Some points on fighting knives from Gabe Suarez

[BigT]

Ten Points About The Fighting Knife

1). The knife is always with you, even in places where the gun cannot go.

2). It becomes the first line of weaponry when the pistol is not available by choice, policy, inaccessibility or loss.

3). If things have gotten bad enough to need the knife, the use of the knife should be aggressive, brutal and terminal, and not "defensive".

4). There is a place for using a knife against the unarmed adversary if that adversary is younger, stronger or faster than you are...or more numerous.

5). There is a place for keeping them away with your edge, but there is also a place for closing and stabbing.

6). A knife worthy of combat carry should facilitate stabbing and be simple and instictive to use.

7). The more complicated and complex a knife is, and the more elaborate its system of use, the less desirable it is.

8 ). Conversely, the simpler the knife and the system and more gross motor dependant it is, the better it will do in a fight.

9). A fixed blade is more desirable than a folder, but a folder may be required in some applications. If a folder is used, the lock should be robust and not technically clever.

10). Learn to be violent with your knife



Ten Attributes To Select Your Fighting Knife

1). Sharp as hell and pointy as f***, you can't stab anyone or cut anyone with a dull round nosed blade. If this sounds vulgar, it is. There is nothing dainty about ramming a 3" piece of steel into a man's thrioat and tiwsting it as he fights to get it out.

2). Point in line with the handle. Upswept blades may be the acme of the knifemaker artist, but they suck eggs for ramming through a clavicle.

3). Long enough...but not too long. We hear that about lots of things.

4). Rough handle. Either G-10 or rough designed zytel handles. When you stab another man, his juices will get all over your blade and hand.

5). Solid lock. Liner locks suck. I don't care how graceful or cool they are...they suck. Axis lock as seen with benchmade or with Cold Steel is the way to go, or with an old style lockback design.

6). Solid opening method. This being 2009, and the "Wave" concept being as old as the pyramids now....a combat blade should have a wave feature if it is a folder.

7). Good steel. That does NOT mean stainless. I don't give an airborne fornication about stains on my knife...I WANT IT SHARP!

8 ). Again, if a folder, it needs a movable clip so operators may carry it as desired. The more I work on this Killing-focused system, the more I am liking reverse grip - edge in. That means for a righty, you carry point up- blade forward.

9). It must be cost-effective. Notice I did not say CHEAP. Cheap knives are for fags. Cost-effective means that if I decide to ditch it, I will not be heart broken to lose my special one-of-a-kind....nor will that special one-of-a-kind be tied to me.

10). There should be a boatload of them out there in society....like Glocks. Thus you cannot be identified or tied to the gear you use.

If some of this stuff sounds like it comes from the world of the criminal rather than the world of the law abiding good guy, it does. One does not go to a clean shaven altar boy to learn to cut a throat.


Ten Points About Using The Knife In A Fight

1). A fighting is knife is fueled by rage and ferocity, not by cleverness and showmanship. I recall seeing CWS go ape (or was it AMOK) on a knife expert we brought in one year. The best the very clever and artistic knife expert could do was match CWS stab for stab. But that was after CWS had stabbed him three or four times.

2). Learn to stab....HARD

3). Learn to hold the knife in a way that you will not lose it when you STAB HARD.

4). Since few of us go about with a 10" bowie, learn your targets. You may not be able to behead an attacker, but you can in fact rip out his jugular even with a 2" box cutter.

5). Footwork gets you off the line of the attack, but also gets you close enough to STAB HIM HARD.

6). The instant you pull steel your intent should be to stick it in his neck and rip it out a different way, and not to spar, fend, or ask him to stay back.

7). The grip area of your knife MUST be rough enough to stay in your hand if your hand is covered with blood (hopefully not yours).

8 ). The point must be in line with your stab. A Cold Steel Scimitar of a Spyderco Chinook do not have this, but a Cold Steel AK-47 and a Spyderco Endura do.

9). To train it, each knife must have an identical trainer (dulled knife) and a wooden/rubberized trainer (like Nok's). The identical trainer is used for technical and access drills. The wooden type trainer is used for attacking the heavy bag or the stabbing post.

10). Contrary to the advice of others, use your fighting knife for everything. From opening letters to cutting cheese or tomatoes. Handle your knife daily, keep it sharp, keep it handy. make accessing it as natural as scratching your butt.
__________________


Gabe Suarez

[BigT]

Some points I thought you may find interesting on the topic.

The last point I find particularly interesting and completely contrary to common wisdom. He makes an good point on Warrior Talk on that point that the more you use the knife the better you will get to know it.

[KK20]

a lot of useful information there. being familiar with your carry knife is vitally important and to manipulate it efficiently with out thinking is the point thats most important.
he makes reference to stabbing , i prefer a hammer grip and hammer strike rather stabbing . for me a stab focussed strike is easier to deflect or counter .
a hammer like strike with a 3inch is far more effective in depth and size vs a 3 inch stab .
but that thats just what works for me.

good points and thanks for sharing.

[SWATG]

Some good points, but let us simplify things for our less than gung ho friends out there, you basically require only a couple of points to use a blade, or one being used against you:

1) Proximity - distance
2) Speed
3) The willingness to use it
4) The ability to deploy the knife, especially a folder

We have been preaching the "wave" systems for many years when it comes to folders, and also stated that fixed blades are better, funny thing is as of today I am changing my folder system, I am picking up my Emerson commander today, and will be ordering some Crucible FX II folders designed by Kelly Mccan and distributed by Blackhawk soon, I will post this under the correct thread when we are ready to place orders, but with the Crucible blade we will be getting the wonderful sheath system that they have, also due to demand from many of my clients we will be bringing out a Situational Knife DVD soon.

The only problem I have with some advice is that when I look at the list above, I have encountered massive failures with two of the three "brands" that are mentioned here, irrespective of the fact that the marketing material tells you that an Elephant can do pull ups with the knife happy0065

[white_ræbbit]

Tagging along

[KK20]

Some good points, but let us simplify things for our less than gung ho friends out there, you basically require only a couple of points to use a blade, or one being used against you:

1) Proximity - distance
2) Speed
3) The willingness to use it
4) The ability to deploy the knife, especially a folder

We have been preaching the "wave" systems for many years when it comes to folders, and also stated that fixed blades are better, funny thing is as of today I am changing my folder system, I am picking up my Emerson commander today, and will be ordering some Crucible FX II folders designed by Kelly Mccan and distributed by Blackhawk soon, I will post this under the correct thread when we are ready to place orders, but with the Crucible blade we will be getting the wonderful sheath system that they have, also due to demand from many of my clients we will be bringing out a Situational Knife DVD soon.

The only problem I have with some advice is that when I look at the list above, I have encountered massive failures with two of the three "brands" that are mentioned here, irrespective of the fact that the marketing material tells you that an Elephant can do pull ups with the knife happy0065

looking forward to the DVD. i have been carrying the commander for ten years now its an amazing knife not just because of the wave feature but the point , the two angles used in the grind, the shape of the blade makes it an awesome tool. the design of the handles is also excellent and can be used very effectively with the blade still folded. i prefer the earrlier versions of the commander though because the later models have very skinny liner locks which may be disengaged when you twist the knife..

[Paul]

LOVE my Spyderco Native, and the Gerber Fairbain Applegate signature Combat folder is a beast!

The Gerber was a gift from a friend... a good friend... who pretended manfully not to blanche when I opened the box, went "Cool! Thanks." and walked straight out to the workshop to put the back of the blade on the belt sander to create a proper double-edged fighter ;D