Carrying A Non-Tactical Knife

As I wrote in an earlier post, I believe the word "tactical" that is so frequently applied to gear, especially self-defense gear, is grossly misused. So, this post is about a knife that does multiple duties, none of which are tactical, but which I hope will be outstanding in all respects.

Like many people, I think a knife is man's most basic and fundamental tool. It's a tool that can be carried in your pocket to do many things including, if needed, make other tools. Besides, I just like well made knives. That said, I should note that I can't afford expensive well made knives, although I like to look at them and research them on the internet.

I've had a number of small to medium knives that suites what is generally referred to as EDC knives, "every day carry". I'm not sure I like that term so much either, but it's pretty well embedded in the language so I'll go along with it. In keeping with my new philosophy to simplify and focus on the essentials and necessaries, I decided to look for an EDC knife that would be suitable for cutting onions, string, cardboard, sticks, fingernails and a bad person if absolutely necessary.

I attempted to avoid "unnecessary" features, like additional locks, odd blade shapes, assisted opening devices, tricky locks, ball bearings, and strange blade shapes. I've had knives with all of some of these features and they have all eventually ended up in a drawer or on eBay.

So what do I expect in a general all-purpose carry knife.

One that I can carry without it being a bother. It should be light enough to keep in my pocket all day without discomfort or distraction. It should be easy to retrieve and open, with one hand if necessary, to do normal knife tasks. The handle should be big enough to fit my hand comfortably yet not bigger than necessary and should be made to resist slipping even when wet. The handle should also be made so that the knife can be used hard and long without discomfort.

The blade should be long enough for most ordinary tasks from cutting string to slicing up food in the kitchen. It should be made of steel that is hard enough to hold an edge through a long work session, yet not so hard or shaped so weirdly that it is difficult to sharpen. For my purposes, the blade configuration should be for a slicer and piercer, not a hacker, chopper or pryer. It doesn't need to be especially coated to resist marks or not reflect the light. I don't plan to be cutting things in the dark. And the blade and handle should be shaped to accommodate different grips for different cutting tasks ranging from heavy force to light, precise slicing. Jimping and finger choil, where appropriate, should be present and well made.

Overall, the knife need not have accessories like assisted opening devices, ball bearing pivots, "safety locks" in addition to the normal locking mechanism.

How does one find candidates for this kind of knife? This is where the internet helps and hinders. It helps to be able to identify a wide variety of knives first from their images on the internet sites, to finding reviews or write-ups posted there. While photographs are pretty much self explanatory, knife reviews are quite another story.

There are sites and blogs that regularly devote their time to obtaining and reviewing knives. Online stores like Amazon and Knife Center, etc., will post customer 'reviews' for their products. I've read many of these regarding knives I have been interested in, but I have also come away with the knowledge that many are basically useless regarding real information, many are there because the writer has an issue or prejudice against or for certain brands, designs or companies. Many unfavorable reviews are based on the country of origin for a knife, not about the knife itself. Customers reviews can be both the most informative, and the worst and you must read carefully before accepting an individual's opinions as fact.

Some non-customer reviewers, knife fans who take the time to review knives of their choosing either on blogs like this one, or with videos posted on You Tube, often have their prejudices as well. Many times these are clustered around the country of origin - Chinese made knives are automatically considered somehow inferior to American made, and while Japanese made knives are better than Chinese made ones, American made is still considered better. This, obviously, is not the de facto case.

It's an opinionated review jungle out there.

I decided that I would look at the quantity of reviews over time for knives that fit in my categories, as above, looking for those knives that had been around for a number of years (longevity of design and the manufacturer carries some weight), and the percentage of good vrs bad reviews from both independent reviewers and customers over an extended period. If a knife had been on the market for less than a year, for example, and the reviews were 85% positive, but among those reviews were many 'no content' reviews, i.e., "This is an awesome blade. It's really sharp and my friends think it's way cool." or "I just got this knife yesterday and I really love it." and the overall review numbers were small, like less than twenty after a year for sale on a decent online store, I disregarded the high positive percentage.

