Self defense knife-inexpensive

Richard Simmons said:

You don't need to be a ninja to defend yourself with a knife.

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No one said that.

Richard Simmons said:

People use knives with some regularity to defend against dogs, mountain lions, etc., all without any type of specialized training.

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There's a difference between an animal and a human. Huge difference.

Richard Simmons said:

I'd wager that the majority of folks who you a firearm, conceal carry or otherwise in a lawful self defense shooting haven't attended even one class at Gunsite or any other facility of that type yet they manage to come out on top.

Not saying training in either firearm or knife wouldn't have its benefits but it's certainly not mandatory.

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A knife is an intimate weapon. The combatants will be close enough to smell each other. They'll be fighting for their lives and control, retention, of that knife. A firearm, gives time and space. That is given up with hand to hand and/or a knife. Is that a situation that anybody wants to be with no skills?

If the person is older and out of shape with no skills and they try to use a knife against a younger, faster, stronger, more determined opponent, an opponent who has basic skills, and (with all the MMA classes, there are a lot of people - good and bad- have basic skills) and have a knife with no idea how to use it, they are done. A no skills person is a huge danger to themselves.

If anybody thinks they don't need skills to carry a defensive/fighting knife, I say go to ANY martial arts class and spar with the beginners and see how that goes.

Ματθιας;140191658 said:

No one said that.



There's a difference between an animal and a human. Huge difference.



A knife is an intimate weapon. The combatants will be close enough to smell each other. They'll be fighting for their lives and control, retention, of that knife. A firearm, gives time and space. That is given up with hand to hand and/or a knife. Is that a situation that anybody wants to be with no skills?

If the person is older and out of shape with no skills and they try to use a knife against a younger, faster, stronger, more determined opponent, an opponent who has basic skills, and (with all the MMA classes, there are a lot of people - good and bad- have basic skills) and have a knife with no idea how to use it, they are done. A no skills person is a huge danger to themselves.

If anybody thinks they don't need skills to carry a defensive/fighting knife, I say go to ANY martial arts class and spar with the beginners and see how that goes.

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Well said.


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You should be able to find a knife to suit your purposes for under $50.
Remember, it doesn't have to be particularly good steel, or hold a good edge very well, if bought for strictly defensive purposes.
For a " working knife ", you may need to up the ante, and get better steel with better edge retention, but not for defense.

I will tell you to stay away from liner-lock folders.
When grasped in certain ways like you might have to do to defend yourself, it is relatively easy to disengage the liner lock and have the blade edge near the hinge close against your hand.
Don't ask me how I know this.

To satisfy your curiosity on this matter, do some full-on forehand and back hand stabbbing drills and slashes on a big piece of heavy cardboard, carpet, or some other decently resistant material. Might want to put some protective tape on your knife hand first though.

Ματθιας;140191658 said:

No one said that.



There's a difference between an animal and a human. Huge difference.



A knife is an intimate weapon. The combatants will be close enough to smell each other. They'll be fighting for their lives and control, retention, of that knife. A firearm, gives time and space. That is given up with hand to hand and/or a knife. Is that a situation that anybody wants to be with no skills?

If the person is older and out of shape with no skills and they try to use a knife against a younger, faster, stronger, more determined opponent, an opponent who has basic skills, and (with all the MMA classes, there are a lot of people - good and bad- have basic skills) and have a knife with no idea how to use it, they are done. A no skills person is a huge danger to themselves.

If anybody thinks they don't need skills to carry a defensive/fighting knife, I say go to ANY martial arts class and spar with the beginners and see how that goes.

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Fortunately, few knife-wielding thugs have any knife training or experience either.
What sets them apart sometimes is their WILLINGNESS to carry out a knife attack without hesitation.

Being WILLING makes up for a lot of other deficiencies in life.

smoothshooter said:

Fortunately, few knife-wielding thugs have any knife training or experience either.

What sets them apart sometimes is their WILLINGNESS to carry out a knife attack without hesitation.



Being WILLING makes up for a lot of other deficiencies in life.

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Do you really want to bet your life that the guy you come up against hasn’t spent some time training with that knife?


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I am a bit confused here. You habe a ccw permit, but want a spring assisted knife? Go to Blade HQ and look at the Boker Kalashnikov switchblades. The mini and fulls size. They are worth every penny and in you price range. I carry one every day

Spyderco has a budget line that some Wal-Mart's carry. I bought one for my 12 year old son liked it and bought one for me. Impressed on the quality v price. Like it much better than the assisted opening Kershaw that I have. Both were about $40. The Spyderco is a lot more knife. I haven't fought w either one but I have used both of them a lot.

