die here.” Probably the best-known example of the extreme life-saving use of a knife in a survival situation was 27-year-old Aspen mountaineer Aron Ralston who was trapped by a fallen boulder for fi ve days in a can- yon in eastern Utah. His arm pinned beneath a boulder weighing nearly 1,000 lbs and out of food and water, Ralston used a pocketknife to cut off his own arm below the elbow. If he hadn’t had the courage to do that — and the tool with which to do it — he most certainly would have died. Granted, these are extreme ex-
amples of knives being used in ex- traordinary survival situations. Al- though the odds you will end up in such situations are admittedly low that doesn’t diminish the importance of the real message: A simple knife and the cutting ability it provides can make the difference between living and dying in a critical incident.
Personal-Defense The true meaning of “survival”
is defi ned by the circumstances in which you fi nd yourself. Sometimes, it means living through life-threatening attack. And in such dire situations, a knife and the determination to use it can also make all the difference. As Special Projects Coordinator
for the Spyderco knife company, I regularly represent our products at trade shows and receive feedback from end users of our products. In some cases, that feedback comes from grateful people who credit our knives with saving their lives. At a recent show, a woman shared
her story of surviving an attack by members of a street gang in South- ern California. A group of about six gang bangers surrounded her and two of her co-workers. She and one of the other women were forced down on all fours while the gang bangers raped the third woman. Determined not to suffer the same fate, the woman drew a small folding knife and, seiz- ing the opportunity, cut one of the gang bangers from knee to hip, drop- ping him instantly. The other woman kicked the gangster closest to her in the knee, crippling him as well and creating an opportunity to escape. The gang bangers were later
caught and convicted, but the wom- an’s knife, which had been seized as evidence, was not returned. Amaz- ingly, the judge in the case felt that she had acted too aggressively and refused to give it back. I immediately reached into our display case and presented her with a replacement. At another show, a young Army Staff Sergeant approached our booth,
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM
surveyed the knives in the case, and fi nally pointed at a popular model, exclaiming, “That’s the one.” When I asked him to ex- plain, he told me “the one” was the knife that had saved his life in a desperate close-quarters battle situation in Fallujah, Iraq. He and his squad were involved in house- to-house fi ghting and had just made entry into a building when an Iraqi combatant attacked him with a large fi xed-blade knife. The Iraqi had grabbed the barrel of the soldier’s rifl e and reached around, stabbing the soldier un- der the arm. Locked in a desper- ate struggle and unable to use his fi rearms, the soldier deployed his folding knife and cut the Iraqi deeply across the thigh. The cut was enough to enable the soldier to break contact, regain control of his M-4 and engage the Iraqi to fi nish the fi ght. The Staff Sergeant had no doubt, however, his knife was what allowed him to turn the tables and survive the situation. As an edged-weapon trainer,
I believe strongly in the power of the knife as a defensive tool and have taught literally hundreds of people the tactics of using knives responsibly. I have also had sev- eral of those students contact me years later to report those tactics, and their commitment to carry- ing a knife regularly, had in fact saved their lives. And, the fact some type of knife can be legally carried almost everywhere in the world makes it a logical and ex- tremely practical line of defense in everyone’s arsenal. Although the trend in recent
years has been to demonize all types of weapons and prohibit their carry in public, if you look at knives objectively and consider the broad range of functions they provide, it’s clear the “good” of carrying a knife far outweighs the “bad.” Used responsibly, they can perform a wide variety of every- day tasks. In an emergency situ- ation, the cutting capability they provide can literally mean the difference between life and death. And in a defensive situation where your life is threatened, a sharp knife can literally give you the “edge” you need to survive. If after all this you can’t come
up with your own reasons to car- ry a knife, carry one anyway and let all your friends know. Then keep track of how many times they ask to borrow your knife and why. You’ll be surprised. *
11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164