I looked for stable designs, usually gradually improved over time, with hundreds of reviews. I also at the content posted by the reviewers - do they have much of substance to say about why they like or don't like a particular knife. These are the important ones.

Appreciating all of the work put in over the years by the owners of Spyderco knives, I looked through their inventory and found a number of models that fit my likes and criteria. All of these had strong reviews, and the designs had been around for years and were continually upgraded by Spyderco.

I made the mistake of buying one of their less expensive models, a 'byrd' Meadowlark 2. Chinese made, but that's not a problem for me. The price was very good, less than half of their standard model that is most similar to the Meadowlark, the Delica which has better steel and is made in Japan. I received the Meadowlark and immediately was sorry for my choice. While I like the overall design, the blade shape, the opening mechanism that is merely a hole, not studs, flippers or torsion bars, the quality of manufacture was substandard. And, the knife came in a package that had already been opened and the inside of the knife was dirty.

Note the open, dirty tape on the package.

The inside flaps were torn, and the poor re-sealing job is evident in this photo.

Spyderco knives come new with the clip mounted on the tip end of the handle over the lanyard hole. This one has been moved. Note the wear marks on the clip screw holes around the lanyard hole.

I think the knife was a returned item, but even so, the blade was stiff and hard to open. Adjusting the tension of the pivot screw had no effect, except to loosen the blade so it dragged on the liners. I immediately returned it.

However, I think the design meets my criteria for what I want in a carry knife, so I ordered the better model, the Delica, which has been around for about twenty years in it's original configuration. Now, Spyderco offers generation four of the Delica with good steel, reportedly outstanding handle material and the blade shape and design that interests me. And, the reviews are almost embarrassingly good.

I am hoping that this will be my last carry knife purchase, at least as far as design, function and company goes, I will have the opportunity to put it to the test beginning next week. I'll report here on what I find.

Spyder Delica 4
FFG handle. Flat ground blade.

Inertia

Inertia: lack of movement or activity especially when movement or activity is wanted or needed;

I live in a normally quiet small town. Very small, especially now, in the winter here at 7000' when the summer people are gone and the tourists stick to warmer climes. We have recently been reduced from two law enforcement officers, called Town Marshals, to one. The nearest town, which is significantly more populated with traffic lights, paved streets, restaurants and a movie, etc. is about fifteen minutes away by rapidly moving car. In this town, last week, a local woman was murdered in her home - beaten to death - and her husband was found unconscious and beaten on their front lawn.

I've been told by someone who ought to know, that this area is in a 'drug corridor' for transporters working their products up from Mexico. There are hundreds of square miles around this county which are home to only rocks, sage, tumbleweed, deer, coyote and meth cooks. This aint Mayberry.

Having coffee with a few friends a couple of days back, talk turned to the murder in the nearby town. Lots of speculation but no real information beyond the basic facts. I noted that there have been increasing incidents of break-ins this winter in or around our town. People looking to steal for their drug money we think. Not a bad assumption around here. So, I pondered aloud, what would you guys do if you and your wife came home tonight and surprised a few drugged out burglars in your home who would obviously be ready and willing to beat both of you to a pulp? Or maybe just shoot you both.

One of my friends opined that his 30-30 would handle the task.
"Oh, good. Where is it?" I asked.
"It's at home," he said.
"So, the bad guys could use that on you instead of just beating you both to death," says I.
"I've go my 12-gauge and my two dogs," another of my friends said.
"And they are where?" I asked.
"Home," he said.
"Not going to do you much good there. If the bad guys are in your house, they've already taken care of your dogs."
My other friend, a former Marine, seemed deep in thought.
"What about right now? We're sitting here in the corner, enjoying our coffee, and a couple of meth heads passing through needing some cash, decide to come in and rob everyone here. Maybe shoot up the place too," I said.
Silence.
"Do you guys know that Colorado is a 'shall issue' state for concealed carry permits?"