With the thumb hole in the blade it is as one handed opening as the Kershaw. CRKT also makes some decent budget priced knifes. I have one of their Apache models clipped to the strap of the pistol bag that lives in my truck.

I prefer drop points or clip points to tanto points particularly on shorter blades. My experience is that they cut better and sharpen easier. They have enough point to stab with if you had to fight w a knife. You survive a knife fight by keeping distance and trying to cut the other guys arms until he bleeds enough to quit while trying not to get cut too badly yourself. If you're close enough to stab he is going to be making you bleed which is not good.

I agree with the Kershaw Leek. Nice knife and you can get it for your price if you shop around. Mine flips right open with little effort.

I've been carrying a knife daily for over 30 years and mostly daily for well before that. I mainly considered the knives I carried over the years as tools rather than weapons but always considered them weapons of last resort. I'm no knife expert and have had very little training with them and would not readily resort to using one as a weapon but there is no doubt I'd use it if there was no alternative. I have no doubt that if I was engaged in a knife fight with a "knife fighter" I'd lose. But if I'm fighting for my life and there is no alternative I'll darn sure do my best to use one. Telling someone to not carry a knife unless they've had extensive training is IMHO arrogance. I'm not discouraging training, I'll even recommend it, but lets be realistic.

That said, I always carry a knife with a blade of less than 4" and usually about 3". It's just more practical and makes a more useful tool and is still big enough to change somebody's mind.

You must be very cognizant of the laws regarding knives. They vary a bunch. I generally don't carry even an assisted opening knife when traveling out of state.

The cheap Gerber I carried for years was sort of a Spiderco copy and I could open it in a flash one handed. It had (has if I can find it) some thin synthetic plastic handle that had some flex but that thing has taken some serious abuse over the years including being used to hold up my old connie motorcycle's kick stand in soft dirt. Hard to sharpen but held an edge well. It's cut tons of rope, cord, boxes, tow straps, seatbelts and fingerprint tape and who knows what else. It's even carved a toy boat on a stakeout.

Anything much bigger than a pen knife should not be carried concealed in any way. Having a synthetic push knife in your pocket is a sure CCW charge. Use common sense.

There are bazillion cheap knives that are plenty good enough. Kershaw does seem to put out a good variety of adequate but inexpensive knives. I do have assisted opening and automatics I carry but with care and not out of my home territory. Many knives with thumb studs on the side or top of the blade can be made to open lightning fast with some effort. I prefer drop point non-serrated traditional blades because they're easier to sharpen. I prefer ones that are not hollow ground as I feel they are stronger and although harder to sharpen than hollow ground they hold a proper edge longer. I know I won't carry and automatic or and assisted opening knife that doesn't have a lock.

While a knife may be a dandy offensive weapon for a commando or a thug, for the reasons mentioned plus a few more, there are plenty of good reasons to carry a knife that have nothing to do with self-defense.

If you are going to carry a knife, and want to keep alive the possibility or entertain the fantasy of using it for self-defense, then it should have a locking blade and be openable with one hand. The three knives pictured are in your price range and have the necessary attributes.most importantly, these are all decent pocket knives, with pretty good fit and finish and capable of performing the tasks you will likely require of a pocket knife..

On the left is a Kershaw CQC-6. It has a frame lock, and opens either with a thumb disk or with the Emerson Wave, a licensed feature that is a hook that catches on the edge of your pocket when you withdraw the knife, so that it is open in your hand as soon as it clears your pocket. It has a G10 scale on one side, stainless frame on the other. About $35

In the middle is the KaBar Dozier, a lockback with a spear point and FRN handles. It is light and slim in the pocket, and opens with a flick of the wrist using the thumb stud. Under $20.

On the right is the Ontario RAT-2, a drop point blade with a full flat grind and G10 scales over steel liners. It opens quickly and easily with a flick of the wrist and the thumb stud. OF these three, this would be my favorite.

I do not particularly recommend these over other knives you may come across. They are what I happen to have, are fairly representative of what is available, and are all pretty well regarded by knife nuts.

If you really want an assisted knife, Kershaw has quite a few in your price range. The Leek is a very nice assisted knife, made in the USA. It lists for around $70, but can readily be found around $40.

