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The harsh blade
The Harsh Blade
This page is devoted to informing the reader of the history, development and use of the knife as a weapon. This page claerly demonstrates that the knife can be of great aid in Self Protection; but is as greatly dangerous to face. Many knife combative instructors teach knife fighting; which is the act of dueling and back and forth cat and mouse with edged weapons. At the bottom of this page there is a section on the wounds inflicted in knife combat. These graphic photos not only demonstrate the fact that when facing an attacker wielding a knife you will be cut; but the seriousness of the damage inflicted. The contents of this page are in affect of destroying the idea that dueling is an option. There is only two options survive or die!
This page contains a compilation of materials both original to this website and materials which can be referenced from other sources. Be advised parts of this page are graphic and parental advisory is reccommended for those under the age of 16 years.
HISTORY OF THE KNIFE
Wikipedia notes; the earliest knives were shaped by knapping (percussive flaking) of rock, particularly harder rocks such as obsidian and flint. During the Paleolithic era Homo habilis likely made similar tools out of wood, bone, and similar highly perishable materials that have not survived. As recent as five thousand years ago, as advances in metallurgy progressed, stone, wood, and bone blades were gradually succeeded by copper, bronze, iron, and eventually steel. The first metal (copper) knives were symmetrical double edged daggers, which copied the earlier flint daggers. In Europe the first single edged knives appeared during the middle bronze age.
These replaced daggers, which by that time had evolved into swords. Modern knives may be made from many different materials such as alloy tool steels, carbon fiber, ceramics, and titanium.There is a very active community of modern custom knife makers and collectors, who often pioneer the use of new materials in knives. In the United States, The American Bladesmith Society promotes forged blades; the Knifemakers Guild promotes all custom knives.
KNIFE MECHANICS
Knives designs have become as individual as their designer and intended use. From eating utensils, hunting, fishing to combat; the shape , length and thickness of the blade is often as diverse as the uses themselves.However all knives have some commonalities. Below you will find an exerpt from Wikipedia on the general dynamics of the basic knife.
The following excerpt is taken from Wikipedia on Knife making
Today, knives come in many forms but can be generally categorized between two broad types: fixed blade knives and folding, or pocket, knives.
Modern knives consist of a:
(1).Blade
(2).Handle
The blade edge can be plain or serrated or a combination of both. The handle, used to grip and manipulate the blade safely, may include the tang, a portion of the blade that extends into the handle. Knives are made with partial (extending part way into the handle) and full (extending the full length of the handle, often visible on top and bottom) tangs. The handle can also include a bolster, which is a piece of material used to balance the knife, usually brass or other metal, at the front of the handle where it meets the blade.
The blade consists of:
(3) The point, the end of the knife used for piercing.
(4) The edge, the cutting surface of the knife extending from the point to the heel
(5) The grind, the cross-section shape of the blade
(6)The spine, the top, thicker portion of the blade
(7) The fuller, the groove added to lighten the blade
(8) The ricasso, the thick portion of the blade joining the blade and the handle
(9) The guard, a barrier between the blade and the handle which protects the hand from an opponent, or the blade of the knife itself. A choil, where the blade is unsharpened and possibly indented as it meets the handle, may be used to prevent scratches to the handle when sharpening or as a forward-finger grip.
(10) The end of the handle or the butt, which may allow a lanyard
(11) Lanyards, are used to secure the knife to the wrist, or a portion of the tang to protrude as a striking surface for pounding or glass breaking
DEADLY STATISTICS
The following section presents statistical information taken from various sources on assault by knife attack in the United States.
NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESOURCE
| NCJ Number: | NCJ 047870 | ||||
| Title: | IS GUN CONTROL LIKELY TO REDUCE VIOLENT KILLINGS? | ||||
| Journal: | UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW REVIEW Volume:35 Dated:(1968) Pages:721-737 | ||||
| Author(s): | F ZIMRING | ||||
| Publication Date: | 1968 | ||||
| Pages: | 17 | ||||
| Type: | Studies/research reports | ||||
| Origin: | United States | ||||
| Language: |
English
| ||||
| Annotation: |
THE USE OF BOTH GUNS AND KNIVES AS WEAPONS IN ATTACKS IS STUDIED IN ORDER TO EVALUATE WHETHER GUN CONTROL WOULD REDUCE THE HOMICIDE RATE.
| ||||
| Abstract: |
THE DEBATE OVER WHETHER GUN CONTROL LAWS WILL KEEP A PERSON FROM KILLING OR WHETHER A PERSON MOTIVATED TO KILL WILL FIND A WEAPON, REGARDLESS, IS ADDRESSED. THIS REPORT ANALYZES DATA RECEIVED FROM THE CHICAGO (ILLINOIS) POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE YEAR 1967. GUN CONTROL LAWS WOULD HAVE NO EFFECT IF THE ONLY INTENT OF KILLERS WERE TO KILL. STATISTICS FROM CHICAGO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE DEGREE TO WHICH HOMICIDES RESULT FROM AN AMBIGUOUS, RATHER THAN A SNGLE-MINDED, ATTACK. MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF ALL KILLINGS INVOLVED SPOUSES, LOVERS, FRIENDS, OR TAVERN GUESTS AS VICTIM AND ATTACKER. THE NATURE OF THE ATTACK IS SIMILARLY RELATED -- 82 PERCENT OF THE HOMICIDES WERE A RESULT OF DOMESTIC, LIQUOR, OR MONEY ALTERCATIONS. IN 54 PERCENT OF THE HOMICIDES, THE VICTIM, THE OFFENDER, OR BOTH HAD BEEN DRINKING PRIOR TO THE ATTACK. THESE DATA SUGGEST THAT OFTEN THE MOTIVE IN AN ATTACK IS NOT TO KILL AT ANY COST. THE RELATIVE POTENTIAL LETHALITY OF VARIOUS WEAPONS IS ASSESSED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE HOW THE WEAPON USED AFFECTS THE HOMICIDE RATE. THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE VICTIM AND OFFENDER AND THE LOCATION OF THE ACT SHOW THAT THE WEAPON RANGE IS NOT NECESSARILY A CRITICAL FACTOR IN THE ATTACK. MANY ATTACK INSTRUMENTS ARE POSSIBLE, BUT THE MOST COMMON, NEXT TO FIREARMS, ARE KNIVES. THE ABSENCE OF GUNS WOULD PRODUCE A GREAT MANY MORE KNIFE ATTACKS AND A SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER NUMBER OF ATTACKS USING HANDS OR FEET AS POTENTIALLY HOMICIDAL WEAPONS. KNIVES ARE PROBABLY THE MOST GENERALLY DANGEROUS WEAPONS AFTER FIREARMS. THE NUMBER OF SERIOUS KNIFE ATTACKS IN 1967 WAS 2.3 TIMES THAT OF GUN ATTACKS. HOWEVER, THE DEATH RATE PER 100 REPORTED KNIFE ATTACKS WAS ONE-FIFTH THE RATE OF GUN DEATHS. THIS MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE INTENT TO KILL, WHICH WAS ASSESSED BY THE LOCATION OF WOUNDS (I.E., SERIOUS WOUNDS ARE ON HEAD, NECK, BACK, CHEST, OR ABDOMEN). PROBLEMS WITH THIS MEASURE ARE NOTED; E.G., MINOR KNIFE WOUNDS MAY BE DUE TO THE VICTIM'S EFFECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE. MULTIPLE WOUNDS MAY ALSO INDICATE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ATTACKER'S INTENT TO KILL. DATA SHOW THAT PROPORTIONS OF REPORTED GUN AND KNIFE ATTACKS WHICH MAY BE CONSIDERED SERIOUS ARE APPROXIMATELY EQUAL. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT BY TAKING EVEN THE MOST NEGATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF ATTACK STATISTICS -- THAT IS, ASSUMING ONLY SERIOUS PUNCTURE KNIFE WOUNDS REFLECTED INTENT TO KILL WHILE ALL GUNSHOT ATTACKS WERE IN EARNEST -- THE DEATH RATE PER 100 ATTACKS BY GUNS IS STILL 2.5 TIMES THAT OF KNIFE ATTACKS. FINALLY, IN SUGGESTING FURTHER RESEARCH CONCENTRATED ON THE DEADLY ATTACK, IT IS NOTED THAT VICTIMS AND ATTACKERS ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY BLACK AND DISPROPORTIONATELY MALE.
