Knife Advice
 

Well...to give a small amount of background on my situation, I live in a tougher neighborhood that has gotten worse in the past few months and a few events in the past month have led me to consider purchasing some kind of knife for protection in case the worse happens and I need to protect myself.

I would like to know what would be the best purchase and how I would go around doing this. As of now, I am thinking of getting a switchblade or something similar because I don't want to have an open blade lying around my room (I do not plan on carrying it outside with me) and I do not want to spend a large amount of money (under $100 for sure, under $50 preferable) because I do not have the funds.

So any recommendations on what type of knife I should get, where I should get one (I was thinking of a gun store but I'm not sure), legality, and any other advise?

If you don't have experience with a knife, I'd go with a bat instead. Or mace. Or brake cleaning spray. (Learned that one here on the Cellar.)

You have to get awful close with a knife.

a switchblade That's jail time in most states. imho. In your home, go bat or firearm. Only in the house.

I'd save up for a Taser

I'd go with Tae Kwon Do.

Pierce. Picture the scenario. Are you really looking for a weapon for defence, or to threaten an attacker into submission/ retreat? I agree with Glatt & Buster that something like a bat (and an attitude) is far better at persuading a would-be robber that he's picked the wrong house. And more effective at a distance if substance abuse gives the attacker a false sense of invulnerabilty.

However if it's truly self defence - ie you are worried about your physical well-being, then I'd go with Syc. Use your body as a weapon, then there can be no worries about intention.

If you're not convinced you have the attitude to wield a bat as a dangerous weapon, or the discipline to train in self defence - move. Better a live realistic Pierce than a wounded or dead heroic one.

Just buy a gun.

Ask Merc for advice...or one of those other loonies around here. Or people who work with loonies. ;)

unless your knife goes "BANG!" and sends projectiles at your would be assailants... I'd skip the knife altogether. Keep a meat cleaver next handy if you want, but a blade is pretty pointless in the hand of an unskilled person. IMO

although one of those Klingon knives from The Wrath of Kahn would be pretty awesomely scary.

They shall fear your mighty Bat'leth!

http://cellar.org/2004/kli_batleth.jpg

You shall do MIGHTY COMBAT

http://cellar.org/2008/batleth.jpg

People will RESPECT you and your vertical blinds

http://cellar.org/2008/batlethblinds.jpg

Until the transportation safety man takes it away.

http://cellar.org/2008/tsabatleth.jpg

Pierce, I would seriously advise against getting a knife unless you know how to use one.

da nan nan na, na na.

You can't touch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomHWt7p6-c

Another good already-in-the-home weapon: batteries or a bunch of coins inside a sock. You can do some serious damage swinging that around, though it does require a little more coordination than a baseball bat.

If you don't want to spend a year becoming very proficient in martial arts, I'd recommend taking a self-defense class. My mom made me take one as a teenager, and I still remember the techniques. Defensive use of your body without needing any strength or skill. Plus, you get to practice on a guy in a big padded suit, which is fun.

Yep...I'm a hammer girl!! Lucky I met a hammer man....:)

Econo-size can of Aqua Net + Bic lighter = flame thrower

What sort of events? What to you mean by "the worse [sic] happens"? Street Mugging? Man-rape? Break-ins? what?

Monster has the right of it: the nature of the events is going to determine the level, range, and force of the self-defense gear. If it's gunfights, you're not going to live bringing a knife to them. Burglary or strongarm robbery, well, there you're talking knifework. If you're that kind of hardass. To be efficient at knifing somebody, you have to be damned mean, and efficiency is the core and essence of self-defense fighting.

A bat or baton-type object, the more innocent-looking the better, helps as a nonfirearm defense for your home or your vehicle, depending on where you need to defend against a threat. Under "baton" -- a 5-cell Mag-Lite. It's just long and heavy enough. Hold the lightbulb end and strike with the other end, using the bulb end as an aid to keeping your grip. You can also guard with this, gripping it at either end and parry/blocking with the midpart of the shaft. This thing hits like two tons of bricks, though, like a deadblow hammer, and if you menace policemen with it they will shoot -- because they know how hard it is to heal comminuted bone fractures. But I don't think the cops would be too annoyed if you crippled an attacker hitting him with a Mag-Lite. And they cost less than fifty dollars.

