- Joined
- Jun 23, 2011
- Messages
- 321
Have em make you an HG55 with the LB treatment
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Help me pick a 6-8" fighting knife.
- Thread starter BePrepared
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2009
- Messages
- 2,809
Who are you going to be fighting with a knife?
Honestly curious.
I'd say a TMDSF with a sharpened swedge. Light, long and quick.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2012
- Messages
- 2,176
Ill always stick by saying pork shank just seems to be the perfect all around knife!!!!
Since you asked, here is my personal opinion about fighting knives. Some will disagree; feel free to dismiss some or all of the thoughts below. I am peaceful man and a healer, so this is all purely hypothetic and or for the good folks in the US armed forces or law enforcement.
1. penetration, penetration, penetration…
I have sewn miles of knife wounds and operated on many more, and I can assure you that slash wounds are fairly ineffective, they are rarely fatal or fight stoppers. A fighting knife should be long and designed for stabbing and penetration rather than slashing or chopping. Ash style knives that are relatively short and fat are wonderful work/survival knives but poor fighters in my opinion; things like dssf are better. The longer the better.
2. speed kills…
Weight is the enemy of speed and speed wins knife fights, jet dogfights and fencing matches. A pure fighting knife, as opposed to an all purpose “survial” knife should be FAST and only thick/heavy enough to barely avoid breaking or bending excessively. A moab would not be my first choice here.
3. Good guard and sticky handle
Since a stabbing motion is what is effective, you want a knife that you can stab full force into hard material with WET hands and not run your palm and fingers forward onto the blade; the team geminis have the best fighting guard. Also, the handle material should be as sticky and graspable as possible; the worst thing you can do is lose your grip on the knife. I think the Res C handles are actually superior for a fighting knife.
4. Balance on the index finger (behind the choil)…
This is related to the speed issue on #2 but, a fighting knife should be fast and maneuverable. A knife with the balance on the index finger is neutrally balanced and will be the most maneuverable by definition. Many Busse aficionados love chopping (including me). Good choppers have a lot of forward weight like an axe, this forward weight is designed to MAINTAIN momentum in the direction of the swing and drive the blade into the wood. Maintaining forward momentum is however, by definition, the exact opposite of maneuverability (the ability to rapidly change direction) and maneuverability is what you want in a fight. Good choppers are poor fighters.
5. Unless you are going to try to penetrate body armor, the blade shapes with a large forward cutting edge like a sar, basic or mistress will cause more deep damage than something like a force one where the last inch at the tip creates a very small wound channel.
6. Knuckles and double edges are a bonus.
Lots of my personal BS here; sorry for the length. To be more direct. the Taliwacker, team Gemini, DSSF are good choices in that size bracket. The Sarge 7 has a great blade profile, but the handle in not the best for a fighter IMO. The Basic 10, thought a bit longer than you want, would be close to perfect if it was not relatively forward weighted. Also, I think the versatility of the knuckles should not be underestimated; I have not handled an Argonne Assault yet, and it is longer than you want, but it looks like an excellent fighter.
1. penetration, penetration, penetration…
I have sewn miles of knife wounds and operated on many more, and I can assure you that slash wounds are fairly ineffective, they are rarely fatal or fight stoppers. A fighting knife should be long and designed for stabbing and penetration rather than slashing or chopping. Ash style knives that are relatively short and fat are wonderful work/survival knives but poor fighters in my opinion; things like dssf are better. The longer the better.
2. speed kills…
Weight is the enemy of speed and speed wins knife fights, jet dogfights and fencing matches. A pure fighting knife, as opposed to an all purpose “survial” knife should be FAST and only thick/heavy enough to barely avoid breaking or bending excessively. A moab would not be my first choice here.
3. Good guard and sticky handle
Since a stabbing motion is what is effective, you want a knife that you can stab full force into hard material with WET hands and not run your palm and fingers forward onto the blade; the team geminis have the best fighting guard. Also, the handle material should be as sticky and graspable as possible; the worst thing you can do is lose your grip on the knife. I think the Res C handles are actually superior for a fighting knife.
