It's not all that different from defensive handgun theory. Penetration is the killer. Not superficial blood loss but the destruction of vital organs that ends the fight quickly enough to save your life.
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Defensive blades: Serrations or plain?
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It's not all that different from defensive handgun theory. Penetration is the killer. Not superficial blood loss but the destruction of vital organs that ends the fight quickly enough to save your life.
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There's a reason why daggers don't come with serrations. If a self defense situation ever comes to the point that you have to use your knife in self defense, you'll want to stab the guy, and serrations don't really help with that. They're really good for slashing, but if you're trying to slash at the guy as a deterrent(usually that's what slashing is supposed to accomplish in a fight), you're probably not in a situation that calls for using a knife in self defense. Also, unless your occupation calls for cutting rope, I recommend not carrying a blade with serrations at all, since they tend to up the scare factor in sheeple(you can thank the folks at Hollywood for all the serrated sawback bowies with serrated gutting hooks that show up in their movies).
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You mean my custom Dark Mantis won't cut my enemies in half as soon as I open it? OMG!
My point is that if say you have been trained in "Dark Mantis style"-fu SD...then yes, that custom Dark Mantis is probably an excellent choice.
If not, then one probably stands just as good a chance with the grocery store steak knife, bear spray, the Phillips screwdriver on their SAK, car keys, a hair brush across the eyes, a broken beer bottle, thums to the eye sockets, etc etc etc. You are just wailing away like a crazed monkey with what you got while thinking "Why did I come to this neighborhood in the first place?" Serrations, steel....not gonna make much difference.
I wish I was on my PC, but Mick Strider once said that his preferred method of using a knife in combat (as opposed to a knife fight) was aggressive stabbing to the face and neck. He said it much better, but that was the general idea. Please keep your opinions about the man out of this thread, but feel free to respond to the tactic.
You said it just fine. Anyone who plans to carry a knife for SD should read this. Then ask yourself "Can you do something like that".
I can do it if my life is at stake. But not to save a beating or my wallet. Problem is today, you can never really tell. What happened to all the "honest" crooks?
Some may find this interesting. While active in the US Army (1981-1984) i used to sharpen my bayonet. They kept taking them away from me. I just figured those with more rank than me wanted a sharp one. Mine would shave hair. So, i just kept sharpening the ones i got. Whatever. After about 5 or so i started getting pissed. I inquired why. No one would answer me. Finally i found a combat veteran that told me: you are not supposed to sharpen your bayonet. I asked why. He then showed me a bullet hole in his shoulder & said: because if your lucky-like i was-then you will just get one of these & if your not, you will get dead. He went on to say he did the same thing i did & had his bayonet hair shaving sharp. When in a fire fight & he ran out of ammo & his position was being charged so he used his bayonet that he already had affixed. It went in just fine, into his rib cage but when he tried to remove it, it cut into the bone & it got stuck. He said he almost got killed because he sharpened his bayonet like i did. I never thought of that happening. The things you learn.
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As a correction officer who has witnessed MANY stabbings, it does not matter. What does matter is the tip strength for piercing vitals. Slashing motions are for intimidating your attacker and allow you to increase the safety gap in between your attacker and you. Then run, run, run. Defending yourself with a weapon is only half the fight. Going to court later is where the scary part begins and if you lose your case, you are now stuck in prison where the worst of the worst are all waiting for fresh meat. Also keep in mind, there ratio of CO's to inmates is at least 1 CO to 20 inmates. The ratio is thrown off by people that never have contact with inmates. Good luck.
Unklfranco
Unklfranco
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Double post
This type of subject would get a better reception over in Practical Tactical (that's one of the many sub-forums here at Bladeforums in case you didn't know).
Over in Practical Tactical you would find several mature and intelligent people who take the subject of self-defense seriously (I can't vouch for everyone over there, but there are several). In fact, and oddly enough, some of those very people have posted in this thread. But perhaps because your question was posted in the General Discussion sub-forum they chose not to take it seriously.
Sometimes self-defense related topics receive a certain level of scorn and ridicule here in the General forum. Of course, if you were to ask a question like "What's your favorite zombie killing knife?", such a question would be warmly and enthusiastically welcomed here in General and go on for days and ten pages or more. This is not an unheard of occurrence here in General Discussion.
Understood.
Seems unlikely to me. I'm not calling you, nor him, a liar. With a sample size of one, he cannot know that it was his sharpening skills was what caused this problem. To me, it seems likely that the blade would have hung up whether razor sharp or not. There is no way to test this theory, but it seems more likely to me.
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I'm certainly not an expert on this topic. But from what I've read many prefer a plain blade because serrations can get hung up on clothing.
I was a butcher for many years, and feel if a smooth blade works great on animal meat it would work well on human meat
I was a butcher for many years, and feel if a smooth blade works great on animal meat it would work well on human meat
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I prefer plain over serrations only because I prefer the blade feel of a plain edge for the type of cutting and slicing I most often do in everyday use. If I did more box or cord cutting I'd probably have more serrated edges.
If I had to use my knife to protect my life I'd use whatever knife I was carrying at the time and not care whether the blade was plain or serrated. All that really matters to me is that it's sharp and that I have it with me when I need it.
If I had to use my knife to protect my life I'd use whatever knife I was carrying at the time and not care whether the blade was plain or serrated. All that really matters to me is that it's sharp and that I have it with me when I need it.