Department of Justice
|
| ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST | BJS 202/307-0784 |
| SUNDAY, June 24, 2001 | CDC 770/488-4277 |
ABOUT ONE IN FOUR VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME ARE PHYSICALLY INJURED DURING THE OFFENSE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Each year about one in four United States residents who are victims of a violent crime are injured during the attack, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today. About 2.6 million people each year were injured from non-lethal violence (rape, sexual assault, robbery, simple assault and aggravated assault) from 1992 through 1998. About 480,000 of the victims injured or about one in five were admitted to a hospital or treated in an emergency department.
In addition, during the same time period, an average of 21,000 people were murdered each year. For every homicide victim 12 years old or older, approximately 121 people were injured in a violent crime, including 16 people whose injuries were serious. An estimated 344,000 victims incurred severe injuries, such as gunshot or knife wounds, broken bones, loss of teeth or internal bleeding. Fifty-eight percent of severely injured victims reported the offender or offenders had a weapon, usually a knife or other sharp object (such as scissors, ice pick or ax) or a blunt object such as a rock or club (44 percent), rather than a firearm (14 percent).
Knife Crime Facts UK-
| Link to Insight Security information & advice site: | www.insight-security.com |
29th December 2008 - New Knife Crime Statistics have today been released by the Conservative Party
As reported on UK National TV News Channels The Conservative Party have today released new details of fatal stabbing statistics based on information apparently obtained from the police in England and Wales under the Freedom of Information Act.
The new figures indicate that in the year 2007-8 there were some 277 deaths from stabbings in England & Wales alone (the highest recorded figure for 30 years). This represents an average death toll as a direct result of stabbings of over 5 for every week of the year!
Edged weapons: traditional and emerging threats to law enforcement.
"Excerpt from The Free Library from Farlex"
Assault Data
A review of 20 years of law enforcement injury reports in the United States indicated that on average, 1, 358 officers are attacked with edged weapons each year. (9) This number has fluctuated over time, with its lowest point of 871 attacks in 1996 and the highest of 2,095 in 1992. On average, over the 20-year period, between three and four knife attacks on officers have occurred every day. This statistic alone illustrates the need for further edged-weapon awareness.
THREATS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. one researcher, the majority of civilian edged-weapon assaults occurred in the home and were inflicted with a kitchen knife, whereas a large number of injuries took place on the street with folding or sheath sheath (sheath) a tubular case or envelope.
arachnoid sheath the continuation of the arachnoidea mater around the optic nerve, forming part of its internal sheath.
pl.n.
Objects, such as weapons and uniforms, that are connected with warfare or military service and are usually collected for their historical interest. ) required far greater force." (13) Unfortunately, most state statutes' definition of a common pocket-knife, which is legal to carry without a permit, provides little legal recourse in the reduction of these weapons on the street. As a result, officers tend to overlook the potential threat to their safety.
In the past, officers making contact with an individual carrying a balisong (butterfly knife) automatically would view the person as a potential threat. They assumed that the subject could produce the weapon rapidly for immediate use. Recently, a number of knives that can be deployed much more rapidly than the balisong and, yet, are legal to carry in most jurisdictions have been marketed to the civilian population. The emergence of the one-handed opening knife presents a much greater threat as someone can draw it quickly from a pocket and open it in less than a second. Some manufacturers design their knives so they open as the person draws it. If suspects have knives clipped to their pockets, they are essentially "on guard" whenever their hand touches the clip. Yet, many officers often fail to recognize this as a threat and may allow a suspect to retain the weapon during an encounter.
Frequently, individuals carry one-handed opening knives in their front pants pockets on the strong side of their bodies. Officers can easily identify these weapons by a metal clip that extends 1 1/2 to 2 inches out of a suspect's pocket.
