Assuming you only have a knife and not a firearm, is a retarded

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>>31083148

Jim Bowie carried a pretty massive fucking knife. His tactic was basically to go low and disembowel the other poor SOB with a slash to the stomach (people tend to guard their chest and head) then just pull back and let them bleed out.

If you were actually fighting with a knife bigger is better, the same way that having a sword would be better than having a knife.

Really though, you're not Jim Bowie, so if you're carrying a knife practicality and its usefulness as a tool should be your main concern.

>>31083148
a big knife with a small handle and without a guard is best.

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>>31083148
>is a retarded huge knife actually a better choice to fight with than a small "defensive" knife?

4" knife < 9" knife < 12" knife < 18" machete < 30" sword < 6' polearm

Generally speaking, bigger is better where melee weapons are concerned. Extra reach is a huge advantage as long as you don't get ridiculous with mass.

People only carry stuff like pic related because of concealability and knife laws.

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With good training, this could be the best fighting knife. Sometimes double-edged.

>>31083213
>Really though, you're not Jim Bowie, so if you're carrying a knife practicality and its usefulness as a tool should be your main concern.

Clearly. I'm not planning on CCing a Bowie knife or something. I was in the Army for a long time and did carry a medium sized knife that was entirely used for utility and digging around IEDs, never for fighting.

I was posing the question as a hypothetical purely about which was better to fight with, all other concerns set aside.

If you have a quality knife, which is just a dagger or short sword then youre fine.

If you carry a machete like the smatchet, youre fucked

>>31083628
I actually carried a machete for a while for it's intended purpose of brush clearing. That thing was great at it's job, but was wobbly enough that I'd never trust it in a fight.

>>31083148
>it gets turned and twisted and ends up slashing both people
Sure if you have a weak grip.

>>31083628
You have reached levels of unironic nonsense that shouldn't be possible.

>>31083148
Mostly comes down to reach, with something like a machete or the like you've got a half metre or so of being able to dissuade anyone coming into a strike zone, thus it as some 'defence' so to speak when you clobber the fucker as he comes in to strike you with a shorter bladed weapon.
Course the downside is that cuts and slashes will most of the time not result in immediate disablement unless you crack through the skull or neck.

Stabbing kills people, generally not quickly or in any way which could be described as pretty, but its pretty colourful! Any good 3-4" of penetration to the chest, upper abdomen or neck has a good chance of being lethal, maybe not immediately but quick enough to have them keeling over in a relatively short amount of time- which may mean you end up being stabbed or slashed yourself as they're on the way out. Disabling though is always an option, "strike that which offends you", so slashing or chopping at the knife hand and arm (inside of forearm is full of arteries) is a valid target, disembowelling, groin and inner leg are harder to reach if you're both on your feet though.
The other thing to consider is the opponent getting focused on the blade, both theirs and yours- which can leave them open to kicks, trips and other blows. Someone with a broken knee generally doesn't become a major threat.

Essentially, learn some knife fighting techniques, Escrima has some which are quite good and hunt around for someone that knows their shit. Otherwise, if you're whipping out your knife to escalate a situation and they know what they're doing, they'll take it off you and shove it sideways up your arsehole and you'll be in deep trouble. About the only upside is that most people with knives causing mischief have no idea really what they're doing, but they should be considered more dangerous than a fist or foot.

>>31083213
Do you have a sources of reference about Bowie doing that?

>>31083668
This is some solid advice OP, except for the Eskrima part. Anytime you're going to take some type "2deadly4u" martial art you have to have some actual punching, kicking, and grappling, martial experience to put your LARPING to work.

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Honestly, the dirk, aka stiletto, is the best out there.
You just have to know key spots on the human body and you can easily bleed a man to death in under half a minute. Debilitate him in under 5 seconds.

>>31084139
I know it sounds easy to do. But you're not knifing some 45 year old office white guy with his kids and family. You're most likely knifing some 6'2 230lbs played high school foot ball "inner city 24 year old youth" who's been in more street fights than you have had.

There's a good chance he can take your knife away and then turn it on you if you dont know what you're doing.

Reading some books and articles on how to do it isn't enough, it would be like thinking you can box because you saw a DVD and read a book. Sure you can get lucky and maybe kill him quickly or get him off you. Same could be said about landing a lucky KO punch though

Fighting with a knife is still no different from fighting barehanded in the fact that it's still fighting. It makes things more dangerous for both parties.