The conversation continued for a while as I fielded questions about the concept of 'shall issue' and that it is legal to open carry, and to conceal carry while you are on your property or in your vehicle. This, unfortunately, was news to everyone but me.

I also encouraged them to apply for their permits and briefly described how and offered my help in so doing. They all said they would "think about it", which means, I think, they won't.

No one had the gumption to ask me if I was carrying. I would have said 'yes', of course and let the conversation take its course from there. But they didn't ask, although I could tell they wanted to know, but not enough to actually ask the question.

Yes, I had, as usual, my Ruger SR9c and a spare magazine.

My goal is to sign up at least one of my friends for their carry permit before spring arrives.

Wish me luck, and, what's keeping you?

Reducing the Inventory. Reducing Complexity. Re-focusing

Ruger SR9c, Comp-Tac Minotaur AIWB, Kytex mag holder.

Bond Arms Snake Slayer, Remora holster,
BA Ammo holder with .410 Personal Defense Rounds

As with so many shooters, my personal inventory of weapons, accessories and holsters has grown far beyond what I need to be well equipped for personal defense.

I also have the proverbial box of holsters, except in my case, it is a large drawer full of holsters. As readers of this blog will note, I've tried and analyzed many holsters over the past months, reporting on what I see as their good and bad points relative to self defense carry. There are many different designs and executions of those designs. There are many ways to carry spare ammunition, a subject that really doesn't lend itself to debate - if you carry for self defense, then be adequately prepared with extra ammo. A gun with no ammo doesn't work. It looks like a gun, but it don't shoot. Case closed.

Laser sights. Night sights. Grips. Mag extenders, modifications (which I don't recommend in general) to the gun... There are many, many ways to spend money on more stuff for more guns.

But, I've come to the conclusion, what's the point? If you are interested in guns, shooting, target practice, and all of that, then fine. There is little limit to what you can spend your money and concentration on. But, if you are primarily interested in carrying a gun for self defense, and the legitimate defense of other innocent people who may need protection, all of the 'noise' of more stuff isn't going to do you much good for a couple of reasons.

One, it really doesn't matter if you have a leather or kydex holster, or mag carrier. It doesn't matter if you carry a Model 1911 .45, or a LCP .380. Strong side carry, cross draw, appendix and anywhere else - it's not all that important to the main goal of being prepared with your pistol for self defense situations. "No," someone is going to say, "you're wrong." Then comes one of the standard arguments: caliber (bigger is better vrs. accuracy trumps caliber), carry style (cross draw is too vulnerable to gun-grabs, and slow vrs. cross draw is better for driving and sitting), or (IWB is too uncomfortable and harder to get to, vrs. OWB less concealable and  harder to get to...)

And so on.

Two, if you have four different holsters, three different styles (IWB, OWB, SOB) and five different guns, you are setting yourself up for confusion, uncertainty and delay when, as the Marines so accurately put it, the shit hits the fan. Take the Bond Arms derringer and the Ruger SR9c for example. I had both of these guns - still have the Ruger - and can speak from experience. As the photos demonstrate above, carrying them in the same manner still presents significant differences and potential difficulties. It's easy enough when I'm just practicing moves like drawing from concealment, safety, presentation, reloading, but if that SHTF moment ever comes, I will be suddenly in full blown, adrenaline fueled, get-it-done-right-now mode. No luxury or time for consideration of what's in my waistband, or where, exactly, it's located.

If I'm carrying the Ruger with the manual safety on (I don't, but I don't recommend this practice to anyone. You have to make your own choices.), I have to click it off when I draw. If I'm carrying the derringer, the safety will be off, but I have to cock the hammer. It's a single action. (Which barrel will fire first? The bottom one for more accuracy and recoil control, if I've remembered to set the hammer accordingly.)

