Knife for bears

I'm hesitant to respond to this post because it seems like a rather naive (or joke?) question. However, perhaps I can help a little. I am a biologist and while I have not worked with wild grizzlies, I have worked with people who have. You need to know that these animals are not a joke and you can't reasonably expect to kill one with a knife. You are far better off learning to use bear spray properly and making noise to alert the bears of your presence or simply avoiding areas were they frequent if you are worried you will be in a situation were you will have to fight one off. For reference, legitimate wildlife biologist use electrified fences around their grizzly camps and 12ga shotguns with heavy slugs/.45-70/405 rifles (beyond the normal "stay far away and use technology to watch them") for safety when closely studying grizzlies. If they have to get closer such as to tag, they use tranquilizers and cages. If you really want more specific answers regarding grizzly anatomy and safety in the woods you could contact Dr. Charles Robbins of Washington State University. He's a grizzly ecologist who has worked with Alaskan wild bears, though I imagine he'll find your question quite odd.

Anyway, it may sound ridiculous, but many mammals have side dominance just like people. I believe I have read that most large predators are right "paw" dominate. I can't find any documentation, though, I'm sorry to say. If you had to fight a grizzly with a knife (which is a hard situation to imagine) then you would want to try to dodge his attacks early and stab. Your goal however is more to get him to run away than it would be to kill. As far as I am aware, the only legitimate and modern documented case of killing a grizzly with a knife is one where a hunter in Alberta was trapped between a mother and her cubs and she grabbed his left arm and he managed to stab her multiple times in the neck/back with a hunting knife and survived quite badly mauled. Here's the first link I found http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/546 and you can see from the article the bear didn't drop dead. He also did not have the chance to try anything else to handle the bear (play dead, get further away, shoot it, etc). As far as Ben Lilly... that's a big pill to swallow, but he supposedly had a big double edged bowie.

Good luck, I hope you never have to fight a grizzly with your knife.
 
After reading most of the comments,pretty much all of you have it right about bears ripping you into little bits,but i have a knife in my that would do the same to the bear,Injector knife,Co2 cartridge with about 800fps velocity,you stab,press a button,and see him die before you die.That would be my knife of choice,or maybe a massive 20"+ khuk and 1 lucky as hell hit to the neck or head,otherwise might as well carry a bible or a small bottle of everclear to numb the pain.
 
Skystorm said:
The question itself is ludicrous, You maimed yourself with bear spray and think a knife is going to protect you?

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From this???? I count 5 knives to your 1, beside the fact that what they are attached to can easily and literally take your skull completely off your neck with a casual swipe. Your knife needs to be 2 inches, that's long enough to reach your heart which is much more realistic and important. We may as well debate about which bb gun to take elephant hunting.
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"What knife for a bear?"

Has the bear even expressed an interest in knives? What task does he expect to perform with it-- is it opening envelopes in a button down office, or full blown forest survival tasks?!

I don't know how realistic it is to choose a knife for a creature that doesn't even have opposable thumbs. Maybe a fixed blade? Why don't you ask him what he prefers.

Back when I was a kid, claws were enough for a wild animal. Now they want knives. How times have changed.
 
Erasmus said:
"What knife for a bear?"

Has the bear even expressed an interest in knives? What task does he expect to perform with it-- is it opening envelopes in a button down office, or full blown forest survival tasks?!

I don't know how realistic it is to choose a knife for a creature that doesn't even have opposable thumbs. Maybe a fixed blade? Why don't you ask him what he prefers.

Back when I was a kid, claws were enough for a wild animal. Now they want knives. How times have changed.
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Excellent questions.
 
Hi guys, finally to make it simple: how long should the blade minimum be to reach vital organs? That's the main question. Don't care about if it's nonsense or not. Seems as if no one exists to answer this. Nevertheless thanks again for all serious informations.
Holger
 
Ramil839 said:
http://www.waspknife.com/
I'm not sure if you can post links,but i wanted to show you guys a knife thats more deadly than a bear exists.
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It just cracked open the second watermelon? I can punch a melon with my fist and break it.

How would this be more deadly than a bear?:confused:

You would have to hit him in the temple or heart maybe an eye? And that's on a first try while you crap your self.
Cause I don't think he's going to stand still and let you take aim?:rolleyes:

I think most big bear attack standing up - that's usually about eight feet tall or better.
 
Hello Smithhammer
Indeed, that's ths funniest thread - and do you know why? Ask one simple question in USA. You will get 200 answers from 20000 people. Can you find the correct answer? Before starting this thread here in Germany they promised that this would be the result. My mistake that I hadn't believed. But.I tried it, because I thought you are more familiar with these kind of stuff.
Anyhow, there have been some interesting answers.
Thanks again.
 
halbschaf said:
Hello Smithhammer
Indeed, that's ths funniest thread - and do you know why? Ask one simple question in USA. You will get 200 answers from 20000 people. Can you find the correct answer? Before starting this thread here in Germany they promised that this would be the result. My mistake that I hadn't believed. But.I tried it, because I thought you are more familiar with these kind of stuff.
Anyhow, there have been some interesting answers.
Thanks again.
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Halbschaf -

With all due respect, there is a very obvious reason why you have not received a "correct" answer - because there isn't one. There really is no such thing as a "bear knife," and if you are at the point that you are having to pull out a knife (any knife...) in the middle of a bear attack, you are in a very desperate situation, and one that your are likely not going to win, tall tales of mountain men notwithstanding.

I live in a state with very healthy populations of both black bear and grizzlies, and I spend lots of time traveling in their home places. I also spent a lot of time in Alaska, where there are a few bears as well, so I'm speaking from some experience here. If you are looking for something to defend yourself from bears, start with learning more about their behavior, and how to avoid an encounter, first. Then look into using and carrying bear spray. Don't plan on using a knife on a bear, please - mostly for your own sake.

That may not be the answer you were looking for, but I firmly believe it is a much better answer.
 
One of the members here once told us about a polar bear attack at a US military base he had served at in Alaska. One of there sentry post had failed to report in so they had gone out to check on them. They found a blood trail and a number of empty magazines, so they followed the trail which led to two dead sentries and further on a dead bear. The bear had been hit about 70 times with 45 cal auto from the sentries sidearms.

Yes, I am sure that there are hunters who have taken bear with knives; but, they may have forgotten to mention that the bear was probably pin down by a large pack of trained dogs at the time. Capstick once mentioned an old African saying that tales of lions and lion hunting would be very different if told by the lion."

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n2s
 
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Hello Smithhammer, hello not2sharp

First let me say thank you for your kind and informative feedback. Hope my English is good enough and will not lead to any further misunderstandings.

I have been making survivaltrips since 1986, and during this time I also have been to Canada and Alaska. I am a very careful person, and in the wilderness I have survived because I have tried to avoid any dangerous situation. But I think you know that this isn´t possible all the time. I promise to be the last man who is interested in fighting against a bear with the knife. So, if I have given this impression, then it is my fault. Sorry for that. Nevertheless, the knife is the most important tool when you are alone in the wilderness for a couple of days.

Call it a crazy notion, but for my psyche it´s important to carry a knife as a last chance in any situation. So, apart from the question of finding a good knife for bears - I´m aware there doesn´t exist one -, maybe you have an idea for the following: to reach the heart of an average sized man – from the medical view – you need around 3 inches. The carcass of a bear is said looks similar to that of human beings. So, especially after skining, what´s about the depth of the bears heart, anatomically? Only from this view, imho, it cannot be more than 8 inches max.

If you would drop me a line, I would be glad and will keep silent for the rest of my life.

Thanks again

a crazy Bladeforum Fan from Germany
 
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