Need help picking self-defense only knife...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Uh-huh, now how about some advice for a newbie

Okay, I have been thinking of upgrading to a folding knife a little bigger than the freebie I got a couple years ago with a B.A.S.S. subscription. I figure that about a 3-1/2 in blade will work fine for me.

I know nothing about steels, folders, folders with assist, etc...

Any recommendations? Tanto, serrated, etc...? (Yes, it would also be a last ditch weapon) (Also, why are S&W knives being put down here?)

The Doc is out hoping somebody gives him a prescription now. :cool:
 
mp510,

Take this for what it's worth, but the guy that "attacked" you was not representative of someone intent upon using a knife to harm someone else. Your single sample isn't a great basis for a general statement. You did great in disarming him and showed exceptional presence of mind, but as you suspect he lacked the experience and will to harm you. This is evidenced by the use of a leatherman and the showing of the knife prior to use.

Someone intent upon using a knife would have carried something a little more suitable even if it was a cheap WalMart steak knife. They would have never let you see it before grabbing you and using it. An experienced violent mugger wouldn't have ever let you see the blade before he was upon you menacing you in contact range with it. It detracts from the shock value and reduces the effect of the ambush.

The problem with disarming someone with a knife is that you can get cut very easily. Usually this occurs on hands or arm. Once cut many people loose the will to continue the fight even if they still have the physical ability. Those with the will to continue are still at a physical disadvantage having been cut and are subject to being cut again. And again.

Assuming one of our members was no more experienced in using a knife than your mugger and they make the mistake of assuming that the very presence of a knife will be sufficient to win the fight, I agree that it vergs upon stupidity to carry one and depend upon it to "magically" turn the tables on an attacker. But, add just an afternoon's training and the situation changes greatly. The reality of how to use the knife defensively then becomes different from the fantasy.

I congratulate you on your courage and your luck and quick thinking and am glad everything turned out well, but be careful in assuming that this single event is representative of all encounters with a knife.
 
Smith & Wesson knives are constructed from inferior materials with subpar workmanship. I bought one just to see what it was like - the lock was very insecure, I wouldn't have trusted it anymore than a slipjoint, and just opening and closing it actually wore the blade away, so much that with regular use the lock would become unusable. It was a pain to sharpen and wouldn't take much of an edge, the thumbstud came loose and eventually fell off. The blade got scratched and the coating on the handle wore off. This all from just testing it out over a couple of weeks, I wasn't trying to cut steel cables or anything. In addition, the thumbstuds could not be used because the flipper was too big and got caught on your hand, there was some blade play, and the blade's hilt/flipper had jagged edges. For a mid-sive folder, in terms of blade length, it was big and heavy. The pocket clip sucked too. I don't think I've ever used a worse folding knife than a Smith & Wesson. I've used a Smith & Wesson 610 which was a fine gun (even though I'm not a fan of DA revolvers) but for cheap knives a Byrd (from Spyderco) or Red Line (from Benchmade) would be infinitely better. To be fair to S&W, they don't actually make the knives. They're produced in SE Asia and just given the S&W label.
 
I give S&W some room because they don't make the knives, but they have to know that the quality isn't there, and it is a poor use of the branding rights to label such sub-par things with the same label as their firearms.
 
pepper spray then...

Dom-

Reading your post, I wonder about the liability of pressing an attack with a knife after the assailant has been sprayed. If witnessed, others would testify to that fact or your assailant (now the "victim") might as well. IMO, my first plan is to create an escape avenue and ****. Perhaps I misunderstood.
 
I've never had to use it in a defensive situation, but if someone else chose to put me in such a situation I would much rather have my knife than no knife.

For strictly defensive use (not daily use, cutting boxes, etc.) I like the line of hideaway knives. I would have to be unconscious for someone to take it from me and use it against me. Probably more than you want to spend, and the wait list is lengthy if they don't already have your size in stock, but IMO worth it.
 
Get A kerambit, and Train. best SD Knife I've ever owned, but you must Train with it!!
 
spyderco police, harpy or cold steel land and sea rescue, are good midsize combat folders.
the only S&W knife I've owned FELL apart after two weeks of carry, therefore I do not trust them.
 
yeah, s&w knives suck. and yeah, HAKs are great, if you have at least $80 to spend. other than that, there is no "best" knife for self defense. the best knife is the one you can grab, draw, open and swing the fastest. in terms of strength and reliability, i'd pick a fixed blade. the problem with knives is the same problem people have with guns and holsters; you constantly by a new one to see if it's better than the old one, or you just want one for a different application. i have a drawer FULL of knives, folders and fixed, that all see some use occasionally, but i only ever use 2 or 3 on a regular day-to-day basis. they are: a utility HAK, a spyderco chinook II, and the spyderco karambit.
 
I carry three knives while on duty as an LEO. 1 Clipped in my pocket and two others hidden and accessible as strictly weapons of last chance. Those two are cold steel safe makers. Not really good for anything much other than hopefully getting an attacker off me if all else has failed and I'm about to die or be very seriously injured.
 
