Tips for the Urban Jungle

I favor stabbing in a self-defense scenario, so I'm not concerned with sharpness. None-the-less I carry a folder for EDC and a neck knife for backup. Mostly because:

1. I can reach the neck knife with my left hand.

2. I get an excuse to buy a neck knife.
 
This is all good stuff, I generally carry 2 knives. One SD and one utility. Both are kept hair shaving sharp(nothing pisses me off like a dull knife). One weapon for SD I`ve not seen discussed is the colapsible baton or ASP. The impact effect of these things is amazing, we are talking broken wrists, collar bones and knees with single strikes, two or three strikes the party is over, they are VERY effective agianst mulitple attackers. They block makeshift clubs like nobodys business. I carry one quite extensivly while overseas.
The other side of a baton is that you don`t go to court for killing someone with a knife. And like it or not the aftermath of trial is worth consideration. Don`t get me wrong, I firmly believe it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. The biggest problem with courts and self defense is that you will be judged for your action during condition red or black, by people sitting in a court room in condition white that most likely have never needed to fight for their life.

Does anyone else use ASP`s.

Just food for thought.

Great thread and tips.
 
45: Thanks for bringing that up!!! I've wanted one of those batons! Where is a good source for them? Also, which is considered "the best?" (Oh boy, here we go...:rolleyes: ) Which brand do the cops use?

Oh hell, just edumacate me on them, please. I don't know a damn thing about them! :D

Thanks!
drjones
evourakis@csus.edu
 
drjones,
Most police supply shops carry them. Just ask for an ASP(That is the best brand I am familar with, but I`ve not been in the states for a year). They will know what you want. There are several weights, of differing lenghts. You will need to check them out to find the comfortable weight for you. I carry the full size OAl is 25.5" I can tell you that they are devastating weapon. Care needs to be taken to avoid a head or neck strike and even hard shots to the ribs should be avoided. Believe me, wrists, elbows, collar bones, knees, hips require one solid strike to shatter and break. The ASP manipulates quickly enough that two strike can be made before the BG realizes that his plan has gone bad wrong. A great point to the ASP is the lenght and speed of strikes, that you not need to close to slashing distance.

There are several others on these forums that carry the ASP, maybe they will join in.
 
Carry one knife. Always. with one or two blades. At least one knife.

Keep one in your glovebox or clipped to your car visor.

Keep a long (appreox 24")wood/plastic bar/rod in your car. Axehandle is tough and cheap, no legal issues.

Keep a kubotan or similar pressure point deterrent on your keychain.

Consider carrying/using a stout walking stick/staff/cane in certain locales or situations.

Train with these items.

Learn nerve motor points and pressure points, painful and non-lethal actions stop things before they escalate. See the Special forces combatives manuals, or your local dojo.

Make the punishment fit the crime--no crime, no punishment.

Be proactive, and take initiative in any confrontation.

Get the other person to talk. The act of talking requires thought processes to be directed away from the reactive centers of he brain, which could give you precious seconds to act while the other is thinking and distracted. It may also defuse the situation altoghther.

Be confident, kind and cordial with all you pass or meet. These disarming traits make a perp think twice -- They're like hey, why is this guy so confident and open? Strong people (in will, body, spirit) make poor targets for those who prey on the sheep.

Expect the unexpected. Similar to the predatory mindset mentioned earlier, assume that all are predators and that you will have to react to their assault. I'm not saying be delusional or paranoid, but it's just like defensive driving. If assume that every car is out to get you, and always look for routes of escape and evasion, you will have practiced should the real 'accident' come along.

Keith
En Ferro Veritas
 
I never leave my home without at least 1 knife and some strong pepperspray. As a general rule I keep both low profile, either IWB or clipped to my trouser pocket. BUT I DO keep them visable. Not because of local law or sheeple, I do because I believe you are less likely to be a victim of a crime if you look like attacking you might not yield a positive outcome. i.e. If your gonna rob sombody, are you going to choose a 30 year old man who looks to be carrying a knife and handgun or pepperspray or are you going to choose the physicaly unfit guy who isn't carrying any self preservation devices? If more people packed heat less crime would be the result. IMHO
 
Neo Vizio,

You create the atmoshere that Jeff Cooper quoted as saying " An armed society is a polite society.

Well done.
 
Hello,

good thread... I have enjoyed a lot reading all the contributions. Special mention to Medusaoblongata and Ferrous... good posts...

You have long discussed about carry two knives, one for SD purposes and the second for daily use... This is exactly what I do every day. One VictorInox Swiss army knife that is perfect for "work" with (all the items it has allows me to do a lot of differents works; do you know McGiver?? :) ) and them a Callipso as a standard self defense knife.
Why?, well the swiss army knife has a screew, a magnifying glass, a small blade very usefull, a scisors... perfect and superior of standard "one blade folder" for all the litlle daily works in which you need the help of a tool... but this folder is totally un-usefull for SD... And for this, a beautiful and razor sharpenned Spy Calipso. For self defense I preffer the litlle but razor sharp blades in front of the longer blades...

Second thing, the ASP batons... I think the perfect SD weapon... if your laws allow you to carry it... mines do not allow me :( but I can carry a wonderfull CaneMasters cane!!!. Of course, i cannot carry it to everywhere I go. I am 30 years old and carry a cane while dancing one saturday evenning is not good idea so I have had to look for a solution....

Kubotans, Stingers, DTL Kerambit, MiniMagLites, flexible weapons (cords)... all of this are perfect legally weapons that I can carry every where. Simple weapons but terribles if you know how to use. I remember the first time I was hit in my back ribs with a Stinger.... believe me it was not a very powerful blown, it was only a demonstration blow to make me "believer" about the stinger (or kubotan) capabilities.... It hurts like the hell, I felt down to the floor instantly....

