Blades for Self-Defense??
 

How many of you who carry blades for self-defense have actually trained in blade specific defensive/offensive techniques? I personally carry firearms which I do practice with quite frequently. I am curious because I am considering carrying a knife when I'm not carrying a gun but I'm not sure how effective I would be with one. Size and strength are not issues for me but the only thing I've ever cut with a knife is steak. Any comments welcome...

-Dostoevsky

Mmm, not for me.

Anyplace I can't carry my Kel-Tec (CCW holder), I probably can't carry my CRKT m16 either.

I've made it a practise of always carrying a penknife around with me, which has proved helpful on several occasions.
IMO it's a lot better than a normal flick knife or whatnot because a-you can use most for double edged attacks (and no-one tries to knock it out your hand from underneath), b-the wine bottle opener comes in great use c-it's much easier to think up an excuse for carrying a penkife that a tanto.
Most of the training i've done is with concealed attacks, not letting on that you have a defensive weapon (and thus allowing a much more effective counter attack at close quaters), then striking out with one or two quick blows to provide enough time to escape.
unless your really good, a knife fight is not something you want to be involved in, because even if you win, your likely to gain some injuries, and it's often easier to get someone in the bicep and take out their arm and leg it, than fighting.

I carry a pocket knife all the time. I only use it as a tool, but if the time comes it could be used for self defense. Never really did any real training, but I have set up cardboard and have slashed and stabbed it in a kind of practicing manner.

-Robert

Thanks for the comments guys. Kagh't, I like that idea of concealing the blade for a surprise attack. And you're right, I don't fancy the idea of being in a knife fight, that could really get gruesome. I think I'll stick to carrying my Glock 21 (.45) and my Taurus 617 Titanium (.357 Mag) for now.

lol, why knife him when you can put a bullet through his nuts and stop him ever from being a threat to society or breeding? i like the idea:D

Fear my Leatherman! Heheh most places I can't take a gun, I also can't take a knife, so like Lebell, i don't have any reason to carry a knife as protection. I just carry my Leatherman incase I need a knife as a tool.

you will only survive a knife fight if you're lucky. Cutting steak does not prepare you for a knife fight. Learn to use a knife, THEN carry it.

Done some knife training in a Filipino style. You gonna get cut if you get into a knife-fight, period. Even the Grand-master will get cut. It's how it works. The best reason to train hard if you carry a knife? If you gonna get cut in a knife fight, it sure would suck to be the one that does it to yourself. Live Steel is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and think you can pull some fancyJeff Goldman stuff.

I've carried a knife in liue of a gun for self-protection. One thing that is certain is that I never carry a gun without a knife though. I like having multiple options when it comes to force - unarmed, knife, and gun are all degrees of force. Love to throw pepper spray in the there, but it gets to be bulky.

As to why you would opt for a knife instead of a gun, sometimes your clothing makes it impossible to conceal the gun. Rather have something than be totally unarmed. Knife is a good option. There are also times when a knife will not elicit embarrassing question and a gun will.

I agree with Moonduck. Knife fighting is a tricky thing. It's not the knife that will kill someone, it's the bleeding. What I mean is that if you stab someone they won't die right away, they will still have time to stab you back and most likely you'll both end up dead.

If a guy pulls a knife, I say pull yours too, hopefully the guy will think twice, if that doesn't work, unless you are super confident, slash and then run.

(Of course this is the opinion of an amateur, I specialize in more hand to hand fighting...)

Wow, thanks for all the thoughtful replies fellas. I think I'll stick to my guns (pun intended) for now. That knife business seems awfully messy to me. To each his own though. I guess the ideal scenario would be to have a scary looking knife that would halt an attacker from coming at you. I certainly don't fancy the idea of getting into a slashing match with someone else. Thank you all again.

-Dostoevsky

I cary a knife for defensive purposes. If I ever have to use it, it will not be to kill my attacker, but to buy me some time to get away. (and to make him think twice about chasing)

I sell knives, so get the obligatory deluge of questions on which one for what- in general, for defence, few smaller blades work as well as a big one, and folders are inferrior to fixed blades for reasons of strength- but with the fixed blades one gets into trouble with the law if its too big and concealed- so check your states laws, and see what the local ones are too, regarding what the legal blade length is, and what you can or cannot conceal- here, for instance, a CRKT m-16 with a four inch blade is legal in most cities, but because of a badly written law, a camilus lev-r-lock, or one of the same company's cuda's, is technicaly a switchblade and illegal under the states definition. - whatever you go with, check the laws- then practice like its a religion- and as mentioned above- expect to get cut if you are in a knife fight...and as for the scary looking knife idea, a local guy I know teaches ccb, and the man that taught him said that you realy fight two battles when you defend yourself- one in the street, and one in court- that scary looking blade can put you in jail, whick is why i prefer to carry "normal " knives instead of folding "tactical Knives"- perception realy matters, from the cop to the jury.

I never really thought of carrying a knife for self-protection, i have mine just for handy work and have always told myself i would rather fight hand-to-hand than with a knife - for me it would probably just cause more trouble than help. I'm yeah, if he pulled a knife on me, i might pull mine but i would much rather prefer hand-to-hand combat,.