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Self defense with a pocket knife?
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Of course, equally important was "don't take unnecessary risks." I don't think anyone should advocate learning lessons about self-defense from some asshole stupid enough to regularly engage in criminal activity while in possession of large sums of money in an area with frequent crime. You want not to get mugged? Don't wander through proverbial dark alleys.
You know how car steering wheel locks are useless? If someone wants to steal that car, they're gonna steal it because those locks are a joke. But why do they work? Because the car thief would much rather deal with an easy target than have to go through that lock.
Same with my dad's scenario. If I'm a mugger, and I see someone holding a knife beforehand, I'm not going to take my chances. If you pull the knife out when he's already engaged you, it's going to piss him off, because it's in the heat of the moment and he doesn't want to back out on it.
Describe your dad, in one paragraph.
My dad's a seafaring pirate.
Therefore, a knife is usually better suited to initiating an attack, not defending yourself from one.
Even if you were to carry a knife as a weapon, a pocket knife is not suited to pulling out quickly and generally does not do enough damage to kill a person in one stab(assuming we're talking one that's legal to carry in most states).
The odds that your dad needs an apple to avoid getting mugged are about 100 to 1. It's a nice trick, but 99 out of 100 muggers are going to take one look at a well-built, confident male and say, "Nah." Five minutes later a short, portly guy will be very screwed.
Here's the biggest bit of advice you're going to get here: Don't be a douchebag and get into fights. If you get mugged, give the guy what he wants and get out of there safe. Don't go brandishing a knife, playing at being a big, swashbuckling hero. You're not Batman, you're a college student.
If you're intent on learning how to fight with your little John Deere folder, then take a class. Don't look it up on the internet.
I used to work in a knife store back when I was in college. I'd always get these paramilitary survivalist assholes coming in asking "which knife is best for killing with hyuk hyuk hyuk?"
Thank you, Rubacava!
if you want to get good with it take classes. NOTHING an internet forum will tell you will be a reasonable substitute for the muscle memory you develop from actually doing it
Holy shit
Sorry man, I take it back.
If you really want to know how to use your knife defensively, go to a self-defense class.
If you're cornered alone by someone who wants to harm you severely (and isn't more interested in your money)....barring you making several retarded decisions leading up to this it isn't likely to happen.
I guess suddenly charging the guy and screaming like a lunatic with the knife wouldn't be a bad idea in this situation as he'd probably dodge and you could keep running.
In my view, holding a small blade designed for utility is actually a detriment, because its harder to block with (whaddya gonna do, parry?) and manuever than a hand. This is not nessecarily true in a 'shanking' where you keep the weapon concealed for a few bladed punches before the victim is aware you're armed, but that is an aggressive action, not a defensive one.
As for throwing knives, I had to laugh. The ones weighted enough to be effective (spades) are quite large and very obvious. The lighter ones used for precision and point work don't sink in enough from a throw to do anything other than piss someone off. I've sunk my share through 3/4ply (the loose equivilent of reaching bone) on absolutely perfect throws, but those, even at an expert level, are not as common as you might think.
There is a running joke among my friends when we practice, esp against a moving target, that you would end up throwing a few (a brace is three, a hand is five) knives, and sure, you would sink them, but your opponent would most likely just pluck them out confused.
"What the fuck? Are you.. are you throwing knives at me? Ow! Hey! Who does that? Ow! Seriously now, come on!"
Also after, on the down side, you've just really pissed off your opponent and given them some knives. It's just bad planning, y'know?
If you're mugged take your wallet, grab the cash inside and throw it and run. They will be too busy trying to pick it up like those cash blowing machines at carnivals to go after you. If you're in a bar fight, take you're beating and make a report to the cops. It's absolutely the stupidest idea to fuck around with deadly force in self defense scenarios, too much to lose if you don't do it absolutely right.
I facepalm'd because I know that somewhere, some idiot is going to try it with a folding knife, failing to consider the possibility that unless you know what you're doing and get a perfect throw, you're as likely to hit someone with the handle as with the point.
The stupid shall be punished.
If you absolutely can't get away, listen to Michael Weston and act crazy. Pick up an iron pole in one hand and a chain in the other, then start screaming as loud and as violently as you can. People don't like to fight crazy people. Keep in mind though, the potential legal ramifications. If they don't back down, attacking with an iron pole or a heavy chain is a great way to get yourself charged with assault with a deadly weapon. But if you're wanting to learn how to fight with a knife, you probably aren't so concerned.
