recommendation for a knife to defend against a mountain lion

I have a rearview mirror that mounts on my glasses for riding a bicycle, but it works fine when I'm hiking to keep track of the kids. In tiger country people wear Halloween masks on the back of their heads to confuse the tiger who only likes to attack from behind. I don't know if this works on pumas.
I would be inclined to carry a short spear, a sword cane, a tomahawk, or an ice axe if I couldn't pack my .357 magnum. I always carry large folders and bear spray in cougar country.
 
alfred mcdougal said:
Didn't you mean defense against a cougar?

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:thumbdn:
 
Why is a firearm out of the question in the forest/woods/mountains?
Spyderco Temperance 2
Becker BK7
Scrapyard Knives 711
Glock in either .40 or .45
 
RevDevil said:
Why is a firearm out of the question in the forest/woods/mountains?
Spyderco Temperance 2
Becker BK7
Scrapyard Knives 711
Glock in either .40 or .45
Click to expand...

Perhaps because they are in Canada..... Carrying a firearm is a big nono in Canada....
 
I would think a 7" bladed fixed blade would be plenty. I would also look at more of a stabbing/slashing knife rather than a chopper. Like has been said, cats are typically ambush predators and you may not know you're in trouble until you are underneath 150lbs of toothie muscle. I can't see myself getting in a decent chop while pinned to the ground so I would want something I know would make a nice deep wound. Since the primary thought so far is with cat wrestling I would want something double edged or with at least a sharpened upper swedge. Why not something like a Gerber MKII? Nice double edged daggery type knife that would make a deep wound and was actually designed for sticking in thin skinned predatory type animals. Also relatively inexpensive. Not much use as a general purpose knife but we are talking about cat fighting.

Bear spray is also a wonderful thing if you happen to see the thing before it's on you. I would not recommend the setup that was mentioned that fires from your chest for if something is on top of you. You may speay it and hit the cat/bear/bad man but you will also be hit with it. What goes up must come down, so if you're on your back and fire up at an attacker it may hit where you want it but it will also spatter and drip back onto you. That will likely take you out of the fight.
 
If I had that type of wildlife to deal with, I'd be carrying a .45 and the aforementioned bear spray. A knife simply isn't sufficient for that kind of thing. One pointy object vs. a mouth full and on every toe just isn't good odds.
 
Ballistic knife:

[video=youtube_share;v9cK3dLYEMY]http://youtu.be/v9cK3dLYEMY[/video]

I think the idea came from this:

A triple blade sword that can shoot its blades.

[video=youtube_share;vDvuBY97cD4]http://youtu.be/vDvuBY97cD4 [/video]
 
Forget the knife. If a gun is out then get a large, mean dog. If nothing else it will provide a warning before it is attacked itself.
 
I have heard that a mask that has eyes worn facing the rear can deter cat attacks due to the cat thinking it is being watched and they are ambush predators.

Other than avoiding the attack I would say having some mid sized fixed blades on person easily accessible in a panic situation would be best. But, unless you have done training to familiarize yourself with the drawing and using the knives they will likely be no good.

If it were me I would just stay out of the places where hunting cats are known to hunt. They are some very adept hunters/killers, I have seen domestic cats hunt, I can't imagine 200 pounds of that.
 
Please do not go out trying to defend yourself against big cats with just a knife on hand. Even if you survive, chances are you would be in real bad shape by the end of it. Firearms are the way to go here. Closely followed by bear spray and couple large dogs. If I was you, I would be doing just about anything to get a firearm. Even if it meant spending a week taking a hunters course. Stay safe.
 
I suppose your husband could survive the initial attack IF he has immediate access to his knife. NOT on his pack, but on his belt.
Note that one survival example mentioned an old female cat weighing 65 lbs, and the woman was NOT attacked in surprise from behind.
My son in Colorado sent me a video of three mountain lions walking up the driveway of a neighbor's home. I wouldn't care to fight that.
I would definitely recommend a large fixed blade of at least four inch blade; preferably a machete to really bring power to the fight.
Of course, I have no experience with this sort of thing; and don't want any.
The ESEE knives are very good, and not expensive. A bit over $100 will get you a lifetime of useful knife.
I don't think you have to get fancy...just about any fixed-blade should be okay. He's not likely to break the blade on the cat. But don't go too cheap; it's false economy. I think I would go with a common tool steel...perhaps 01 steel, rather than stainless.
 
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I don't know too much about cougars although we do have them here too. However, attacks from a cougar sems to be even rarer than from a grizzly, so not really expected. Here in Canada, particularly in the parks, is a no firearm law. You probably get away with a rifle in backcountry but no handgun. There is a lot of evidence that common sense and bear spray is better protection against grizzly than a firearm anyway. Now to cougars, I think even with common sense, bear spray, and the above mentioned tips (thanks for posting that btw), I would rather have a knife than none. I think at least a 6 inch blade, fighter design to stab and slash with a pointy tip but enough heft. Easily accessible! Something like this:

Wheeler_110814-web.jpg
 
A Sam Wilson HH knife. Bad ass blade that can be customized to your needs and a hollow handle for the after battle first aid! :-D
 
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