Knife thru car...not a Tanto

U

UPSTARTCROWE

Joined
Oct 17, 1999
Messages
122
Today I responded to a 417A (Man w/a knife) call. As usual, I called dibs on the blade (that's a little sarcasm). The victim stated that a man attacked her with a knife and missed, striking the car instead. Here is my point. I saw a 3.4" piece of knife blade stuck through the top of the trunk of the car. The blade had snapped off in the top of the trunk after penetrating just a little over 1". I'm no steel expert but the blade spine is perfectly straight with a slight belly, about 1/8" thick and 3/4" wide. It sure looks like a steak knife to me. The tip was completely undamaged however and the way the blade snapped I don't think the steel was of any quality.
I guess this sort of debunks the need for a reinforced tanto style tip? For me at least, unless I want to keep jabbing my blade through cars. Too bad, I like the looks of tantos.
 
I've seen little wood twigs driven through the wall of a building by the force of a tornado.

If you tried to drive a chunk of soft lead through a car door by pushing on it, you'd just flatten the lead out against the steel door. But, the force of an explosion in a gun will drive a soft piece of lead right through a car door.

You've doubtlessly seen martial artists break bricks with their bare hands. It can be done.

Given the right circumstances, anything can happen once. But for it to happen repeatedly, you generally have to design for it. The tip of most knives is not designed to be driven through heavy sheet metal. In most cases it won't go. But, if your 417A was mad enough and hit that knife against that car with enough energy and in just the right way, I can easily understand how it would happen.



------------------
Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.4cs.net/~gollnick
 
I think the advantage of the tanto lies in the usefulness of the secondary point, the slight continuos curve of the blade, and the strength of the tip when the tip is stressed in a sideways direction.
 
I should write a macro.... Practically any knife made will penetrate a car, including $5 folders.

Auto bodies are not made of heavy sheet metal. Far from it.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
The Vampire Gerbil should do something on using the Leatherman Micra to penetrate a car body.
smile.gif
 
That is the one problem with the Micra: you dare not run with it.

Chuck
 
This reinforces my belief that most criminals use POS's. Even in kitchen knives.

One other thing, why would someone take a swing like that? A slash or a thrust I can see, but a downward plunge?

He must have been drunk.

------------------
"If they do these things in a green tree, what will they do in a dry?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top