I can quickly squeeze off two, three or four shots (or more) with the Ruger with simple trigger presses. I have to re-cock the derringer with the thumb of my weak hand before I can shoot a second time. Third shot with the derringer? Well, first in the midst of all this fear, panic and craziness, I have to open the barrel latch, swing the barrels up and over, lock them there with my shooting hand thumb, strip out the two shotgun hulls, reach to my ammo carrier, lever up two shells so I can grab two together, bring them up to the gun, which I hope I've remembered to lock upright into my field of vision so I can also assess the situation while seeing the empty chambers, slide two shells into the barrels - all the way in - and close and lock the barrels into the frame. Oh, then I have to re-cock the hammer.

By then, I might be dead.

With the Ruger, once I've emptied the magazine, which will be eleven to eighteen rounds, depending, I have to push the mag release button, hold the gun into my field of view, slide a new magazine from the holder on my weak side, and slap it home and slap the slide back into battery.

Confusion. Mistakes. Too many options for a time that demands simplicity and clarity.

I am simplifying. The Snake Slayer, a fine handgun, is on the block. Someone will like it and find a good use for it. I don't spend much time afoot in snake country, although there are a few 'wild' dogs around here that would benefit from a face full of #4 shot. My holster collection is being reduced to a few that are simple, effective and concealable. I am carrying in only two locations on my body and none of my holsters are so comfortable that I 'forget I have it on'. That's pretty much BS anyway. Your conscious mind will become attuned to a good holster, but it doesn't forget where it is.

There are times and occasions when a good OWB holster works well and is appropriate, like a long day on your feet, walking, at the fair, around town. There are times when appendix carry is better, like in the car, or at the coffee shop or restaurant. Even walking around. My holster requirements have gone down by at least 50%.

The carry guns I depend on now, both Rugers - the SR9c and the LCP look and operate much the same way. Yes, I know that the LCP is hammer fired and the SR9c is striker fired, the triggers are very different, and the magazine capacities are very different. But, my hand and brain knows which is which when I put my hand on the gun and it knows how to achieve a self-defense sight alignment quickly (and when it's too close-quarters to worry about sight, or slide, alignment) with either. All I have to do then is press the trigger. Repeatedly, if necessary.

A couple of simple, effective and reasonably comfortable holsters for each pistol, one for AWIB, one for strong side carry. That's it.

If I need a separate mag carrier, I go with one from Kytex. I've reviewed them on this blog and I still recommend them. None better. With a gun in either carry position, the Kytex mag holder and spare mag is always in the same place. Don't have to worry about that.

Re-focusing
Finally, simplicity applied to self defense shooting itself.
The internet can be a good thing. Yes, there is a lot of crap flying around out there, especially regarding guns, self-defense, the Second Amendment and all, but I watched a couple of enlightening videos recently that I recommend to you. One was an interview by Rob Pincus with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman a literate, educated, soldier, former LEO and student of violence and combat, consultant and author of a Pulitzer nominated book on those topics. He was discussing the concept of the "sheepdog", the title of his new children's book. Now, I'd much earlier seen a video by Nut N Fancy, who is certainly opinionated and knowledgeable, but whose attitudes I don't always agree with. My understanding of 'sheepdog' then was that people who considered themselves to be that kind of person were arrogant and looked down on everyone else, who they, the sheepdogs, were out to protect. Whether the sheep liked it or not. An odious concept at best.

However, hearing Lt. Col. Grossman's explanation of the sheepdog cast a new light on this concept. There are people who rather than run from trouble, run toward it in order to deal with it. Fire fighters. Cops. Military. Teachers in 'bad' schools. Counselors. First responders. The 'average citizen' who rushes in to help or save. These are all sheepdogs and they don't look down on the people who are not. I believe anyone who elects to legally carry a gun for defense must consider themselves to have accepted the role, to some extent, of a sheepdog, if only for one's self and one's family. I believe the commitment goes much further and that, and it becomes a duty of protecting the innocent whenever that is truly necessary, whether through the use of a firearm, or jumping into a burning house trailer to rescue a trapped person. No one can make someone else be a sheepdog, but if you are carrying a gun for defense, you've already signed up.