Factory fighter knives generally inhabit a bracket between $50-$100. Essentially, you want a thick blade and a small crossguard, like an Army surplus place's Ka-Bar. A folder is nice in its way for carry, but it takes mighty sturdy design to even approach a sheaf knife's strength. You'd like onehanded opening, and there are legal-'most-everywhere actions for this. Spyderco folders offer both strength and some models opening singlehanded. They also are very good edgeholders.

Switches are legal about nowhere, and even balisongs are harder to find than they were, though they are fun to learn to manipulate. However, mine's bitten me when I had a stupid moment. So watch it with these guys.

The cleaver I sell costs over a hundred. You can get cheaper, but ours hits like an axe -- and looks innocent to boot, being a piece of kitchen cutlery. Knocks frozen hamburger and frozen burritos right in half.

Lee: Did you know Kim carried a gun?
Abernathy: Yes. Now, do I approve? No. Do I know? Yes?
Kim: Look, I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but the world I live in, a bitch need a gun.
Abernathy: You can't get around the fact that people who carry guns, tend to get shot more than people who don't.
Kim: And you can't get around the fact that if I go down to the laundry room in my building at midnight enough times, I might get my ass raped.
Lee: Don't do your laundry at midnight.
Kim: Fuck that! I wanna do my laundry whenever the fuck I wanna do my laundry.
Abernathy: There are other things you can carry other than a gun. Pepper spray.
Kim: Uh, motherfucker tryna rape me? I don't wanna give him skin rash! I wanna shut that nigga down!
Abernathy: How about a knife at least?
Kim: Yeah, you know what happens to motherfuckers carry knives? They get shot! Look, if I ever become a famous actress, I won't carry a gun. I'll hire me a do-dirt nigga, and he'll carry the gun. And when shit goes down, I'll sit back and laugh, but until that day, it's Wild West, motherfucker!

-----------

Now that that's out of the way, a switch will get you jail time. Personal experience. So will a balisong (butterfly knife).

A knife is good, but you might want to consider a machete.
If you're not taking it out of the house, concealing it is no problem.

Check your local Army-Navy for different types of knives.
Ask them if the can get one for you.
Leave a contact number.
(If you're nervous about people knowing about it, get a prepaid cell.)
IF they ask why you want it, it's for cutting down small trees.
(The reason I say this is that if you tell them it's for home protection, the first thing they'll start thinking of is "If he hits someone with it, it'll get traced back to us, and the victim'll sue us......" and so on.)

Now, it was mentioned "move".
Good idea, but if you don't have funds, moving might not be an option right now.

A polypropylene bat (The Brooklyn Basher) is a nice option.
Aluminum bat.
Axe handle.
2 foot steel pipe.

www.CheaperThanDirt.com


Just remember, be careful.
Be aware of your surroundings.
Always have an escape plan.
Your stuff can be recovered or repurchased.
Your life, however....

An axe handle can be considered a weapon, get an axe.

poison-tipped umbrella

My truck is home to two (2) 5-cell Maglites. Hung on belt straps from door handles. Used for inspecting my truck in the dark. Maybe one or two other uses I don't talk about.
There is also a 2 lb sledge for freeing stuck things, big can of WD-40, a Leatherman pocket tool, a short loaded plastic club for banging on tires, 9 inch long stick air gauge for checking tire pressure, I smoke so there is a handful of lighters strewn about, a can of starter fluid to get that big diesel started on cold mornings, a dozen or so load straps with ratcheting buckles, an all-day sucker that I never seem to have the time to consume, a handful of keys on my ring that I cannot seem to remember where they go anymore (I really need to thin that ring down, someday. I'm NOT a janitor), two load bars on the back of my cab, sharing space with a push broom with a wood handle (for sweeping out trailers), a spare air line, some rope for tying down loose freight, an extra pair of boots (Marine combat boots with long laces) in case I ruin my usuals, rolls of quarters for laundry and vending machines (out of which I sometimes eat, unfortunately), sundry tools on a small, handled canvas bag, a piece of angle-iron with notches (so I can pull out nails left in my trailer floor), a grab handle on my muffler that I keep meaning to fix and a few other things that escape me at present.

