Best SD carry knife.

[ihopewewin]

I do carry fox labs pepper spray which would be my 1st attempt to stop an attack but the knife is just the backup. I have actually changed my mind again and i'm kind of set on buying the spyderco civilian. It was designed for undercover cops with 0 knife training. It meets my requirements and it is designed for an untrained person to use it so it sounds perfect to me. Not to mention it gets cool points on it's looks . Quick question though everything I have read says its blade length is 4.1 inches do you think that extra .1 inch could get me in trouble with the law in florida?

 

[dairycreek]

I recently became enamored of the CRKT "Hissatsu". (see pic)

It has a blade shape (3.875") that is highly functional and is an assisted opening knife. The assisted opening is called "Outburst" and works quite well. It also has another function entitled LAWKS which quite effectively turns the folder into a fixed blade knife. Some really like this feature while others hate it. Works for me and I like it. Just something else for you to consider. Price ? Less than $60.00 from Knifeworks

 

[strambo]

Are you dead set on a folder or can it be a fixed blade? didn't pick that up in the other posts.

If you want 100% deployment reliability, nothing beats a fixed blade.

+1

I carry an Emerson folder...but a good number of years ago I realized I wasn't carrying it for SD no matter what I previously thought. The odds of being able to open and deploy a folder in the middle of a deadly force encounter aren't good. If you see it coming and have time to ready it beforehand...you probably had time to leave.

A fixed blade is a lot easier to get into action in the midst of a struggle, but even then, the right choice for the guy in your face already is almost always to solve that problem H2H, then draw a weapon to engage other threats. A knife is just a tool, it isn't magic, you may sustain lethal damage while occupying yourself trying to deploy the tool. (This isn't to say you can't deploy a folder mid-fight, just that it is difficult outside of a duel and usually not the best option)

Don't take my word for it though, practice in training under pressure, see what/when and how it makes sense for you to carry, deploy and use a training knife under realistic circumstances. (A guy waving his blade in front of you ala "Hollywood" isn't realistic...search "prison murder" on youtube to see realistic)

As far as how to use it...grab it in a death grip in your fist, point up or down. Stab only, don't bother with slashing, penetration kills. Slashes are almost NEVER fatal...even to the throat. This is backed up by all kinds of data from ER's all over the country. I have a source, but it is way too graphic for THR...do some research on your own. Study some anatomy so you know where to stab and how fast to expect results (think 10s of seconds or minutes, not instant).

 

[falnovice]

I personally like the Benchmade 710, and 635 Skirmish. One or the other is on me at all times. However........
Knives are very poor self defense weapons IMO. In even SIMULATED force training it is hard to get a folder out, deployed, and into action. I am a firm believer that any response to an attack needs to be IMMEDIATE and VIOLENT, not delayed by desperately trying to get a knife out while you've lost fine motor function do to fight-or-flight kicking in. Also, othering then the pyschological effect of being cut, the actual damage can be woefully short of fight stopping. If you research actual knife fights you might be surprised how carved up people can get without any fight-stopping effect. Sure, plenty of people can go on about gunting, defanging the snake, and other disarming attacks, but in the real world if you haven't trained to do this, and trained a lot, then you most likely won't have a huge amount of success. Cutting a forearm is NOT like cutting a piece of beef sitting on a table. It is a living, moving target. And a folder is not a lightsaber, no matter what the marketing videos may show it isn't going to cut to the bone with the "lightest pressure". God help you if you try to repeat anything off any off the Cold Steel dvds......the blows might be impressive but they are very slow and obviously "chambered". A seasoned knife fighter would be on you like white on rice.
I would add my vote to getting a blunt "weapon". A Surefire light with impact device is a good choice, and easy to palm in the event you are feeling a little uneasy about your enviroment. Using a device like that to reinforce punches to soft targets, or brutal hammer-fists to anywhere can be very effective.
Also, HtH skills would probably be the most valuable to you. If you're really interested then research and follow up with whatever art you like. If this sort of thing really isn't your bag then choose something relatively simple and train. Plenty of MMA, Krav Maga, Street Combatives, and even Boxing out there. But train, and train a lot. Don't be put off by the simpler systems, Bruce Lee said something to the effect of "It is better to have practiced one kick a thousand times, then a thousand kicks only once."

 

[strambo]

To add to falnovice's point about "defanging the snake" and other filipino MA techniques: they are largely inadequate for modern SD with typical carry knives against a determined aggressor. This isn't a knock against the system, merely a mis-application of those techniques.