A knife is not a self defense tool. A taser, mace, a collapsable baton [ASP]. Those are defense tools. A knife will do a few things. It will anger who ever your fighting if the cuts are too shallow to cripple or you better be ready to have killed someone cause there are some arteries in the body that when severed can cause someone to bleed out rather quickly.
If you are determined to use that as your sole means of defense the best advice I can think of if cornered in your situation is to hold the knife in your strong hand and use your other hand to try and grasp the wrist of your attacker and spin his back to you. Shank him in the lower back then run like hell. Other wise if you really want to protect your self some Mace and a Taser work great and if allowed in your state a ASP baton is an effective bludgoning tool that can disable someone quickly. Arms and legs can't really hold up to the blows, but it could kill if you hit the tip against someone skull.
Knives are so counter-intuitive. They are awesome, and using them is awesome. I started throwing knives because I thought it was badass. That would be a handy skill, I thought, and there is the distinct possibility it could get me laid. And who knows, maybe it did.
More than a million throws later, and that is a literal million, not a hyperbole- that bad bounce on your first try? that was one, 999,999 to go - you really get to know the ins and outs of them, and how limited they really are in terms of combat. The knives most people have are made to look and feel good to the casual user- but they aren't weapons. They aren't the right tools for the job.
You step into the wrong situation with the wrong tools and no training, and you don't get a solution- you get a big ugly mess that someone else has to come and clean up while tsking under thier breath about what a gigantic retard you were.
Ok, you got a decent mark on him right? He's bleeding to death. Now look at your own shirt. Oh, there's some red on it too? Surprise, you're also bleeding to death. Sorry, the "It doesn't count because I got your first" rule doesn't apply in real life.
Knife fighting is just a bad fucking time for everyone involved.
Or, as someone told me once, never, ever bring a weapon into a fight you don't want used on you. Don't want to get stabbed, sliced, or have a gash in your jugular vein? Don't bring out a knife. Also, you need to realize that when you pull a knife on someone you are as good as screaming to them "I AM TRYING TO KILL YOU". That's certainly how they're going to take it, that's how the legal system takes it.
Even if you did, through some crazy miracle, end up stabbing some dude without getting cut up yourself, you just stabbed a dude. The cops are going to want to know why and unless you had a damn good reason for thinking the guy was about to take your life you're going to end up in a world of shit.
If you're that worried about someone mugging/robbing you, your best advice is to move to a better neighborhood or at least travel in groups.
heres nice algorithm
take you wallet and toss it
run in opposite direction
if this isnt possible then put up your fists and protect yourself
of he dominates you even harder, go fetal and pray he goes away without doing you more damage
under no circumstances do you expose your weapon
trust me, the odds that you're going to get murdered because your mugger changed his mind is much slimmer than if you gave him a reason to kill you (out of his own self defense if he doesnt have a blade) like exposing your knife
save a pistol there is really nothing that I would "reach" for that I would use in a fight if attacked. Honestly if the situation can't be resolved with your hands IMMEDIATELY then give the guy what he wants because if you reach for something that threatens him he is probably more apt to do harm and he is already a step ahead. If you had a concealed carry permit and took some firearm safety courses id give you different advise but till then diffuse the situation by getting it over with ASAP.
Not that you'd ever use one on an officer. I'm just trying to give you a frame of reference as to how the law might view any such use. When people are suggesting that this be an absolute last resort, they mean it.
In my brief stint as a security officer at a major mall (couple million square feet plus 2 parkades and 3 office towers) I was trained by a former New Zealand SAS officer, and his goal was to train us to survive a given encounter; physically, emotionally and financially. In that order. In the event a situation was looking bad (the application of weapons (we only carried handcuffs and radios) or overwhelming numbers), he directly told us to run. Flee. Your life is not worth giving up over stupid shit. Get distance if possible and call the police.
He did, however, note that if it comes to this, flee only as far as you can while having enough in reserve to put up a fight. Even with fear and adrenaline pumping, you may not be fast enough to evade your assailants. In that case, do what it takes to survive.
If you want to learn to use a knife for self defense, do so through a martial art that includes knife fighting techniques. Or just learn one for physical fitness, confidence and unarmed skill (why worry about a knife when your hands, feet, knees and elbows are all dangerous weapons), but always, always rely on the most important weapon you have at your disposal; your brain.
