Opening My Folder - Flubbed It!

Having used a knife hard, many times daily, and under extreme stress more than a few times (being dragged by a line from a power boat and having to cut away, snagged on a branch under water in fast current flood waters, being stuck on a section of inflatible docks that are bunched up on an anchor line with my hand wedged in them, etc.) NOT some sort of knife fight with somebody pounding on me though, so can't comment on that. But I can't agree more with the comments on guys who use their knives all day long having a definite advantage here. I know I can pull my delica from my pocket and get it open without loss under all those circumstances, same goes for the tasman on my pfd.

Find some stuff to cut man! :D Its fun, and its training apparently!
 
The one thing that messes with me more than opening mechanism (thunb stud, hole, etc.) is the pocket clip alignment..... by that I mean tip-up or tip down carry. I got pretty used to tip up carry and my new EDC is tip down. Took me a good little while to get used to it.

p.s. not trying to start any sort of tip-up vs. tip down thread. I'm a newb but I'm sure that had been debated many times here.
 
I know that mercop did some training (and "survey") on opening folders in stressful situation.

But it is hard to tell whether under real stress and danger your muscle memory will fail or will it work flawless. I remember that is some situation (not life threatening, but when knife was needed fast to cut something) I was able to take knife from pocket open cut, close, and put into pocket again without thinking at all. But will it work in real danger? I dont know, and hopefully will never have to test it.
 
practice practice practice it could save your life check out my post.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753472
also practice drawing on one knee and sitting on the floor chances are if your attacked you will be stunned and kneel or lean back much like a surfer on a surfboard or get knocked down completely. Like knifenut1013 stated its those difficult positions that are a game changer but most importantly get the knife open don't worry about speed too much. Remember always stay sharp.
 
Easy fix here: If you are ever attacked while carrying your knife that you want to defend yourself with, ask your attacker if he/she would please open your knife for you, then hand it to him/her.:D.
 
I had a similar problem. It was winter and I had on my Columbia coat while cutting 8' strands of twine. Every time I tried to open one of my folders, one with a 3.75" blade and the other a 4" blade, they would not open because the tip of the blade would get caught on my sleeve. I've since then only carry folders with about a 3.5" blade or less. Well it was either that or get a shorter coat.:)
 
knifenut1013 said:
..... fast is slow and smooth is fast.
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Yep -- always practice slowly. If you practice too fast, you will have bad technique, and you will be practicing that bad technique. Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. Speed comes with time, there's no way around it.
 
saw45 said:
All this talk of practicing deployment is both interesting yet funny. If you aren't a well trained practitioner in the knife martial arts, you might be better off leaving the knife in your pocket. Otherwise, you may find said knife being taken away from you, and then being returned to you where the sun doesn't shine.
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Gah, again?
You know, just because this line gets parroted a billion times on the internet does not make it true.
It really doesn't.
The woman in Windsor who successfully defended herself with a pocket-knife she bought because it matched her purse did not get it crammed into any orifices. She slashed at least one of them, and then ran like hell (she was attacked by two guys). Strangely, she didn't have advanced training (you'd think she would have, given the reason she chose that particular knife;)).
There's plenty of other real life incidents which demonstrate the fallacy of the common internet "wisdom" as well.
I get so damn sick of hearing this tripe; it's about as great as those people who tell me "I'd just take the knife from the guy; I saw it done once on YouTube."
Sure you would.

Refusing to be robbed by 2 men, woman fights back
By Trevor Wilhelm, The Windsor Star, September 18, 2009

WINDSOR, Ont. -- They hit her, they knocked her down, but Melissa Codling wasn’t going to be a victim.

When two men ambushed Codling Wednesday night as she walked alone near Victoria Avenue, she fought back. They wanted her purse and iPod. She had other plans.

“He’s not going to rob me, that’s all I kept thinking, all I was feeling,” said Codling, 21. “I’m not going to be a victim. It’s not going to be me. You hear about people that are victims of crime and all I was thinking was I’m not going to be that person.”

Police said the attack appears to have been a crime of opportunity.

“These guys happen to be lurking around the area, they see her walking by herself and next thing you know they jump her,” said Sgt. Brett Corey.

He said struggling against the attackers was the right thing to do.

“Do everything you can do,” said Corey. “Scream, yell, fight, draw attention to yourself. She was obviously able to break free and call us.”

He added you can help protect yourself by walking in pairs and sticking to well-lit, well-travelled areas when possible.

Codling was walking down Pelissier Street toward her mom’s place after getting off the bus at Ouellette Avenue and Shepherd Street around 9 p.m. She was headed toward Tecumseh Road while scrolling through songs on her iPod.

There was a guy leaning on a fence near a church at Tecumseh and Victoria Avenue.

“Really staring at me, giving me the creeps,” said Codling.

She immediately thought of her pocket knife, which she bought because it matched her purse. Codling slipped it into her sleeve and cut through the parking lot behind the church.

“The first male starts moving really fast toward me,” said Codling.

She didn’t panic, she didn’t scream. She ignored the flip-flops on her feet making it hard to run. Codling just bolted.

“It was total tunnel vision,” she said. “All I could see was me going forward. I wasn’t thinking about anything else.”

But she didn’t see the other guy coming. Codling turned back to see where her pursuer was, unaware a second man was hiding, waiting to strike.

“He jumped out and I hit him like it was a brick wall,” said Codling.

She’s not sure where he came from. He might have been hiding behind a church wall that jutted out.

“I walk through there all the time,” said Codling. “When I do I always kind of lean sideways to look because you can see a shadow. But I was dealing with the guy behind me. I didn’t have time to check around. I didn’t think he had a buddy waiting in the dark to creep out on me.”

