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Well, maybe you have good reason, but there’s some reasoning you should do. I went to the Mancave, dragged some examples out of the knife drawer (you don’t have a “knife drawer?” You probably don’t have a Mancave, either! )
I’m also going to use a couple of actual cases as examples-especially the New York case of Isaias Umali, an Atienza kali practitioner who used a knife and was tried and convicted for it, and offer some questions you should be asking before you walk out the door with a blade.
First one, of course, is:
1) Is this life legal for me to carry? Is it prudent?
Now, this doesn’t constitute “legal” advice-it’s only my thoughts and the processes I’ve been involved in over the years. If you want legal advice, talk to a lawyer-seriously-I did. More to the point, I talk to police officers as well-get the law for the jurisdiction you’re in, and ask some authorities-you’ll learn something interesting: interpretation of that law is circumstantial, and entirely subjective-if a cop wants to arrest you for something, he will. More to the point, as we’ll see, if a prosecutor wants to take you to court, very often he’s going to. In New York, by way of example, there is no statute for “self-defense,” only the standard of “reasonable and prudent,” and “equal force.” (If you don’t know what these things are, you need to look them up-not just for carrying a knife, but for all self-defense scenarios). Back in the 60’s, when we lived in NYC, my mom-who was a nurse at the time-was warned about carrying scissors in her purse: a nurse took scissors out of her purse to stab a rapist in an elevator, and was charged-and convicted-of carrying a “concealed weapon,” as well as attempted manslaughter.
On the other hand, in New Mexico, it’s perfectly legal for me to carry a sword, or a kukri, Bowie or Arkansas toothpick on my belt:
though it’s likely to attract more attention than if I had a pistol there, so it wouldn’t be prudent.
We don’t want our knives to draw too much attention.
I can put a clip on folder in my pocket, and-in New Mexico- if the clip is showing, it’s not concealed. In California though, I have to carry a fixed blade that’s visible on my belt.
Though not any of those…we’ll get to that, though.Second question (or, if you prefer, “question 1A):
2) Is this knife appropriate for self-defense?
Meaning, of course-is it what a “reasonable and prudent” person might carry, or is it something that could be used against me in a possible prosecution?
You likely wouldn't be making a case for the prosecutor with them, but we also want to be able to use them for self defense-so that kind of rules out a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman, for most of us-too cumbersome to deploy.We need something we can get out and ready with one hand, preferably
Take, for instance, the assisted-opening folder.
This is one of my faves.
And I also have this one-it’s what I call an “***-hole knife.”
I love them-and, while not a switchblade, or a gravity knife, they can be looked askance at-all it would take is drawing blood with one, and the fact of its mechanism could be used against you. I also tend to avoid serrated edges.
Likewise, the words associated with it: I don’t think you want anything that uses any of these words in its name, or has any of them on the blade or handle:
Tactical, Special Forces, Special Ops, Dark, Warrior, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Law Enforcement, Police, SWAT, Remington, Smith and Wesson, Uzi, Israeli, Ninja, Stilleto, Dagger
Like the “***-hole knife”:
These aren’t the only ones, of course, but they’re a start-avoid firearm names, law enforcement, or armed forces-essentially, anything that associates the knife with killing-you want to have other uses for it, be seen using it for those things, and be able to state that’s what it’s for: cutting fruit, or boxes or rope or the like. Not for ventilating your fellow human-beings, or subhuman scumbags. This, for example, is the “Big Boy Tactical Stilleto” It says so, right there on the fully six inch long blade, and it has assisted opening to boot: a virtual prosecutorial trifecta.
This is, another “***-hole” knife. I’d never buy such a thing-though I have a box full of their like, the knives I’ve taken off of ***-holes, over the years….
Avoid anything over-hyped. Anything sold by the Bud-K catalog. Anything from Cold Steel. Good as some of that stuff might be, the verbiage could come back to bite you.
In the Umali case, the prosecutor described his knife as a “special forces, tactical military weapon.” The fact that it was a folder, and was described as “six inches long” (this was actually the length of his Spyderco knife when opened-not the blade length):
did not help him at all either-because he was in New York City. Back in the day, as a few of you know, I carried a pen with me in NYC –strictly for self-defense, because I couldn’t carry anything else legally, and wound up using it-(more of that later)
I think one should also avoid special shapes, Balisongs (no matter the legality) and kerambits.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his rather innocent choice in blades.
3) Can I part with this knife?
If you use a knife under even a self-defense circumstance, it might just be taken into evidence. You might not ever get it back. If it has sentimental or monetary value, you might want to reconsider carrying it around. That hunting knife of my grandfather’s:
Well, it says “Remington” on it, anyway, so I just take it hunting, and no where else-not even to California, where I need a fixed blade just like it.
