Carrying a knife for self defense? What works best

[Paladin]

This article was written for police, but applies just as much to everyone else: Folder or fixed blade?

I documented the times of 56 students in two recent knife classes. The average time to draw the folder and pop the balloon was 2.49 seconds. The average time with the Ka-Bar TDI knife (a fixed blade) was 0.99 seconds. The fastest student with a folder (including assisted opening folders and folders with the “wave” opening method) was slower than the slowest person using the TDI knife.

Besides the time difference, most of the students using the folding knives had a very poor grip. In their haste to pop the balloon, students stabbed as quickly as possible, without taking the time to use a full-hand grip with the thumb locked down. If these students used the same grip while fighting off an attacker, they would likely either cut themselves or quickly drop their knives.

In contrast, all but one of the students had a secure grip on the fixed blade knife.

[NotRPB]

INTERESTING, THANKS
Back in the 1980s, I wore my knife scabbard/sheath upside down to drop my knife into my hand
At the Renaissance Fair one year, a guy noticed and said he bet he could "out draw" me.
We tied but this is what he had invented... the auto-opener knife scabbard/sheath
we did tie but his initial grip was better than mine maybe both ways required a fast reposition my way required more practice than his in not letting the knife just drop from an upside down sheath to the ground
His was leather, the video reviewer has a nylon one-
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... egUIARDEAQ

[Caliber]

I took a 2-day knife class with Steve Tarani. Everyone with folders, including myself, could draw under 2.0 seconds. However, that was under class conditions where you're knowingly practicing drawing. In real-life conditions, I doubt we would be under 2.0 seconds.

I have a KABAR TDI Investigator knife. I carry it every once in a while. I always carry a folder.

[eyedoc]

I carry a Guardian Tactical OTF.

[cirus]

If the other guy has a knife make sure you have a gun.

[srothstein]

If the other guy has a knife make sure you have a gun.

If you are carrying a gun, a knife is a very good backup to a gun. Admittedly, some of the need for this as a backup is more for police, but I think it is something to consider.

Part of the question is what to do if you cannot get to your gun? It could be that your shooting hand was injured by the BG already, or it could be that you got jumped and are in a wrestling match (think of someone going for your gun and you are fighting him off). The advice I was given, and it seemed sound to me, was to carry a knife on the side opposite your pistol. Specifically, a small punch knife was recommended that you could quickly draw and then stab into the side (kidney area) or rake along the ribs. For police officers who normally had a radio case on that side of the belt, a punch knife could be stuck behind it and be a very effective weapon. I did talk to a salesman at GT's in Austin who was showing me how the TDI (or a very similar knife) could also be a very effective back up weapon if you could not get to your pistol.

My everyday carry on duty, and still to this day, is a Cold Steel Recon 1 folding knife with a 3.5inch blade and a tanto point. But I do use it as a tool and not as a weapon. So far, I have managed to avoid ever getting into a knife fight and I plan on keeping that record going as long as I can.

[maximus2161]

I always have a knife on me. More as a tool but nice to know it’s a last ditch option. However that being said I am NO knife fighter and have no training how to use a knife for defense. I mean if it’s all I had ok. But that means it’s all gone bad.

I remember seeing a presentation on knife fights when I was in the police academy. Yeah it always stuck with me. I remember being asked by the instructor: Rather be stabbed or shot?

Neither!

I carry a ZT 0356 and love it. Suuuuuuper sharp and is solid as a utility blade as well.

[srothstein]

I always carry a knife with me, but as a tool much more than a weapon. I carry a Cold Steel Recon 1 folding knife with a smooth edge and a tanto point. It is very good at keeping an edge on it and the point makes it easy to use for prying too (I know you are not supposed to do that but I do).