The filipino MA systems were developed with very large knives and those limb attacks and slashes (to any target) would be very effective with such large blades. Substitute a 3-4" folder for a 12" kris knife and all you get is horrific looking wounds with little stopping power. It is very important to know the origin of whatever you train. Why, how and with what equipment and under what circumstances the techniques were developed.

I'm not an expert by any means on FMA and not trying to knock it, just adding some perspective. Similarly, prison tactics are a development due to the limitations of homemade shanks. Some people tout that as the be all end all of knife fighting (South African "Piper" system), but when not limited to flimsy shanks, better and more efficient methods can be used.

In the end, fighting is just fighting, the tool doesn't matter. As far as your original question: any stout fixed blade or folder from a reputable company (price point/quality of CRKT or better) will do if you will.

 

[Perk]

Ihopewewin – Apologies. At the outset, reckon ‘D have to extend somewhat past your boundaries, for a favorite SD knife. Optimally, first choice (given the sudden, recent, demise of an until-then-perfectly-good-projectile-thrower), would be given my cavalry saber. Tad longer than 4” and more’n a hunnert bucks. But, hang in there.

Following that, would favor the Bowie knife, as second in line to the self-defense throne. She’s a big ol’ sharp and shiny brute; having the requisite fixed blade and hand guard. Crosses your line, too, though. Stay with me.

Sounds like your original posit, would involve greeting someone who, all of a sudden, became impolite whilst within the company of those who were, otherwise, not impolite. This’d mean my carry would’ve had to have been relatively inconspicuous, for to my having been allowed crossing of the threshold, in the first place.

So, here we are: That’d be the trusty, ol’ lock-bladed Buck knife. Feller, name of Cake, showed me how to open ‘er up, one-handed, some many years ago. We were cutting fruit, for a Hairy Buffalo party, at the time. Well, that done it. Learnt a lot about using and even throwing (speaking strictly in terms of last resort, y’understand) the thing.

And, it’s heavy enough to fill the palm in a fist fight, as well (should that be the next step, or one leading up to…).

Well, you asked. There’s my answer.

 

[JShirley]

I'm a big fan of things one could innocently have in one's hand when trouble just happened to bump into you. Like Mini Mag-sized flashlights.

And they're useful in general, too.

Don't get me wrong. I've been accused recently of perhaps not believing that blades can kill people as dead as they have for the last few thousand years.

Hogwash. Given a close enough assailant who I believed to be a deadly threat, I have a number of bladed implements that I believe I could stop that threat as least as quickly as with a carbine or shotgun.

Know how many of these big blades I carry with me on a daily basis? Let me give you the list:






(crickets)






.


That's right. About the only time I carry a big honkin' bowie, kukri, or a hatchet, is when I'm in the woods, and already carrying a firearm. I like tools in my toolbox, but there are so many things typically more effective than small knives for SD. One notable exception, is if you get taken down suddenly
by someone who's watched too much UFC. From the ground, many of the options I mentioned previously won't work (or require an immense amount of time to learn well). Fortunately for tool users, sharp blades don't require the force some other tools do to have an effect.

John

 

[sm]

I'm a big fan of things one could innocently have in one's hand when trouble just happened to bump into you. Like Mini Mag-sized flashlights.

John,
Excellent post!

I especially agree with what I have quoted.

I am in settings where no weapons are allowed.
I might be allowed my Case Peanut, still my best tools are a broom, mop, vase, laptop, picture off the wall ...or a 20 oz bottle of water or soda.

 

[Perk]

Thankfully, don’t know of anyone, who happens to be trotting around with a cavalry saber, or bowie knife, strapped to their personage, during polite day-to-day life. However, given my best choice for a self-defense knife ‘D take either of the above and strap ‘em to a ten foot pole. This, just in case I ran into someone, who happened to be trotting around a cavalry saber or a bowie knife. Distance is the point, you see. Tongue-in-cheek illustration .

Meant the part about the Buck folder, though. That part, I was serious about. They open, one-handed, as fast as any mechanical blade. Far as practicality goes, they’re about the original Swiss army knife. The things are durable, too. Have used mine as a hammer, screwdriver, hand-warmer, fish-cleaner, game-gutter, and whittler; heck, you name it. (Try that, with a flash light. ) Have had to purchase relatively very few of ‘em, over the past several decades.

Use a knife, frequently, in my work. Fortunately, its use as a tool justifies the carry. So, for many things – up to, and including potential SD, - it’s the go-to knife of choice. Fortunately, the knife has been used only for the more mundane chores. Given my druthers, it’ll stay that way.

