Protection knife against wild animals.

D

Dkenz

Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
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Pretty new to this forum... only a few posts but have loved everyones response.. Good quick information which hasn't let me down. You all seem to know your knifes VERY well. Anyway i was just thinking last night before i went to bed... I should pry get a knife for protection against wild animals. Recently i bought a ZT560 and currently looking at a spyderco.. But i think neither would really protect me against a large cat or bear. Granted i would never want to go against either with just a knife.

Short story: about 6 months ago i was at home alone on the computer.. and i heard a knocking sound... which i thought was someone knocking at the door... I open the door and find a small black bear behind the screen door.. Scared me and him cause he bolted right away. But it got me thinking. Just a couple weeks ago my wife said she seen a mountain lion along side the road. Now i just moved to SW Virginia about a year ago from Northern Michigan.. I notice ALLOT more wild life. And my wife and 2 kids like to go walking down the New River trail from time to time. Ive seen stories on TV of rogue animals attacking. I think a folder would make quick work of a cat.. but a bear... Pry nothing would work.. But id rather be with something than nothing at all. Im not asking the question which knife would take down a bear.. Cause i know all the funny responses yall would give me. LOL But rather have something than nothing at all. Whats a nice Fixed blade these days? Since i was a teenager ive always wanted a SOG seal pup. Have knifes worth 5 times as much yet still dont have one.. LOL but really whats a good fixed blade you'd bring along with you on a trail. Heard lots of great things about folders recently though my posts here on bladeforums... So im asking again about fixed.

Thanks again!!! Love me some bladeforums.. read it every day.

Ray
 
I'd recommend a Glock 20.

Oh wait, you said knife. How about a Katana, or a Greatsword.
 
Presuming you are not joking, pick up some pepper spray. A knife brings you too close to the fray and you don't want to get hurt by a wild animal. There's no need to get that close to one that is in attack mode.
 
Unless you find a knife with an airhorn or one that fires bullets, it will be next to no use in an animal attack. Think of animals as Wolverine, because their paws are covered in their own form of knives. I can tell you that if a mountain lion attacks, if it decides it wants to eat you, you are pretty well screwed. Even more so if a bear attacks.

You might want to get a small airhorn, or some bear mace. The sound of a stun gun might also scare an animal away. A knife will be pretty close to no help.
 
Oh man I love these posts that come around every month or so. I'd get something capable of prying, like a Cold Steel tanto. So when the great white has you in its jaws, you can pry them open without damaging the tip.
 
Well I am sure that you are going to get a lot of responses telling you to get bear spray or a firearm.
However in my life I have met two people that where mauled by bears and a two people that were attacked by a bear.

The one guy that was mauled killed the female grizzly (approx 400lbs) with a buck knife with a 4 inch blade, I do not recall the model number as this was probably close to 20 years ago. I didn't know the guy personally but he was a friend of a coworker, and my brother knew him from coming into the store that he used to work at. He killed it by stabbing it the neck repeatedly as it was attacking him and he was lucky enough to hit an artery

The other guy was a guide at a fishing charter service I went to, his attack ended when he played dead long enough and the bear walked away. He had nasty scars.

The last 2 guys were together when the bear attacked, they where both packing rifles and killed the bear, they where unhurt.

So long story sort of short, if you are going to choose a knife, make sure it has at least a 4" inch blade
Anything made by ESEE, kabar or other quality manufacturers in that size range would work.

PS
Think about the bear spray
 
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Don't you know you can't pull a knife on a bear? He'll take it from you and use it on you, duh!
 
Just after i posted this i was thinking an air horn.. Something that loud would pry scare them quite a bit. Really id rather bring a gun myself.. but something happened awhile ago that im not legal to carry a firearm for another 2 years.. Long story :( My wife is tho.. she has a couple small caliber pistols. I realize any knife isn't gonna get us away from a bear.. but better that than my fists.. lol. Most wildlife from my exp is more scared of us than we are of them.. but every once in a while you hear of one attacking.
 
dkb45 said:
Unless you find a knife with an airhorn or one that fires bullets, it will be next to no use in an animal attack. Think of animals as Wolverine, because their paws are covered in their own form of knives. I can tell you that if a mountain lion attacks, if it decides it wants to eat you, you are pretty well screwed. Even more so if a bear attacks.

