Forum Overview :: Clay Fighters
 
Re: Batons: waste of time? by Chairman Mao 03/26/2003, 10:05pm PST
That article wrote:

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.


This is very true.

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.


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.
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Batons: waste of time? by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/26/2003, 4:13pm PST NEW
    Aluminum bat -nt- NT by Entropy Stew 03/26/2003, 4:25pm PST NEW
        Seconded -nt- NT by Chairman Mao 03/26/2003, 4:28pm PST NEW
            Baton : stationary object defense :: original M16 : Vietnamese jungle by Entropy Stew 03/26/2003, 5:13pm PST NEW
                go with a tazer gun by FABIO 03/26/2003, 6:03pm PST NEW
                Re: Baton : stationary object defense :: original M16 : Vietnamese jungle by Chairman Mao 03/26/2003, 6:08pm PST NEW
                    Speaking of Mao by Zseni 03/26/2003, 6:27pm PST NEW
                        Re: Speaking of Mao by Chairman Mao 03/27/2003, 1:53am PST NEW
                    Re: Baton : stationary object defense :: original M16 : Vietnamese jungle by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/26/2003, 6:30pm PST NEW
                    Nevermind, pretty much everything is illegal in Illinois -nt- NT by Entropy Stew 03/26/2003, 8:43pm PST NEW
    The bible on this topic by Ray, of Light 03/26/2003, 5:57pm PST NEW
    Re: Batons: waste of time? by Officer Friendly 03/26/2003, 8:48pm PST NEW
        Re: Batons: waste of time? by Ray, of Light 03/26/2003, 9:31pm PST NEW
            Re: Batons: waste of time? by Chairman Mao 03/26/2003, 10:05pm PST NEW
                Me: Unstoppable Defending Machine by creativepig 03/26/2003, 10:26pm PST NEW
                Re: Batons: waste of time? by O.F. 03/26/2003, 11:37pm PST NEW
            My 1000+ word answer by Officer Friendly 03/26/2003, 11:28pm PST NEW
 
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