I have to remark here that on a gun forum I used to moderate we had a few posters who declared that if they were ever in a place where a random shooter went active, their main and only responsibility was to get away to safety. Why, I asked, were the posters carrying a gun in the first place? I would wonder how a person could live with themselves if they had the possibility and means to stop such violence and they crawled out the nearest exit instead.

Re-focusing on the basics of shooting for defense. Obviously, when pushed to the point where there is no alternative but to shoot your weapon, one then is forced from the defensive to the offensive as a matter of survival. Offensive shooting with a handgun is not difficult. Anyone can learn the basics of drawing, presentation to the main target area and squeezing off rounds. You don't have to hit the bull's eye, or the 10 ring. You just have to put rounds into your target, which at normal self defense shooting distances of around 10 to 15 feet, is not difficult to do. If a normal person trains to do only this, that is all that is needed to be effective at self defense shooting.

And, accepting the fact that you are a sheepdog and you are able and committed to shooting the bad guy(s) if required.

Keep it simple. Restrict the number of your carry guns. Two, or three at the most. Make sure they are well maintained and you can shoot accurately enough to hit a man-sized target repeatedly and quickly. Carry in only one or two locations on your person. Avoid fancy or trick holsters. Keep it simple. No matter which caliber or calibers you choose, make sure you can shoot them accurately.

Where it is legal, always carry your gun.
Where it is legal, always carry your gun.
Where it is legal, always carry your gun.

Tactical - Please, give us a break...

A Ken Onion designed CRKT Foresight "tactical" knife.

A Zero Tolerance 0561 "Tactical" knife.

Two "tactical" shotguns and a "tactical" hat.

The first Fokker Eindecker "tactical" fighter

Of the items above, the only one that is truly a tactical device is the last one, the Fokker Eindecker. It was purposely designed in 1915 to apply tactical operations against an enemy force - to shoot down enemy aircraft using a synchronized machine gun. The other items are just things.

Things actually become "tactical" when used in a tactical way. A ball peen hammer can be a tactical instrument. Or not. Depending.

Tactical, definitions of:

of or relating to combat tactics: as

a. (1) of or occurring at the battlefront, (2) using of being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront, (3) of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose, (4) made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view.

I've been looking at new folding knives for everyday, general use, commonly called "edc" knives by the literati of knives. It's hard to find one that isn't also referred to as "tactical" in some way. I've also seen tactical shirts, pants, jackets, boots, flashlights, walking sticks and can openers. It's become almost silly the way marketeers will slap the word "tactical" on practically anything. And, raise the the price a few points as well.

Take a basic folding knife with a frame lock and a three inch drop point blade. This would be a basic all around knife suitable for slicing potatoes, string, cardboard, deer skin, wood or punching through drywall. Put on some high-grip scales, add some serrations and a black coating, and shazam! you have a tactical knife worth considerably more in purchasing dollars and prestige for the tactically-minded male who buys it.

I think the "tactical" mindset has gone way far over the edge. I see videos instructing what appear to be normal people in three day courses of advanced handgunning, or example, that, at some significant expense to the participants, prepare them for the zombie apocalypse. Why? I would say that in a real zombie apocalypse, a handgun would be the least effective gun I'd want to get my hands on.

So called gear "reviewers" truck themselves and their buddies out into the desert, gear up in all sorts of camo clothing, vests, ammo carriers, helmets, gogggles, gloves, knives, flashlights, carbines, pistols and knives and video themselves blasting the crap out of various targets they've hauled along with them. It is pretty obvious that they are playing at being military "operators" preparing for the apocalypse. Any apocalypse will do as long as it comes pretty soon before they get too old to play.

