Spyderco Forums

How do/would you guys handle and or grip your blades in a defensive situation? I carry Karambits and Hawkbills as defensive blades, and I use the traditional Kbit grip mainly, but will adjust as needed. Albeit it is a inconvenient to switch grips with a Kbit, but not impossible. Of course my blade is secondary to my firearm, but that doesn't mean I practice any less with them. At any rate, how do you guys handle your edged tools when the badguys come knocking?

Hammer grip if I had to. Much prefer a hammer fist :) . Less chance of prison time and in most cases more effective.

I prefer the thumbs forward grip.

[quote="chuck_roxas45"]I prefer the thumbs forward grip.

[/QUOTE

Indeed! But what do you do when/if your firearm fails? I assume resort to your knife... so how would you handle it? And what model 1911 is that? Looks custom

Officer Gigglez wrote:
Indeed! But what do you do when/if your firearm fails? I assume resort to your knife... so how would you handle it? And what model 1911 is that? Looks custom

Just trying to be funny while being realistic. :)

That's not my pic but that looks to be a STI custom shop Infinity.

If I have the time to choose my grip, I'm a reverse grip, edge in man. I've done some FMA and I find I do prefer the pakal style.

I would lean toward chuck's grip with my left hand abd holding a hawkbill or similar and right hand hammer grip with something better for linear direct strike. Probably.

This video explains my preferences:

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/marti ... ife-grips/

A lot depends on the tactics you use and the targeting you prefer.

Stay safe,

Mike

Michael Janich wrote:This video explains my preferences:

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/marti ... ife-grips/

A lot depends on the tactics you use and the targeting you prefer.

Stay safe,

Mike

I like it.

I'm a big fan of pincer grip, and my favorite knife is the swick because it is virtually unstrippable. I guess Mr. Janich calls it the Filipino grip. I like negative blade angle for my knives because that works best with the Filipino grip, and makes crossadas go very easily.

I like to have a working knowledge of several gripping methods, because I may not, in an emergency, be able to attain the ideal grip for a given blade. I may have to at least start with the initial grip I have attained. Being an LEO, I can carry a pistol, legally, more places than I can carry a serious blade, thanks to the Federal Law Enforcement Officer's Safety Act*, so actually using a blade as a weapon would be a very rare event. I originally sought blade training in order to better understand how a knife may be used against me.

Forward grip, edge-in is a quite quick and natural grip to use if I have just thumbed-open my favored straight-blade folders. (Spyderco Gunting or Mili, Strider AR) It is also the most expedient grip to use if I start carrying a Clinch Pick again. (My first CP's sheath finally cracked, and I am trying to find a way to mount the sheath in a way that puts less stress on the kydex before I resume carrying a CP.) The fingers and thumbs are positioned hammer-style.

Reverse-grip, edge-in, a.k.a. RGEI, a.k.a pikal, is a handy way to use a blade to fight very, very close. I position my fingers and thumb hammer-style.

Forward grip, edge-out, is how I was instructed in my first formalized knife instruction, by Bram Frank, when the Gunting was my EDC blade. If I use inertia opening with a Gunting, and then slide my thumb into position, it will usually result in this grip. This is a valuable way to know how to use a knife, and the handles of some knives are best-suited for this hold, whether the grip is hammer- or saber-style. This may be the best way to use larger blades, such as most Bowies, Randall's #1 or #14, or a big camp knife, particularly if one is starting at largo mano, rather drawing the knife after one is already tangled-up with an opponent.

My least-favored grip is reverse-grip, edge-out, though it feels natural enough with some few of my blades. It is also part of Bram's Gunting teaching.

Another grip that feels natural with some knives is a saber-style grip with the edge(s) oriented horizontally, and the thumb forward, along the flat of the blade. I used a Tekna dive knife for years, when I was a diver and then a kayaker, and it felt best in this grip.

Finally, there is the karambit. My EDC is a Tarani Masters Model Karambit folder, pre-5.11, made in the USA by Blade-Tech for Karambit.com, when that small but wonderful company was active. The one time I had a blade in one hand, and a pistol in the other, it was when I cut the bungie cord that was securing the double rear doors of a stolen van. I cut on the pull stroke, with an extended grip, then moved my knife hand to support the pistol. I have forgotten whether I retracted the karambit before placing my left hand onto the pistol. The van was empty, so no, I did not carry a karambit into a fight that night.

To be clear, I am no expert, nor even an advanced student, in the defensive use of the blade. I am just an eternal beginner, who types too much. :)

*When a bill or resolution becomes law, it ceases to be a bill or resolution; HR 218 is now the FLEOSA.

Rex G wrote:I like to have a working knowledge of several gripping methods, because I may not, in an emergency, be able to attain the ideal grip for a given blade. I may have to at least start with the initial grip I have attained. Being an LEO, I can carry a pistol, legally, more places than I can carry a serious blade, thanks to the Federal Law Enforcement Officer's Safety Act*, so actually using a blade as a weapon would be a very rare event. I originally sought blade training in order to better understand how a knife may be used against me.

Forward grip, edge-in is a quite quick and natural grip to use if I have just thumbed-open my favored straight-blade folders. (Spyderco Gunting or Mili, Strider AR) It is also the most expedient grip to use if I start carrying a Clinch Pick again. (My first CP's sheath finally cracked, and I am trying to find a way to mount the sheath in a way that puts less stress on the kydex before I resume carrying a CP.) The fingers and thumbs are positioned hammer-style.

