Yup! How many hits did you take trying to draw your gun before you fought off the attack?After doing ECQC with only a pistol, I now carry a knife all the time.
After doing ECQC with only a pistol, I now carry a knife all the time.
The bottom line is that guns are just hard to use when the fight has already started up in your face.
A small blade is MUCH easier to deploy and use in a clinch/ground situation than a gun. It is also reliable as to repeat use when compared to a gun (contact shooting induces malfunctions a LOT).
One of the big reasons is to compliment firearm retention. If my dominant hand is hindered because I am keeping a forearm or elbow lock on my firearm, I can deploy a small knife with my support hand to create space or establish a dominant position to transition from.
The bottom line is that guns are just hard to use when the fight has already started up in your face.
All good points, and I get it. Used to carry a knife on the support side for this purpose/reasons.
I'm always open to being convinced a knife would be a better option for this purpose. Advantages/disadvantages?
I'm always open to being convinced a knife would be a better option for this purpose. Advantages/disadvantages?
Consider the common choke hold. Bad Guy has you locked in, you're trying to pull down with one hand, desperately following The Book's instructions on trying to alleviate even the tiniest pressure on your larynx and the blood vessels on either side of the stem that holds up your noggin'.
Just for fun, have a partner get you in this position. . .a fully-locked down rear naked choke. Even with your firearm in one hand, it's going to be difficult shooting Bad Guy off of you, especially with your vision slowly going all black and fuzzy.
Yet, even with the smallest pocket knife, you can quickly and effectively sever the Triceps Brachii, the Brachioradialis the Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus, both the Medial and Lateral Epicondyle of Humerus, the Olecranon of the Ulna and both the Extensor and Flexor Carpi Ulnaris with as little as two, quick strokes. With any luck, you may get the Brachial Artery and Nerve, as well. Suddenly, it becomes VERY difficult for Bad Guy to Continue Choking you.
Change that to an encounter with Brazilian Jiu-Jutsu Bad Guy who gets you in a triangle or armbar trapping your shooting hand/arm. A little 'snick' a little slice to the hamstring or up into the knee"pit". . . .maybe poke around at his "backdoor" a bit. . .start carving up his hamhocks and Mr. Gracie wanna be decides he's had enough.
Even something as little as a Spyderco Delica or Gerber EAB (a personal favorite of mine. . .basically, it's a folding box-cutter) will have you tenderizing meat almost as fast as a Chinese Chef.
A small defensive knife can open up a lot of doors in the right hands with a little practice
The Professor
Just a quick demonstration of how an knife can be used to defeat an attacker coming from behind. Also another fantastic reason to consider a knife with the Emerson Wave opener on it for defensive use as it is the fastest deploying opening method around. The guy being attacked in the video is Ernest Emerson owner and founder of Emerson Knives
If I may interject here, and I do realize I'm new to the forums, we have to keep an eye on the realistic. How often do "knife fights" occur? I'm not talking about gang fights or prison/jail incidents. I mean honest, mano-a-mano, unchoreographed, squared-off knife fights?