Small knife blade style for self defense

A

Aqua2102

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
8
Hello everybody,

I just registered to Bladeforums. I'm a newbie to knives so unfortunately I cannot contribute much - at least not right now. I hope this will change pretty soon.

Recently I decided on buying a very small, concealable knife for self-defense purpose. While I was doing extensive i-net research I gathered some basic knowledge on what to consider. At this point:

THANKS VERY MUCH TO THIS FORUM.

Nearly all of the relevant information came from this forum. So I figured this must be a place with people who know their stuff and decided to join.

Right now, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna buy one of those hideaway knives Frontsight offers at her website. Unfortunately, I couldn't decide on a blade style so far. Offered are: Claw, straight, hybrid and curved.

In my eyes, the short length of the blade suggests slashing as an effective type of usage. For this, the claw might be the best choice since its geometry allows a very focussed penetration. Once penetrated, the curvy blade will get a good grab for cutting.

On the other hand, in close combat there isn't alway enough space for a large slashing movement (your arm needs to gain speed to have the desired impact for slashing, I guess). So in this case you might want to stab at your opponent in a direct way and then maybe rip the blade sideways. For stabbing, hybrid and straight blade style could be preferable.

As I said: I don't have very much knowledge on all of this. So what I said may be quite stupid. Hopefully maybe one of you experts could give me some advise where to find information on this topic. I think a lot of answers will be available in the archives but somehow my search function does not work.

Thanks very much.
 
Welcome, that's a heavy duty first post, you should really take this over to Tactics and Training, a Mod will probably move it there anyway, as those boys are better equipped to handle SD questions.

Welcome anyway.
 
Well, thanks for your advise. I'd be happy moving it. Just didn't know exactly where to put it best (quite a couple of forums here).

Is there a special procedure doing that without creating to much confusion?

BR
 
I'm not an expert, but I would go for a curved blade, especially on a knife that small. I think you are right that slashing will have more of an impact than penetration, but I think you are overestimating the need for speed in cutting. After you have cut yourself a few times (as I have) you will see how readily steel will seperate flesh. :)

Jack
 
I've found the Stright to be the most versatile. You can even use it as a general purpose blade. For pure SD, I'd opt for the Claw. More effective in cutting and slashing.
 
Welcome to the Forums Aqua, and you don't move it, a moderator will take care of that for you.
 
Well, until some moderator does move this to Practical Tactical, we may as well keep on discussing it here :)

Welcome to Bladeforums! We need all the new guys we can get, before the rest of us wear out.

Since knife fighting generally is a form of recreation best suited to maniacs OR highly trained specialists, be sure you aren't relying on any knife as a substitute for the experience you really need.

In fact, your fighting style should dictate the shape of the blade, not vice versa.

That formality out of the way, yes, the Hideaway is a neat alternative to waving excessive amounts of steel around to scare off people to stupid to be scared. Quick in, quick out, and they don't even know why they're bleeding all over themselves.

At random, I could give you an answer on which blade shape, because they all have their advantages, but think of it this way. The Hideaway could really be a neat utility neck knife. I tend to wear small neckers myself.

In that case, the straight would probably be most useful, and it's hardly less effective as a quick cutter in a fight than the others. For a first Hideaway, in other words, don't lock yourself into too specialized a shape, or you may tire of noticing it. The best self-defense tool is something you tend to grab for routinely anyway. Your muscles will know where to go and what to do when the adrenaline hits.
 
Yeah sure. I would agree (if asked :-) that the straight-style would be most versatile. Just wasn't sure on how much advantage the claw-style offers. Imagining some SD situation (with no clue of those, as said before) I think you almost always have to get through some shirt, jacket and so on and that for this purpose probably the claw style is untopped, is it?
 
Start out with a straight.


hak1.jpg
 
A small, straight blade does just fine for slashing - the edge angle on the Hideaway or the Shivworks Loco creates a shearing effect.
 
hello,

I went for an Emerson la griffe, its small, easey to hide and well powerfull for its size, but I wouldant recomend cutting someone in self defence, it can cause more trouble than it saves. just run away its cheeper too !! ;)
 
You could look at a Fred Perrin 'Street Surgeon' (Kiridachi)

BladeArt inc. have two variants, one with micarta handles and one naked. There is the option of a kydex neck sheath or a small leather belt sheath.
 
Trojanargus said:
You could look at a Fred Perrin 'Street Surgeon' (Kiridachi)
Click to expand...

Did that already. I also had a closer look at Spyderco SPOT, Emerson LaGriffe, Benchmade Tether and a couple of other neck-knives. It seems the Hideaway fits more to what I want. I must admit, I haven't had any of those knives in my hands (bad basis for choosing, I know) but knife availability in shops here in Germany is almost down to zero.

Thanks anyway for the info. :)
 
If I buy a Hideaway it will be a straight blade simply because it's so much easier to sharpen than a claw. The hybrid is another neat blade shape, but again, harder to sharpen and not as utilitarian. The Straight should be very easy to keep razor sharp and that's the point. Just $.02.
 
I've never done any practical testing of this, but it seems logical that a hawkbill style blade would have deeper initial penetration than a straight edge. With a relatively small blade such as the Hideaway and in potentially life or death situation where you may only have one chance to disable someone wouldn't you want the extra "bite"? He's asking about a dedicated self-defense blade so utilitarianism isn't really an issue and a Sharpmaker should work fine for keeping it sharpened. I'll admit that I am biased towards curved blades, but that is because they are better at some tasks. Just thinking out loud here. :D

Jack
 
donovan said:
I've never done any practical testing of this, but it seems logical that a hawkbill style blade would have deeper initial penetration than a straight edge.
Click to expand...
This is not what I've found. The straight inline point of the Stright Hideaways penetrate better than my Claws. Angle of attack taken into consideration. Where the Claw excels is in being able to bite and drag the tip during slashing actions.
 
Hi, this even gets a long time lurker to answer a first post with a first post. ;) Since you're living in Germany, have you checked out the Messerforum.net? There once was a long thread about HideAwayKnives (and their questionable legality in Germany, since they could easily be considered pushdaggers, which are illegal). Due to that, I recently ordered a HideAway Sting (blade in-line with the handle) myself, so I can't say you're wrong with choosing a HideAway. But before you order, take care to inform yourself on the legal situation in Germany.

Nick
 
I'm a fan of the La Griffe and especially the SPOT (I own both), but I much prefer my HideAway. It is significantly smaller and I think it's a more secure and powerful tool. I am very much happy with mine!

Mine is a curvy, primarily because I find recurve clip-points the most versatile blade shape for utility tasks. You get a fine point, a lot of belly, and an incurve section that's perfect for "hooking" materials like line or rope into the cut.

For self-defense I consider the incurve less important, but I still want belly and a sharp point, which suggests a clip-point of some type. I worry about the possibility of a hawkbill hanging up on anything that's too tough to go through. An outward curve will still make deep cuts without the risk. A straight edge is more dependent on wrist angle to hold it into a cut, although the grip angle on a HideAway takes care of that almost automatically.

What all of that amounts to is that my first choice for both utility and self-defense would be (and was) the curvy with the straight coming in a close second.

--Bob Q
 
Personally, the best neck knife I've held or owned is a Spyderco SPOT (VG10 & micarta). I know I hype this knife every chance I get, but I just can't help it. It is an awesome little knife! The sheath can be easily rigged for other carry options, too. I interlaced some leather lanyard through the holes in my sheath and carry is side-release on my belt. It is virtually undetectable and very comfortable.
 
Since you've handled both of them and I haven't I'll take your word for it, Tony. Although it still seems counterintuitive to me.

Jack
 
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