That nice folder my wife got me with the faux scrimshaw on the handle?
Ditto-not to mention the odd shape that might be misconstrued. Keep it in the display case in the Mancave, or take it sailing, like she got it for....
4)Am I trained to use this knife ? Can I use it appropriately?
Get training-and make sure it offers some non-lethal options. In fact, the non-lethal ones might be better, sometimes: Brian van Cise recently posted a Facebook link to a stabbing-a man was stabbed in the heart, managed to get the better of his attacker, and dropped dead later-like a full minute after being stabbed in the heart. Most people who have been stabbed and lived to talk about it will tell you that they didn’t know they’d been stabbed; they thought they’d been punched, and they kept on fighting. Really, a very effective way to use a knife for self-defense is to take away an assailant’s ability to move: sever large muscle connection: it’s non-lethal, and immediately effective. In any case, you want to make sure that you’re trained to respond with a “reasonable and prudent” level of “equal force.” Mr. Umali’s response-to what was, in fact, a plausibly lethal and frightening threat to his friend-was described by the prosecutor as an intentional “thrust, a twist and a pull,” that was meant to sever the femoral artery.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his training.
(I knew Alain Atienza’s dad, back in the day, when his kali was called Kapunan Ng Kali-“Atienza kali” has it’s roots in and is not too different from Pekiti Tirsia, which is pretty much for killing people)
4) Knowing how to use this knife, do I have the stomach and will to do so?
Well, you won’t really know beforehand, unless the answer is a pretty clear “no.”
Fact is, though, once you’ve poked a hole (or two or three) into someone, you’ll know something about yourself either way, and you’ll have to live with it. Maybe, as most expect, you’ll be sickened by what you’ve done-especially if you kill your assailant. Maybe, as it is for a few of us, you’ll be glad to be alive, and wondering where your next meal will be, and when you’ll get some sleep. It was that way for me, in spite of having one eye glued shut with the guy’s blood-admittedly, that sort of grossed and freaked me out, but, at 4:30 in the morning, sitting in the police station, I wolfed down three slices of leftover, cold, congealed pizza from earlier in their shift……I’ve never had pizza that tasted so good-not before, and-33 years later-not since. I tell this not to brag,(Guns of Will Sonnett:Not brag.Just fact) but to point out that it’s a helluva thing to find out about yourself at 21-that you could kill a guy, holding him so close to you that you could smell the grease coming out of his pores, and you could hear his last whispered words (Irony: What’d you do that for?) and just go ahead and eat a sandwich-the kind of thing some people shouldn’t know, and some would rather not know-some who’ll insist that they’d feel just awful, and need therapy, when all I needed was some food, a shower, and some sleep……helluva thing. In any case, some psychological preparation is in order, as well as simply knowing and training for how to behave-Mr. Umali freaked out afterward.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by freaking out. Which leads to question 5:
5) How do I behave afterward?
In most instances: don’t run away. Wait for the police. Call the police. Organize witnesses.
When the cops get there, identify yourself, and say this, and only this:
“He/they attacked me. I was in fear for my life. I defended myself. I’m not saying anything else now.”
This is, generally, the advice of lawyers, self-defense experts, and some cops-and I agree with it. Of course, some cops are going to howl at this, that you have nothing to hide and there’s no harm in talking, but you’re going to be rattled, and you need to be composed-and not to appear too composed immediately-basically, anything you do is going to make someone suspicious, so choose the one that offers the least possibility of increasing that suspicion . Honest cops, in an unguarded moment, will also tell you that they’re tools of the prosecution, if such a thing happens, no matter what they think about your case, so act accordingly. Don’t attempt to conceal anything; don’t freak out, but don’t tell them more than that.
Mr. Umali ran out of the club, threw away his knife and bloodied clothes, ran to a friend (his kali instructor, who testified against him for immunity) and tried to hide his involvement.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his actions afterward.
6) So, what kind of knife do I carry?
Now, you’ve answered the first five questions-what kind of knife do you think you should carry? If it’s a folder, it should be innocuous and inexpensive:
I can open either of these nearly as fast as an assisted opening folder, and look, this one came from the “Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation”
It’s Obama”peopleliketohunt” Friendly!
Likewise, in Californiastan, I carry a fixed blade that is inexpensive and inconspicuous.
They’re all cheap and serviceable, and eminently replaceable. I can even wear the fixed blade in a California legal fashion that borders on “concealed.”