I have to carry a one-hand-opening knife because of physical limitations, and I do; but defense is what my gun is for, if worst comes to worst. The ones I use could be employed as weapons in a desperate last-ditch situation, like any knife, and could be deployed quickly. But I think the likelihood of my having to be involved in a knife fight is even less than the chances of my having to use my gun. That is to say, extremely unlikely. I carry knives to cut stuff.

Of the ones I carry one is over your price range, a Spyderco Endura. The other I use now is a Kershaw OSO Sweet assisted, similar to the Leek but with textured scales I can grip more easily. It's a liner lock, where the Leek is a frame lock. It's in the range you're looking at.

But another I would suggest is an assisted opener that I think is just a few bucks over $50. It's the SOG Flash II. It's substantial, reliable, and opens with a solid click. The drop point blade is just under four inches, legal in many jurisdictions. I gave mine to my nephew, but am considering replacing it.

I don't care at all for the American "tanto" point, which isn't much like any Japanese tanto I've seen. It's good for stabbing, less good for cutting. I quickly unloaded the only one I ever owned.

shouldazagged said:

I don't care at all for the American "tanto" point, which isn't much like any Japanese tanto I've seen. It's good for stabbing, less good for cutting. I quickly unloaded the only one I ever owned.

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I've been known to un-tanto a few blades.

I believe we're talking about two different things. Some of you are talking about knife fighting while myself and I believe some others are talking about using a knife to defend oneself.

In my scenario someone is knocked to the ground and overcome by an antagonist. The "victim" could be elderly, disabiled, or both. They could be young and healthy and quite athletic. Perhaps they were knocked to the ground by a sucker punch or other blow to the head?

The common factor is that they are on the ground, they have been overpowered and they are afraid for their life. In this instance, if you can reach a knife on your person and bring it to play how much training does a person need to attempt to save their own life?

My answer is little or none. There is nothing wrong with training provided it has a practical application and it's taught by a qualified instructor. I'm just saying that i believe my scenario, or a variation of, is more likely to present itself than some sort of "knife fight".

I've owned over 50 knives over the years including Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck, Gerber, Kabar, and others and the Kershaw knives seem to be just about as good if not the equal. Benchmade and Spyderco may go a little longer without sharpening but ALL knives will need to be sharpened eventually. I like the assisted opening flipper knives better than a thumb stud or a hole in the blade and I bought a Kershaw OSO Sweet recently for 15 bucks off the internet that is a great knife.

The Kershaw line of assisted opening knives are not considered switchblade because you open them with the blade.
Amazon has the Leek for $44.97 and a knife I like just as much is the Fatback....$22.09 . I own both and I honestly believe the Fatback would be better in a defensive situation...there is more handle to grip.
Gary

I don't know a ton about knives, but I would say this:

Buy a knife from a company that sells "trainers"--non-stabby/slashy versions of their defensive knives, made of the same materials, weighted the same, and so on. Because these are companies that are actually intending people to use their knives seriously.

Personally, I would suggest a Spyderco Delica 4 with the "Emerson" Wave opener option. It's $30 over your budget, but you get a lot for that. For $10 more, you can also get the larger Endura with an Emerson opener.

Marshwheeling said:

While a knife may be a dandy offensive weapon for a commando or a thug, for the reasons mentioned plus a few more, there are plenty of good reasons to carry a knife that have nothing to do with self-defense.

If you are going to carry a knife, and want to keep alive the possibility or entertain the fantasy of using it for self-defense, then it should have a locking blade and be openable with one hand. The three knives pictured are in your price range and have the necessary attributes.most importantly, these are all decent pocket knives, with pretty good fit and finish and capable of performing the tasks you will likely require of a pocket knife..

On the left is a Kershaw CQC-6. It has a frame lock, and opens either with a thumb disk or with the Emerson Wave, a licensed feature that is a hook that catches on the edge of your pocket when you withdraw the knife, so that it is open in your hand as soon as it clears your pocket. It has a G10 scale on one side, stainless frame on the other. About $35

In the middle is the KaBar Dozier, a lockback with a spear point and FRN handles. It is light and slim in the pocket, and opens with a flick of the wrist using the thumb stud. Under $20.

On the right is the Ontario RAT-2, a drop point blade with a full flat grind and G10 scales over steel liners. It opens quickly and easily with a flick of the wrist and the thumb stud. OF these three, this would be my favorite.

