What is a good knife for stabbing people?

[2ADMNLOVER]

Mora Pathfinder, it damn near cut my thumb off and I wasn't even trying.

 

[lovemachine]

Rhino carries a Junglas as a neck knife.

What doesn't rhino carry?

 

[MadBomber]

What doesn't rhino carry?

Trust me....what he carries would absolutely stagger a mortal man.

 

[jd4320t]

Rhino carries a Junglas as a neck knife.

man I'd be bagging myself all the time

 

[lovemachine]

Trust me....what he carries would absolutely stagger a mortal man.

Rhino frightens me.

 

[kawtech87]

Earnest Emerson at his seminar at blade show basically said fighting with a knife unless you have allot of training is a bad idea. Knife fighting is not something I would want to participate in.

Good situational awareness and a loaded .45 are my favorite weapons.

This /\

Though as a last ditch I carry a Benchmade CBK push knife.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

To be clear, I don't intend to go knife fighting. I am interested in what is the best stabbing knife.

I have read some of Mercop's stuff on other forums about slashing vs stabbing and stabbing vs slashing is a great point and another issue. I am just curious about the best stabbing knife.


Kirk's point about the bread knife is more about the user. A dead set determination on violence is probably the most dangerous thing for a person to possess, but I am asking about stabbing knives.

 

[lovemachine]

If I recall correctly, I believe Michael Janich also talks about the advantages of slicing VS stabbing.

 

[Hoosier8]

The Tanto point was specifically designed for penetrating and slashing through armor and flesh.

The original Tanto

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Not to be confused with the Cold Steel Westernized version.

 

[Hoosier8]

Now I know Rhino doesn't like most awesome knives but with a simple kitchen knife you can stab to the other side.

 

[Alamo]

My two cents:

For pure stabbing...long, strong, and thin. Look at bayonets, stilettos, Fairbairn-Sykes, V-42. Many bayonets don't even have cutting edges, they are purely for thrust. Stilettos and bayonets often have a triangular cross section for strength, but no edges. These tend to be employed more offensively than defensively. Stab in the throat, the heart, the subclavian area, the spine, or the skull.

For knife-fighting and self-defense in general, to make someone want to leave you alone, having a cutting edge also seems to be in order. I think a really strong blade with an extremely sharp edge and a nicely pointed end is very hard to beat.

And if it is a folder, it must have a very strong lock. You don't want to have the blade closing on your fingers, or even think of the possibility of it closing on your fingers. gah! Most locks may be able to handle stabbing into flesh, but if you miss and hit the wall, or stab into a hidden gun, or a big bone, or the floor, or some other hard object, that lock suddenly going to be under a lot of stress. I like the Cold Steel Triad locks, so that's basically what I buy for a folding knife.

The Spartan is a really nice one (strong folder). At first I thought it looked kind of over the top, but it has a really nice strong sharp blade, a good grip, and most helpfully, and yet it hardly shows when in the pocket because it is very flat and has a good clip location. The clip (ambidextrous) is very close to the end of the knife, so there's not a lot of knife sticking out - doesn't make it look like a huge knife. Until you pull it out. I would not rely on the psychological effect, but probably a good part of the defensive effectiveness of a knife is the opponent knowing you have one. People really do not like to get cut. But in a jam any pointy piece of steel is helpful. See KF's and Sylvain's comment - kitchen knives and screwdrivers.

Staying legal can be a problem. A lot of knife regulation is left up to local jurisdictions, so a big honkin' double edge may be legal some places, and big trouble others. Thus, a small screwdriver might turn out the be the best carry-anywhere solution this side of a metal detector, especially if for some reason you can't have a gun.

For knife fighting, knife defense, and open hand combatives in general, you could do a lot worse than train with Tom Sotis.

 

[kawtech87]

The original Tanto

\\

Not to be confused with the Cold Steel Westernized version.

Indeed. The original design of the Tanto blade shape was to penetrate the armor that was in use back in feudal Japan than was usually made up of iron and leather scales sewn together with leather and silk thread. It was the side arn of the Samurai. The unique up swept shape of the blade made for a formidable slashing weapon. The angular blade grind is a Westernized perversion of the original.

