Knife for defence against wild critters ?

You're seriously advocating he goes in with the nosebutt[sic]? Surely if the bear is male or armed you need something more like this -

pbpxmbqd73ub0s8l669u.jpg
 
To kill an animal you want to reach something important... wide and thick blades do not make the best weapons as far as I can see...

Far more likely to get wedged in bone like ribs, while thinner blades can slide between into the heart.
Need to remember an animal does not stay still and let you slide the blade in, its going to be moving and the larger the blade the higher the friction and chance you will lose your grip as the animal turns and muscle/tendons/bone tighten around the sides of the blade.

If you think im wrong try it on a ham, use one of the well known BIG survival knives to stab the ham all the way to the handle then putting latteral pressure on the blade to simulate animal having moved and blade friction try to pull the blade free... Now try it with something more like
img.php

The shown example is woodsmen Big Lapp knife... its for small wood processing and carving both wood or meat.. and last line of defense against Animals... Design proven effective against Nazi Animals as a matter of fact. ;)
baldtaco-II said:
You're seriously advocating he goes in with the nosebutt[sic]? Surely if the bear is male or armed you need something more like this -



pbpxmbqd73ub0s8l669u.jpg
Click to expand...
 
I wonder how effective a Taser would be against a bear as compared to a knife or spear. Probably too much fur to overcome.
 
This kind of knives I like so much. The only doubt I'd have may be the length of the blade (18 cm are long enough to reach the vitals?) and the fact that this knife is guardless, critical when stabbing. Maybe I'm wrong but nevertheless thanks for the interesting answer.
 
Reading up to answer your question since I never needed to hunt bear... only in zoos here :)

Bears heart is very slightly left... or your RIGHT while its ontop of you eating your face off(something to consider that people often forget even when they are not getting mauled... ask someone where your heart is and they often will point to your right side as its left for them before they realize the mistake), also not sure if its a big bear you could actually reach it...

You wont do anything stabbing from the front... you need to come in under and go though the rib cage where the heart to close.

So to sum up from what I have seen in my 2 min internet research :) unless you can stab it in the heart as it first knocks you over(apparently bears like to knock prey/threats down then go for the head)
Your only real choice would be to stab the bastard in the neck before it kills you and let it die from hopefully infection/drowning on its own blood. so the knife would be less for protection and more for im taking you with me.


Green dot is the lungs not the heart, heart is whats at the bottom of the chest starting directly behind the shoulder blade, it location is almost perfectly off centerline left
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Please "BEAR" in mind I did a quick internet search and if any of the source material was wrong on the hearts placement or relative thiness of bear ribs compared to the rest of the animal your dead meat.
 
Phoynix said:
To kill an animal you want to reach something important... wide and thick blades do not make the best weapons as far as I can see...

Far more likely to get wedged in bone like ribs, while thinner blades can slide between into the heart.
Need to remember an animal does not stay still and let you slide the blade in, its going to be moving and the larger the blade the higher the friction and chance you will lose your grip as the animal turns and muscle/tendons/bone tighten around the sides of the blade.

If you think im wrong try it on a ham, use one of the well known BIG survival knives to stab the ham all the way to the handle then putting latteral pressure on the blade to simulate animal having moved and blade friction try to pull the blade free... Now try it with something more like
img.php

The shown example is woodsmen Big Lapp knife... its for small wood processing and carving both wood or meat.. and last line of defense against Animals... Design proven effective against Nazi Animals as a matter of fact. ;)
Click to expand...
Why not tie the ham on a rope and hang it from a tree like a piñata. A friend can make the ham come alive while you engage it.
 
Yes I get all the in jokes about the seeming silliness of packing a big knife for a bear. And in the real world my odds of being mauled are about as common as a lightening strike. And I do take active precautions in bear country. But I admit, and have admitted before, a reasonable fear of bears. There are very few animals were I hang out in the woods that can catch and kill me, and basically eat me alive. And yes sometimes, particularly in the spring, I will carry a large knife with bears in mind. I pretty much have no illusion of outright stabbing a bear to death. I'm sure that I would be messed up badly long before that. All I had in mind was nailing it enough to get it off me. I have brought a Condor Hudson Bay and or a Becker Magnum Camp into the spring woods more than once. Stupid fantasy on my part ? May well be. But I just feel safer packing something.
 
For those of you in Alaska who carry shotguns for defense against bears, do you use slugs or shot? Just wondering.
 
I'd use a round loaded with both. Maybe some rock salt thrown in for good measure.
 
Hi Phoynix
Thanks a lot for your detailed and helpful informations. Now I cannot await fighting my next bear 😂

Hi upnorth
Your thoughts is what I'm thinking as well. The knife simply gives a better feeling, and therefore it should be a good one. A blade of around 8 inches seems a good compromise regarding penetration ability, quick handling etc.
Thank you.
 
jbass said:
For those of you in Alaska who carry shotguns for defense against bears, do you use slugs or shot? Just wondering.
Click to expand...

I can't imagine anyone using shot. A slug has the mass to get to vital organs and is capable of taking out the shoulder etc if you don't have a clear shot at the vitals. My buddy did some work with the forest service and they trained him on a shotgun with slugs and I wanna say a .338. I've heard a lot of people like the marlin guide gun as well. .45-70 and up.
 
jbass said:
For those of you in Alaska who carry shotguns for defense against bears, do you use slugs or shot? Just wondering.
Click to expand...

slugs were it for us. Some carried a side arm as well, but that was mostly when one had to use the great outdoors bathroom at night or for the drunk locals.

I do find all the bear fear on here funny. Go spend more time around them and in their habitat, they're not that bad.
 
Shotgun said:
I can't imagine anyone using shot. A slug has the mass to get to vital organs and is capable of taking out the shoulder etc if you don't have a clear shot at the vitals. My buddy did some work with the forest service and they trained him on a shotgun with slugs and I wanna say a .338. I've heard a lot of people like the marlin guide gun as well. .45-70 and up.
Click to expand...

Well then don't do this:

Mass. police advise against chasing bears with dull hatchets while drunk
Man taken into police custody after bear incident

Article in the link

http://www.wmur.com/news/mass-polic...BPAGE&utm_campaign=WMUR-TV&Content Type=Story

bear-ulocal-816-jpg.jpg
 
baldtaco-II said:
You're seriously advocating he goes in with the nosebutt[sic]? Surely if the bear is male or armed you need something more like this -

pbpxmbqd73ub0s8l669u.jpg
Click to expand...

No, that we evolved a far superior brain that can outsmart one. Pretty much the only sharp object one needs.

If someone can't outsmart a bear and thinks fighting one is a better idea, then yea, I guess the Darwin Awards are always looking for entrys.

Instead I'd suggest spending more time in their habitat and learning about their behavior. It's better than just being a fearful man with a big knife.
 
B34NS said:
I do find all the bear fear on here funny. Go spend more time around them and in their habitat, they're not that bad.
Click to expand...

Seconded. If we spent at least as much time really trying to understand bears, read their behavior and body language, etc. as we do pondering all the different ways to "defend" ourselves from them, we (and they) would probably be a lot better off. And I say that as a firearm owner who has spent a lot of time in black and grizz territory, and can easily bump into either in the hills just behind my house.
 
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