Did I mention that weapons are forbidden on our trucks?

I have no weapons as per company policy...... or do I?

How about a junkyard dog, or at least a recording of one?

Great pun, lookout.

Use whatever you feel you will be able to use on another person. A tire-knocker or big-ass Maglite are good choices for me, specifically, because I'm not afrid of blunt-force somebody. Stabbings, though, are right out.

You can't go there and leave that hanging.

http://www.firstshowing.net/img/machete-article.jpg

move to a different 'hood?

If you're thinking of doing mortal damage to an attacker with a knife, understand the knife to the heart trick only works well in Hollywood. Ribcage and other stuff is hard to force a knife thru.

holy crap foot, thats as bad as getting rickrolled

Thanks for the advise.

I talked to my roommate and we are either going to get a bat or some sort of firearm.

good lord - get a bat or a big friggin stick - leave the knives and the firearms to those who are properly trained to use them.

A friend of mine told me that he has strategic positions throughout his entire house, such as inside the pantry in the kitchen, where he has weapons, like lead pipes, hanging up on hooks. No matter where he is, and no matter where a home invader is, he is sure that he could get to a weapons cache. Obviously he's put a lot of thought into this.

Where do you even get a lead pipe? Does this friend restore 150 year old houses?

He meant lead pipe like "leed" pipe. They're at the forefront of pipedom. They are the pipes all other pipes seek to emulate. They are the pipe-iest.

Well you could get firearms...

http://www.ratemyink.com/images/ul/979/ink-9799.jpeg

But I think a bat would be better for scaring them off...

http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/bio3/...monstrosus.jpg

...or distracting them

http://www.e-fancydress.com/shopimag...xtras/7218.jpg

I got one question. Are you prepared to kill someone. Like, dead.
No going back, not alive anymore. If you are, then get a large caliber handgun, and practice with it. If you want to take your time, then get a bat. The ones with the weighted end and a spring on the bottom are cool. Knives are dangerous cause they get slippery when used, hard to hold onto unless they have cool grips that are made for that kind of thing. They are also easy to get into the wrong hands and be used on you.

What ever you decide to do, the most important thing you can have and you can't buy this one is: your attitude, and how you carry yourself in this world. That will generally determine who fucks with you and who won't. If someone should fuck with you, this will also determine if the ever fuck with you again.

I can't carry a weapon because the US government says I can't--- but I DO like Jinx's idea of an Eco can of Aqua-Net and a Bic. Brilliant!

Plus, classy and theatrical.

Truck diesel pumps run at up to 60 gpm. They have a range of ten feet. I had to use one the same way Burt Reynolds used a gas can and a glass in "Stick".

Only fight I ever had out there and it was an anticlimax.

One flick of my Zippo and he drove off, soaked with a few gallons of diesel.

Flint, is your mate just particularly paranoid or is there a justifiable reason for having so many 'weapons' around his house? I can't imagine being that afraid of a home invasion. I don't even lock my doors half the time when I go to bed because I'm just not worried. Surely your friend is a one off right?

Hmm apparently "rate my ink" don't like hotlinking. Sorry about that. Try this instead:

Firearms:

http://www.zhippo.com/LawrencePennin...s-tattoo-L.jpg

can someone correct the spelling of the thread title please? or, at least advise me as to who can correct it. i'm SO not a grammar or spelling nazi, but this one bugs me for some reason.

Nice.
I didn't have the pic, or I might have...

And there probably are local resources for firearms combat training -- concealed carry courses, self defense courses. You haven't heard much about them because they don't have big advertising budgets. AFAIK, next town up the road from me has a successful business handling just that. The places to look into these are a gun store or a range.

The usual cost for a basic gun self defense course is around $150 and it runs three days.

Unless you're already in either Philippine escrima or SCA broadsword fighting, it'll take even more training if you're starting from zero to wield bat, stave or baton as effectually. Tools are good, all us opposed-thumb primates agree; power tools are better.

