The Stiletto Knife/Blade -- A Question About Form and Function

[darkego]

Stilettos!

How would you define a "Stiletto". Is this referring to a switchblade with a thin dagger like blade? Or is it referring to a thin double sided blade? Or does it include thin "dagger" shapes, including single sided blades such as the spear point?

-- I carry a CRKT Fire Spark assisted opening knife. This knife has a "Modified Spear Point". With this blade, and its assisted opening mechanism, it copies a traditional switchblade stiletto in its physical FUNCTION :thumbup:

-- My buddy carries a Cold Steel Ti-Lite which is more or less a carbon copy of an traditional switchblade stiletto design in its FORM

We were talking the other day about traditionally non-sheeple friendly knife designs when he showed me his Ti-Lite. And it got us talking about what features a knife needs to have to be classified as a "stiletto."

Any idea? Does it have a historical or legal definition? I'm not really asking a legal question, just willing to look at it from different angles. When someone refers to a stiletto these days, what things do you inherently think it would/must have?

 

[Dorito Monk]

When I think of stilettos, I think of thin, needle-like daggers on the belts of european noblemen during the renaissance. Then I think of 'james dean' style switchblades. Then I think of stripper shoes with really pointy heels.

 

[brets-ftw]

lol what dorito said

but traditionally speaking its a fancy shank, no actual sharpened blade just a triangular or square tapered piece of steel, cannoneers and artillery men marked a flat side of theirs with different measurements for different fuse lengths, cork diameters etc

the 50's style switch was called a stiletto because it was such a great piercing tool, but carrying a 10in+ knife on your belt wasnt to seemly for the times.

and the shoes hurt when thrown, my old boots have a hole in them from my gf's, not a lot of fun that day

 

[darkego]

So the term originates from something that was essentially in between an Ice Pick and a traditional dagger. That makes sense considering the blade design in traditional switch blades.

That definition has no place in today society though because i think there is a huge conceptual disconnect between the ideas of "fixed blade" and "stiletto" now. Its either an ice pick/shive or a dagger in those situations. (in my opinion)

But if that's true then what other aspects of the old switchblade stilettos are essential a current knife to be called a present day stiletto? Or is it more of a style visual style now, divide of any actual fictional requirements?

Because from what i can tell, a spear point or a modified spear point blade is every bit as good of a "puncture-er" and any blade designed around retro switchblades.

 

[L.J.Tibbs]

When I think of stilettos, I think of thin, needle-like daggers on the belts of european noblemen during the renaissance. Then I think of 'james dean' style switchblades. Then I think of stripper shoes with really pointy heels.

:thumbup: couldn't of put it better myself! except then i think of the women wearing said shoes...

 

[tom19176]

Bernard Levine will tell you it is a solid slender fixed blade, and the "stiletto" style folding knives are really fish pattern. He is correct as to the true knife defintions and history and even the fairly new published defintions by the knife trade group. Many people refer to out the front opening swicthblades as stilettos, and others the traditional side opening Italian style ones as stilettos.
My belief is the Italian style switchblades copy the dagger style, but are not really stilettos. Most state laws define or list the two as different items.

 

[kershaw22]

I can't help but think of switch blades, but a real stiletto is more of a spike than a blade. I'v always loved the stiletto switch blades. Just some thing about them.

 

[darkego]

My belief is the Italian style switchblades copy the dagger style, but are not really stilettos. Most state laws define or list the two as different items.

I agree, but take the dagger style away from an Italian style switchblade, and its still a switchblade. The term "automatic" has become to mean roughly the same thing (usually).

However move that Italian style switchblade's blade to a small handle with a proper guards (or even without) and it has becomes a small dagger.

I guess i never knew about the original "fancy shiv" historical definition of a stiletto, so my view about them reflects that, so i always thought it referred to the blade shape. Maybe with some added language referring to the thickness of its spine or something.

I can't help but think of switch blades, but a real stiletto is more of a spike than a blade. I'v always loved the stiletto switch blades. Just some thing about them.

So when that "more of a spike than a blade" started resembling a blade, then would that be a "dirk"? These terms are used in weapons laws all the time, and i knew they were vague, but it seems histories changing of the conceptual design of what people (well me) think off when they think "stiletto" has further diluted what it could mean. Oh the fun of using undefined terms

 

[A.P.F.]

I think of my Titanium Ti-Lite.

 

[Havokk]

I thought a stiletto was a thin spike designed to punch through chain mail. Thin and pointed, to get in between the mail links. Not sharpened on the sides, because you are not using it to slice and the mail links would just blunten it anyway.

 

[CWL]

I thought a stiletto was a thin spike designed to punch through chain mail. Thin and pointed, to get in between the mail links. Not sharpened on the sides, because you are not using it to slice and the mail links would just blunten it anyway.

Correct, original stillettos were meant to be inserted through the eyeslit of a full helmet, into the throat, in the armpit or through links of chainmail on a well-armoured foe.

It wasn't a combat weapon though, just an instrument for finishing-off an already wounded foe, often as an act of mercy.

 

[yardhook]

According to Wikipedia looks like most all replies were right:
(note: I think I'm gonna start calling them misericordes)
A stiletto is a short knife or dagger with a long slender blade of various designs primarily used as a stabbing weapon. Its narrow shape, ending in a rigid pointed end, allows it to penetrate deeply. Most stiletti are not suited for cutting, even with edged examples. A typical early stiletto had a one-piece cast-metal handle. The blade was hammer-forged in a triangular blade cross section without any sharpened edges. Other examples have round, square, and diamond cross sections.

The Italian word "stiletto" comes from the Latin stilus meaning: "a stake; a pointed instrument".[1] The stiletto, also called a misericorde ("mercy"), began to gain fame during the High Middle Ages, when it was the secondary weapon of knights.[2] It was used to finish off a fallen or severely wounded heavily armored opponent. The pointed, stout blade could easily pass through most mail or find its way through gaps in a knight's plate armor. A severely wounded opponent, who was not expected to survive, would be given a "mercy strike" (French coup de grâce), hence the name miséricorde. Later the Gunner's Stiletto became a tool for clearing cannon-fuse touch holes; used in the manner of an automotive oil dipstick, they were often scribed with marks indicating levels of powder charges for ranging distance.[3]

The word stiletto may sometimes be used in American English to refer to a switchblade. Stiletto may also be used specifically for a knife blade exhibiting the same triangular cross-section or even hollow grind, such as a small sword, rapier, or épée.

 

[Charlie Mike]

Meanings of words change over time. When influenced by media's technically improper definitions/examples, the ignorant majority accepts and perpetuates the misnomer. Eventually, the common/ignorant definition/example becomes generally accepted as truth.

 

[Knife Crazied]

I think of Italy and Frank Beltrame, AKC, ect. A stiletto to me is an auto with a push botton opening.