any good knife suggestions with self-defense in mind

[black]

we got two nice little Morakniv for utility stuff but I haven't gotten anything for protection yet

 

[EphemeralStick]

Something cheap that you won't mind missing when you need to throw it into a river.

 

[black]

yeah. I just want something that will hopefully be scary enough that I wont ever have to use it, but one good stroke will be enough to incapacitate.

edit: idk if incapacitate is the correct word. more like almost kill but they might live till the ambuhlence shows up. something that holds an edge and is designed for fighting specifically.

 

[EphemeralStick]

Someone once told me never to brandish a weapon at someone unless I have the intent to kill them. Pulling out a knife to intimidate someone into not fucking with you is just escalating the situation and will bring you more trouble than solutions. Keep a knife on you for utility purposes not because it looks cool and you can see yourself sticking someone with it. That's my 2 cents.

 

[black]

Someone once told me never to brandish a weapon at someone unless I have the intent to kill them. Pulling out a knife to intimidate someone into not fucking with you is just escalating the situation and will bring you more trouble than solutions. Keep a knife on your for utility purposes not because it looks cool and you can see yourself sticking someone with it. That's my 2 cents.

oh I know the golden rule trust me. it will stay on my belt. but I just don't want to use my other knives if I have to actually use one to defend myself. they're pretty short and I don't feel secure wielding it like a weapon. also it would get taken by the pigs in the event I did have to cut someone to defend myself. now that you've said that though I do feel kind of douchey for wanting an extra knife.

 

[Drengor]

It should be something you aren't worried about having to replace. A pocketknife with a bar lock is great. Regular switchblades can fold up on your hand under a lot of stabbing stress. Having the edge be serrated near the grip will let you do more damage to an attacker. Make sure the grip is big enough to comfortably grab it. Too small and your hand will slide if you hit something hard or the knife snags. Adding rubber to it could help.

If you keep it sharp the serrated edge is perfect for cutting meat or rope, and the straight edge near the tip is great for cutting the rest of your food. My knife has a finger grip along the top of the blade so that you can hold the edge close with your index and thumb for peeling or carving fruits n wood. I only need the one knife to fit all my tool blade needs.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/gerber-swagger-knife-0755285p.html

Thing's half off right now so I just picked up a second one. The tip 1/8" of mine broke off after a couple years of abuse.

 

[syrinyx]

oh I know the golden rule trust me. it will stay on my belt. but I just don't want to use my other knives if I have to actually use one to defend myself. they're pretty short and I don't feel secure wielding it like a weapon. also it would get taken by the pigs in the event I did have to cut someone to defend myself. now that you've said that though I do feel kind of douchey for wanting an extra knife.

There's a good discussion about this over here! Sorry to be off topic.

 

[dumpster harpy]

The mora should work fine in a pinch. It seems to me that knowing where to stab or cut is more important than the tool that is used.

(Edit: Actually, the mora is probably better than fine. It's a strong blade made of high quality steel. You're probably already comfortable carrying it and holding it. And in the event of you going to court for using it in self defense, the prosecution won't be able to paint you as a psycho carrying around a "combat knife" looking for trouble.)

I would rather hit somebody with a blunt object (like a wrench or a smiley) than cut somebody. Knife wounds are pretty horrible. I advise anyone interested in knives for self defense to look up pictures and videos of the aftermath of knife violence.

I'd really rather just avoid violence, but if it's gonna happen, make sure you stay alive.

Nothing can replace actual training, but there are many freely available books and videos on combat.

Here's a link to Kill or Get Killed, a WW2 combatives manual.

http://rageuniversity.com/PRISONESCAPE/PRISON FIGHTING AND WEAPONS/Kill or Get Killed.pdf

There are lots more like it out there, but this is a decent starting point for learning how to survive a life or death situation.

 

[autumn]

There are two major problems with this:

1) Knives are technically lethal weapons, but unless you slice open someone's femoral artery, the lethal part comes long after the confrontation is over. This makes them very poor self defense weapons.

2) Without any actual training, a knife is an extremely ineffective weapon and you are more likely to have it taken from you and used against you than you are to actually defend yourself in any way.

yeah. I just want something that will hopefully be scary enough that I wont ever have to use it

By brandishing a weapon you are escalating the situation. Your poor self defense weapon will likely be met by something more effective, like a baton or a gun.

but one good stroke will be enough to incapacitate.

Not going to happen unless you are a black belt in FMA.

 

[VikingAdventurer]

I personally open-carry a mini-Kabar when I'm in a sketchy area. I also walk with a 4-foot-long walking stick. The only reason I would ever pull my Kabar is in a "kill-or be killed" situation.

I agree with the above comments that pulling a knife without proper training (which I do have) is more likely to escalate the situation than to remedy it.

That being said, I would like to acquire a collapsible baton; the style that cops and military currently use. It would be a MUCH more efficient self-defense weapon for me, with the training I have.

 

[OutsideYourWorld]

I'd imagine an exacto knife would be alright, cheap, and easy to replace. You slash someone across the throat or where them juicy veins are close to the skin and if nothing else, they'll be WORRIED about death and you can make your escape.

I only ever have a swiss army knife for "protection," though. and a slightly larger knife somewhere stuffed in my pack. Like others have said, it's not really worth it.

 

[AlwaysLost]

I personally open-carry a mini-Kabar when I'm in a sketchy area. I also walk with a 6-foot-long walking stick. The only reason I would ever pull my Kabar is in a "kill-or be killed" situation.

I agree with the above comments that pulling a knife without proper training (which I do have) is more likely to escalate the situation than to remedy it.