And before finish this, let me repeat one thing that Ferrous has told us:

"Train with these items.
Learn nerve motor points and pressure points, painful and non-lethal actions stop things before they escalate. "

Best wishes from Spain,

OSvaldo

PS: sorry guys, this is my post number 200.
Thanks for the ideas, advices and all the knowledge you have shared here. I have learned a lot being this 2 years with you and this requires me to tell you that I'm very grateful.
Thanks to all.
 
Before opening a door, look through the peephole. Not only when answering the door, but on your way out too. Who knows, you might see something you don't want to walk into.
 
Hurray -another Sharpfinger fan!!! Too cool!

I don't know what # we're on here but this is my tip...after the slight mention by someone else, I want to hit it hard:

X. Train under stress!

Adrenal stress interupts fine motor skills and control, right? Well, everything about accessing, pulling , opening and using (current FMA thought) the modern folder relies upon fine motor control.

Period.

You can't beat this by training unless you train under stress.

Even then, the guy with a fixed blade that he can access, pull and go to war with a fist grip is way, way ahead, using only gross motor skills and little thought except ATTACK!

Realistic scenario training against an unpredictable (doesn't always go to a fight) opponent in a multitude of real life situations is a must.
 
...for your kind words re: my post. Med's post made me think of some ancient Scandinavian advice (Migration age and Viking age) in the form of a writing called the Havamal (sayings of the High one). Timeless advice...

1.
The man who stands at a strange threshold,
Should be cautious before he cross it,
Glance this way and that:
Who knows beforehand what foes may sit
Awaiting him in the hall?

5.
Who travels widely needs his wits about him,
The stupid should stay at home

10.
Better gear than good sense
A traveller cannot carry,
Better than riches for a wretched man,
Far from his own home,

11.
Better gear than good sense
A traveller cannot carry,
A more tedious burden than too much drink
A traveller cannot carry.

16.
The coward believes he will live forever
If he holds back in the battle,
But in old age he shall have no peace
Though spears have spared his limbs.

18.
He who has seen and suffered much,
And knows the ways of the world,
Who has travelled', can tell what spirit
Governs the men he meets.

38.
A wayfarer should not walk unarmed,
But have his weapons to hand:
He knows not when he may need a spear,
Or what menace meet on the road.

65.
Moderate at council should a man be,
Not brutal and over bearing:
Among the bold the bully will find
Others as bold as he.

76.
Cattle die, kindred die,
Every man is mortal:
But the good name never dies
Of one who has done well

148.
I know a third [charm or rune]: in the thick of battle,
If my need be great enough,
It will blunt the edges of enemy swords,
Their weapons will make no wounds.


...and so on. If you want to know more, check it out here:
http://home.c2i.net/espenjo/home/ha.htm

Keith
En Ferro Veritas
 
Hi all....great thread this one!!! Makes me think of my own situation. I carry 4 knives daily, (essentially because I am a friggin knife knut and love them, and not because I am going to use them on someone else) viz.: 1. Kantas Hawker neck knife 2. Vic Swiss Champ SAK 3. CRKT Polkowski Kasper Companion 4. CRKT Ryan 7 folder.

This got me to thinking....How many people have actually been in a knife fight? What are the probabilities of having to pull your knife on someone else? and then, Have you been confronted by a gun before?( the addage that says "...don't take a knife into a gunfight...")

My personal answer is NO to all the above...thank goodness, and I hope it stays that way. I'll tell you what is more fascinating is using my knives in little emergencies around the house. Once my big Maine Coon cat got snagged on the cord of my vertical blinds in the study and fortunately I carry my knives all the time...he was really badly snagged on the front left paw...I whipped out my Kantas Hawker Neck Knife and freed him in less than one second flat....I felt a broad smile on my face....aaaaaah knives....such wonderful tools.....
:D :D :D
 
Yes. Both times it was cool heads that got the situation under control. The first time was a drunk with a rifle at a gas station. While the gun was out we were telling the attendant to call 911 from his little glass house, but he didn't. Eventually the rifle waving loony lowered the thing with some prompting from his apologetic buddy, and my buddy grappled him from behind. Once the gun dropped, the attendant came out of his glass house and was all "hey you can't fight here, you gotta go!" To which we replied "arent the cops on the way?
"Well, no, didn't call them"
"Well, now are you gonna?"
That attendant was worthless, hiding in his bulletproof shack til things blew over, then giving us an earful as if we're perps or something. We restrained ourselves, and my ex-mil buddy was givning the gunwaver a real piece of his mind--verbally.

The other time was being in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time, and these hi-school kits were carryin' .380s around like they were jewelery or something--definitely the seedier side of the gun culture. I was not too afraid there tho, I doubt any of them had fired those crap guns before, and they certainly didn't go to the gun range to work on marksmanship...

been stabbed with a pencil in the quad,there's still a blusish 'tattoo' from the graphite on my leg.

To be honest, if somone pulled a knife on me, I'd just laugh these days, and crack a line like "Hey, what's with the knife? Are we havin' cake or somethin?"

Keith
En Ferro Veritas
 
i carry a cheapo batonin addition to a knife, hope to upgrade to an asp soon. i consider it a better SD than a knife, it's got a better reach, and the legal side of things is prettier. ASP is probably considered the "best", but i've heard good things about monadnock also. www.1sks.com has them for decent prices, i haven't been able to find anyone who carries them for significantly less that i trust ;). i'ts a bit harder to carry a baton than a knife, especially if you want to conceal it, because it's defenatly bigger and heavier. mine rides in a holster on the back of the belt, so it's not to bad, but if you're doing anything really athletic, forget it.
 
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