“The man, 47, told police he was walking home from the store with an 18-pack of Busch Light beer in hand when he noticed two teenage boys, both 16, following him,” charlotteobserver.com observes. “One of the boys brandished a gun, police say, and told the man to ‘give it up.’ When he heard the boy chamber a round in the gun, he grabbed the boy’s arm, took out a pocket knife [not shown] and swung the knife at the boy.” As we discussed at The Truth About Knives, a “ballistic cut” (i.e. slashing) is not your ideal self-defense technique. But as Voltaire said (and Barack Obama repeated ad nauseam) you can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Especially when you’re facing armed enemies. And so . . .
Click here to continue reading at The Truth About Knives
Like Yoggi Berra used to say, ‘90% of the time it’s half mental’.
You should always have a knife on you, period. A good folder is always a good choice.
A human being without a knife has set themselves back pretty far on the evolutionary ladder.
If you don’t want to carry a knife, then you should be carrying a tool like a Leatherman or similar multi-tool.
Agreed. That’s why I carry a good locking folder and a leatherman. Having those two items always close at hand have gotten me out of plenty of jams. Thank goodness I’ve never had to use either for self defense.
I love my Leatherman Skeletool and MUT. The MUT actually makes a halfway decent self defense blade. Plus, both of them have beer bottle openers. Never be without a beer bottle opener, because other opening methods can cause furniture damage and beer spillage.
One must be able to open their beer… and then defend it!
I use my titanium wedding band for opening beer… No need to carry a heavy leatherman. I do carry a Squirt PS4 on my keychain.
I carry a folder just about everywhere. Nothing worse than being stuck with a stubborn bag of chips. My dad had a big, informal collection of knives. I think outdoorsmen just sort of accumulate ’em over time.
Not ideal, but better than unarmed.
Why carry a knife, let Mayor Bloomberg and his fighting mayors protect you..
No tool is perfect in all situations but a knife has its uses and Janich is a good resource for how to fight with a knife. I’ll be following your posts on this.
I live in the Soviet Republic of Kalifornia so I relegate myself to a small crenelated flashlight and a razor sharp S&W pocket knife. So, I always bring my knife along!
Same here. Patiently waiting until SAF and Calguns legally persuades my Sheriff to honor self-defense as justification for CCW permit for us little people.
Thanks Robert for the reminder on what works in the meantime – good training and practice.
Brutally simple moves in that vid. Reminds me what a knife sensei who trained Marines @Pendleton told me about the “how to tell whoo isis the winner in a knife fight between two trained fighters: he the one eho dies in the emergency room. The loser dies in the street.
Read someplace a comment by Fairbairn or the like…rather be shot at than get in a knife fight with expert.
Sadly, as I am a grad student at a private university, about the only thing Im allowed to carry is a folder clipped in my pocket while at school.
There are two things honest men can learn from this. First, carry one in the chamber. A lot of crap can happen in the 0.75s it takes to make your weapon ready. Second, don’t carry if you can’t find it in yourself to shoot. Have some other plan, like … idk, wetting yourself or blowing a whistle. This guy really should be wounded or worse but lucky for him these kids weren’t really up to the deed.
I really like having a fixed-blade, right now a CRKT Stiff KISS, on my support-hand side at 3’oclock. You may have to create distance with your strong hand and can draw a fixed blade with little practice/dexterity and get a solid weapon into play. Drawing my pistol is not always justified or possible. Carry a fixed-blade knife on your “off” side.
Regarding “carry one in the chamber,” better yet, carry a revolver. And like jwm says, carry a New York reload.