 

[Pax Jordana]

I might be allowed my Case Peanut

You know, a close friend of mine lurks on this forum and we have both agreed that being stabbed to death with a Case Peanut would perhaps be the most ignoble death imaginable.

What one lacks in tools, one can make up for in brains. To wit, brains can be equated with savagery, at least in a fight.

And yes, I think the extra .1 inches would get you in trouble, if whoever came to clean up your encounter thought to confiscate and measure the thing. Depends on where spyderco measures from versus the DA's office's reference point.

 

[sm]

JShirley has had training in various disciplines. He is younger, in better shape and stronger than I.

I am just a dumb over 50 Southern Boy that don't know nuttin' except what my experiences, observations having lived this long and what mentors passed onto me.

Yes, I have used a simple pocket-knife to defend and it was pretty gory.
I had no choice, and it was a non-locking CV or 1095 Carbon Steel knife.
I was able to open quickly, one handed.

I was a kid, and while times were different, and I did carry a gun, I was not carrying a gun those times, and other defensive tools - how to say- well it got to bad breath part, let us leave it at that.

No, I did not get cut, nor did I get shot, and I was able to stop an immediate threat and evade. Lady Luck showed up.

Still, I do not carry a knife as a fighting tool, never really have. Even though I was shown and did practice some things like a "newspaper knife" .
[That dates me huh?].

Times are different and Problem Two existed in my earlier years, Problem Two still exists...

I used to go into the courthouse, with a sidearm or two, and go see Judges I knew and eat lunch, conduct business, watch the pretty girls go by outside through windows.

I used to go into Airports, in the wee hours, armed and go pick up packages, and persons flying in.
I flew with a sidearm, and knives on my person. Heck the pilots carried guns!
And I am not speaking of just private planes and private pilots either!

Hi-risk stuff I am familiar with, and I was mentored to never ever ever put all my safety into guns, or knives. Just like when I competed, and some serious competitions, not sanctioned ones too.
Mental Game was 90 % of shooting and the Physical Part the 10 %.
Once one got a gun that fit, the loads patterned for task, chose whether to use shell vest or pouch, footwear...all the physical, then forget it, don't mess with it, and do not even "borrow" any of the 90% Mental game messing with the Physical Game.

Same principles applies to me staying safe. I still prefer the guns I chose to fit me, back when I was a kid, and I was born in the mid 50's and I still have not gotten to where I want to be with those.
I was born with a Case Peanut in my dresser drawer crib, and I still do not know all there is about this knife, and I never will.

If I ever think I know all there is about a Peanut, a Gov't Model of 1911, a Model 10 a Model 36, a single shot shotgun...etc., I will have announced to everyone, how big a damn fool I really am.

So I am slow to change, and slow to except some ideology.

I know about injury, maimed and dead, I have seen it happen, the results, and have been in the OR trying to save and patch up, and have been in on the organ harvests.

JShirley is a helluva lot more qualified than I am - I admit this, and not ashamed to.

We agree to disagree on some things, and you know what, when we listen to each other, we understand the "why" of the other.

This is a very useful learning tool, understanding what the other is about, even if you do not agree.


We both do not feel carrying a knife for the specific reason of using it to defend is best.

We are both in places we cannot have a knife at all.
I am in places if I can, it cannot be any bigger than a Peanut.

So for me, I am real glad I was raised in a time and mentored as was, when a lot of the new offerings were not even around, nor where some of the current ideologies on "defense" were not either.


I like simple, and I am too old and dumb to catch on - and the irony is, with laws being enacted as they are, I am able to function with restrictions, as I was raised to do as I was.

Personally I still think the little 6 1/2 oz bottles of Coca-Cola was better...*wink*

 

[J Lambs]

I carry the CRKT Mini My Tighe. I stays very sharp and has held up well.

 

[shiky]

i'm surprised nobody has recommended a HAK yet. do yourself a favor and visit www.hideawayknife.com .. they are really miraculous. I'll be getting myself one real soon. Just got a benchmade auto folder in the mail today. it is a beaut.

 

[TimM]

Cold Steel Black Sable is my favorite knife. It is very ergonomically different than most knives and may not suit your needs but I love it. It is a bit pricey though.

 

[soccergod04]

For a good-sized folder, I like the Spyderco Endura. Just under 4 inches of blade with a great back lock and fantastic reputation.

If you want something smaller, the Boker Subclaw is anothe favorite of mine. A tad under 2 inches of hawkbill blade with a sturdy little frame lock.

 

[hignhappy00]

I like the Benchmade 710..