That being said, I would like to acquire a collapsible baton; the style that cops and military currently use. It would be a MUCH more efficient self-defense weapon for me, with the training I have.

Listen to the Pocket sized Viking..Walkings sticks or a sturdy canes give you the distance and doesn't raise heads...

A spear is the ideal newbie weapon, creates distance and easy to use...a stick is just a spear without a point.

My ideal weapon would be a warhawk and karambit but u look funny with a tommy hanging from ur belt and its hard to tell the cops ur curved inward blade is for utility work.

 

[black]

thanks yall

 

[Matt Derrick]

1) Knives are technically lethal weapons, but unless you slice open someone's femoral artery, the lethal part comes long after the confrontation is over. This makes them very poor self defense weapons.

I completely disagree with this. Lethality aside, knives are excellent self defense weapons for travelers because they are legal and easy to use.

2) Without any actual training, a knife is an extremely ineffective weapon and you are more likely to have it taken from you and used against you than you are to actually defend yourself in any way.

@zim i love ya man, but for the love of god can we stop spreading this rumor? when have you actually heard of this happening in real life? no hobo has ever told me about the time they tried to defend themselves then got stabbed by their own knife. i've never even heard this second or third hand, and it's gotta stop because it encourages people to not carry proper self defense tools/weapons.

you do not need advanced training in knife fighting. pointy end goes into the soft stuff. that's it. pretty easy to grasp stuff here. 99% of the people you have to defend yourself from are NOT going to have knife fighting training, which means their odds of getting fucked up are just as bad as yours, so most will choose to simply walk away.

There's a good discussion about this over here! Sorry to be off topic.

yep, this stuff was covered in that thread quite extensively.

 

[autumn]

@zim i love ya man

O u O

but for the love of god can we stop spreading this rumor?

when have you actually heard of this happening in real life? no hobo has ever told me about the time they tried to defend themselves then got stabbed by their own knife. i've never even heard this second or third hand, and it's gotta stop because it encourages people to not carry proper self defense tools/weapons.

It's mostly an exaggeration to make a point, because here's what I figure - people like @highwayman are everywhere. Particularly in the traveling community and homebums. It's not really difficult to pull a knife on the wrong person, and if you don't actually have any idea of how to use it, that person is probably going to mess up your day. Granted, if you are intent on killing somebody, that makes you difficult to disarm, but my hyperbole serves the point that people who have some amount of knife training are common. I don't see how it's worth the risk over a weapon that doesn't require training to really be effective.

you do not need advanced training in knife fighting. pointy end goes into the soft stuff. that's it. pretty easy to grasp stuff here. 99% of the people you have to defend yourself from are NOT going to have knife fighting training, which means their odds of getting fucked up are just as bad as yours, so most will choose to simply walk away.

I disagree. We're (travelers) not really a big community, so I think the odds are about as high as the rate of homelessness among veterans. (it's almost 10% of the homeless population) Since travelers interact with each other and homebums more than 'normal people', I think the odds of getting into a confrontation with someone like @highwayman aren't all that low. I just don't see any reason to not use a self defense weapon that is more effective, like a 230 million volt stun gun. That will put someone on the floor in a couple of seconds, no knife swinging needed.

 

[black]

I completely disagree with this. Lethality aside, knives are excellent self defense weapons for travelers because they are legal and easy to use.



@zim i love ya man, but for the love of god can we stop spreading this rumor? when have you actually heard of this happening in real life? no hobo has ever told me about the time they tried to defend themselves then got stabbed by their own knife. i've never even heard this second or third hand, and it's gotta stop because it encourages people to not carry proper self defense tools/weapons.

you do not need advanced training in knife fighting. pointy end goes into the soft stuff. that's it. pretty easy to grasp stuff here. 99% of the people you have to defend yourself from are NOT going to have knife fighting training, which means their odds of getting fucked up are just as bad as yours, so most will choose to simply walk away.



yep, this stuff was covered in that thread quite extensively.

I'll agree with anarchist matt derrick here (forgive me). I will say zim has some good points though and if I was confronted by someone who knew what they were doing, more so than I, even a little bit then I would probably be fucked unless an adrenaline rush kicked in and I was faster. really if it didn't look too weird I would carry a tactical axe or battle axe. more my style, larger, etc. even a longsword or morning star would fit me ten times better. but i'll be real, I'd get hassled or arrested.

 

[syrinyx]

I guess I don't really get a lot of the sentiments expressed here. For one, OP was asking for knife suggestions not for a diatribe on the dilemma of carrying one. I don't really see how it can be argued for a traveler not to carry a knife. How many people do you guys think have knife fight experience under their belt and how many of that minority are you likely to meet? Also, collapsible batons are illegal in several states and cities............and I hate to pull this card, but aren't they a little fascisty? Lmao.

 

[AlwaysLost]

Truthfully Mora's are typically sharp as hell...the blade profiles might not be "tacticool" but its still swedish steel. But when it comes to knives 2 is 1 and 1 is none, get yourself a little Kershaw flipper with a comfortable grip and only use it for self defense or emergencies.

I have the mora highq robust though a little beefier than the little green craftlines. I wouldn't mind getting a little greenie and clip it to my robust though.

 

[black]

yeah I love this knife. im not sure which morakniv it is. @syrinyx picked it out. full tang, sturdy, sharp. feels good in ma hand.

 

[AlwaysLost]

yeah I love this knife. im not sure which morakniv it is. @syrinyx picked it out. full tang, sturdy, sharp. feels good in ma hand.

A Mora with a full tang? That's new. I'd like to know the name if u could find it. I love Mora's too. No better bang for the $$