Thoughts on SD Knife.

Q

Quy4n8

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Nov 27, 2002
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I have read numerous threads about which knife or knives might be suitable for use in a self defense situation. I just thought I would give my 2 cents worth, stating up front that I have no formal training using a knife for SD, and if I ever am faced with such a situation, I pray that first God is on my side and second, I have an HK in my hand, just in case it takes to long for me to deploy the knife!! Ha Ha.

The first thought which comes to mind is whether the SD situation is likely, i.e. I am in the military and can carry a fixed blade knife or I am otherwise employed and a fixed knife is not and option. Obviously a fixed knife would always be my first choice; always open, simple, fast, imminently strong, etc. If I have to have a folder, it would be a Bali-Song for the following reasons: First and foremost is the threat factor. If I deploy the knife and have the time to flip it once or twice, there is nothing more threatening (except cycling a pump shotgun) than a practiced flip. The element of surprised is still the best weapon. Second, as long at the pins don’t shear (extremely unlikely) and you are holding both handles, the lock can’t fail. Third, if you purchase one from any of the better companies, (BM, Cold Steel, Microtech, etc.) you are getting a lot of knife for the money. Just my thoughts. Like I said, I have no experience in these matters, just taking a logical approach. Let me know what your thoughts are, maybe I am way off base. Thanks.
 
As far as I know you DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES threaten anyone with a knife, if you pull a knife on somebody you'd better be planning to use it. The reason is that if you pull a knife on someone, YOU are the one who escalated the situation which means that the guy you are facing has to respond with just as much if not more violent force himself (i.e. pulling a gun).
 
Depending upon your locality and local laws, the balisong could be a felony carry. Small fixed blades, if legal, might be a good choice. Even the most practiced openings of a folding knife can become a fumble in the event you need to pull it, assuming that needing to pull it is based upon being surprised by a BG with lethal intentions.
 
Vagabond said:
As far as I know you DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES threaten anyone with a knife, if you pull a knife on somebody you'd better be planning to use it. The reason is that if you pull a knife on someone, YOU are the one who escalated the situation which means that the guy you are facing has to respond with just as much if not more violent force himself (i.e. pulling a gun).
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You should no more plan on flipping a bali to ward off an assailant than you would twirl that HK around your trigger finger.

As Vagabond notes, if you escalate you better be ready to use it or have it taken away and used on you.
 
On the subject of flicking the knife or pumping the shotgun, I really think the knife should already be open in the hand and/or the gun should already have a shell in the chamber. The first sight or sound of either of your weapons the attacker should see or hear should also be his last. If you don't need it that bad don't pull it, or you are likely to be the agressor in the eyes of the law. "Honest I was just asking for directions then he pulled that gun and pointed it at me" or "he flipped the knife around like a ninja and stabbed my leg" is what the jurry might be hearing from Joe Thug. During the time your gun isn't loaded or that knife is not open you may already be on the receiving end of their weapon while playing the intimidation angle with cool sounds and moves.
 
just a thought...

if it seemed a fist fight was likely, and someone pulled out a balisong and started messing with it, it would really piss me off...

heh heh.
 
Richard Sommer said:
I have read numerous threads about which knife or knives might be suitable for use in a self defense situation. I just thought I would give my 2 cents worth, stating up front that I have no formal training using a knife for SD, and if I ever am faced with such a situation, I pray that first God is on my side and second, I have an HK in my hand, just in case it takes to long for me to deploy the knife!! Ha Ha.

The first thought which comes to mind is whether the SD situation is likely, i.e. I am in the military and can carry a fixed blade knife or I am otherwise employed and a fixed knife is not and option. Obviously a fixed knife would always be my first choice; always open, simple, fast, imminently strong, etc. If I have to have a folder, it would be a Bali-Song for the following reasons: First and foremost is the threat factor. If I deploy the knife and have the time to flip it once or twice, there is nothing more threatening (except cycling a pump shotgun) than a practiced flip. The element of surprised is still the best weapon. Second, as long at the pins don’t shear (extremely unlikely) and you are holding both handles, the lock can’t fail. Third, if you purchase one from any of the better companies, (BM, Cold Steel, Microtech, etc.) you are getting a lot of knife for the money. Just my thoughts. Like I said, I have no experience in these matters, just taking a logical approach. Let me know what your thoughts are, maybe I am way off base. Thanks.
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Well to be brutally honest I think of a balisong as a traditional design that has its own advantages and disadvantages, but for a martial blade I consider it a horrid design.