TRAINING ISSUES
The 21-foot rule, a dogma of law enforcement training, has held that at a distance closer than 21 feet, a suspect with an edged weapon in hand could stab an officer before that officer could fire two shots. However, one researcher found that an individual can cross 30 feet in 2 seconds and suggested that the person could travel 70 yards before succumbing to injuries created by an officer's firearm. (14) According to the FBI, "There is sufficient oxygen within the brain to support full, voluntary action for 10 to 15 seconds after the heart has been destroyed." (15)
This suggests that 21 feet is an insufficient safety zone during an edged-weapon encounter. Unlike shooting a firearm, lashing out with an edged weapon is a primitive, instinctive action that a subject can accomplish in that 10- to 15-second window. At the beginning of the 20th century while conducting operations in the Philippines, members of the U.S. Marine Corps found that insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. , although fatally wounded in the chest, still could move forward and issue a final blow from their edged weapons, seriously wounding or killing Marines. These experiences support the FBI data that even after being mortally wounded, a suspect with a knife still can inflict injury or death to an officer.
RECOMMENDATIONS
What can officers do to protect themselves? Identifying the threat of a one-handed opening knife is the first step. Law enforcement agenciesshould review their policies, procedures, and case law in the formulation of a plan for disarming suspects carrying knives.
The greatest tool that officers have in their arsenal is maintaining distance as it gives them time to react to an attack. Because it is not always feasible to stay 30 feet away from a suspect, officers should consider the option of disarming the person and returning the weapon if no further probable cause Apparent facts discovered through logical inquiry that would lead a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that an accused person has committed a crime, thereby warranting his or her prosecution, or that a Cause of Action has accrued, justifying a civil lawsuit. exists. This may prove problematic as officers encounter resistance from suspects who do not want to relinquish their weapons.
As part of officer training, law enforcement agencies need to establish protocols for disarming suspects before officers interview them. Ideally, this process would involve two officers--with at least one being armed with a less lethal weapon in the event that the situation deteriorates--as the other officer tries to disarm the suspect. At no time should officers allow subjects to touch their weapons or take them out of their pockets, even if they offer to remove them and place them on the ground. Once suspects have made contact with their knives, they can quickly transition to opening the blade and assaulting the officer, with potentially deadly consequences. In one study, for example, 45 percent of edged-weapon attacks resulted in death from a single stab or slash. (16)
CONCLUSION
Based on prior years of law enforcement assault data, the profession knows that over a thousand officers will face an edged weapon in the next 12 months. Equally recognized is the fact that it may not always be possible to place a suspect outside the danger zone. Law enforcement encounters tend to take place face-to-face, which may give a subject an advantage in an edged-weapon encounter. Consequently, officers need to be aware of the presence of knives and other edged weapons to reduce the delay in their reaction times.
WOUNDS
This section will display photos of victims who have been wounded by edged weapons. This section is graphic and discretion is advised.
Stab wounds
Courtesy of http://www.itim.nsw.gov.au/
Stab wound to right lower quadrant courtesy of http://www.trauma.org/
Stab wound to the neck courtesy of www-cdu.dc.med.unipi.it
Stab wound photo courtesy of www.metro.co.uk/news/
4 cm stab wound photo courtesy of http://www.ispub.com/
Laceration wounds
Facial laceration wound courtesy of http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/
Scalp laceration courtesy of http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/
Photo courtesy of http://www.thesun.co.uk/
Slash wound pictures courtesy of blogidaho.blogspot.com/
Learn more about edged weapon combat by getting your Combat Application Techniques:Principles of Destruction E-Book Now!
References:
Wikipedia Knife Making
Wikipedia The Knife
Department of Justice Department of Health and Human Services www.insight-security.com
The Free Library from Farlex
www-cdu.dc.med.unipi.it
www.metro.co.uk/news/
blogidaho.blogspot.com/
NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESOURCE -
Title: Journal: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW REVIEW Volume:35 Dated:(1968) Pages:721-737
IS GUN CONTROL LIKELY TO REDUCE VIOLENT KILLINGS?