How important is a folder that can be deployed quickly?

[Rsmith_77]

Sorry, but it sounds to me like in your mind you've already lost. You're so worried about what others might think that you already limit yourself without any need of a law to do it for you. I personally feel that a responsible person can carry more than just a basic slipjoint and use it in a mannor that will not be offensive to the majority of people. Yes some people are stupid and overly sensitive, so that may mean simply not "whipping it out, and waving it around" in front of those people.

I don't mean to sound judgemental towards those who choose not to worry about self defense. I do realize that depending on who you are and what kind of life you live, the chances of you or your family ever being assulted may be pretty dang slim. So you choose to play the odds of nothing bad happening, and hope for the best. I get that, and that's your choice.

Here's to hoping that none of us ever need to defend our selves in the first place.

thats kinda funny actually. Although i get how you would get this from what I said

1) I am a former military cop with lots of training, unfortunately none of that training is with a knife.
2) I DO carry a one-handed opening knife (Dozier Ka-bar folding hunter) at least some of the time, but even if i dont i usually have something much larger and still sharp in my truck if necessary
3) In all honesty, paying attention to what is (and who is) going on around you means you can avoid 99% of any trouble you could concievably find yourself in
4) As i said, i am all for self-defense (both of yourself and your family) but in what situation would you draw and use your knife in self-defense? You get mugged? now you can try the gun vs knife arguement? Or someone draws a knife on you? Do you really want to get into a knife duel? ESPECIALLY if your family is nearby

as for the whole being worried what others think of me or self limiting, alot of that is due to my job. I pretty much limited to 3 inches or under, nobody has said anything about locking blades (YET) but i expect it will come at some point in the future

again, I am not against self-defense, i just like to apply (or try to anyways) an old Air Force saying. "Work smarter not harder" and there are lots of effective methods for defending yourself and your family not just having a pocket sword

please dont take any of this as a personal attack, just explaining my reasoning is all

 

[PassinBy]

Fast open = better balance!
Balance is so so so important in folding knives, ppl dont consider balance as an issue, but if a folder is not balanced it will slow it down and there for you wont be able to enjoy the quality that your knife has to offer!
If you want to see a perfect balanced knife, check the 940 osborne!...yeh I know I always talks about that knife, but theres a reason for that, it is probably the best folder out there, in my opinion.
---Roy Miller---

how about blade heavy? some can deploy fast/fall out easily but not necessary a well balanced knife. I have to say I'm skeptic about that statement.

 

[BryFry]

...As i said, i am all for self-defense (both of yourself and your family) but in what situation would you draw and use your knife in self-defense? You get mugged? now you can try the gun vs knife arguement? Or someone draws a knife on you? Do you really want to get into a knife duel? ESPECIALLY if your family is nearby

please dont take any of this as a personal attack, just explaining my reasoning is all

Hey, no offense taken, and I hope none was given. I value your oppinion, and can understand some of where you are coming from.

As for your question above, I hope that I am never in a life and death SD situation, but since I cannot control or predict others actions I cannot know that it will never happen.
This is a pretty big topic, and I could go on about my own personal experiences with threats and weapons, but the short version is:

-Bad things can and do happen, and you don't always get to know when.

-Unless you are omnipotent, "situational awareness" though helpfull, can only help you so much. Not everything can be predicted, or avoided.

-Guns can be very effective, but they are simply not an option for some people do to age, legal, and financial restrictions. Guns are also far less practical when compared to folding knives do to their comparative size, weight, bulk, and lack of general every day usefulness.

I own and carry many different kinds of knives, SD isn't always a consideration for what knife I choose to carry, depending on what I plan to be doing at that time, and I can enjoy a good slipjoint when sitting on my porch whittling a stick. But if I am going out, or simply going for a walk in my own neighborhood I am likely to grab something that I feel has decent SD capabilities. Speed and ease of opening being one of those factors.

Saddly I cannot afford to live in a gated comunity, and my neighborhood, although not bad at all, still gets the occasional violent riff-raff, or large dangerous dog wondering through. And having a good knife is better that having to face a situation bare handed, IMHO.

Like you asked above, "what if someone draws a knife on you? Do you really want to get into a knife duel?" ...I think if I am going to be forced into a "knife duel" I would not want to be the guy using nothing but his bare hands and charming wit.

 

[bada61265]

It depends how slow the knife deploys. A knife that has a nail nick in it, I'm not going to carry; it's unreasonable. A knife that I can pull out, deploy with one hand, and simultaneously go to the job, is fast enough for me.

agree , doesnt need to get any faster than that

 

[Rsmith_77]

Hey, no offense taken, and I hope none was given. I value your oppinion, and can understand some of where you are coming from.

As for your question above, I hope that I am never in a life and death SD situation, but since I cannot control or predict others actions I cannot know that it will never happen.
This is a pretty big topic, and I could go on about my own personal experiences with threats and weapons, but the short version is:

-Bad things can and do happen, and you don't always get to know when.

-Unless you are omnipotent, "situational awareness" though helpfull, can only help you so much. Not everything can be predicted, or avoided.

-Guns can be very effective, but they are simply not an option for some people do to age, legal, and financial restrictions. Guns are also far less practical when compared to folding knives do to their comparative size, weight, bulk, and lack of general every day usefulness.

