What makes a fighting knife

'Nuff said. When trouble breaks out, what is the best to have, whether a sharp/blunt instrument, or firearm, you're stuck with whatever you have on yourself at that moment, or utilizing anything around you as an offensive or defensive instrument.

Very true. Makes it pretty important to select the right tool for your day while you're preparing for your day. Chances are, that's the tool you'll be stuck with.
 
Ironically I got woken up this morning by a phone call from a friend asking what my grail fighting knife is, and what I think of Gerber (he bought something fixed blade from their tactical line) and what I think of Ka-Bars. Since I was just woken up and have many grail knives I said there are kukris I still want, and told him that my grail knives would be the Fairbairn Smatchet and Cobra, as well as the Decker-Sandow Cobra.

Tell your pal to look into Ontario as they have been marine issue marine combat knife for decades, and exact same knife as i had in early early 70s....the Kabar brand is not, although both stay within parameters of various specifications over the years....Case uses the same knife and dresses it up for twice the very affordable price......for tougher but more useless except to go to jail, they reverse history and make their M3 from their M7 rather than historically other way around, and much thicker and near impossible to break....i saw many M7s bent using gun as lever but never broken....both have sharpened upper clips so orientation truly does not matter...the new M3 guard does not bend forward as originals as originals had square cut ricasso tang shoulders while bayonet made smarter....so, a good thing.....take the leather off the M3 and you will find a made to spec M7 lurking....which is also a good thing for such a stabber....leather only needs waxing/oiling to look spiffy so do not be put off by rough looking photos....the marine combat is a great knife but tangs eventually break an inch or so back inside handle after much abuse/use...

I have no grails as i have owned and used most every gun and knife ever wanted...but i am in talks with Yangdu regarding a sword (wink!).....ideally a Randall 1-7/1-8 and have another #1 plain Jane 8" incoming this month with last four units stenciled on it (all that would fit)...but no business carrying such as zero daily sense while the #5 is same knife in civilian guise with unsharpened clip and single guard...the 1-8 will only be a camp/hike/yard chore knife same as the khukuri....and Yangdu's supplied khukuris are equal to Randalls even though vastly different....you would need pay twice Randall price to get anything better, and an amount of better you would never need, especially on a khukuri in the first place, unless trying to dismember a tank...
 
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Tell your pal to look into Ontario as they have been marine issue marine combat knife for decades, and exact same knife as i had in early early 70s....the Kabar brand is not, although both stay within parameters of various specifications over the years....Case uses the same knife and dresses it up for twice the very affordable price......for tougher but more useless except to go to jail, they reverse history and make their M3 from their M7 rather than historically other way around, and much thicker and near impossible to break....i saw many M7s bent using gun as lever but never broken....both have sharpened upper clips so orientation truly does not matter...the new M3 guard does not bend forward as originals as originals had square cut ricasso tang shoulders while bayonet made smarter....so, a good thing.....take the leather off the M3 and you will find a made to spec M7 lurking....which is also a good thing for such a stabber....leather only needs waxing/oiling to look spiffy so do not be put off by rough looking photos....the marine combat is a great knife but tangs eventually break an inch or so back inside handle after much abuse/use...

I showed him where to buy an AK Night-Fighter for less than the price of a Ka-Bar or the Marine Corps' new bayonet. The size is a better fit for this guy than the bayonet, and I'm pretty certain he will get more use from the Night-Fighter since it's close to a Ka-Bar in shape.

I don't have an M7 myself, but my M5 is the same blade with different mount and handle. I can see it being an effective, but sturdy stabber. Much more durable than my V-42, though heavier and not as pointy.
 
Grab = grave (or as a verb grab it means asking somebody to dig)
Graben = trench, ditch (or as a verb simply digging)
Dolch = dagger

Grabendolch I'm certain is a trench dagger.

A grave dagger would be Grabdolch and thats nothing I ever heard of. In fact even if that word should exist when hearing that in German it sounds more like a dagger for digging than a grave dagger.

Trench dagger is the best translation in my opinion.

correct, my german is very rusty. and my german->english is worse. in my mind they are grabendolch and i don't think of them in english. i looked up the wrong word. thought it looked odd but was late & i went to bed. anyway, these daggers would certainly assist an opponents entry into a grave.

alles ist jetzt korrekt.
 
