Ever been stabbed or slashed?

[snubbyfan]

That's my everyday carry pocket knife.

It's a $10 assisted opening Pawn Shop special. I don't intend to use it for self defense, I've just always carried a pocket knife. Always seems to come in handy for something.
However, if I was to carry a knife for self defense it'd be something like this;

Or this;

 

[WC145]

I don't carry a knife. I've thought about it, but so far I haven't decided to.

The main reason is that I wouldn't know how to use it for self-defense, and would probably get myself cut with my own weapon if I tried it with someone who knew how to knife-fight.

So, I'm strictly a handgun guy for self-defense. That doesn't keep me from wondering, though, what it would be like to be attacked by someone with a knife.

Have you ever been stabbed or slashed in a self-defense encounter? What is it like? If I'm faced with it, what advice do you have if I'm not able to defend myself with my handgun? (I'll look up defensive techniques on my own, so no need to be too specific in your answer; I'm just looking for whatever common sense advice you have.)

Thanks for any enlightenment.

If you get into a fist fight assume you'll be punched, a knife fight assume you'll be cut, a gun fight assume you'll be shot, then put it out of your mind and focus on punching, cutting, or shooting the other guy.

Advice? Like GreyRider said, get in tight, go for eyes/nose/throat/testicles, do enough damage to make some space so you can either bring your sidearm into play or run.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

Never been cut or stabbed but...

...I carry a knife as a weapon but I back it up with some S&W power.

 

[WCCPHD]

Not ever in SD despite the fact that I lived in Robeson county for 9 years .

I do carry one if not two knives most of the time but I use them so much day to day that I don't think of them as "weapons", I'd use them if that's what was at hand though.

One big thing about knife fights is no one normally wins, one person just gets cut less. Another thing is our knife laws are crazy like Fayetteville has a 3" blade limit so that makes WM and other store sellers of "illegal" kitchen knifes and NC only really has case laws so they're kind of "fuzy".

I really like Spiderco and C.R.K.T knives and Cold Steel is OK.

EDIT: GEODUCK beat me to it, curse my stupid slow typing.

I carry a gun everywhere I go, BUT when I go to the city of Durham or Robeson County I carry at least two AND I'm ready to use them.

 

[pineappleshooter]

In high school a buddy of mine was waving my buck knife around pretending he was going to cut one of our friends. Like an idiot, I grabbed his wrist and was going to say something like "hey, be careful that thing is razor sharp". Never got the chance, when my hand closed around his wrist he jerked backwards (reflex action) and the blade of the knife went through my closed hand. Cut the index and middle fingers down to the bone, cut all the tendons and nerves, only thing holding them on was the bone. Microrepair surgery and a year of therapy and they were good as new. However, now in my late 40s, I can tell you when it is going to rain.

 

[amazingflapjack]

Snubby-That is the biggest butterfly I have ever seen-Where did you get it?

 

[snubbyfan]

Snubby-That is the biggest butterfly I have ever seen-Where did you get it?

Many years ago at a gun show. It's the biggest I've seen. Polished brass, stainless steel and 16" long open, had to get it.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Many years ago at a gun show. It's the biggest I've seen. Polished brass, stainless steel and 16" long open, had to get it.

Now that's a knife!

 

[hoc9sw]

Rain, yes, I can predict that, along with snow, and especially tornado. Kid was fighting back, and drove a knife through my knee (side to side), cutting and twisting on the way. He met a bad end on the spot. I limped with crutches, then a cane, for many months. Never healed right.

I see a knife today, all the stops are gone. Let's call it suicide by survivor.

 

[RussellD]

I had a terrible sinus infection and could not get to my family doctor on Sunday. Had to go to Americare clinic. I required a shot in the hind leg... the poorly trained nurse stabbed me in the leg. It was worse than a prison stabbing in the shower with a shank

A good nurse gives a shot like a mild mosquito bite..this lady just flat out stabbed me and then asked why did I flinch?

 

[Frizzman]

I was stabbed through the right palm in 1983 while making an arrest of a combative drunk. The knife was the ubiquitous Buck knife and it went through the palm and out the back and was then yanked out. He wound up being choked until my partner whacked him in the head with a metal flashlight...several times. It bled profusely and I felt a little woozy and had surgery on it that night. A subsequent infection put me in the hospital for a month and I nearly lost the hand. It functions but there is some major numbness. The knife guy went to prison and ironically enough was shanked by another inmate and died...I carry a knife but I think of it as a tool... My oak cane is more of a weapon than the blade if needed...I didn't like being stabbed!

 

[Goblin]

A little off subject, but I knew an elderly woman who lived most of her life in NYC. She carried a claw hammer in her purse. On a couple of occasions she felt threatened by approaching thugs and got out the hammer and got ready to use it. None of them forced the issue. Do any states restrict the carry of a hammer?

