Injured hands and folders / automatics

[Slip]

Hello-

A few nights ago at training I injured my right hand practicing a striking drill with a partner. I'd done this technique a 1000 times before, but that night I was sloppy and almost broke my thumb on his guard.

The hand was mostly unusuable for about ten minutes, and I had to resort to my left or forearm or elbow strikes until it became less painful.

That night when I went home to my flat I was messing around with my folders and found that the swelling and discomfort significantly hindered my draw and opening of my folders. This reminded me of a comment that Mr. Caracci made in some other post to the effect (I think) that there were certain roles that an automatic knife was suited for, injured hand scenarios being one of them.

Basically, could you elaborate on this and give us thoughts on the function of folders etc. when the strong hand is injured or out of play. Adaptions could have been made in that I could still have employed the knife (a Spyderco Chinook) as a bludgeoning device, but is there more to be said on this subject beyond the fact that it highlights the need to carry a secondary knife easily accessed by the weak side or a supplemantary automatic?

 

[Mac Attack]

I don't have much expertise on this matter, but have experienced the same type of injury to my knife welding hand during training as you have. As with you, I found it difficult to open my folder due to my injury. I also found that the skinny handle of my knife was difficult to hold with my throbbing hand and made the very thought of continuing our training session a remote possibility.

My training partner who has experienced this type of injury numerous times (many from my own hand) told me to stop being a baby and offerred me his Emerson Commander with the wave. This was my first experience with a Commander and I did not know what to expect. Basically I found that opening the knife was very easy, actually more easy than thumbing open my folder due to the wave. And secondly, the thicker grith and finger choil helped me keep a secure grip on the knife without having to use a death grip. Needless to say I am now a strong advocate of the Commander and plan on acquiring one this holiday season. Anyways, I hope this gives you a push in the right direction.

Mac

 

[Tonie]

Well, unless you only have one hand, I would suggest developing your off hand work as well. And then carrying two knives. My favorites right now are a Spyderco Military (strong side) traded recently for a Cold Steel Vaquero Grande and soon to be changed for a fixed blade, and a Civilian (off side)on which I've repositioned the clip for lefthanded carry. After all, if your training for self defense it would seem reasonable to assume that in a combat situation you could lose the use of one hand.

I recently sprained my strong side shoulder and couldn't use it for a couple of weeks. Interestingly enough, being forced to use my off hand really drove home the effectiveness of off hand proficiency. I have always trained with my off (left) hand, but not near as much as I have with my strong (right) hand. For those two weeks in class it actually proveded to be a bit of an advantage when sparring because most right handers have little experience defending against a leftie. And when we did partner drills all the folks who worked with me were really thrown for a loop by having to go left handed.

So if you have two hands, learn how to use'm, it could be just the advantage you need.

 

[satin]

I can relate, the other night I closed a fully serrated Outdoor Edge Impulse on my right thumb, taking a 1/4" x 1/4"(wide) x 1/8"(thick) chunk right off the tip.
Just wasnt paying attention..totally MODF(my own dumb fault)...

Well I soon found it it wasnt easy to close a liner-lock, and also wasnt easy to open a one-hand opening folder, like my Commander, infact not only was it not easy but it was downright painful.

An auto would have made everything a heck of a lot easier.
Even as assisted opening folder, especially one with a Flipper like a Ken Onion Boa, would have made it easier(except for un-locking.)

I did this Wednesday night I guess...and its still a bit of a "pain"(pun inteded) to open and, especially, close my carry folders.

And I dont have a true lefty folder either...makes me thinka bout some things I need to improve upon.

 

[Robert H]

I agree, Tonie

At a recent training event I was posted against a lefty for sparring and technique. Definately a different experience to go against a southpaw. I had huge advantage with a tomahawk, but with a fixed blade it caught me off guard. I often ended up having to modify my own defense/attack, and found that a blade in the other hand would be perfect. A reverse grip in the left can be really nasty.

 

[Mac Attack]

Don't read my prior post the wrong way. I believe an auto has it's place as a EDC knife but for a majority of us it not an option. Unless you are in the military, EMT, Fireman or LEO the thought of carrying a auto can be summed up with one word "ILLEGAL." I think there are more states that make it illegal to carry a auto than states which allow it. I know most of you are saying "Screw the law, I will do whatever I damn well please." Which is fine, but I am just stating fact, autos can get you into trouble.

Which brings me to my initial post. One has to find a blend between an auto and a standard thumb opening knife. I have tried the speed action, autos and various other knives which offer a faster than thumbing open knife speed. The truth of the matter is that it actually seems like it took me...and that might just be me... extra longer trying to find the button under duress. Don't get me wrong, with proper training anything can be accomplished and even I could open a auot/speed-action without fumbling. I think the ideal self defense knife would be a fixed blade, but for many they are either to bulky or obtrusive to be used as a EDCK. Anyways, the Commander to me has proven to be the best blend between a fixed and folder, speed into action and overall comfort... pull it out with control and it's ready to go!

Another point which was brought up was how difficult it was to close a liner locker with a injured hand. I think that is basically a mute point. The most important aspect of using your knife is the need to get it open and into battery as fast as possible without loosing control. Once the threat is neutralized or gone you can take all the time in the world to close your knife, in some cases with your weak hand.


Mac

 

[DE-SO bloke]

Developing the weak hand to its prime is the best thing u ought to do. I've just started giving private classes to a left handed person and that's when I really realized how weak my left hand is. In spite of some training, the enphasis was always on my strong hand but now I can see the difference is too big. If I needed to use it in a real combat I would be dead quite quickly :barf: . I know training with it is terrible (specially when u loose fights u would never loose otherwise) but it is extremely necessary .