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What makes a "fighting knife"? The person using it and the training they've had.
Any knife from a box cutter or slip joint Peanut on up can (and has) been used as a "fighting knife".
 
They do know a little about making fighting knives:

+1 The Filipinos has devastating knife fighting techniques and they keep a huge community of practitioners.
As if they were not already great, they didn't mind integrating material from other strong "knife cultures".

If I had to learn to defend myself with a knife... I would go train with these guys.
 
OK guys you did it.
I got this guest from JW Bensinger here at my house for a while now.
I didn't want to show it until I finish a review but can't hold it back anymore.
18367907886_9065e7d9c6_z.jpg

Hands down my best fighter but why and more details later
:p

That is nice! I may need to put an order into JW Bensinger for one of these. [emoji106]

If you don't mind Schuetz, how much did this set you back?
 
Any sharp blade in the hands of a person angry enough to be intentional of inflicting death. So far the knives displayed in this thread are more than effective for this task:thumbup:
 
Before i saw the knife next to mention the Fairbairn stood high as no1,but now my ultimate no1 is Hall's Nightmare dagger,by far!
 
Any reading or movie or whatever falls short of actual war...and it scars you the way no egghead could ever conceive....to be avoided rather than dreamed of......

The type V messer, truppe was a smaller commercial lightly built relatively thin and shorter bladed proposition and never issued, anything lacking BUNDE mark is retail foods...the type IV (Type 1964 used by both airborne and armored crews) is massively constructed and cast steel head serves as breaker and buster as well...comparison below....dead giveaway on commercial knives is screw pivot for marlin spike, and note the issue knives scissor open around the brass bushing spike/lanyard pivot and has massive machined steel leaf springs, full stainless liners both sides and scales brass-riveted to liners. Also the guide bar on side of the 3/16ths" thick ricasso is pegged into place as are the flat springs for trigger and spike. The blade steel from this particular outfit is superb, holds a fantastic edge and came out of box razor and i mean razor sharp....it is a wonderful anything-knife which stabs effectively as it cuts due to distal taper and full convex grind...one of the most controllable handles of non-fixed blades and also extremely secure and safe...bulky by modern ideas is still far more compact than a fixed blade (as shown above) and so goes most everywhere as it is a collapsible fixed blade in my mind..

I carry 15oz Airweights at times and 10 oz knife is no obstacle, only bulk...the fallschirmjager messer is a side pocket proposition only, otherwise all it would need is knobs and an antennae to pass as a walkie talkie...it, plus a 5-6 makes a total of 17 oz and only 2 ozs over an aluminum framed j-frame S&W.....still a lot of weight/wiggle room for the handgun choice as well without feeling burdened....

A friend once owned an Eikhorn AES70/LL70/etc and thought he had owned the real thing until i sent him the REAL thing...he put it in his bug out bag and simply calls it The Beast....and said absolutely no comparison...













You´re using my images, showing gravity knives of my own collection ! ...
 
I miss mtngunr. I enjoyed his posts, both for informational content and because he often injected a note of realism into discussions that tended to drift into movie-type fantasies.

When he left the forum it seemed that there was some ill-will involved, but I was never clear about what was the issue or who was involved.

I hope he is ok, and if mtngunr is lurking here I'll just say that I would welcome your renewed participation in whatever threads interest you.
 
Fighting Knives?

Heard people from Nepal have them pretty well figured out...

I'll take a 22-23" Kukri and swing for the fences...

Back up would be a dagger style knife with full guard, 4" in length that I can deploy as needed...
 
I don't know if anyone mentioned in here but what makes a fighting knife is not the knife itself or for that matter any other items in hand. It's the hand and coordination of the mind during a combat situation that makes the object (i.e. knife) a fighting weapon.

Granted, the blade design can help during a combat situation but realistically it all depends on how the user is trained in using their hands and body during the motion of a fight. In another word, some folks are trained to take advantage of a curved blade, some folks are trained to take advantage of swords, and yet some others are trained to combat with two long straight blades in a parrying fashion.

The knives in combat is only as good as the wielder that controls it, regardless of any design.
 
I don't know if anyone mentioned in here but what makes a fighting knife is not the knife itself or for that matter any other items in hand. It's the hand and coordination of the mind during a combat situation that makes the object (i.e. knife) a fighting weapon.