Knives for SD

I may have been guilty in the past of saying that knives are not very good for SD, however recently a doorman attempted to arrest an individual who used a knife to hamstring him and escape - he was eventually arrested by an off-duty police officer and the doorman's colleague. The unfortunate victim might lose the use of his lower leg completely.

Now if it had been a case of the knifer using his knife in lawful self defence it would provide us with a strong example of how effective knives can be to create space to escape.
 
The knife I carry most places (not for self defense, just for a tool) would probably work good for self defense, if you got the size bigger than mine. It is a Buck Assisted Opening. It comes in a 2.5 and 3 inch blade I think and opens very, very fast with a very small amount of movement from you. It is a great knife that I think would work well for your purposes and it costs $90. I would look into that if I were you.

But it is like my dad said when I baught this knofe and the guy at the store mentiond that it would be a good defense knife, "My self defense is better and it holds 8 shots."
 
For strictly defensive use (not daily use, cutting boxes, etc.) I like the line of hideaway knives
Click to expand...

I second that - purchased one of those for my friend about a month ago (had never seen one in person), and it seems like a great knife. Compact, almost impossible to be disarmed, but as mentioned, the price is high ($70 for the cheapest one).
 
Quote:For strictly defensive use (not daily use, cutting boxes, etc.) I like the line of hideaway knives

I second that - purchased one of those for my friend about a month ago (had never seen one in person), and it seems like a great knife. Compact, almost impossible to be disarmed, but as mentioned, the price is high ($70 for the cheapest one).
Click to expand...

Heh, to keep things confusing, I recommend exactly the opposite. I love the Hideaway for utility use. I can cut something, then open my hand and manipulate with my fingers while the knife still stays attached to my fingers, then I simply close my hand and cut again. Beats picking up and putting down the knife each time.

For defensive use, I can understand a Hideaway as a last-ditch backup to something else, including a bigger knife. But I'd never pick something so small, that is useful mostly for slashes (at least in some blade shapes), and that is relatively hard to get my fingers into under stress (don't argue this point if you haven't stress-trained grabbing it under high pressure). I look at it as a great knife, but advise picking something bigger if the purpose is a primary defensive weapon and not a backup.
 
Take this for what it's worth, but the guy that "attacked" you was not representative of someone intent upon using a knife to harm someone else. Your single sample isn't a great basis for a general statement. You did great in disarming him and showed exceptional presence of mind, but as you suspect he lacked the experience and will to harm you. This is evidenced by the use of a leatherman and the showing of the knife prior to use.

... snip ...

I congratulate you on your courage and your luck and quick thinking and am glad everything turned out well, but be careful in assuming that this single event is representative of all encounters with a knife.
Click to expand...

Agree with this from A-Z. Glad the good guy won, but I think it's mistaken to the point of foolhardiness to think that this one situation is indicative of how untrained people fare with knives. For every story like this, unfortunately there's many many more where the good guy doesn't do as well. The knife is extremely primal and instinctive, and makes extremely formidable anyone, even the untrained, who has the mindset to use it. Which doesn't mean not to seek training, just to have a realistic view of what you (or an untrained bad guy) might be capable of.
 
I have only been in one 'knife fight' in my life and the other guy had a bayonet and I had a Randall #1 7 1/4" and it was WAAAAAY too short even though I won and the other guy had severed tendons.
I disarmed a few knife weilders, but I had a gun. I out ran the rest when I wasn't.
These days when I use my Az CCW I carry my S&W SC1911PD in a Mad Dog Kydex holster and a Mad Dog Voo Doo Cat , also in Kydex . It is a 6" double edged knife and it is minimal IMHO. I am replaceing it with a 3/16" VooDoo Hound which is 7 1/4" but weighs the same.
In California I carry a 7" Folding Maxx by Darrel Ralph , as it is legal and my CCW doesn't cover concealed fixed blades-go figure!!!
 
I am a 6'0" 185 LB white male. The assailant was a Latino male, between 5'6" and 5'8" and was stocky, probably a little bit heavier than : you are so cool! mp510= ninja white guy!
 
If you want it for strictly SD, then I'd say it would be a good idea to get something with the Emerson Wave (any number of Emersons, or a Spyderco Endura). The Wave gives you the ability to deploy the blade as you pull the knife from your pocket (as opposed to opening it after retrieving it from your pocket). Nothing is faster than the Wave.

Go check out bladeforums with a question like this. There are lots of helpful people there with good advice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
what knife do you carry?
2 3
Replies
72
Views
3K
jim m.
J
B
  • Locked
Multi-purpose knife for defense and everyday use
Replies
22
Views
1K
hso
hso
K
  • Locked
Self Defense Knife
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
TimboKhan
TimboKhan
R
  • Locked
Knife picking
Replies
18
Views
765
The Tengu
T
D
  • Locked
Best knife for self defense legal in Texas
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
Deltaboy1984
Deltaboy1984
Back
Top