I have never been in a knife fight and hope never to be in one, so I have little experience on which to base my recommendations. In a couple of my classes, it was suggested that a knife is a great backup weapon to a gun, particularly if you are struggling for control of the firearm. That holds true if you grab the bad guys gun and are struggling for it also. What was recommended to me, and it seems to make sense to me, is to carry a two inch punch knife on you belt where your weak hand grabs it quickly. A punch knife, to clarify in case you use a different term, is a short double edged, pointed blade where the haft joins the grip in a T shape. When you grab it, you make a fist around the grip with the blade sticking out in the middle of your fingers. This lets you easily use it by punching at the opponent, thus stabbing him. You can also use it to slice by just drawing you hand down his body.

All of this makes it a fairly intuitive weapon to deploy and use. It should work very well in the grappling scenario but useless in any other knife fight. But if you aren't in that situation, you have a gun to use instead of the knife. And you should carry a BUG too, accessible by your weak hand also, of course.

[The Annoyed Man]

I carry a knife daily, but I have no intention of ever using it as a weapon unless I’ve got nothing else available to me. I’m too old and infirm to get myself into a grappling situation. My EDC alternates between a 3.48" Spyderco PM II folder, and a 3” Bradford Guardian fixed blade. I’ve carried the Bradford more often than the Spyderco lately, because it frees up space in my pocket. It is belt-carried vertically on my strong side hip in a kydex taco-type sheath with very positive retention, so it’s not really a "quick draw" knife. Since my pistol is carried AIWB, the gun and the knife don’t interfere with one another.

[carlson1]

I carry a KA-BAR TDI Law Enforcement Knife Fixed Blade not in there vertical sheath, but I had a horizontal sheath made and it works great. It doesn’t poke my huge love bumps and is easy to grab. I carry on my left side right in front of my magazines.

[dlh]

I carry a Kershaw "speedsafe" knife but use it primarily for utility purposes.

That Ka-Bar knife might make a nice Christmas present---ordered!

[Ruark]

I'd go with an ultra-sharp double edge knife, to enable slashing/cutting from either direction, freeing you from the mental burden of know how the knife was oriented. These are often called "commando knives" for a reason. For examples, go to Amazon and search for "double edge knife":

https://www.amazon.com/double-edge-knif ... edge+knife

[AndyC1911]

I carry a small fixed blade, mostly as a tool but also as a last-ditch backup to my pistol. I've been in one mugging where both of us had knives (luckily I won but it was absolutely terrifying) and I've had some formal training in their use both overseas and here in the US.

One thing that absolutely is at the forefront of my mind is that cops, through their long experience, tend to almost always view knife-wielders as the bad guys, so there's that factor to consider.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Along with 1 or 2 handguns, I always carry a Smith and Wesson fixed blade HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) on my left side. It's only a $20 knife (Academy has them), since I am not really up on pricier, different knives.

The sheath that comes with it has a very strong snap on it. So strong that I could not draw it quickly with 1 hand. So I cut the snap pieces off, and now the knife can be drawn quickly in one motion. The knife has a forward cant on it, so drawing it with my dominant right hand is easy. Or my left.

We always want to carry our handguns with 1 in the chamber, so I have never fathomed why many knife guys prefer folders. When partial seconds count in defensive knife encounters, I just want to grab my fixed blade and go to work. Who has time to get a folder ready to go?

Scenario 1 : When I open carry my 1911 or other pistol, it's in a strong retention holster. But if some dindu thought he could monkey it out quickly, I could draw the HRT and start working on his hands or forearms.

Scenario 2: You are in a crowded place when some BG starts acting out. If you use your handgun, the chances of hitting an innocent party are very high. With the knife, you can concentrate on the BG, without injuring/killing bystanders. Of course if he has a gun, you have to go for your own gun.

Scenario 3: You are at Walmart and have to cut open one of those insanely tough plastic packages.

By the way, most small flashlights have a scallop edge near the lens. If you are in a tussle with a problem child, you can rake this edge across his forehead so blood drips in his eyes, but it doesn't kill him.

Over and out. SIA

[RPBrown]

I carry a 20+ year old Buck with a 3" blade more as a tool than a weapon but in an emergency it would work just fine