I do not particularly recommend these over other knives you may come across. They are what I happen to have, are fairly representative of what is available, and are all pretty well regarded by knife nuts.

If you really want an assisted knife, Kershaw has quite a few in your price range. The Leek is a very nice assisted knife, made in the USA. It lists for around $70, but can readily be found around $40.

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Thank you very much. I wanted recommendations. And you lrovided three extremely good recommendations.

My original post I did not ask for what knife training I need, dont need or is recommended.

WI state Law says that business’s etc can if posted prohibit “firearms” on the premises. So I either break the law and carry my concealed 9mm, or I COMPLETELY disarm myself. But I am legally allowed to conceal a knife or other weapon. Also the law allows to have a knife but not a gun on school grounds etc. again the choice is break the law or be TOATALLY unarmed!

I take defensive shooting classes. I am a brown belt in tea kwon Do. And training for highehr rank. I do know a person who has trained with knives and will work with me. But that is beside the point. None of that was relevant to my original post. I wanted knofe recommendations and things to consider or rule out of features to have or not consider.

In addition to the above desire to have “some” weapon where otherwise I would be weaponless. A police officer suggested I consider careying a knife in the event a thug pushes me down and End up laying on top of my holster. At that point things are VERY BAD! And most likely already in hand to hand and fighting for my life. So the question is. Would I be better to have a knife on my left (opposite side of holster) pocket I can access and open with one (weak) hand OR being completely unarmed?

My goal would always to get away and outside of grasp. Reaching for knife may not even be wisest first or even 2nd action/reaction. But may be the only last resort I may have to Stab the thig somewhere (maybe kidney) and gain space.

Hopefully enough space to draw my 9mm or even simply escape and get the hell out of dodge!

I am sick to death of people trying to make the argument you are better off not being armed at all than being armed because the bad guy “could” win, or “could” take the weapon away.

Yep, those are possibilities. But I for one am not going to be a defenseless lamb awaiting slaughter!! If they are going to injure or try to kill me, I sure as hell won’t go down without a fight!

Knives are an interesting subject. You don't need any training to inflict serious damage. However, training will enhance the ability to inflict the right kind of damge.

I don't agree with this:

Ματθιας;140191658 said:

If anybody thinks they don't need skills to carry a defensive/fighting knife, I say go to ANY martial arts class and spar with the beginners and see how that goes.

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Anyone can seriously cut anyone with a knife regardless of their training. A person might have a lot of experience with knife defense and they can still be seriously cut by a person without any training.

Of course having training is better.

If you're being attacked by someone with a knife, the best defense is running away.
If you're being attacked and have nothing but a knife, you're able to effectively defend yourself, but you'll most likely cut yourself in the process.


It's a really fine point of law. The antis just haven't decided to attack it yet. They're too busy writing laws about guns.

Richard Simmons said:

I believe we're talking about two different things. Some of you are talking about knife fighting while myself and I believe some others are talking about using a knife to defend oneself.

In my scenario someone is knocked to the ground and overcome by an antagonist. The "victim" could be elderly, disabiled, or both. They could be young and healthy and quite athletic. Perhaps they were knocked to the ground by a sucker punch or other blow to the head?

The common factor is that they are on the ground, they have been overpowered and they are afraid for their life. In this instance, if you can reach a knife on your person and bring it to play how much training does a person need to attempt to save their own life?

My answer is little or none. There is nothing wrong with training provided it has a practical application and it's taught by a qualified instructor. I'm just saying that i believe my scenario, or a variation of, is more likely to present itself than some sort of "knife fight".

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I’d suggest finding a training partner and trainer blade and trying this out - you’ll be surprised at what you need training wise for this as a matter of fact considering how many train in MMA and jujitsu or other ground martial arts I’d be tempted to say this is the worst position for an untrained person to be in.


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So. Are you saying that if you come across a thig with knife training, you are better off with nothing! Seriously!

If the trained knifeman is intent on hurting you. He will do so whether you have a knife, gun or nothing. I would still rather have something versus nothing.

You dont come to a gun fight with a knife. And you dont come to a knife fight with nothing!

I plan to get NOT get into ANY fight of any kind. But sometimes the fight comes to you wherher you want it or not. And then the only question is: What resources do you have to fight back with?

I would rather be mis-matched with some weapon, than be completely defensless. But that is just my decision. If someone else makes a diifferent decision, well it is a free country and they are free to make that choice. But do not force that decision on me, just like I wont force my decision upon them.