Like all of you, I want my loved ones to be protected so what are some of the best knives for the women in our lives? From my limited perspective I think a knife that slashes well, has some reach, but is small enough for a woman's hands and is lightweight and works for someone who has little to no training. What do you gents think best fits the bill?
Any knife with a handgun attached will do. Are you serious about a knife? Women against men in close quarters combat is not a favorable proposition in my mind. Better to get some pepper spray or mace than a knife. Better yet, get a handgun and get her lessons on how to use it.
Your a personal injury layer aren't you......
Unless she has extensive training with a blade that includes some serious sparring, I would also caution you against getting her a knife. In an emergency, I think that it just isn't likely that an untrained person is going to successfully draw it and use it effectively. What's more, I think that most people who are competent on the mat will find that actually sticking it into somebody's eye or throat, or brutally slashing their face or limbs is not something that they are prepared to do. Hesitation and provocation don't go well together.
Get a good pepper spray, and buy the trainer that lets you practice with it. Work up some scenarios and practice so that she gets used to getting it out and using it without hesitating. In fact, if your ladyfriend has a background in hand to hand combat, you should be periodically working realistic scenarios with her. For what its worth, my advice would be to structure this training around how to interrupt an attack and break contact, not how to close with a knife.
Good luck with this. Self defense training is difficult and demanding, and as you can see, there are lots of different ideas about what should be done. If you are really serious about it, maybe look into going to a seminar together with somebody like Tony Blauer?
I know that this is more than you want to hear when you're asking about a good knife--just trying to be helpful.
Isn't it illegal to carry a knife in the States? Doesn't that fall under carrying a concealed weapon?
Unfortunately, without proper training, a weapon such as a knife in a woman's hands is likely to get taken away from and then used against her. If you are truly concerned about your wife or girlfriend, I think pepper spray is a much better choice. Stops the attack long enough to get away and run. Just my $.02...
Women should (if they wish, of course) carry a knife or even knives. Yes, everyday just like a man. That is unless they just sit in a chair all day with their hands delicately folded in their laps.
Isn't it illegal to carry a knife in the States? Doesn't that fall under carrying a concealed weapon?
I don't have a problem discussing, but I don't think I'm mistaken. While it is true some people (men and women) are not willing to use a weapon against another person. Those can't be factored into the discussion since they won't be likely to carry a weapon/tool to begin with. That leaves the remaining people who have the mindset to be willing to consider the option. Trained or not, an edged tool in close quarters can be used to good effect using instinctive motions. I won't attempt to argue that training won't make someone more effective. But, if you don't believe that a blade is effective. Choose a partner, give them a knife (not a trainer) and try and take that knife away. Bring determination, bandages, a cell phone and remember the numbers 9-1-1.I'm not trying to keep this going, but I want to expand on my earlier comments a little. I want to make it clear that I wasn't just talking about women. I'm talking about men too. I think that you--man or woman--can carry all the cold steel you want if it makes you feel secure. But when the rubber meets the road, I think that most people won't be able to successfully use it, for all the reasons that I mentioned earlier.
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Surely you don't mean equate the ability to use a knife (or even a gun) to that of flying a plane....
However, I think that the notion that training is unnecessary or even counterproductive, is dangerous. If pilots felt that way, US Airways flight 1549 would have pranged into the side of a building. If soldiers felt that way, infantry patrols would be savaged in ambushes.
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I lean strongly on the side of doing whatever is necessary, with whatever tool is at hand, to protect myself (yourself). I can't imagine the scenario where I would shrink in fear because I might not have the necessary or sufficient training to use a tool at hand to defend myself or my loved ones....
My point is, you must be brutally honest with yourself. Hope and certainty are two very different things. If I really and truly felt that I lived in a place where my life was in danger, I would do what it took to put myself on the side of certainty.