what is your edc-self defensive spyderco?

[JB3]

I don't carry a knife for SD, it's a tool.

Honestly, I don't generally find myself out in situations where it's an issue.
That said, I understand bad things can happen anywhere and I would use whatever I had available in such a situation.
I get the value of planning, training etc and if my lifestyle were different I might pursue those activities. But it isn't and I don't.Ken

Plus one ... My Delica will have to cover all my needs 'cause it's what's usually in my pocket ... Tool/defence weapon/fingernail trimmer & cleaner.

[Fresh Eddie Fresh]

Which inner cities have you lived in and for how long? Chicago, Detroit, Houston?

I'd like to add that some of us have jobs that takes us to inner cities that unfortunately requires a professionl dress code that, as you say, may make me an high-interest target.

In my opinion, most criminals target their victims based on the perception that they are unarmed and easy to subdue. Is a fancy firearm worth the risk? Regardless of how "nice" my pistol is, makes me wonder how obvious it is to any thug I am carrying to begin with if my pistol is truly concealed.

Haha... are you checking my street cred? Because I have absolutely none. Currently I live in probably one of the safest cities in the US, but it wasn't always like that. Years ago I remember I could hear gunshots from my bedroom quite regularly... sometimes in the distance, but once right in front of my building. I was a poor art school student so I stayed where the rent was cheapest.

Maybe it is different if you live somewhere vs just travelling to make deliveries, but I learned fast where to go and where not to go. I would walk very far to circle around places I knew there might be trouble... why cut through the park where people get mugged if you can avoid it just by walking an extra quarter mile or so? Maybe it helped that I used to dress like I was crazy back then. I know every store on the block where I worked got robbed except ours (even the pizza place next door with the "Insured by Smith and Wesson" stickers all over the cooler.) Maybe it helped that the place didn't look like much, or maybe it was just luck.

If you want to carry guns and knives to feel safer, that is truly your right.

[gph]

Statistically, the rural USA (outside of cities with population of more than 150,000 people) is the safest place in the world.

Do you have a link to those stats?

[Holland]

I don't believe in using knives as weapons

[DRKBC]

I don't believe in using knives as weapons

Same on my end.

[RanCoWeAla]

I'm not going to say self defense because ther's an article in my new Blade magazine that says never refere to your knife as a weapon or to be used for self defense. However I do carry a Spyderco Caly 3.5 which is the most comfortable knife I have evercarried on a pocket clip and is just the perfect size for anything up to and including self defense. I don't use it for anything at all where it will maintain a needle like point and a stright razor edge. I carry a Spyderco Jester on my key chain for opening mail etc., another small knife in my left front pocket and a large thin knife like a German Eye lockback Sod Buster in my right back for peeling fruit and such

[Bladekeeper]

A bug them borrowers are getting quite rowdy round these parts .

[chuck_roxas45]

I don't believe in using knives as weapons

No disrespect but does that statement hold true for you only or do you think that should hold true for everyone?

[Pharmagator]

I almost always have my PS Military clipped to my front pocket... I have pulled it in self defense twice... both traffic related... once the assailant looked and left, the second time the assailant pulled a long piece of lead pipe and I took off...

I carry my Matriarch and a night-stick when I walk my dogs...

I keep my Ruger P-90 in my briefcase... I like it cause if it jams or is out of bullets... it still makes a heck of a blunt instrument...

[chuck_roxas45]

I almost always have my PS Military clipped to my front pocket... I have pulled it in self defense twice... both traffic related... once the assailant looked and left,the second time the assailant pulled a long piece of lead pipe and I took off...

I carry my Matriarch and a night-stick when I walk my dogs...

I keep my Ruger P-90 in my briefcase... I like it cause if it jams or is out of bullets... it still makes a heck of a blunt instrument...

That should have been your first option. Just sayin'...

Having said that, one of my SD options is a knife.

[ginsuwarrior]

These internet arguments of self defense scenarios make me laugh really hard. Yeah, we carry everything we think we need for a day in our dangerous environments. I've got my shotty right next to me just in case someone on the interwebs intimidates me too much :)

Any knife you carry could or could not be used for self defense, along with your keys, credit cards, tire iron, etc....Your mind is your greatest self defensive tool.

I've got buds that carry their pieces every where but the shower, always round in the chamber. More power to them, everybody has their view of the world and how they need to react to the the "threats."

That being said, if I had to carry one spyderco that I would envision tearing the **** out of an aggressor it would be serrated and have a hawkish bill :) Any tool an be a weapon, I wouldn't enjoy being pounded by a 22oz waffled framing hammer myself.

[Freman]

In New Zealand it is verboten to carry a knife for self defence. Therefore I do not carry my Resilience or Espada for self defence. I carry whatever knife I'm carrying because I like it, and it might be useful for cutting stuff.

[Rex G]

My almost-daily-carry, purely defensive blade is a Spyderco Civilian. It is not my primary defensive weapon; more like tertiary. My actual EDC blade is a Tarani Masters Model Karambit folder, pre-5.11, made by Blade-tech for Karambit.com, back it its day. I do, indeed, think of my Karambit as a tool; I like curved blades for utility purposes, because when I need to cut something, it is often very convenient to reach to the far side, hook it, and cut on the pull.

