Caltrops - Clay Fighters





	[quote name="Chairman Mao"][quote name="That article"]The knife, while enjoying a reputation in literature and history, is particularly undesirable as a defensive weapon. It has all the negative aspects of a firearm (potential lethality, vast unintelligable legal restrictions) without the positive aspect of ranged defense. A knife requires the defender to engage the aggressor(s) at close range, allowing similarly armed opponent an equal opportunity to wound the defender. Using a knife well also requires significant training which is not widely available. A knife that is really suitable for combat has a fixed blade of no less than 6" in blade length, like the Applegate-Fairbarn; one will find that legal and social restrictions on carrying such a knife in public are often greater than those on firearms. [/quote] This is very true. [quote]The smaller folding knives that can be opened with one hand, like the Spyderco and Benchmade brands can be used for defense but all knives work as stabbing or slashing weapons that cause bleeding. Unless the wounds frighten an attacker away, gradual blood loss leading to unconsciousness is the knife's only ability, and this is not instantaneous, despite the depiction of knife attacks in the movies. The knife's real-world effect is to slow an opponent down rather than stopping him with one or two forceful hits. Using a knife for defense is really a desperate situation; if you have a choice, select a better weapon. [/quote] And this is somewhat contradictory. Yes, slashing will not kill, but it will definately slow down all but the most rabid methheads. Stabbing has the ability to kill in surprisingly short order; provided they are critical stabs to the torso or neck. Shock will set in faster than I think this article is willing to imply in most normal people. Some dipshit with a cheap balisong will fuck your ass up just as fast as the same guy with a gun. That said, this is a subject of considerable debate in self-defense/martial arts and law enforcement/first responder circles. Its not as though I have ever been in a 'real' knife fight or a knife-weilding self-defense situation. I'm just reiterating what my training has pointed out; and it could very well be wrong. Its one of the reasons that I tend to circumvent the issue alltogether by playing probabilities and remaining unarmed most of the time. [/quote]