I own and carry many different kinds of knives, SD isn't always a consideration for what knife I choose to carry, depending on what I plan to be doing at that time, and I can enjoy a good slipjoint when sitting on my porch whittling a stick. But if I am going out, or simply going for a walk in my own neighborhood I am likely to grab something that I feel has decent SD capabilities. Speed and ease of opening being one of those factors.

Saddly I cannot afford to live in a gated comunity, and my neighborhood, although not bad at all, still gets the occasional violent riff-raff, or large dangerous dog wondering through. And having a good knife is better that having to face a situation bare handed, IMHO.

Like you asked above, "what if someone draws a knife on you? Do you really want to get into a knife duel?" ...I think if I am going to be forced into a "knife duel" I would not want to be the guy using nothing but his bare hands and charming wit.

hehe no offense taken here either

--situational awareness if applied correctly works alot, but of course not 100%, nothing is for certain. I have never been mugged, but i had been outside in my yard when my neighbor was...the neighbor ran and locked himself inside of my house leaving my wife and I standing outside with 2 armed strangers. I didnt have anything on me at the time (my gun and knives were inside, we was just outside having a smoke and taking the dog out). Keeping my head, i grabbed the wife and the dog and we got down behind our neighbors car and worked our way to the neighbors on the other side and called the cops. Just being aware of what is going on and keeping a cool head did me alot more good than being armed. I wonder what i would have done if i had my gun on me when that happened? Probably nothing good if i am honest with myself.

sadly we cannot afford to live in a gated community either

--I have had a knife pulled on me once though, we were just kids playing football and one of the kids felt like he was hit too hard and pulled out a knife, now he wasnt trying to mug anyone, probably didnt even want to hurt anyone just scare folks, but you know what we did...we backed up and being kids (about 15 at the time) we backed up and threw rocks at him till he ran off. Now if any of the rest of us kids at 15 had a knife, i wonder if teenage pride would have forced us into doing something stupid (probably if i am being honest).

My point is, in both cases it was better to keep ones wits about you, be aware of whats going on around you than it would have been if i was "armed". And if my attacker has a knife instead of a gun running away is definately a vailid option.


lol i probably sounding like some pacifist here (which i am not) i just getting a little older and wiser. By all means if such means fail or you find yourself (and your family) out of options, by all means go rabid wombat on the opponent just make sure you've exhausted all other options first

 

[BryFry]

Rsmith_77, I hear you! It's true that sometimes having a weapon can make some people react to threats in a more dangerous or agressive manor. Thus potentially making a bad situation worse. ..Seems even more likly to happen with guys who are still young, full of testosterone, and haven't yet developed a healthy enough sense of their own mortality. LOL!

I can only speak for myself, but I know that these days (not so much when I was younger) I will try to exhaust any other options before pulling out a weapon. ...But I still like to have that final option just in case.

-Stay safe man!

 

[Rsmith_77]

hehe in a few years i can start walking with a walking stick or a cane
than i can walk around at all times with a weapon/tool that seems to me more effective than a knife

and unlike defending yourself with a knife (even life or death) a cop is much less likely to bother a guy who defended himself with his walking stick cane hehe

 

[Michigan Fancyman]

One handed opening and closing is all I care about as well, which even includes lockbacks. I never see a knife as a self defense tool. Thats what my pistols and a ccw are for. When I can't carry a gun my knife is a miniscule comfort as far as protection goes. Knives are tools.

I think it's all in what your line of work is also, I can't carry my Glock on me at work , I will say my Spartan has saved my butt twice on the ambulance. I don't look at all knives the same, you open up a Spartan around someone to cut a string you simply look like an asshole. For me I can't carry my autos or even my ZT 300's anymore as my self defense knife because pocket to hand to defense the Spartan is just much faster. I love smooth opening, (had to modify the Spartan to get that ) and quick. Both are the same to me and would be a factor for every knife that I would consider buying .

And a side note, someone who is closer to you than 20 feet with a knife while you have a gun, statistically the advantage goes to the man with a knife.

 

[Rsmith_77]

And a side note, someone who is closer to you than 20 feet with a knife while you have a gun, statistically the advantage goes to the man with a knife.

this is true, its known as the reactionary gap.
but it assumes the person with the gun stands still. You can backstep to buy you time to get your weapon out and ready

 

[Michigan Fancyman]

I'm not saying I advocate using a knife, I see someone with a knife or gun my butt is haulin out of there. Just saying it can be (and has been for me) a great last ditch option. And yes I agree with what has been mentioned above, you have to keep your wits about you, which even at a young age I don't think is too much to ask. When you see someone with a gun simply run, see them with a knife , run, if it's Rsmith _77 with a cane , look curiously for a second and then run.

 

[singularity35]

this is true, its known as the reactionary gap.
but it assumes the person with the gun stands still. You can backstep to buy you time to get your weapon out and ready

It also assumes that the guy with the knife attacks first.

 

[Michigan Fancyman]

Not only that but people with guns are used to shooting at stationary targets without adrenalin and very high pulse rate that follows. Plus I see a lot of people walk away from being shot. My point isn't the fact it's a knife, I've had a guy who wielded a manhole cover quite beautifully, made me realize if I had better strength that might even make it into my EDC. My point was only that a knife, is a very vialble and reliable self defense last option that you will always have on you.

 

[dlseto]

Very important. The folder is the last resort tool. Most likely you will be under duress and compromised before you deploy. You regain lost advantage with surprise when you instantaneously deploy it.