Thread: Combat Knives?

The civilian was developed on a request of a US LE agency.
From what I read, the issue was that undercover cops cannot always carry a gun, but a pocketknife was not an issue.
So spyderco developed this one. The one thing it is good for is slashing through soft materials. As a general purpose knife it sucks.
It looks a bit like the tasman indeed, but the belly of the blade is slightly more bulbous, so I don't think it would catch as quick as the tasman.

From the story, the requirement was to have a knife that could be pulled out quickly, and be used to exist the scene asap if things fell apart. For that purpose, this is ideal. You'd pull it out, make a couple of slashes (something in which the blade would excel I guess) and run. The looks of the blade were no doubt designed to be as scary looing as possible.

@grizzley, it is not as simply as that. First, the US is a gun society, western europe is not. civilians don't carry guns here. period. it's illegal. Not even most criminals use guns, because having a gun on them raises the ante significantly, both from a legal pov and what the cops will do to you in case of doubt. Second, at short range, knives are more dangerous than guns. the FBI has done studies about it, and within short range, knives trump guns most of the time.

Long ago when I was on the force as a rookie-when off duty the rule of thumb was "charge a gun and run from a knife-it makes them ineffective, usually good advice when possible

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

Long ago when I was on the force as a rookie-when off duty the rule of thumb was "charge a gun and run from a knife-it makes them ineffective, usually good advice when possible

I don't have the references, but I once read a story about a training exercise in which a squad of cops was sent into a building, one at a time, to try and apprehend a man. Unknown to them, the man was a Filipino Martial Artist (generally experts at knife fighting). Every cop 'died' when they got close enough to frisk / cuff the man. Then they were all given a second chance at the exercise. It ended the same way despite their knowledge of what was waiting.

The point of the exercise was to teach the cops the deadliness of knives, the speed with which you can be killed, and the limitation of handguns at close distance.

'Surviving edged weapons' is a video we were made to watch during my training in Security work. It's a real eye opener. You quickly come to realise the effectives of knives (and guns to a small degree) and just how effective a knife is compared to a gun at around 15 feet and closer. Training continued on with a practical training module on edged weapons and their use. Very interesting stuff.


Mick

Hence the part about putting distance between you and the blade-gives you a much better chance of surviving

Originally Posted by Bruno

If I thought it would not get me arrested, I'd carry this.



I've been drooling over this knife for a long time. I may just end up buying it to keep it on my nightstand as a 'just in case' knife.
Like they say in the description: this knife is not a general purpose knife. It was designed for 1 purpose only.
And I am willing to bet that someone seeing this knife would lose motivation very rapidly.

Spyderco are great (awesome blades)But I would stay away from serrated blades due to inablility to resharpen. I have a bad case of KAD. In my military mind it all depends on if you want a "true" combat/survival knife. If so then the RAT 7, K-BAR/BOKER 9, are great blades. There are a ton out there but these won't break the bank and I regularly use them for battoning through firewood when camping.
If EDC then spyderco, benchmade, are great along with a bunch of choice blades like the SOG twitch, Kershaw OSO sweet etc...
It will also come down to steel as to what you pay. My preference runs as follows. AUS 8, 8CR13MOV, H1, VG-10, S30V, ZDP-189, S90v for EDC. If in a true Large combat fixed blade then it may range from 1050/1090 on up thru the 440 series etc.

Some of you might have gotten the impression that I don't think
knives are useful-I do,but a gun is usually a better option,especially if your life depends on it,
However knives have there uses also,I particularly like the ones that open with one hand-here are a few of my favorites. most here are Benchmade,a few Italian toothpicks, a Boker top lock and a couple of remarkably well made hillbilly specials,and one VERY old side lever cpeapo(throw away if necessary). the next instalment will be really old side levers and a Microtech HALO #1-very cool and VREY sharp. One here has really saved my butt,and it would be the last one you would pick (not the side lever),but here in the U.S. the sound of one of these if as recognizable
as the sound of a .45 being racked or a pump shotgun being made ready,real attention getter's
Enjoy.
OH, I also really like Sharpshooters quote from George Orwell,that says it all

Nothing wrong with one handers for general use. Wouldn't call them 'Combat' knives though.




Mick

Originally Posted by MickR

Nothing wrong with one handers for general use. Wouldn't call them 'Combat' knives though.



Mick

Anything you use in a fight IS a combat knife...but I know what you mean-these are just handier