Knife for defence against wild critters ?

OMG.... the thread is actually back on topic :)

If you are up to modifying, a Svord machete with the point rounded into a spear yet leaving the primary spine unchanged would give you a small ~11"(12" unmodified) machete that would still be useful for camp/bush tasks and which weighs less then 10 ounces. If you feel comfortable you could sharpen the backside of the point to really make it a good stabbing weapon, due to the flared blade the rest of the spine could be left alone yet remain effective for stabbing, handle can be wrapped to remove the orange and for a man it kinda needs to be, its rather smallish it does however provide a deep grip that's unlikely to allow hand to slide forwards when stabbing.

opplanet-svord-kiwi-machete-swedish-high-carbon-tool-steel-blade-polypropylene-handle-svkm-main.jpg


Really a question of how much room a person has when a bear is on top of them.... 11" blade could be to long or not, do you want a blade that has other uses or not?
Bayonets are made for stabbing have a guard so your hand cant slip forward and come in a range of sizes and pretty much suck for any normal knife work, yet if you feel the need to get stabby with a bear could be the best option.

Modern puukko M95 ranger knife 6" blade
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Do you want a knife thats just for bears? or one that can be used for bear defense?

Woods Walker said:
I have had two near bear encounters in 3 days.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1296066-Connecticut-black-bear-and-fleeing-women

One time all I had was a small pocket knife. The other an AMT .380 backup which was in my pack. Also there was a Enzo 12c27 knife. But what knife should I been packing to protect myself from an inevitable mauling?
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Phoynix said:
OMG.... the thread is actually back on topic :)

If you are up to modifying, a Svord machete with the point rounded into a spear yet leaving the primary spine unchanged would give you a small ~11"(12" unmodified) machete that would still be useful for camp/bush tasks and which weighs less then 10 ounces. If you feel comfortable you could sharpen the backside of the point to really make it a good stabbing weapon, due to the flared blade the rest of the spine could be left alone yet remain effective for stabbing, handle can be wrapped to remove the orange and for a man it kinda needs to be, its rather smallish it does however provide a deep grip that's unlikely to allow hand to slide forwards when stabbing.

opplanet-svord-kiwi-machete-swedish-high-carbon-tool-steel-blade-polypropylene-handle-svkm-main.jpg


Really a question of how much room a person has when a bear is on top of them.... 11" blade could be to long or not, do you want a blade that has other uses or not?
Bayonets are made for stabbing have a guard so your hand cant slip forward and come in a range of sizes and pretty much suck for any normal knife work, yet if you feel the need to get stabby with a bear could be the best option.

Modern puukko M95 ranger knife 6" blade
img.php


Do you want a knife thats just for bears? or one that can be used for bear defense?
Click to expand...

For bears as they're in the woods all the time. Also what firesteel is best for bears?
 
If there was no other option I still like the idea of putting some distance between the blade and your body !



My son drilled me another hole in the handle so I can use nails rather than relying on one little screw to hold the stick in the socket.

 
Wow, a lot of posts in this thread, I'm still reading 'em. Here's my 2 bits. The roach belly, if a lot bigger, looks like it would be a decent knife for critter defense. That said, there'd be many better alternatives. A good wakizashi, made out of 5160 or A2 steel for toughness, for instance. A good bowie with at least a 9 1/2 blade, made out of good steel, and that is both heavy and quick at the same time. (There are such bowie knives out there.) Cold Steel's got some good ones. Also Ontario, Tops make great survival knives that can fight off a mountain lion or even a bear. If you're really concerned about defense, it's a good idea to be able to handle two knives at the same time and to carry two, as well as a good stick.
 
pitdog said:
If there was no other option I still like the idea of putting some distance between the blade and your body !



My son drilled me another hole in the handle so I can use nails rather than relying on one little screw to hold the stick in the socket.

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Yes, distance is the most important factor, of course. I think, next time hiking in Alaska I'm going to use the bushman as well; till now I had a wooden spear with only a wooden tip, but are not sure if that would work in case of bear trouble. But the bushman is thick enough? Condor also make a similar type, a little bit longer and thicker. Don't know which might be better.
 
GrReaper said:
Wow, a lot of posts in this thread, I'm still reading 'em. Here's my 2 bits. The roach belly, if a lot bigger, looks like it would be a decent knife for critter defense. That said, there'd be many better alternatives. A good wakizashi, made out of 5160 or A2 steel for toughness, for instance. A good bowie with at least a 9 1/2 blade, made out of good steel, and that is both heavy and quick at the same time. (There are such bowie knives out there.) Cold Steel's got some good ones. Also Ontario, Tops make great survival knives that can fight off a mountain lion or even a bear. If you're really concerned about defense, it's a good idea to be able to handle two knives at the same time and to carry two, as well as a good stick.
Click to expand...

At least 9 1/2 inches? Isn't that too unwieldy? CS has the TM, which might fit. But the longer ones have the wire tangs which I don't trust.
Ontario Marine Raider, you mean? And Tops power eagle? Aren't they to long for combat situations?
 
halbschaf said:
At least 9 1/2 inches? Isn't that too unwieldy? CS has the TM, which might fit. But the longer ones have the wire tangs which I don't trust.
Ontario Marine Raider, you mean? And Tops power eagle? Aren't they to long for combat situations?
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Yeah, trailmaster's good, it's a 9 1/2 inch blade. Even with a cable tang, Laredo and Natchez bowies in carbon steel are very tough. The ones in San Mai III stainless have a rod tang. Marine Raider, maybe, and SP50/51. Tops steel eagle series (7 inch or 11 inch blades), Tops Condor Alert (now discontinued). Basically, anything long enough and strong enough that you can still wield fast are viable against unruly critters.

