Fighter question...

M

MaceG

Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Messages
7
What characteristics define a fighter? Or what makes a fighter a fighter?


MaceG
 
I'll take a "stab" at this one.

My inclination is to say a knife with a blade length of 5-8" with a double tined guard and a sharpened clip or even just a false edge.
 
I have a different take on fighting knives. I define a fighting knife as any knife that is light enough to not slow me down when running away from a potential fight.
 
Depends on who you talk to. The people I have worked with will opt for a slashing style like a skinner over a small or large Bowie every time. Gib
 
I wonder when the term fighting knife was first used. It seems every knife has a name .....Bowie, hunter, dirk, dagger...etc. You could also ask the question..Whats a survival knife? ...and get the same answer from me.....It's the knife I have at the time. If there ever was a picture in the dictionary of a fighting knife in my mind it would be the one in Gregs reply. Love that knife! :D
Mace
 
most fighting knives are light, and extra weighty in the handle, to make the blade feel very light. the blades are usually good for slashing and atabbing, with a double edge, or a sharpened false edge in case of a bowie. blades fall from about 3" to 8", 6" or 7" being the most common in millitary knives. the also have to have a good, no-slip grip, that fits well in the hand. serrations are likely because they cut well. alot of the blades will be really curvy like balisong blade. this is for style and more edge area. a fighting knife can have a big guard or no guard, it just depends on the stye of fighting its gunna be used in.
 
Well to answer that there would have to be some ground rules i feel the term fighting knife has been used to much to mean something it is not. Do you mean a combat knife? a military use knife? a all around utility blade? if you did mean a definite purpose built fighter then my vision is a 9 to 11 inch blade sharpened clip carbon steel blade. I needs to have enough handle to hold on to it and be light enough to be quick in the hand. It must have a back cut capability and good edge retention. I know it sounds like i am rehashing "Bagwellism's" but until a better wheel is shown to me this is the thoughts i have on the subject.
 
Greg Covington said:
I'll take a "stab" at this one.

My inclination is to say a knife with a blade length of 5-8" with a double tined guard and a sharpened clip or even just a false edge.
Click to expand...
Nobody's given Greg credit for his remarkable pun! Way to go Greg, that was the best I've seen in a very long time. Nice to have something fresh occasionally. ;)

I also agree with Greg's description of a fighter. While any knife - or screwdriver for that matter - will suffice for the task, the question I thought asked about blades created for that specific task, and for the most part that describes them to a tee.

But there are lots of kinds of fighting knives, which I think is what Mace was alluding to. Bowies, daggers, dirks - they're all fighting knives. Culture, historical time period and even materials (ie stone) have a lot to do with what a fighting knife ends up looking like.

Somewhere some time back I read what I thought was a really stupid remark but since realized that it probably is worth noting just for its feet-on-the-ground objectivity. The idea was that there is no such thing as a fighting knife - a knife is an inanimate object and can't fight anything.

Okay, I'll quit wasting your time. That comment always just bugged me but it stuck in my mind because it's so real-world factual. Just nit picky semantics though, really.
 
Dave....thank you...thank you very much (in my best Elvis) :eek:

I really should have clarified my first reply. I think there is a delineation between a "fighter" and a "fighting knife".

A Bowie, dagger, and any other purpose designed edged weapon would be a fighting knife.

But I see in all the knife mags, books, etc...a separate category called "fighters".....and to me they tend to be more like what a soldier would carry for everyday use as well as its deadlier intention. More like a combat knife.

I would call the Kabar a fighter.
 
I have to say this has been an interesting thread.
Greg got me thinking.......Is there a difference between a "fighter" and a "combat knife"?

Here is something a Master smith told me once about a fighter. The point of the blade should be centered.....Or in line with the handle.

I also agree with what Greg says about there being a delineation between a "fighting knife" and a "fighter".

My favorite fighters were made by Floyd Nichols during WWII....but some might call them Persian. :D
Mace
 
Its any knife that you have that will get the bad guy off of you. A rock works pretty good also. Most "fighters" have a double edge of some sorts. A combat knife is made for heavy usage doing everything. They give them plenty of bullets so the fighter term is general. Rember do not take a knife to a gun fight............ :D
 
Greg Covington said:
Dave....thank you...thank you very much (in my best Elvis) :eek:
Click to expand...

That would be "Theng yuh, theng yuh veruh mush." ;)

I think the term "fighter" has become so broadly applied to such a wide variety of knives in terms of shape, size and design that it can no longer be defined by any one particular look or any exclusive set of design criteria. Certainly a quick blade (balanced at or behind the guard), a centered point and a double guard are traditional characteristics. Then again, one of the most devastating fighting knife designs of all time - the Khukri - has none of these features.

Bottom line, in my view, is that the term "fighter" has become more of an inclusive than an exclusive term - inclusive of any knife a maker chooses to describe as such, and exclusive of just about nothing at all.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Take a hunting, camping or trail knife, put a black micarta handle on it and a black on-glare finish. Now it's a fighting knife.

- Chris
 
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