I know the focus of this thread has been stated and restated as "worst case scenario". It's unlikely that anything we tell you will help. As noted, if you attempt to use a weapon against someone in a violent situation, there is a significant chance that weapon will be used against you.
edit: If you are attacked and end up stabbing the guy, as long as you can reasonably claim that you were terrified and feared for your life, you're cool. If the guy says "Gimmie yer wallet!" and you stab him twenty times in the face, you might be facing some tough questions.
So I asked him what he would do, and he said that the best thing to do was run or try and escape, also while screaming your lungs out for help. He said that no matter what, there's always a way of escape. A group of muggers once made a ring around him, and he just bulled his way through and ran as fast as possible. He also said that defending yourself is going to be extremely hard, because in most cases, there's going to be multiple people. So the best thing to do is run. All of my friends who were going to get mugged all managed to run away, and they even got nothing stolen. There's always a means of escape. You just have to keep your eyes open and try to avoid the confrontation.
If you really are surrounded and can't run away, then just give them what they want and hope for the best. If they start attacking, try and run away when you see an opening and scream your heart out. It also depends on the knife you have. He said that just about every pocket/folding knife is useless for attack/defense because they aren't as strong as fixed blade knives, and the handles are impractical for fighting.
Theres your answer, beards exude confidence. Your dad only has to worry about being mugged by ZZ top
A folding knife like the one mentioned in the OP would be even more impractical. By the time you got it out and unfolded it the dude would already be on top of you. What would that take, five, six seconds? That's an eternity in a fist fight.
In other words, never, ever use a knife for anything but a tool. It's nothing but trouble otherwise.
EDIT: I also just realized that unless you've got a good lock on that knife, depending on the way you're holding it, it could very easily just start to re-fold back into the handle and slice your hand wide open in the process (all while doing jack shit to the dude you were trying to stab).
Why the fuck is packing heat considered a bad thing, when did this stigma apply? As long as you're a law abiding citizen whom under state law has the ability and right to have a gun on his/her person you should consider doing so if you live in a bad area and are afraid of being hurt. Practice your weapon, be aware of the safety issues and become a responsible user of that power.
There have been many-a-story where people would have been hurt or killed if it wasn't for a citizen brandishing his/her firearm in the RESPONSIBLE manner to gun down...well...evil doers.
/agree with zombie
You can make the claim that it's wild wild west all over again and the chaos and shmaos. Horse shit. Consider that police officers also carry firearms, and in some rare cases even they don't treat their firearms with the respect they deserve. With that idea, if you're afraid you'll turn into yosemite sam then...don't. Otherwise, what's really holding you back?
The real solution is to have a decoy wallet full of monopoly money. you get away and keep your cash :P although you'll have one pissed SOB to deal with in the future that will be looking for you
Steam
XBOX
This is brilliant.
I am going to start carrying a spare wallet full of one billion Zimbabwean dollar bills.
Unfortunately that's only one bill.
But yeah, you should always only keep small bills in your wallet for this reason. I also keep monopoly money in mine because its a good conversation starter.
The first is using your mind in the first place, avoiding the places where you're likely to be accosted and keeping your eyes open to potential threats. If you do that, you can avoid 99% of all encounters, if not more.
Edit: The knife idea is just retarded. Go look up some videos and photos of what knife wounds look like. They'll tell you two things: 1) you can walk away from horrendous knife wounds, which is a bad thing if you're relying on knife wounds to put your attacker down, and 2) you really, really don't want them getting that knife away from you.
There is a reason why police carry guns. And that is because it is their job to approach, and apprehend those who might be similarly armed. Normal citizens? Not so much.
All carrying a gun does is escalate things to a point of no return. If the gun is truly concealed it's not going to be easily reached and used in a situation where you are already facing a similar force. If it's not easily concealed then a mugger's best option is to shoot/stab you first and then steal your shit. If they think you may use a weapon on them, they will already be in for the armed robbery and felony murder responding to your force, so might as well do it before you have a chance to defend yourself.
Maybe my opinions are colored by the fact that I live in a major metropolitan area (in which handguns are banned,) but I'd rather take a few potential beatings or run my ass off and escape than even coming close to the risk that I might get shot.