes sense or can be expanded upon.