Tactics, both actions and gear, are best left to the military. Any study of military history shows that tactics tend to get modified and invented in action anyway. Wearing tactical pants and toting a tactical knife won't get you any real advantages other than make you feel like you are someone you aren't.

But, this "tactical" craze won't peak anytime soon I'm afraid. There is too much money to be made with it. We will just have to hunker down and get through it the best we can, separating the acutal useful stuff from the "tactical".

That's my tactic.

 

Posted with Blogsy

After Holiday Thoughts

The holiday season was busy for us, as I'm sure it was for many of you. Our grown children converged on our little home in the 'sticks'. We live in a county that, literally, has more black bears than any other place in the lower forty-eight according to the wildlife department. We have a local deer herd of about 150 mule deer, with the occasional white tail seen now and then. Deer are always accompanied by a few lions, and we've had those in town too. Within the town limits live less than a thousand souls, with about that many clustered around the outskirts. The nearest stoplight is sixteen miles away.

This is good and bad, depending on your references and needs at the time.

The bad part, in terms of readiness for self defense, is that our local law enforcement organization fluxuates between three employees and zero. Right now we are down to one from a year long high of two. The deputy got himself arrested for domestic violence and fired from the force. Now we have one Marshall, with backup being the county Sheriff Department which is in the town to the east of us with stoplights. So, unless a Sheriff's car is nearby - not too likely - it's a good ten to fifteen minute run from there to here. Does not inspire a high level of confidence that law enforcement will be able to respond quickly in the event of an urgent emergency situation.

Hence, the need for self defense.

Being in an essentially rural area of southern Colorado, it is a good bet that the majority of households here house at least one gun. A shotgun or .22 if nothing else. However, there are a number of retirees here from other parts of the world who come from social histories and background that don't use, like and understand guns and the part they play in our society. Not to get into that here; such a discussion would require at least one, if not more, lengthy posts. The point now is that not everyone is able or inclined to be self supporting in terms of defense of life and home. Not too much one can do about that, and the situation gets murkier when discussing self defense outside the home.

I had coffee with a couple of friends the other morning. One grew up in California in the Los Angeles metro area, an area I know fairly well since our son spent a few years in graduate school there. The other friend is a former Marine. We got into a discussion on guns. I learned that both have them, one knows how to use them (guess who) but they have different ideas about that. The California friend has a shotgun and a revolver. He knows the revolver is made by Ruger and has a swappable cylinder so that he can shoot .22 Mags and long rifles. He knows his shotgun is a pump and made by Remington and someone told him to shoot slugs in it for self defense. The former Marine has a .380, but he's not sure who made it, and a Colt .44 mag. Which he likes because it's loud. And effective.

They both agree, in principle, that bad things can happen anywhere, to any one, at any time, but beneath this, I sense they think it won't happen here, or to them. It's a small, friendly town. There are no criminal elements robbing people or selling drugs on the streets. Never mind that we had a murder stabbing last year in town (it was undocumented Mexicans anyway, so not too many people here feel threatned...) and anyone who has sight in both eyes can see the drug deals going down in the town park, and the county and surrounding areas are known for hidden meth labs, and the local gang wannabe's live only fifteen minutes away where the stoplights are.

I asked why they didn't have carry permits. They had no good answers. I told them I did and encouraged them to look into it, especially since we don't seem to be able to maintain an adequate local law enforcement presence. Yeah, they'd have to do that sometime.

Not likely to happen, in my estimation.

I do believe that local bad guys who know about people who live in southern, western, rural areas (and likely other places rural as well) understand that the likelyhood of being opposed by an armed civilian is very high should they decide to threaten someone. But, as we all know, there are other criminal, drug fueled and crazy elements that just don't care about that.

So, over the holidays, as we went about our business and visited other towns and cities nearby, I often wondered, being Colorado, how many of my fellow revelers and shoppers were carrying. Knowning something about the backlog of background checks for firearm purchases and carry permits, I had to guess that the percentage was pretty high. I'm encouraging it to grow. How about you?

Posted with Blogsy