First of all there is a myth that a scary looking knife will defuse a bad situation. Okay come on: if showing a knife will make an attacker back off, then any knife will work. If anything brandishing a knife will make a situation worse. Imagine witnesses telling the police: "Yeah he pulled a knife out and started pointing it at the guy..."

Second the best weapon is that lump of gray mass between your ears. Thinking ahead of time will save you from 99.999% of the bad stuff out there. Do you really need to walk 5 blocks to the corner store at 11 PM in a bad neighborhood instead of waiting until tomorrow for instance?

Third the lock can fail and rather easily because your hand can fail. A balisong can only be considered to be as strong as your hand because in an altercation the odds of it not being latched or becoming unlatched are great.

Fourth, be aware that there are as many opinions on this subject as there are people. We all have to decide what to believe for ourselves.
 
I do not think that knife is a weapon. This is tool which may be used in fight as well as other tools. Screwdriver, hammer, hatchet, chisel... better handsaw - may be more useful for selfdefense.

Other point of view - let compare knife with dagger, sword, saber (degger was not primary weapon also). Did anybody hear about Alexander the great conquiring world with knives? Of couse some peasants can cut each other with knife and consider themselves as great wariors until regular army came or police.

What do you think?

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I think a three-foot cane or walking stick will outreach and therefore outfight any knife. A cane can be used to trip, or shove, or smash, all well short of deadly force, and not panicking an opponent into using deadly force himself.

Even when a knife does maim or kill, the victim may live long enough to return the favor.

Using a weapon of any sort to intimidate an opponent has another drawback: in a fight-or-flight, adrenalized situation, your own reflexes and fine muscle control will be degraded. You're gonna drop that balisong on your own foot.
 
IMUO (in my uninformed opinion), don't carry a knife for self defence that looks like you're carying it for self defence. Even if you're carrying a gun, having a knife that looks more like a weapon than a tool (to ignorant sheeple types, not enlightened folk such as ourselves) is perhaps asking for trouble. My reasoning behind this is that you would be carrying your H&K if you were worried about defending yourself. If you didn't have it, you're either not worried about it, or you're in a place where you can't have a handgun (campus, bank, bar, etc), and having a knife there (assuming it's used in a SD situation) could get you in just as much trouble as a gun would (I could be talking out my ass, I'm no lawyer).

I EDC a balisong, but I never expect to use it in self defence. If I were that worried about it, I'd carry a gun (which, funds currently not permitting, I'm otherwise able to do).

Actually, what I just said doesn't make any sense. Or maybe it partially does. I guess a lot of it depends on where you live. But I'm too lazy to change what I just said, and I typed too much that I don't want to delete it.

Move on folks, nothing to see here. :rolleyes:
 
Pretty much echoing the thoughts of Esav and others here;
If you are in a situation that might justify the use of a knife, you'll probably be shaking and trembling too much to effectively draw and open a folder and even worse with a bali if you have no training with it.
It will be bad enough with a fixed blade too! And I'd much rather have a cane or a stick in that kind of situation!
But.......before you start thinking about getting the "tools", get some serious self defense training!

Bo Hansen
 
before you start thinking about getting the "tools", get some serious self defense training
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Starting this thread was a good start! Lots of good thinking here.

Thinking back on actual incidents: training, experience, personal reflexes count for more than weapons. I always had a knife handy, but times I needed to use something, I used my fists. Not that I needed legal cover, I just do that more naturally than going for inanimate objects :)
 
I carry a handgun everywhere my CWP covers. For the "victim disarmament zones" (I do love that term :D ), my folder (carried everywhere as a last-ditch defensive implement) becomes my primary. It's legal, and very fast from the pocket. Hopefully, I won't fumble the draw. I practice deploying it, am not given to panic, and try to remain alert enough to avoid point-blank surprises.

I agree with Esav and others that a cane is also excellent. However, a sharp blade is more effective at grappling distance (I might not be able to manipulate a longer weapon, and strikes would be of limited power).

I like playing with balisongs, but feel I'd be more likely to fumble or drop one than my "opens on the draw" lockback. Regarding intimidation of an assailant, NOPE! If someone's just threatening to punch me, I'm gonna retreat and evade. At worst, I'll punch him, too. :mad:

The knife, like the handgun, is only for use in serious and immediate threat situations. In other words, if someone is threatening me with grave bodily harm (not just a bloody nose or a black eye), the weapon is to keep me alive. Nothing more or less. I want the assailant's first sight of the handgun to be distorted by the muzzle blast, or his first look at my knife to be as I withdraw it after my first strike! :eek: I ain't gonna think about either one of 'em unless my very life is in danger.
 
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