She ploughed into him and backed up, staggering. Her attackers were relentless.

“The guy behind me was screaming, ‘grab that bitch’s iPod, grab that bitch’s purse,’” said Codling. “Then the second male pushed me.”

She slipped out of her flip-flops and tumbled to the pavement. One of the men climbed on her chest to hold her down.

For the first time, she felt panic. Codling was becoming a victim. It made her angry. She told herself she was strong. She mustered her courage.

“I started swinging my knife around, just trying to put distance between me and them,” said Codling. “I think I got the second male because he went ‘aahh’ and moved back. I was going every which way with this thing. They backed up away from me.”

She saw her opportunity.

“I got up and I ran.”

Codling didn’t stop running — still clutching her purse and iPod — until she got to her mother’s house.

“I was fine until I walked in the door and I saw my mom,” said Codling. “Then all the emotion started coming. I started crying. I just needed a minute to understand what had just friggin’ happened. Then I had a couple cigarettes, told her what happened.”

Police said the one of the attackers was white, bald, clean shaven and 25 to 30 years old. He was about 180 pounds, five foot seven with a medium build and wore a black hoodie, black pants and was clean shaven.

The other man was also white, about 30 years old and six feet tall with a muscular build. He was bald, clean shaven, and wore a tight, long-sleeved black shirt and dark pants.

Police ask anyone with information to call their investigations branch at 519-255-6700 ext. 4830 or Crime Stoppers at 519-258-TIPS (8477).
 
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saw45 has some good points. on occasion my early survey of the streets prompted me to have knife in hand but closed-- even better if you're wearing a jacket you can have hand in pocket. if you are going to be facing a decent martial arts practitioner you are in for a rough time .A sharp surprise might still allow you to depart with minor self damage.
dennis
 
Respectfully, if you find yourself in an incident where rapid deployment of a knife is necessary, your situational awareness sucks. JMO
 
cziv said:
This causes me to believe that I need to carry one type of knife only (Spyderhole, thumbstud, flipper for e.g.) to make this an unconscious muscle/memory thing - which makes my collection superflous,
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Yep---beware the man who only has one gun...because he probably knows how to use it. Tip-up with a round hole opener, that's all you'll ever see me with unless I'm at the house.

A.P.F. said:
Respectfully, if you find yourself in an incident where rapid deployment of a knife is necessary, your situational awareness sucks. JMO
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I respectfully disagree. You can't be aware of a situation until it exists, and some of them can seem to materialize out of nowhere. Or...sometimes you can be aware of the situation but not in a position to remedy it...if that makes any sense.
 
stabman said:
I am a decent martial artist...and I still don't want to be facing people who are wielding knives.
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Yeh, even a decently skilled practitioner would rather face a barehanded opponent than one armed with a knife.

I guess those other guys would rather face an untrained guy with a knife than face one without a knife. :D
 
Tip-up with a round hole opener, that's all you'll ever see me with unless I'm at the house.
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My Endura 4, G-10, steel lined ffg, inspires a lot of confidence and is a decent size EDC. I thought you meant a Military. My dream folder is a g-10 Military plain edge with "tip-up carry" I guess that ain't going to happen anytme soon. :(
 
I am glad that you posted that bro, it's really human man, no big deal. I can see how it would be a little traumatic though and the question it begs is a good one.

I carry two kinds of knives the Spyderco's of various flavors or the Rajah, even the Recons have been relegated to BOB status. All the spydies feel the same to me when opening it's rote muscle memory, from the Centofante, to the Resilience and now a Ti Military.

The Rajah 2 on the other hand is so ridiculously big, so smooth and so fast with a huge portion of grip in hand it's easily the best of the go to's in EDC, it's much better than the Spartan or Rajah 3.

I had a knife once in a tough spot that needed to get at and couldn't it was a Buck 110 and thats why I don't carry it anymore.
 
I wouldn't waste any time working on knife technique, focus on your pistol. But that's me.
 
Zombie Zeke said:
The Rajah 2 on the other hand is so ridiculously big, so smooth and so fast with a huge portion of grip in hand it's easily the best of the go to's in EDC, it's much better than the Spartan or Rajah 3.

I had a knife once in a tough spot that needed to get at and couldn't it was a Buck 110 and thats why I don't carry it anymore.
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Zeke - I've been thinking a lot about getting a Rajah 2. I had the R 1 and it was a beauty but way too heavy (not too big - they don't carry that bad at all), but the Rajah 2 would give me the same firepower in a lighter package.

I never had the Rajah 1 NOT deploy when pulling it out. They're affordable but really no good except for chopping things to smithereens. God forbid I'd have to haul it out and swing it at an assailant. It would cut a limb clean off! :eek: :D :D
 
canadiantrailman said:
My Emerson CQC 10 is ultra fast and safe but it has to be out of my pocket a fair bit to engage. It is no doubt faster than any manual or speed assist deployment I have used. Also remember that a hefty folder is indeed a weapon in it's own right even when it is not deployed. The ends are rather strong against a body part. Just my two cents.
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Nice knives - not my cup of tea.
 
elkins45 said:
...I respectfully disagree. You can't be aware of a situation until it exists, and some of them can seem to materialize out of nowhere. Or...sometimes you can be aware of the situation but not in a position to remedy it...if that makes any sense.
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Yes it does. I agree that it is impossible to anticipate everything, without becoming a nervous wreck. However, in such a scenario, I would pray that my Buck 110 turns into a 10mm Glock.;)
 
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