Yes, I do carry one or more firearms for actual defense, and for when duty might compel me to go on the offensive. As my formerly "strong" hand increasingly aches and ails, when I have a choice, I carry a fairly new Glock G17 as the primary weapon. When mandated, about forty hours a week, I carry my .40 P229 SIG. (9mm is notably kinder and gentler to old joints.) An SP101 is the normal secondary weapon, though I may soon acquire a G26 to be the new "Gun Junior."

For the non-USA folks: In the USA, police officers who are "off the clock" are generally considered subject to duty at all
times, and it is normal for us to carry weapons at all times.

I have attended a bit of blade training, enough to convince me that I would much rather fight at a bit beyond contact distance whenever possible! Of course, it should be obvious that awareness, positioning, and footwork should be one's Plan A.

[Rex G]

No need in more than fifty years of lifetime for self-defense if you life in a peaceful country. Therefore I don't carry a knife or something else for that purpose ... maybe I have to change my mind, if I visit the US.
Is it really so dangerous to life in the states? First time I ask this, as over the years beeing a forum member I often see threads like this.

Plenty of people, indeed most, in the USA never need to defend themselves against an armed attacker. In the freer states, which allow substantial blades and/or other weapons to be carried, the people simply have the advantage of exercising an option not available to those in more heavily-regulated states and nations. Even so, the wise person does not, so to speak, walk where angels fear to tread, if there is a choice, regardless of the size/sturdiness of one's blade. I woud think that virtually every really large city in the world has at least one place where the wiser citizens will not walk after midnight, because the odds of a confrontation are higher than normal.

[RanCoWeAla]

I carry a Caly 3.5 for everything. I'm not going to say the words self defense but I figure if a Gentleman used one of these to get a Mountain Lion off his Son then it would get anything else off as well. Besides they Caly 3.5 is the most comfortable knife I have ever carried on a clip and that's most important a of all

[SolidState]

If SD is important, I would look for a blade that has a Perrin hole. Preventing easy disarming is key.

[Barman]

These internet arguments of self defense scenarios make me laugh really hard. Yeah, we carry everything we think we need for a day in our dangerous environments. I've got my shotty right next to me just in case someone on the interwebs intimidates me too much :)

Any knife you carry could or could not be used for self defense, along with your keys, credit cards, tire iron, etc....Your mind is your greatest self defensive tool.

I've got buds that carry their pieces every where but the shower, always round in the chamber. More power to them, everybody has their view of the world and how they need to react to the the "threats."

That being said, if I had to carry one spyderco that I would envision tearing the **** out of an aggressor it would be serrated and have a hawkish bill :) Any tool an be a weapon, I wouldn't enjoy being pounded by a 22oz waffled framing hammer myself.

I got some really strange looks carrying one around...

But in agreement if I understand the essence of your post, is that any weapon in a self-defense situation is open to the interpretation of the law so be familiar.
I did a bunch of research a while back on the subject because of my late hours and long walk home (I've been accosted twice but defended myself verbally and with empty hand). What I found makes perfect sense, be careful brandishing a weapon. Even pulling it out of your pocket could be considered "Menacing" and in the off chance someone is injured or worse it's hard to prove your innocence with the offender bleeding on the street.
Just food for thought about what most of us know already....and I never carry something that I can't afford to lose if it gets confiscated... :p

[BAL]

Every time I read a thread about self defense carry or here people talk in person,
radio, tv or wherever, I have to shake my head. No offense to anyone and we all
live our lives the best that we feel we can and do the things that we believe in.

If you don't want to carry a weapon (or what you perceive is a weapon) that is
always your own choice, but I always find it funny that some make the comments
that they don't go to places where they might need to protect themselves, or that
they avoid those areas.

How the **** do you know that. ANY PLACE can be dangerous. Again no offense to
anyone and avoidance is always the best defense, but you also can't walk around
with blinders on either. The world is unfortunately changing in many respects and
I prefer to be prepared for what it might bring.

I have insurance, carry a spare tire, jacket, flashlight etc etc. A plan for personal
protection is probably the most important choice that I can make. Much like life, health
or automobile insurance, you don't plan on using it, but you never know when you might
need it.

Someone says that they don't carry a knife for self defense, but you might if some jumps
out and grabs you or your spouse or child and tries to hurt them.

I don't walk around with my head on a paranoid pivot sneaking from cover to cover, trying
to get from one place to the other, but a common daily self defense plan that is simply part
of your daily routine is a person's best defense and best way to way to be prepared, just in case.

Stay Safe.

[Fresh Eddie Fresh]

The knife does not know who owns it. If someone introduces a knife into a fight there is no telling where it will end up.

As far as avoiding trouble, the only example of using a knife in self-defense in this discussion so far has been:

I almost always have my PS Military clipped to my front pocket... I have pulled it in self defense twice... both traffic related... once the assailant looked and left, the second time the assailant pulled a long piece of lead pipe and I took off...

There are several points in that story where trouble could have been avoided. Not stopping the car, not exiting the vehicle, and not pulling out a knife. Of course we are all different and we all handle situation in different manners. I am not saying avoiding trouble is always the best course, but it has worked for me for many years, and Pharmagator's method seems to work for him.

[iyn]

Thank you for that comment.