knife ward off attack from mountainlion?

Most humans arent a match for 120lb agile clawed professional hunters. But if I were attacked by one, I'd sure as hell want the biggest knife I could get, if not a .44 magnum. Anything is better than your bare hands. I'd even be happy with a strudy 7 inch stick. It could at least help you keep some distance between it's jaws and you.
 
sharper said:
You know I thought the same thing until a Black Bear was trying to get into a local mans shed where he kept feed for his dog and chickens. He shot it 3 times with a Ruger 10-22 and it was found the next day by the man and the local Conservation agent. The bear was so big it broke the wheels off a game cart. They ended up using a front end loader to remove the bear. Sorry to jump into the mountian lion vs knife thread. Thought you might find it interesting.
Danny
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You could kill a black bear with a tiny sharp stick if you hit it right. But who has time to wait around all night for it to bleed out while it's mauling you, and how many animals stand still while attacking? Black bears are as small and wimpy as bears come, though. What a larger cartridge does is allow you to penetrate bone, muscle, shoulders, skull, etc. to get to vitals for a quicker kill in emergency and hunting situations. A 22LR is definitely not the first choice in self defense - human or otherwise. You need to keep physics and physiology under consideration.

WYK
 
if a lion or other big predator are attack u,i think u should protect yr neck and head especially,becos they always like to bike that.

besides of knife vs a lion,bear,etc, i think if i have a maglite D cell,i can hit their head like i have a harmmer.....
 
Instead of thinking of ways to kill or maim the mountain lion,... why don't we just blame the bike rider for being in the mountain lion's path ? :p
 
I don't think a knife would do you much good if the attack were a surprise. A gun might work if you had enought time to react. I suppose any one of these is better than nothing. On a practical note it is probably better to ride with a friend/group of people if there is a concern.
 
I would get the biggest knife I could find and give it to my fellow jogger to slow him down so that when the mountain lion attacks you can outrun him. Heh heh!
 
I live in Mtn. Lion country, in fact we had a sighting just 200 yards from my house. I always carry at least a four inch knife, not mainly for lions but for dog attacks which are more common here. I ride my mtn. bike with a friend and know to two other riders that almost crashed into a mtn. lion riding down our trails here at 30 mph, that really spooked these guys.. Know that trying to out run or outride a mtn. lion is futile you'll only wake up his predator instinct. You can think all you want that Oh! I'll be ready with my 44 mag or bowie but you're only kidding yourself, these cats lay in wait and will only strike if they know they have a good chance of getting you/prey from behind. You will never get the chance to put up a good fight if your neck is broken on his first strike. The cat that got that mtn. biker was on his knees when the thing jumped him and killed him.
Pound for pound mtn. lions will always be stronger and faster. Ten sharp claws and sharp teeth are no match for any person doing combat with one, he'll gut you with his sharp claws. You think i'm jumping in there with a knife to save someone? I'll let the arm chair ninjas do that, phone numbers please!
The mtn bikers' partially consumed body was found after it attacked a female jogger, she was saved by someone who heared her screams..

If it ever happens to one of us here I just hope my buddy is packin his 1911 cause that what it will take to control the situation, rocks don't cut it in my book...

To those making jokes about someone getting killed its not funny if it was someone you knew..

No one wants to be killed like that, it won't keep me from riding, heck the nearest contact for me was almost hitting a bobcat, at 40mph on a dirt trail we both would have been toast..
THE ODDS ARE GREATER THAT I'LL BE KILLED BY A CAR DRIVEN BY A DRUNK TALKING ON A CELL PHONE.. That's whats on my mind when I'm riding the six blocks to the trailhead... :eek:
 
WYK said:
You could kill a black bear with a tiny sharp stick if you hit it right. But who has time to wait around all night for it to bleed out while it's mauling you, and how many animals stand still while attacking? Black bears are as small and wimpy as bears come, though. What a larger cartridge does is allow you to penetrate bone, muscle, shoulders, skull, etc. to get to vitals for a quicker kill in emergency and hunting situations. A 22LR is definitely not the first choice in self defense - human or otherwise. You need to keep physics and physiology under consideration.

WYK
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WYK,
Yes I know this. 44 Mag would be the smallest cartridge I would consider for self defense against bears or mountain lions. I was resonding to another poster who posted the following...kind of reminds me of when my mom was going berry picking and asked to borrow the .22 pistol in case she ran into a bear... (granted- the noise might do the trick- but the bullet itself certainly wouldn't). I know this was freak incident, I just thought maybe someone would find it funny.
Please don't think I'm the kind of person that would hunt bears with a switch. ;)
Danny
 
I would think that everyone here would rather have some kind of weapon in their hand than nothing at all. Give me a .22, pocket knife, rock, stick, beer bottle or something. If you're about to leave this world and your family, you can at least "go out fighting" rather than wimping out. Not too long ago in the Boulder, CO area a biker was being stalked by a cat and the biker was doing things he had read; holding up his bike over his head and talking softly and not making direct eye contact with a cat but the cat still was moving after him..... It was only when the biker finally got pissed off and started threatening the cat and lunging and swearing did the cat turn tail and run off.
-It's never over until you think it's over!
 
I researched that “tigers in India” thing. There are several stories on the web about an area where they would lose a handful of wood-cutters every year to tiger attacks. Since they started wearing the masks, they’ve lost one guy, in twenty years. He was attacked from the side. I walk in a wilderness park, just 3 miles from where a woman was attacked, but saved, and a man was killed by a mountain lion. I can’t bring myself to walk around with a mask on the back of my head. I might settle for a t-shirt with the picture of a German shepherd on the back.

Warding off a lion with a knife is a romantic idea, but it probably won’t happen. A mountain lion wants it to be over with the first strike, and that is usually from behind, on the neck. If you get it that way, you could carry a gatling gun for all the good it would do you.

Darrel
 
How well would a tazer work on an animal? Would the shock transfer to you if there was contact?
 
Any weapon is preferable to none. I'm continually amused by the "your knife will be useless" comments on this forum, the knife has been employed as a weapon throughout it's history. Ancient armies slaughtered each other by the tens of thousands with edged weapons- why is it that simply because we have tanks and nuclear missile submarines, that the knife has suddenly become ineffective vs. flesh?

Yup, you could be completely surprised and DRT before you even feel Mr. Mountain Lions sharp canines - or, you might get lucky and have an opportunity to fight back.

If so, would you prefer to simply die, having concluded based on sage advice that your 7.5" Busse Steel Heart is no match for Mr. Predator, or will you at least give as good as you get?

How well would a tazer work on an animal?
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The new Taser website indicates the system is successful on animals, given a solid hit and connection. Previous generation Tasers relied on pain, new versions cycle the pulse to interfere with the autonomic nervous system and completely disable voluntary muscle control. The problem would be actually making the hit on a small, fast target like a cougar.
 
I remember reading an article in Outside magazine about cougars. The gist of it was that a cougar is not looking for a fight, just food.

If a small folder helps you make a more effective fight with the cougar clamped to you head, shoulder or neck (cause that's where its gonna be) then there is a better chance you will survive the attack.

so a 110 would do just fine, but youre not going to be "facing" anything.
 
I have oftened wondered if someday you will be able to buy some kind of repulsive scent that would deter cougars and bears. In othrer words, they smell you and say "forget this meal". Of course it would have to be something that you could stand to wear or might even smell good to humans. Kind of like shark repellent in reverse. I don't think deer blood cologne would be a good place to start.........
 
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