Aliantha; just sounds to me like Flint's friend is determined and prepared to win. Regardless. I do not regard this as remotely strange -- but then I understand the self-defense mindset. It's not paranoiac: it's insurance.

I'd go with the bat. If you end up in a tussle and misfire a gun, unless you are well-versed in self-defence techniques, chances are that gun will be taken right off you and you'll be the one as gets shot.




[eta] That explains such a lot :P

I've been re-reading this thread and the question occurred to me: how likely is your home to be intruded upon in this threatening fashion? Are the defensive measures appropriate to the level of threat?

Home invasion is the purview of drug dealers and their associates. I suspect almost nobody outside the trade is impacted. Most "normal" robberies occur when nobody is home.

I agree with the consensus, an untrained person with a knife is asking to get cut up or worse.

The chance would be small but it is still there and I don't want to be caught off-guard.

I favour the baseball bat as a defensive weapon. It has good amounts of plausible deniability, especially if you own a ball and glove as well.

Yeah, if you're going to use a bat, you need balls.

thank you, behind the scenes, un-thanked moderator! much respecK

There is a lot of talk about "taking a gun away from you," with or without misfiring. There doesn't seem to be a lot of real-world basis for this Hollywood stunt, especially if the gun defender is not willing to go paralytic and is determined to win.

Martial-arts mindset, again.

Doesn't take a lot to fumble a gun if you are suddenly put in a position that is frightening and without precedent in your life.

If you don't feed the roommate much, it'll become mean enough to attack an intruder for you. Otherwise, think human shield!

Hey!

Yea, my first thought was just buy a gun and learn to use it.

I suggest pole-arms. A nice halberd, bardiche, or spear will fuck a fool up while keeping the pointy end far away from you.

(I'm only kidding.)

Yup.
Bust his fucking head to the whitemeat.

Raiders of the Lost Ark ... even Indiana Jones got tired of the bullshit in the market place and just blew the big dude away.







You ain't no Indiana Jones. :headshake

General smiting of the ungodly
 

DanaC, that is why you train, and such instruction is available generally, if somewhat thinly spread, over all the United States. Assiduous training teaches you to function in spite of fear, novelty, or startlement. Martial arts stuff again. Those without it can't grok it. Those who have it wonder at the not-grokking.

A gun is not a magic wand -- it is more like a musical instrument. Like a musical instrument it repays practice; the more diligent the better.

Polearms, glaives and halberds, work well in their mètier -- out of doors, and as long as the other guys didn't bring along too many matchlocks and other gonnes. In house hallways -- use thrusts. But if the other fellow is brisk enough to deflect your point into the wall, the drywall is likely to swallow your warhead end right up.

That's when you want a shotgun for backup -- skeet loads, which are light and small pelleted, which both reduce overpenetration (handy in civil situations) while still delivering a smack like a hard driven deadblow hammer. It won't spray the whole wall at home defense ranges though: the shot charge will essentially make one hole, not much wider than the bore. Always think of it as a bullet, just finely divided and heavy. The light charge of a skeet load also means the report of firing is less likely to cross your eyes and bring down the ceiling, touched off indoors. This is why your preferred gun for this fight should not be a rifle -- too big a boom and too penetrative a bullet.

I think I did say in an earlier post, if you get a weapon, also take some training on how to use it.

Good idea, even with polearms. ;)

In which case they are in no worse a position than they started; if you are in a life-threatening situation already and you screw up a potential save, you are still in the situation.



If you are truly concerned about your safety taking a firearms course should be top priority. I would suggest getting a handgun which is small enough to carry around everywhere you go, but the hardest hitting in that range. Familiarity is better than the stopping power of a shotgun you don't have, or only pick up once a month.

If you are not willing to take a training course, then you don't really feel you are in danger. In that case I suggest getting a folding pocket knife since they are handy to have around and will make you feel better. Keep in mind that without training fending off a potential attack is not an option; if they come at you unarmed intending to take a knife from you they probably can (or are just crazy, which is possible). Your best bet is to never let them know you have a knife until they are already bleeding out, and assume that in the process you will lose a few fingers. Knife fights are no fun for anyone involved.