 

[Shall Not Be Infringed]

A little off subject, but I knew an elderly woman who lived most of her life in NYC. She carried a claw hammer in her purse. On a couple of occasions she felt threatened by approaching thugs and got out the hammer and got ready to use it. None of them forced the issue. Do any states restrict the carry of a hammer?

If they do restrict the carry of a hammer, then a lot of handy men are going to the hoosegow. There's no real way they could police it.

 

[hdfinder47]

Stabbed once through the right hand. Didn't feel much of anything until after it was stitched up, then just kinda throbbed. Slashed once on right forearm. Kind of a stinging/burning sensation. May have been different sober, I'll never know. That was due to bringing a big western belt buckle to a knife fight. Now I bring a gun to ANY kind of fight. But mostly I just avoid fights.

 

[Big Cholla]

Know the "21 foot rule"........ someone charging you can cover 21 feet in the in the time it takes most people to draw from a holster.........add reaction time; this can be real long for the " this isn't happening to me is it!!!" crowd.

Another rule; a knife never runs out of bullets........

Please let me clarify the so called "21 ft." rule. Officer Dennis Tueller of the SLC Police Dept. was one of the training officers for their Police Academy. He was assigned the task to figure out what the department policy would become on when an officer was justified in using deadly force against an attacker armed with a knife or other cutting weapon. Officer Tueller set up the exercise with the Academy Class of young officers. They were equipped with revolvers in a Class One retention holster. The class average was the 21 ft. distance needed for the AVERAGE officer to draw and fire one shot and be able to step out of way of the attacker. Officer Tueller published the results and it swept thru the LEO world. It became known as "The Tueller Distance". It has become legend that anyone is justified in shooting an assailant if they are closer than 21 Ft. The fallacy is most of us can't draw and shoot accurately in that time. Those cadets were all young and in the peak of conditioning using only an unconcealed level one retention holster. The Tueller distance for all of us vary individually. If one carries concealed in a waistband holster, a purse, an ankle holster, pants pocket, shoulder holster, etc. that distance is going to vary considerably with all the variables coming into play.

Here is how to document YOUR "Tueller Distance": With a couple of friends go to the range. Face a target down range 3 yards distant. Have a friend rush you from your off side rushing down the shooting line, NOT from out on the range. The "friend/assailant" should be armed with a rubber knife. Do this drill over and over until you are sure that you can get one aimed shot off at your target before the assailant reaches you and touches you with the rubber knife. Have your friends sign a document witnessing that your "Tueller Distance" while drawing and firing in such and such manner is XX Ft. Then do the same for the guys that helped you. Obviously, if you carry in different manners at times the documentation drill needs to be done again with the new carry method. It does get tedious. There exists today huge misconceptions about the 21 ft. distance being written in stone. It isn't.

My personal best Tueller Distance was about 19 or 20 ft. while in uniform with a S&W M 4006 in level one holster. As I retired and got older and began to carry concealed in a IWB holster with a vest, a jacket, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt or a sports coat over the handgun, my Tueller Distance has gotten much.....much longer.

The real life shoot decision in all cases can only be justified by being able to prove that your life (or another innocent person's) was in eminent danger. And that goes to ALL of the circumstances coming into play with regard to you, your skill level, your training level, your weapon(s), your reason for being where you are, your alternatives, and what a "reasonable/rational" person would be expected to do in similar circumstances. AND, then there has come into play the factors of just who the assailant is.

Even today, as a harmless looking old man, I am very uncomfortable while in crowds on the street. I know the power and swiftness of a knife attack by even a halfway trained knife-man. I watch hands as best I can when forced to mingle with people I don't know. ............ Big Cholla

 

[hdfinder47]

A little off subject, but I knew an elderly woman who lived most of her life in NYC. She carried a claw hammer in her purse. On a couple of occasions she felt threatened by approaching thugs and got out the hammer and got ready to use it. None of them forced the issue. Do any states restrict the carry of a hammer?

There are some folks I know who routinely carry small ballpein(?) hammers on their bikes because they are not eligible for CCW permits. Can be a formidable weapon.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Big C..... two thumbs up!!!!!

 

[Kanewpadle]

Yes, twice. A long time ago. Happened in a flash. Before I knew what happened I saw I was bleeding. Won't happen again.

I carry a knife as a last ditch tool and box/letter opener. I only carry good strong knives.

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm old, have bad lungs, and am half-crippled. I can't run.

I carry a Spyderco Endura or a SOG Flash II. They are tools for cutting stuff.

In the unlikely event that someone with a knife attacks me and I can't get away, a knife of mine will not be what preserves my ancient bacon.

 

[Rastoff]

Knives are dangerous and really bad news. A person needs no training to inflict seriously harmful wounds with a knife.

I completely agree with the advice that says run if confronted with a knife. If you have a gun, create distance first. The saying, "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight" is cute, but you can die while trying to pull your gun. Make distance first, this ensures you'll live to be able to use that gun.

80% of those injured in a knife fight, die.
80% of those shot, live.

Just sayin...