4. Balance on the index finger (behind the choil)…
This is related to the speed issue on #2 but, a fighting knife should be fast and maneuverable. A knife with the balance on the index finger is neutrally balanced and will be the most maneuverable by definition. Many Busse aficionados love chopping (including me). Good choppers have a lot of forward weight like an axe, this forward weight is designed to MAINTAIN momentum in the direction of the swing and drive the blade into the wood. Maintaining forward momentum is however, by definition, the exact opposite of maneuverability (the ability to rapidly change direction) and maneuverability is what you want in a fight. Good choppers are poor fighters.
5. Unless you are going to try to penetrate body armor, the blade shapes with a large forward cutting edge like a sar, basic or mistress will cause more deep damage than something like a force one where the last inch at the tip creates a very small wound channel.
6. Knuckles and double edges are a bonus.
Lots of my personal BS here; sorry for the length. To be more direct. the Taliwacker, team Gemini, DSSF are good choices in that size bracket. The Sarge 7 has a great blade profile, but the handle in not the best for a fighter IMO. The Basic 10, thought a bit longer than you want, would be close to perfect if it was not relatively forward weighted. Also, I think the versatility of the knuckles should not be underestimated; I have not handled an Argonne Assault yet, and it is longer than you want, but it looks like an excellent fighter.
I always thought the Urban Grudge was one of the best looking Busses for a fighter although I've never handled one. Out of the ones I own the DSSF would be near the top. Long enough for hacking, thin enough for poking, and it feels well balanced and secure in the hand.
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,422
The Axe Hammer, which is still available from this site (comes with a sheath). I got one but returned it because the blade was just a little to tactical for me (great blade though, just not for me). This blade has a nice thin pointy tip.
http://axelsontactical.com/products/knives/combat-grade-axe-hammer.html
and the story behind the knife
http://forums.bussecombat.com/ubbthreads.php/posts/13726.html
http://axelsontactical.com/products/knives/combat-grade-axe-hammer.html
and the story behind the knife
http://forums.bussecombat.com/ubbthreads.php/posts/13726.html
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2006
- Messages
- 14,600
Everything that I have ever read about fighting knives for over 30 years supports what mach 5 wrote above. Those principles lead to a 9 - 12" fighting bowie, with a radical distal taper in both the blade and the handle. See Bob Bagwell or Jason Knight.
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2013
- Messages
- 2,087
I don't intend to challenge written info on this topic, but taking into account what your enemy is wearing is SUPER important. Another point I'd like to make is that history has shown the effectiveness of different types of weapons in close quarter melee combat (i.e Dagger, Sword, Mace, Hammer, Spear, Nets, Trident, etc.). If this is taken into consideration then it yields the question, "what kind of knife fight am I about to have?".
Penetration, slashing, blunt force trauma, chopping/delimbing, etc. are in my view all very effective. By analyzing your enemy (e.g their movement speed, fighting style, stamina, strength, skill level, and their gear that they're wearing) you're able to better determine what is more effective. In boxing, the "jab" is highly effective in demoralizing your opponent and disrupting their rhythm. It also does damage slowly and incrementally, thereby weakening your opponent and making them more susceptible to a strong blow. Similarly, a body shot weakens an opponent by reducing their ability to effectively breathe and causing damage to an opponents base which is what is fundamentally holding an opponent upright. Slashing is similar to a jab in my opinion. Blunt force trauma is similar to a body shot in my opinion.
Sorry for this long post, but I just feel that it's necessary to take more things into account rather than less. That being said -- can't we all just get along
haha
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2004
- Messages
- 330
The topic of knives always came up around deployment time since it’s one of the few things that many units still give freedom to the service member to carry as they see fit. I always said that a knife is used to fight your way to a handgun, which is used to fight your way to a rifle, which is used to fight your way to a radio, which is then used to call in an air strike. I usually carried an AF survival knife or an M7 bayonet, about the only personal fixed blade I ever carried was an EK.