So, there you have it-except, of course, one final bit of advice when it comes to knives, whatever you carry:
Keep your knife SHARP.
I’m also going to use a couple of actual cases as examples-especially the New York case of Isaias Umali, an Atienza kali practitioner who used a knife and was tried and convicted for it, and offer some questions you should be asking before you walk out the door with a blade.
First one, of course, is:
1) Is this life legal for me to carry? Is it prudent?
Now, this doesn’t constitute “legal” advice-it’s only my thoughts and the processes I’ve been involved in over the years. If you want legal advice, talk to a lawyer-seriously-I did. More to the point, I talk to police officers as well-get the law for the jurisdiction you’re in, and ask some authorities-you’ll learn something interesting: interpretation of that law is circumstantial, and entirely subjective-if a cop wants to arrest you for something, he will. More to the point, as we’ll see, if a prosecutor wants to take you to court, very often he’s going to. In New York, by way of example, there is no statute for “self-defense,” only the standard of “reasonable and prudent,” and “equal force.” (If you don’t know what these things are, you need to look them up-not just for carrying a knife, but for all self-defense scenarios). Back in the 60’s, when we lived in NYC, my mom-who was a nurse at the time-was warned about carrying scissors in her purse: a nurse took scissors out of her purse to stab a rapist in an elevator, and was charged-and convicted-of carrying a “concealed weapon,” as well as attempted manslaughter.
On the other hand, in New Mexico, it’s perfectly legal for me to carry a sword, or a kukri, Bowie or Arkansas toothpick on my belt:
though it’s likely to attract more attention than if I had a pistol there, so it wouldn’t be prudent.
We don’t want our knives to draw too much attention.
I can put a clip on folder in my pocket, and-in New Mexico- if the clip is showing, it’s not concealed. In California though, I have to carry a fixed blade that’s visible on my belt.
Though not any of those…we’ll get to that, though.Second question (or, if you prefer, “question 1A):
2) Is this knife appropriate for self-defense?
Meaning, of course-is it what a “reasonable and prudent” person might carry, or is it something that could be used against me in a possible prosecution?
You likely wouldn't be making a case for the prosecutor with them, but we also want to be able to use them for self defense-so that kind of rules out a Swiss Army knife or a Leatherman, for most of us-too cumbersome to deploy.We need something we can get out and ready with one hand, preferably
Take, for instance, the assisted-opening folder.
This is one of my faves.
And I also have this one-it’s what I call an “***-hole knife.”
I love them-and, while not a switchblade, or a gravity knife, they can be looked askance at-all it would take is drawing blood with one, and the fact of its mechanism could be used against you. I also tend to avoid serrated edges.
Likewise, the words associated with it: I don’t think you want anything that uses any of these words in its name, or has any of them on the blade or handle:
Tactical, Special Forces, Special Ops, Dark, Warrior, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Law Enforcement, Police, SWAT, Remington, Smith and Wesson, Uzi, Israeli, Ninja, Stilleto, Dagger
Like the “***-hole knife”:
These aren’t the only ones, of course, but they’re a start-avoid firearm names, law enforcement, or armed forces-essentially, anything that associates the knife with killing-you want to have other uses for it, be seen using it for those things, and be able to state that’s what it’s for: cutting fruit, or boxes or rope or the like. Not for ventilating your fellow human-beings, or subhuman scumbags. This, for example, is the “Big Boy Tactical Stilleto” It says so, right there on the fully six inch long blade, and it has assisted opening to boot: a virtual prosecutorial trifecta.
This is, another “***-hole” knife. I’d never buy such a thing-though I have a box full of their like, the knives I’ve taken off of ***-holes, over the years….
Avoid anything over-hyped. Anything sold by the Bud-K catalog. Anything from Cold Steel. Good as some of that stuff might be, the verbiage could come back to bite you.
In the Umali case, the prosecutor described his knife as a “special forces, tactical military weapon.” The fact that it was a folder, and was described as “six inches long” (this was actually the length of his Spyderco knife when opened-not the blade length):
did not help him at all either-because he was in New York City. Back in the day, as a few of you know, I carried a pen with me in NYC –strictly for self-defense, because I couldn’t carry anything else legally, and wound up using it-(more of that later)
I think one should also avoid special shapes, Balisongs (no matter the legality) and kerambits.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his rather innocent choice in blades.
3) Can I part with this knife?
If you use a knife under even a self-defense circumstance, it might just be taken into evidence. You might not ever get it back. If it has sentimental or monetary value, you might want to reconsider carrying it around. That hunting knife of my grandfather’s:
Well, it says “Remington” on it, anyway, so I just take it hunting, and no where else-not even to California, where I need a fixed blade just like it.