Granted, the blade design can help during a combat situation but realistically it all depends on how the user is trained in using their hands and body during the motion of a fight. In another word, some folks are trained to take advantage of a curved blade, some folks are trained to take advantage of swords, and yet some others are trained to combat with two long straight blades in a parrying fashion.

The knives in combat is only as good as the wielder that controls it, regardless of any design.

That's an absolute truth, I matter of fact all objects that surrounding us can be used as weapon... however knives designed for combat fighting are all showing similar features (I mean knives per se - not khukuries) ,,, and that is lightweight,fast construction, when stabbing blade should be able to penetrate flash and reach all vital internal organs from either side of human body,daggers have for example pure combat fighting designs, when cutting,slashing - edge must be extremely well sharpened, generally blades are rather very thin, but made of strong, tough,durable steels, handles are usually made for extra strong grip, pommel often designed to cause blunt trauma, or damage and full blooded combat fighting knives will usually be equipped with solid double guard... Knives designed for this purpose will show differences towards other knives such as bushcraft,survival or utility knives, all these will be heavier, somewhat thicker... But yes,each knife can be of course used in fight, but some are designed purely for this purpose.
 
I'm not an expert and have not graduated from any Filipino style art, but have studied five and am good enough to teach the systems that I've learned to my nephew and niece when they get old enough.

Yes, it is true that most sharp implements can be used to wound, injure, or kill (broken bottles, scissors, kitchen knives, etc.) but real combat with combative weapons involves knowledge of some basic anatomy, blade movement, and understanding what damage a blade can do when employed. When I say anatomy I mean your anatomy, and the anatomy of the subject you are trying to take down. There are strike points and you certainly try to hit them, with advanced training you're expected to be able to hit them.

A weapon may be flicked, thrust, twisted, slashed, or used in a chopping motion. These all "require" some basic skills, "knowledge." I put the words in quotes because most of the knowledge many would obtain through basic training in boot camp is not going to be too in depth, but a martial art is a whole nother animal.

For example, although I have studied Filipino martial arts, it would be foolish to think that I would understand or be able to SAFELY MOVE AND EMPLOY A WEAPON as a European or Japanese swordsman do in their styles.

A lot can go in to the study of martial arts. It is what you and your instructor make of it. In well instructed bladed arts you will lean where to strike, how to strike, and how to strike and recover in a position ready to strike without cutting yourself. It is easy to cut yourself when training/using real weapons that is why they use blades that have no edges for most demonstrations and rattan for training. Rarely is anything like what you see on the TV/movies. The user of a sharp weapon can cut himself. I know, I've done it before, once.

What makes a good fighting knife, is training in the specific style of fighting you wish to employ because of it's advantages over an adversary. Then, you go buy your knife.
 
A lot of sensible comments here. One problem with selecting a fighting knife based on expected use is that nowadays it's hard to predict what that use might be, especially in a complex urban environment. Will you be using it in the narrow confines of an apartment, or in an open area outside? Will you be confronting a single assailant, or several? Is it for self-defense, or are you training to be a hit-man (don't answer that)? Are you going to carry the knife, or keep it next to your bed? If carry, will it be concealed or exposed? What are the laws where you live?

Although I have a (modest) knife collection, I prefer a staff for self-defense. It can be used as a walking stick, particularly useful in irregular, hilly terrain; it is longer than a knife and just as good for disabling or discouraging an attacker, and the attacker is more likely to survive. That last point is important: If you kill or cripple someone with your perfect fighting knife, the burden will be on you to prove that it was necessary or justified. (Innocent until proven guilty is not a very dependable shield when someone is lying at your feet in a pool of blood. At minimum you could be stuck with large lawyer fees.) There might not be witnesses and the circumstances might be ambiguous to someone who was not there (such as a judge or jury). This is more of an issue in some cities and states than others, but it is a potential problem wherever you are, other than a war zone.

If your aim is to learn a martial art that includes bladework, that might be reason enough to pick a particular type of knife, but that might not be the one that you can lawfully carry into that dark alley at midnight. I hate to mention it, but in some situations a good pair of running shoes might be more useful than a good fighting knife.

Of course this is Bladeforums, not Runners World, so it's more interesting to discuss the characteristics of knives, and I enjoy it also.
 
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