The Tip of a Spear: Deterrent Value of a Self Defense Knife

[Mad Mac]

Shooting Illustrated's Steve Tarani explores the rationale for carrying a knife for self defense,
gets to the point and explains how it gives you an edge -- deterrent value.
Self Defense Knives: Should You Carry Them?

[Blueboost]

The comments section are many times my favorite part of the article.. one guys comment-

"I carry a gun that shoots knives, a knife that shoots guns, and a gun that shoots smaller guns that then shoot knives and guns to confuse my assailant."

Lol!

[Naperville]

Steve Tarani is a graduate of Bahala Na Escrima. He has probably studied a dozen martial arts.

https://stevetarani.com/author/steve/

His Bio is pretty interesting: Steve Tarani has served the U.S. Defense, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence communities for over 25 years as a respected Protective Programs subject matter expert and service provider to numerous high/ low-profile US federal agencies. Mr. Tarani, formerly sworn in the states of CA and NV, is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) full-time employee who served in force protection including firearms instruction, was also formerly on staff at the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) National Security Institute (Security Force Training Dept.) at Kirtland Air Force Base (NM) teaching firearms and defensive tactics. He is a federally certified force options instructor actively contracted by the US Department of Defense, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration, and remains an advisor to the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Holding numerous federal firearms instructor certifications: US Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Firearms Certified Instructor (FITP), US Department of Energy (DOE) Firearms Certified Instructor, US Department of Defense Security Center Firearms Instructor, etc., Steve has been on staff at Gunsite since 1997 teaching Defensive Tactics, CQB, Pistol and Carbine.

[James Y]

Steve Tarani seems to be addressing mostly law enforcement professionals, and he makes some great points (no pun intended). However, I disagree with his statement that a person MUST have training in order to effectively use a knife for self-defense (SD). There are countless instances of people who have never had any martial arts training at all, let alone knife combatives training, who have successfully defended themselves with knives; sometimes too effectively. I could give several examples I’m aware of, but I’ll mention only one here:

In a televised news story, a woman was reported to have killed a home invader who attempted to rape her. It was reported that she stabbed her attacker with a pocket knife in SD and he died. Surprisingly, the news story showed photos of both the woman and the knife she had used. The woman was middle-aged and in the photo appeared to be borderline obese. The knife was a cheap Gerber liner lock with a blade slightly over 3” that I used to see on sale at Target stores years ago.

In the majority of instances I’m aware of, the attacker never even saw the knife. Which, IMO, is far better than showing the attacker your knife and hoping he is intimidated enough to back off and leave you alone. Some hardened criminals will call your bluff, if you aren’t totally ready, willing and able to commit to using that knife.

Now, I’m not a combatives expert like Mr. Tarani is, and I respect his knowledge and experience, but the vast majority of people killed, or otherwise dispatched with knives, including in SD, are by people who have most likely never had any specialized training on how to use a knife for combat.

Jim

[Mad Mac]

At age 72, 5' 6", 60 pounds overweight and out of shape, I'm a tempting target for a mugger. What I got out of the article was that by brandishing a knife, I demonstrate that I am not defenseless. It raises the ante and increases the risk to the miscreant and gives pause to his decision making. He has to ask himself, why risk being cut when there are softer targets around. If displaying the blade doesn't deter the attacker, I'm a goner anyway.

[The Mastiff]

I agree with Jim. Humans are naturally able to stab, slice or use clubs. It only takes the will to do it and the pushing aside of whatever inhibitions are present.We all have some. Training is supposed to do some of that but I've seen it do the exact opposite. If you train to pull punches in the dojo there is a good chance you will do that in a stressful situation when you should be striking in earnest. The right training is essential if that is what you intend to do and bad training is worse than none IMO.

Pulling a knife on someone who is salty and not immediately using it sends the wrong kind of messages. If you are doing it and looking terrified you are doing it wrong. It might work on someone not experienced or determined but I wouldn't recommend it. Just pulling it is enough to get you charged with a crime in many places so unless you are going to use it leave it where it isn't noticed.

[Naperville]

I think training brings most of the good, and a little of the bad to the table. It's not for everyone. You have to have a mindset for it.

The problem is, you need to look at a lot of tape, and have a lot of instructors to know whether or not you are being taught hogwash.

If you can get your hands on good tape, and good instruction, it's a **** of a lot better than trying to do anything with no training at all.

[Coffeetron]

I knife can help sometimes but very often the situation won't be as in the "playbooks".

IMO its likely two or more attackers and they very likely have knives as well. They are usually going to be very close to you and possibly having the knives already in their hands before making contact with you.