My favorite example of a true to original design modern knife is my Blind Horse BHK-T2. If I wasn't on my phone I'd post a pic.

 

[Whitsettd8]

A Tom Brown Tracker and a copy of The Hunted......
Insert purple where necessary.
I would go with the MicroTech Jagdkommando it looks serious.

 

[tradertator]

What little time I've spent with a training knife (mostly in Krav Maga and Kali), the more I realize how nasty an encounter with a blade can be. I don't leave the house without a knife though, so its definitely a good tool to learn to use and worthy of investing in a good one (or multiple )

I used to really like the clinch pick type stuff like the Spyderco P'Kal or Spartan CQB, but anymore I find something that drags against the skin to be easier to employ under stress than that which stabs. For that reason I like karambits. Retention is made easier with the ring of the handle, and it doubles as a knuckle duster. And in the world of folding Karambits, Emerson is the king. Another great folder is the Yojimbo II from Spyderco which was designed by Micheal Janich. Some of the best designed fixed blades I've found are the Sayoc / Winkler collaborations or Tracker Dan's Bloodshark. I love the R&D hawk, and the Bontac is wicked. The Tracker Dan is extremely easy to conceal, and has the coolest sheath Ive seen on a knife. I'm a big fan of having a blade on several points of access too, and also often wear an Emerson LaGriffe on my neck.

Whatever you go with, don't undervalue a trainer. I wear a nice scar across my wrist where I gutted it accidentally, from playing with my Emerson Super Karambit. Funny thing about that knife is I spoke with former owner of it about my mishap, and he said it also bit him and that's partly why he got rid of it. Making a trainer is as simply as tracing around it on a cutting board, cut it out, and round the edges and make the tip blunt. Cheap, effective, and doesn't require stitches when you screw up.

 

[RAMBOCAT]

If it's only about stabbing, check out the CRKT HISSATSU.

 

[LtScott14]

+Alamo. Fairbairn-Sykes was designed for that job only, and was used by British Commandos. I also like the full size USMC Kabar, plenty of steel to do the task. Lot of replicas out, but if it's a night op vs sentry, those would be my choice. My collection is a genuine Kabar, and a knock off F-S with dual edges. I think those fighting knifes are cool.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Is it long enough to cut the important things inside a person or is stabbing depth not really that big of a factor?

all depends on the person and angle of insertion. I've seen people get stabbed with a 4" blade and have it not enter their abdomen. Combination of fat and angular insertion.

You can get the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs quite easily with a 3" blade in most people. As was suggested upthread though, taking out a biceps tendon or an Achilles would give you a nice advantage too.

 

[halfmileharry]

all depends on the person and angle of insertion. I've seen people get stabbed with a 4" blade and have it not enter their abdomen. Combination of fat and angular insertion.

You can get the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs quite easily with a 3" blade in most people. As was suggested upthread though, taking out a biceps tendon or an Achilles would give you a nice advantage too.

Hell, I'm headed to McDonalds right now.
I'm in the slashing camp. It's how I was trained.
And for those nasty trips into downtown Indy....I have an old Kabar fixed blade I snap onto my shoulder rig. It's not "new and improved" tactical in the plastic and kydex field, but it's a great can opener, tree spike, hatchet, screw driver, hammer, and I guess it could be used as a pretty fair weapon if/when called upon to do so.
I'm old so I have antique ways.
Semper Fi

 

[Hoosier8]

Indeed. The original design of the Tanto blade shape was to penetrate the armor that was in use back in feudal Japan than was usually made up of iron and leather scales sewn together with leather and silk thread. It was the side arn of the Samurai. The unique up swept shape of the blade made for a formidable slashing weapon. The angular blade grind is a Westernized perversion of the original.

My favorite example of a true to original design modern knife is my Blind Horse BHK-T2. If I wasn't on my phone I'd post a pic.

Found a pic with bullets in it.

 

[Gabriel]

Steak knife.