Reverse-grip, edge-in, a.k.a. RGEI, a.k.a pikal, is a handy way to use a blade to fight very, very close. I position my fingers and thumb hammer-style.

Forward grip, edge-out, is how I was instructed in my first formalized knife instruction, by Bram Frank, when the Gunting was my EDC blade. If I use inertia opening with a Gunting, and then slide my thumb into position, it will usually result in this grip. This is a valuable way to know how to use a knife, and the handles of some knives are best-suited for this hold, whether the grip is hammer- or saber-style. This may be the best way to use larger blades, such as most Bowies, Randall's #1 or #14, or a big camp knife, particularly if one is starting at largo mano, rather drawing the knife after one is already tangled-up with an opponent.

My least-favored grip is reverse-grip, edge-out, though it feels natural enough with some few of my blades. It is also part of Bram's Gunting teaching.

Another grip that feels natural with some knives is a saber-style grip with the edge(s) oriented horizontally, and the thumb forward, along the flat of the blade. I used a Tekna dive knife for years, when I was a diver and then a kayaker, and it felt best in this grip.

Finally, there is the karambit. My EDC is a Tarani Masters Model Karambit folder, pre-5.11, made in the USA by Blade-Tech for Karambit.com, when that small but wonderful company was active. The one time I had a blade in one hand, and a pistol in the other, it was when I cut the bungie cord that was securing the double rear doors of a stolen van. I cut on the pull stroke, with an extended grip, then moved my knife hand to support the pistol. I have forgotten whether I retracted the karambit before placing my left hand onto the pistol. The van was empty, so no, I did not carry a karambit into a fight that night.

To be clear, I am no expert, nor even an advanced student, in the defensive use of the blade. I am just an eternal beginner, who types too much. :)

*When a bill or resolution becomes law, it ceases to be a bill or resolution; HR 218 is now the FLEOSA.

"I originally sought blade training in order to better understand how a knife may be used against me." That's actually one of the main reasons I have tried to keep up to date on the methodology. My EDC is a Karahawk, and prior to that was a Tasman Salt and prior to that was a 5.11 Tarani C.U.B. Kbit. I actually sold it, mainly because I didn't like how slow it was to deploy, but I loved how curved the blade was. But I really felt that I needed deployment over more blade curvature, so I went karahawk. And side note, I'm en route to becoming a LEO. Just trying to finish up my first two years of college (Almost done), and I'll be jumping into the academy.

Officer Gigglez wrote:"I originally sought blade training in order to better understand how a knife may be used against me." That's actually one of the main reasons I have tried to keep up to date on the methodology. My EDC is a Karahawk, and prior to that was a Tasman Salt and prior to that was a 5.11 Tarani C.U.B. Kbit. I actually sold it, mainly because I didn't like how slow it was to deploy, but I loved how curved the blade was. But I really felt that I needed deployment over more blade curvature, so I went karahawk. And side note, I'm en route to becoming a LEO. Just trying to finish up my first two years of college (Almost done), and I'll be jumping into the academy.

Keep studying, keep clean, and good luck with the application process! :)

One of my colleaques can pop a Tarani Masters Model open with a barely-perceptible forearm movement. I am not that good; I need some room to move, and cannot do it 100% successfully; probably more like 50%, at best. I would be much more likely to use a straight blade in a desperate fight, and then only if I could not possibly reach a gun.

For a while, I carried a fixed-blade Mick Strider Custom Karambit as a neck knife under my uniform shirt. I then decided to keep the front of my body armor free of metal, as an opponent's bullet might strike a neck knife, causing secondary missiles that could strike my arms, neck, or chin. I am back to a large Strider AR straight-blade folder in a right pocket, and the karambit folder in the left front pocket.

Really, I consider a folding karambit to be largely just a working tool, very unlikely to be used as a weapon.

Rex G wrote:Keep studying, keep clean, and good luck with the application process! :)

One of my colleaques can pop a Tarani Masters Model open with a barely-perceptible forearm movement. I am not that good; I need some room to move, and cannot do it 100% successfully; probably more like 50%, at best. I would be much more likely to use a straight blade in a desperate fight, and then only if I could not possibly reach a gun.

For a while, I carried a fixed-blade Mick Strider Custom Karambit as a neck knife under my uniform shirt. I then decided to keep the front of my body armor free of metal, as an opponent's bullet might strike a neck knife, causing secondary missiles that could strike my arms, neck, or chin. I am back to a large Strider AR straight-blade folder in a right pocket, and the karambit folder in the left front pocket.

Really, I consider a folding karambit to be largely just a working tool, very unlikely to be used as a weapon.

I am the opposite; Kbits for weapon, straight blade for utility, but can be a weapon too (Obviously).

Michael Janich wrote:This video explains my preferences:

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/marti ... ife-grips/

A lot depends on the tactics you use and the targeting you prefer.

Stay safe,

Mike

Hmm,.....interesting.

I carry a shivworks disciple and go with the pikal grip as well. Still waiting for the fixed blade spydie pikal knife :)

I carry a Case Russlock in my left front with the needle point clip blade and a Caly 3.5 clipped to my right pocket. I hold the Russlock in a normal hold for opening the bladefor piercing and the Caly in a reverse hold for slashing