Has anybody ever read �Get Tough� or �Kill or Be Killed�? One is by Col. Rex Applegate and the other by Fairbairn � sorry, I read these many years ago and may have the authors switched and might even have the title of the second one wrong.

In the one by Fairbairn he discusses the reasoning behind the Sykes-Fairbairn dagger. I always thought that dagger was a much more well reasoned true fighting knife than the Bowie descendants typical of American �Fighting Knives�. Seem like those, the classic USMC Ka-Bar being one, are more of a big utility knife which can also be used for fighting, but not a single purpose fighting knife.

Now � how does one go about actual knife fighting? I once spoke at length to a black guy who, as a kid, used to hang out at honky tonks in and around New Orleans and witnessed many an actual knife fight. He said that contrary to the image of trying for one quick killing blow, the combatants would slice at each other�s hands and try to make the other fellow drop his knife. Apparently the unarmed droppee would usually make a "tactical retreat", i.e. run away before any major mayhem could continue. If a major cut was made it was usually to the upper arm or face. Very few people took the time or danger to actually stab the opponent, leaving one's knife stuck in their body for even a second, leaving the opponent a split second to stab them back.

Anyway � I wonder about actual knife fighting. I mean, one can study �schools of fighting� much like any school of martial arts, but how many people actual put knife fighting into use on a regular basis? And if they do, what tactics do they actually use? Seems like you�d only find those people in prison doing 10-20 on an assault with a deadly weapon charge.

Getting back to the Fairbairn dagger, it was designed specifically to kill as efficiently as possible when used by soldiers who did not have to worry about assault charges. The reasoning was that the thrust is what kills. We know this from hunting � penetration to the vitals is paramount. A slim blade that is sharp all along both edges will penetrate � and be withdrawn which is also important � much more easily than a single edge with a false top edge or even a single edge with an actual sharp top edge that only extends back a couple of inches. The double edge also allows one to slash either way with equal effectiveness.

Now don�t start bashing me, okay? I don�t know the first thing about knife fighting except what I read in the above named book. I ask this more as an academic question than any desire to learn how to kill someone with a knife. The thread on a �fighting knife� left me wondering why do we call this or that knife a �fighting knife� when it looks to me like just a big clip point hunting knife? I used to have a 70�s era Gerber Mark I (how I wish I still had it) and it seemed to me to be far more of a deadly and effective weapon that the rather clunky USMC Ka-Bar.

Anybody�s thoughts?

Howdy Jim

Gunsite, Paulden, AZ, has tactical knife courses about twice a year. The have top notch instructors in all phases of self defense, whether knife, shotgun, rifle, or handgun (opps, make that 1911, sorry Jeff Cooper). Pull up their website for added information.