Not sure what you mean by "too long for combat situations". The OP asked about critter defense. If concerned about two legged predators as well as the four legged ones, then the Cold Steel Laredo or Natchez is what I'd recommend most. They're probably the best factory produced bowies available today. They are extremely quick as well as very strong, both the carbon steel and San Mai versions.
 
I wonder why that fat guy always dressed in black doing those Cold Steel videos doesn't test his spears, swords and knives on live bears given the massive market for edged weapons in bear defense?
 
GrReaper said:
Yeah, trailmaster's good, it's a 9 1/2 inch blade. Even with a cable tang, Laredo and Natchez bowies in carbon steel are very tough. The ones in San Mai III stainless have a rod tang. Marine Raider, maybe, and SP50/51. Tops steel eagle series (7 inch or 11 inch blades), Tops Condor Alert (now discontinued). Basically, anything long enough and strong enough that you can still wield fast are viable against unruly critters.

Not sure what you mean by "too long for combat situations". The OP asked about critter defense. If concerned about two legged predators as well as the four legged ones, then the Cold Steel Laredo or Natchez is what I'd recommend most. They're probably the best factory produced bowies available today. They are extremely quick as well as very strong, both the carbon steel and San Mai versions.
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With too long for combat situations I mean against a bear , of course. As it's nearly impossible to keep distance when getting attacked, the contact is directly body to body. That means if you will have the chance to stab, that's very difficult with a blade being too long. In general the shorter the better, but it has to be long enough to get the vitals as well. And in my opinion this is the problem - to find a fast knife which fits. Therefore it shouldn't be unnecessarily long but effective enough.
And in such a case I find a blade longer than 9 inches possibly too unwieldy - imho.
 
Woods Walker said:
I wonder why that fat guy always dressed in black doing those Cold Steel videos doesn't test his spears, swords and knives on live bears given the massive market for edged weapons in bear defense?
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Because pigs and "zombies" don't fight back ;)

That spear idea sounds like a PITA to carry on any trail in Alaska. One slip in the mud and you're a bear shishkabob. I'll stick to slugs and .45.
 
halbschaf said:
With too long for combat situations I mean against a bear , of course. As it's nearly impossible to keep distance when getting attacked, the contact is directly body to body. That means if you will have the chance to stab, that's very difficult with a blade being too long. In general the shorter the better, but it has to be long enough to get the vitals as well. And in my opinion this is the problem - to find a fast knife which fits. Therefore it shouldn't be unnecessarily long but effective enough.
And in such a case I find a blade longer than 9 inches possibly too unwieldy - imho.
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Okay, we may have to agree to disagree there. As yet, I haven't had the pleasure of hugging an angry bear belly to belly, but I'd think I'd want the largest blade available in that situation. Probably, though, you'd maximize your chances by keeping him off you, because if it got that close, you're probably gonna become bear food. Thus, my preference for a larger blade. Also, bears have huge amounts of muscle and fat, with anything less than a 9 inch blade, I don't know that it'll penetrate to the vitals, unless you get lucky and hit a good spot. (I'll admit here I know next to nothing about bear anatomy.)
 
B34NS said:
Because pigs and "zombies" don't fight back ;)

That spear idea sounds like a PITA to carry on any trail in Alaska. One slip in the mud and you're a bear shishkabob. I'll stick to slugs and .45.
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The ColdSteel Bushman can be kept sheathed when carried as a spear till needed. Very light knife also.
 
Pitdog as mentioned a bear wont keep at arms length and just allow you to poke it, its going to close to melee and you at best will get one stab, if you have time to make a spear then its highly likely you could with a normal knife make a few sharp sticks for throwing and still have a knife for melee... This is discounting the fact that the knife is the last ditch effort. Some people in this thread have been too dismissive of the possible need for a knife, however in this case I think its fair to say if the spear is actually an option then other better options likely existed. Also dislike the bushmen, brought it after seeing people post it on the hollow knife section thread as a impulse buy... In theory its awesome... in practice not so much holds a crap edge compared to any of my other knives, came with a grind WORSE then Tamontia machetes and is heavy not light, its almost 10 ounces for the blade alone, the 12" machete I posted is the same weight. handle also needs to be wrapped to make it suitable for any kind of stabbing as a knife and not a spear.
 
Phoynix said:
Pitdog as mentioned a bear wont keep at arms length and just allow you to poke it, its going to close to melee and you at best will get one stab, if you have time to make a spear then its highly likely you could with a normal knife make a few sharp sticks for throwing and still have a knife for melee... This is discounting the fact that the knife is the last ditch effort. Some people in this thread have been too dismissive of the possible need for a knife, however in this case I think its fair to say if the spear is actually an option then other better options likely existed. Also dislike the bushmen, brought it after seeing people post it on the hollow knife section thread as a impulse buy... In theory its awesome... in practice not so much holds a crap edge compared to any of my other knives, came with a grind WORSE then Tamontia machetes and is heavy not light, its almost 10 ounces for the blade alone, the 12" machete I posted is the same weight. handle also needs to be wrapped to make it suitable for any kind of stabbing as a knife and not a spear.
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That's exactly what I'm thinking and, regarding the knife, why I'm afraid you may have no chance to manage successfully stabbing with a too long blade. That's the reason I am asking for an idea of an adequate blade length.
 
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