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WildBill wrote:

srothstein wrote:It was pointed out to me that there is one further bit of advice you need on the punch knives. In Texas, a knife with a point designed for stabbing and two cutting edges is considered a dagger (or dirk or stiletto) and is illegal to carry. If you get a knife like this, make sure it is one of the ones that have only one sharp edge and a false back edge to avoid potential legal problems.

How do you carry one of these so that it is accessible and you don't stick yourself?

Sorry to take so long answering, but I have been tied up with school this week (lots of reading that is hard to understand).

I carried it on my belt in the 9 o'clock position, standing straight up and down. It was almost completely hidden by the radio carrier when i was in uniform. If you carry it inside the waistband in a decent leather or kydex holster, all that is visible is the grip and no one will worry about it unless they are looking for weapons. It doesn't have the gun look that scares so many, and it really doesn't look too much like a knife to most people (who think knives all are either Rambo survival knives, Bowie knives, or switchblades).

Chasfm11,

It was pointed out to me that there is one further bit of advice you need on the punch knives. In Texas, a knife with a point designed for stabbing and two cutting edges is considered a dagger (or dirk or stiletto) and is illegal to carry. If you get a knife like this, make sure it is one of the ones that have only one sharp edge and a false back edge to avoid potential legal problems.

I am one of those who believe that you can legally carry a prohibited knife with your CHL if you also have a gun, but most on the board disagree with me. I will be the first to admit that it was certainly not the intent of the law. I just take the literal wording that way. I don't recommend being the test case to see if I am correct either.

chasfm11 wrote:Thanks, Steve.

I assume that http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Magnum ... 01CZHNCA/2 these are what you are talking about.

Yep, those are the type of knives I was talking about. The Cold Steel is one of my favorite brands, especially for holding an edge. Their customer service gets kind of a mixed review, though i was extremely satisfied in the end.

I had one of their folders and I chipped the blade. I kept it and kept using it anyway (after all, I was not really using it like I was supposed to). One of the screws holding the release came out and it would no longer open. So I sent the knife back in for repairs, explaining to them what happened. I asked them to take a look at the blade and let me know how much it would cost to repair, if possible. I even admitted that I had tried to resecure the screw that came lose and messed it up further, so it was not a warranty claim. Now, on their website, they do say it takes several weeks to get a new blade, as they do various runs and you might need to wait for your style to come around. But I never heard anything from them about cost or even acknowledging they had received my knife. But I liked the knife enough that I went out and bought another just like ti for carrying while it was being repaired.

After about 2 months or so, I was beginning to get a little irritated at not hearing from them, and thought about calling them. Just as I was made up my mind to do so, a brand new knife showed up in the mail. No invoice, no charges, and not much of an explanation of anything, but it was clearly a brand new knife (none of the scratches I had on mine or anything). Now, I really can't argue too much with someone standing behind their product like that, especially since I told them the problems were my fault. I was left wishing for just a little bit better communications along the way, but was extremely satisfied with the knife (and my son is still very happy with the one I had bought as a replacement - he got it when the new one showed up).

BTW, if you can cut a steak, I think you will find you have enough strength to use the knife. The stomach and kidney areas are not that tough, and can cause a lot of pain to make the BG release you.

chasfm11 wrote:So let's further my education. My opinion of knives has been that they are good for those who know how to use them. I don't. I'm afraid that it a close quarters scuffle, all that I would do would be to give my opponent something to hurt me with. Aside for the utilitarian pocket knives (I do carry one of those) I don't see myself bothering with a tactical style knife. What am I missing? After my experience with the flashlight, I've "seen the light", so to speak (sorry, just couldn't resist.)

I recommend you get two knives (well, one more than you currently have) to carry. One knife is the general pocket knife tool that you already know how to use, say as a box opener. The other is for fighting in a last ditch situation. This should be a knife that you can grab and use without much other than instinct going for you. this is what I did when I was on patrol. I carried a folding knife I used as a tool, either a box opener, a pry bar (poor way to treat a knife, but we all do it), or similar. I carried a Cold Steel folder with a tanto style blade, but this is a personal choice. You can carry anything since the presumption is it meets your tool needs and you will have time to use it with very little stress applied.

As a last ditch weapon, I carried a 2 inch punch knife on my left side. This is the style of knife that looks like a T. You grab the handle in your fist and the blade sticks out between your fingers. You can stab then by just punching someone with it, hence the name. This is not for a knifefight with someone else who may know what they are doing with a knife, that is what your pistol is for. This is for when you are rolling around on the ground fighting for your life in what has devolved into a fistfight. You may have been disarmed somehow, or you may be fighting for control of your weapon. This was the primary intent of my caryring a knife, in case of a gungrab by a criminal.

You will probably never suffer the potential gun grab that a police officer has to deal with as a threat. But if you ever need to pull your weapon, it is possible you will end up fighting for control over it. You can continue to fight for control with your strong hand (the one holding the gun) while you can grab this knife off your belt and start punching the BG's gut with it. You may be attacked from behind by a knockdown style attack where you cannot get your gun from concealment. You may need a knife due to some unavoidable 30.06 sign. A punch knife is pretty instinctive if you don't want to take the time to learn how to use other types of tactical knives or weapons.