You have to be decently fit, and know unarmed combat to get the most of of your knife. Think about it like this. Who would you rather fight. Your average /k/ommando with a knife in his hand. Or a grappler or boxer with a knife in his hand?

>>31083148
No. The bigger the blade the more leverage someone trying to grab and twist it has. Furthermore it's easier for your assailant to stuff your draw with a big blade because the length of blade in sheath is longer and you therefore have to draw it a longer distance to get the knife free of the sheath. A short blade with a handle that doesn't stick too far out from past the bottom of your hand makes more sense to me. Using trainers and trying to do "disarms" with friends has only reinforced my preference for small blades.

>>31085039
Small blades are obviously more practical for carry. But all theoretical bullshit aside one can't deny a longer blade is better for killing.

Being a big strong mma fighter I'm not really worried about anyone stiffling my draw. A big bowie knife would fuck shit up infinitely quicker than a small knife.

That being said I hate CCng my guns as it is. So obviously I'm not going to stuff a bowie along side it. I, just like you, carry a small and easily deployable "get the fuck off me" blade in case my gun went click and the bad guy is a breath away.

What do you carry? I carry a Spyderco P'kal

>>31084139
Dirks and stilettos are specific types of dagger. Stiletto commonly refers to any dagger-like knife such as an Italian switchblade while dirk is rarely used and only appears in legal terminology due to English law from when the Scots were the enemy of the Anglos.

Cut/thrust placement is the deciding factor just like bullet placement, but causing loss of consciousness within five seconds won't happen as one can remain conscious for several seconds after destruction of the heart and there are many instances in which someone survived a shot to the heart, albeit with .22. Knives have no stopping power, get surgical and run while they're preoccupied with bleeding out or maybe you'll have the opportunity to attack the brain stem or spine.

>>31085456
>Knives have no stopping power
say that again after you get stabbed in your abdominal aortic artery and bleed out in under a minute

>>31085507
You just literally proved knives have no stopping power. Stopping power means instantly incapacitating your enemy.

Though you're too stupid to see why knives do have stopping power, youre still correct in that they do.

A stab to the spine or brain or specific ligaments will incapacitate the enemy

>>31083148
big knives are good for slashing.
Slashing = bleeding.
Blood loss is bad mkay and can easily end a fight.

Small knives are good for the reasons you stated, more positive control plus you can stick people with it but you have to get in close so if they know how to disarm or they get your arm locked up you are fucked.

It depends on surprise.

If they are ready uses a big knife and slash at their appendages while maintaining some spacing. Pain and blood loss will stop them fast.

If they are not ready, small knife get close, grab them and stab.

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>>31083213
Ahm Jom Biwie

>>31084139
You have to be either really experienced with a stiletto, or else insanely fucking lucky. They're meant for a stab in the right spot, followed by a twirl in the guts.

Look at the knives special forces carry. They are all around 5" or 6" inch blades with one edge and straight. They are the most effective.

Ive been doing some combat training with knives and its fucked. In most of the training I'd kill the attacker but get killed as well. My trainer is so quick and has awesome reflexes. Id rather be in a fist fight than a knife fight

>>31084958
naw m8 it's easy u just grab em, stick it in 'is throat and punch forward....bit of a messy job but there it is

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>>31085953

>>31085279
Clinch Pick. Nice taste, if I could afford a p'kal I'd have one.

>>31085678
>stopping power means what I want it to mean
this term has been thrown around way too casually for you to make up a definition now, bro

>>31083148
Could you imagine all those ancient battles? Guys fighting with big knives yet they always got "turned and twisted" on themselves?! What a bunch of fools, I bet half the time their knives killed themselves instead of the opponent, even if he didn't have a knife himself.

Let's take a second to remember the millions lost dut to inadvertent knife suicide.

>>31087314
I get where you're coming from but I think the fact that most historical fighters had their own contact weapons kind of changes the odds of "disarming" type scenarios. I think the fact that most historical weapons based systems involved some form of grappling is illustrative.

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>>31087314
OP was saying bigger knives were *less* likely to be twisted back onto the user.

>>31086189
>Look at the knives special forces carry. They are all around 5" or 6" inch blades with one edge and straight.

Unless you claim to have some special inside info, cool it with claims about what Special Forces/ Special operations use. I could pull up a bunch of cherry picked different photos of gear of different operators using completely different knives. Photos really mean nothing without context.