Ten Attributes To Select Your Fighting Knife

[Gabriel Suarez]

1). Sharp as hell and pointy as f***, you can't stab anyone or cut anyone with a dull round nosed blade. If this sounds vulgar, it is. There is nothing dainty about ramming a 3" piece of steel into a man's thrioat and tiwsting it as he fights to get it out.

2). Point in line with the handle. Upswept blades may be the acme of the knifemaker artist, but they suck eggs for ramming through a clavicle.

3). Long enough...but not too long. We hear that about lots of things.

4). Rough handle. Either G-10 or rough designed zytel handles. When you stab another man, his juices will get all over your blade and hand.

5). Solid lock. Liner locks suck. I don't care how graceful or cool they are...they suck. Axis lock as seen with benchmade or with Cold Steel is the way to go, or with an old style lockback design.

6). Solid opening method. This being 2009, and the "Wave" concept being as old as the pyramids now....a combat blade should have a wave feature if it is a folder.

7). Good steel. That does NOT mean stainless. I don't give an airborne fornication about stains on my knife...I WANT IT SHARP!

8). Again, if a folder, it needs a movable clip so operators may carry it as desired. The more I work on this Killing-focused system, the more I am liking reverse grip - edge in. That means for a righty, you carry point up- blade forward.

9). It must be cost-effective. Notice I did not say CHEAP. Cheap knives are for fags. Cost-effective means that if I decide to ditch it, I will not be heart broken to lose my special one-of-a-kind....nor will that special one-of-a-kind be tied to me.

10). There should be a boatload of them out there in society....like Glocks. Thus you cannot be identified or tied to the gear you use.

If some of this stuff sounds like it comes from the world of the criminal rather than the world of the law abiding good guy, it does. One does not go to a clean shaven all-american altar boy to learn to cut a throat.

[Cold War Scout]

10). There should be a boatload of them out there in society....like Glocks. Thus you cannot be identified or tied to the gear you use.

A little off topic but...

Keep in mind that if they want you bad enough, say the knife was used to kill somebody, they may DNA swab it. I believe all members of the military submit DNA samples these days so the nuumber of people on file gets larger every day.

And, of course, don't forget your basic prints and fibers that can be connected to you.

[Al Lipscomb]

In the USA and parts of Europe DNA and such is a problem. I am sure there is an art to "ditching" that deserves some research.

[Matthew Sweeney]

All good points. I like my Cold Steel Recon 1 and I think it fits all 10 of these points along with the other 10 point knife threads you have made so far.

A little off topic but...

Keep in mind that if they want you bad enough, say the knife was used to kill somebody, they may DNA swab it. I believe all members of the military submit DNA samples these days so the nuumber of people on file gets larger every day.

And, of course, don't forget your basic prints and fibers that can be connected to you.

Well my idea of ditching...is throwing it into a dumpster, a furnace, into some water or burying it in the ground. Not dropping it right there. That is "losing" it...ditching it to me means hiding it and then leaving it.

[FrankDude72]

Normally agree on the access-type locks...

BUT I used to daily carry a Cold Steel Recon 1.
The springs powering the lock broke and I nearly lost some fingers as a result.
This was not from torture testing. Just plain ol' slashing practice.

[Matthew Sweeney]

Normally agree on the access-type locks...

BUT I used to daily carry a Cold Steel Recon 1.
The springs powering the lock broke and I nearly lost some fingers as a result.
This was not from torture testing. Just plain ol' slashing practice.

wow...did you send that thing back? I'm not saying I buy into hype...but the Cold Steel torture tests were pretty impressive.

[FrankDude72]

Nope, ditched it in my closet somewhere.

I'm a big Cold Steel supporter. Love their knives in general.

Also love the Benchmade iteration of the Axis lock.

But the thin wire springs in the Cold Steel Axis lock version give me pause, especially considering personal experience.

May have gotten a bad apple. YMMV. Etc.

[Matthew Sweeney]

I am a big supporter of them as well. And my Recon has been rock solid. You should send that puppy back and complain.

[michael]

Nope, ditched it in my closet somewhere.

I'm a big Cold Steel supporter. Love their knives in general.

Also love the Benchmade iteration of the Axis lock.

But the thin wire springs in the Cold Steel Axis lock version give me pause, especially considering personal experience.

May have gotten a bad apple. YMMV. Etc.

The Benchmade axis-lock is not the same as the lock on the CS Recon 1. Similar, but different. I would be extremely surprised if you could get a BM axis-lock to break.

[Ragsbo]

Okay, I admit it, I'm ignorant. You all keep talking about different types of locks on knives. Could someone explain the difference to me please? What type of lock does Spyderco have?