You might want to get a small airhorn, or some bear mace. The sound of a stun gun might also scare an animal away. A knife will be pretty close to no help.
Click to expand...

Seems to me that at least once every year or two you hear of someone killing a cougar with a knife
Last year there was a guy that killed a cougar with a spyderco that was attacking his kid (was talked about here in the spyderco sub-forum).
A few years ago a guy on Vancouver Island used a buck 110 I believe to kill a cougar that attacked him

So rarely it does happen
 
Bear bangers are something else to look at
Dkenz said:
Just after i posted this i was thinking an air horn.. Something that loud would pry scare them quite a bit. Really id rather bring a gun myself.. but something happened awhile ago that im not legal to carry a firearm for another 2 years.. Long story :( My wife is tho.. she has a couple small caliber pistols. I realize any knife isn't gonna get us away from a bear.. but better that than my fists.. lol. Most wildlife from my exp is more scared of us than we are of them.. but every once in a while you hear of one attacking.
Click to expand...
 
I bagged a cougar with nothing more than my dry wit and sense of humor.
 
I didn't think about bear spray.. pry a good idea...... Similar to pepper spray to us i imagine. We have doing these walks for close to a year and havn't even seen a rabit... let alone a lion or bear... but ya never know. Was thinking of maybe even a very sharp machete.

Little bit of personal info.. I am 33 Yr old, 6'3" 240lb.. Work out and run every so often. Was in the military for a short while after school. Believe me.. if a bear gets ahold of me im gonna assume im pry dead.. but ima fight untill i cant. Why a nice sized fixed blade would be nice... Or at least untill im able to own a firearm again. My last as a 40Cal S&W.. loved that gun... sucks i had to get rid of it
 
I would want a fixed blade in these situations, something with a guard too.

probably 4-5" so it can positioned in case you were pinned.
 
coyotebc said:
Bear bangers are something else to look at
Click to expand...

I am going to hope you mean something like a firecracker. Considering how much they can startle people, even ones who expect it to go off, I would think they would be a good alternative.
 
Right Hwang... a bear is large... semi slow moving with all his weight. He has to get close too. Quick swipe/stab to the head would bring down a bear if you get so lucky. And of course you have the right equipment. As someone else said.. Play dead.. a bear will kinda sniff and play with ya to see if your alive... Perfect time for a stab to the head. Just looking at all options. Cause we love to hike... ride bikes.. Were even looking into getting a couple horses to ride on the trail.. Horses would notice a wild animal well before we did
 
Just google bear bangers
There are a number of different types, some get shot from flare guns, others from a pen like launcher
They are sort of like a real loud roman candle
dkb45 said:
I am going to hope you mean something like a firecracker. Considering how much they can startle people, even ones who expect it to go off, I would think they would be a good alternative.
Click to expand...
 
Bears are very fast over short distances, at full charge they can cover 50 feet per second
A great book to read is "Bear Attacks, there causes and avoidance"
Dkenz said:
Right Hwang... a bear is large... semi slow moving with all his weight. He has to get close too. Quick swipe/stab to the head would bring down a bear if you get so lucky. And of course you have the right equipment. As someone else said.. Play dead.. a bear will kinda sniff and play with ya to see if your alive... Perfect time for a stab to the head. Just looking at all options. Cause we love to hike... ride bikes.. Were even looking into getting a couple horses to ride on the trail.. Horses would notice a wild animal well before we did
Click to expand...
 
Bears are fast.. but not quick. There agility is low. Picture yourself running around a car from a bear... you could easily get away. There fast when they have an open area.
 
Humans can basicly stop on a dime and reverse direction instantly.. bears would have to slow down.. and gain speed again. People are more agile. Least thats how i picture it.. Am i wrong?
 
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