That nice folder my wife got me with the faux scrimshaw on the handle?
Ditto-not to mention the odd shape that might be misconstrued. Keep it in the display case in the Mancave, or take it sailing, like she got it for....
4)Am I trained to use this knife ? Can I use it appropriately?
Get training-and make sure it offers some non-lethal options. In fact, the non-lethal ones might be better, sometimes: Brian van Cise recently posted a Facebook link to a stabbing-a man was stabbed in the heart, managed to get the better of his attacker, and dropped dead later-like a full minute after being stabbed in the heart. Most people who have been stabbed and lived to talk about it will tell you that they didn’t know they’d been stabbed; they thought they’d been punched, and they kept on fighting. Really, a very effective way to use a knife for self-defense is to take away an assailant’s ability to move: sever large muscle connection: it’s non-lethal, and immediately effective. In any case, you want to make sure that you’re trained to respond with a “reasonable and prudent” level of “equal force.” Mr. Umali’s response-to what was, in fact, a plausibly lethal and frightening threat to his friend-was described by the prosecutor as an intentional “thrust, a twist and a pull,” that was meant to sever the femoral artery.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his training.
(I knew Alain Atienza’s dad, back in the day, when his kali was called Kapunan Ng Kali-“Atienza kali” has it’s roots in and is not too different from Pekiti Tirsia, which is pretty much for killing people)
4) Knowing how to use this knife, do I have the stomach and will to do so?
Well, you won’t really know beforehand, unless the answer is a pretty clear “no.”
Fact is, though, once you’ve poked a hole (or two or three) into someone, you’ll know something about yourself either way, and you’ll have to live with it. Maybe, as most expect, you’ll be sickened by what you’ve done-especially if you kill your assailant. Maybe, as it is for a few of us, you’ll be glad to be alive, and wondering where your next meal will be, and when you’ll get some sleep. It was that way for me, in spite of having one eye glued shut with the guy’s blood-admittedly, that sort of grossed and freaked me out, but, at 4:30 in the morning, sitting in the police station, I wolfed down three slices of leftover, cold, congealed pizza from earlier in their shift……I’ve never had pizza that tasted so good-not before, and-33 years later-not since. I tell this not to brag,(Guns of Will Sonnett:Not brag.Just fact) but to point out that it’s a helluva thing to find out about yourself at 21-that you could kill a guy, holding him so close to you that you could smell the grease coming out of his pores, and you could hear his last whispered words (Irony: What’d you do that for?) and just go ahead and eat a sandwich-the kind of thing some people shouldn’t know, and some would rather not know-some who’ll insist that they’d feel just awful, and need therapy, when all I needed was some food, a shower, and some sleep……helluva thing. In any case, some psychological preparation is in order, as well as simply knowing and training for how to behave-Mr. Umali freaked out afterward.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by freaking out. Which leads to question 5:
5) How do I behave afterward?
In most instances: don’t run away. Wait for the police. Call the police. Organize witnesses.
When the cops get there, identify yourself, and say this, and only this:
“He/they attacked me. I was in fear for my life. I defended myself. I’m not saying anything else now.”
This is, generally, the advice of lawyers, self-defense experts, and some cops-and I agree with it. Of course, some cops are going to howl at this, that you have nothing to hide and there’s no harm in talking, but you’re going to be rattled, and you need to be composed-and not to appear too composed immediately-basically, anything you do is going to make someone suspicious, so choose the one that offers the least possibility of increasing that suspicion . Honest cops, in an unguarded moment, will also tell you that they’re tools of the prosecution, if such a thing happens, no matter what they think about your case, so act accordingly. Don’t attempt to conceal anything; don’t freak out, but don’t tell them more than that.
Mr. Umali ran out of the club, threw away his knife and bloodied clothes, ran to a friend (his kali instructor, who testified against him for immunity) and tried to hide his involvement.
Mr. Umali was partially convicted by his actions afterward.
6) So, what kind of knife do I carry?
Now, you’ve answered the first five questions-what kind of knife do you think you should carry? If it’s a folder, it should be innocuous and inexpensive:
I can open either of these nearly as fast as an assisted opening folder, and look, this one came from the “Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation”
It’s Obama”peopleliketohunt” Friendly!
Likewise, in Californiastan, I carry a fixed blade that is inexpensive and inconspicuous.
They’re all cheap and serviceable, and eminently replaceable. I can even wear the fixed blade in a California legal fashion that borders on “concealed.”
So, there you have it-except, of course, one final bit of advice when it comes to knives, whatever you carry:
Keep your knife SHARP.
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