Volumes have been written about improvised weapons. There are always people who desire tools that fly below the radar at work and when traveling, especially today. Some like to dedicate a great deal of time to thinking about what they can get on a plane. Truthfully, I am more worried about my exposure on the ground between checking my bags and getting them back. Face it: if you are on a plane and there is a problem, you are more likely to be killed in the crash than by someone on the plane.

Recently I taught a pre-deployment course for the military. The students were given a homework assignment. They were told to come in the next day and tell us about one improvised weapon in their room. I was puzzled by some of the answers, which included lamps, irons, and even the TV. I asked the students to tell me which parts of the body they would target with their weapons. Most said the head. A few with the iron mentioned the head, but they said that they could also use the electrical cord to choke an attacker. My thought was that too many people have watched the Bourne movies.

Combative Anatomy

Before discussing improvised weapons, we need to understand combative anatomy, which I define as the study of how to stop interpersonal human aggression in the shortest amount of time. When we involve weapons, most people think about edged weapons and firearms. Attacking the body with these tools has a good likelihood of serious physical injury and death, but they can take some time to be effective. It’s kind of like putting a hole in a garden hose or draining an oil pan.

Body Systems and Avenues of Attack

For our purposes, the body has three main systems.

1. The central nervous system, which is comprised of the brain and spine.
2. The structural system, comprised of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
3. The circulatory system, which includes both the traditional circulatory system, comprised of the heart, arteries, and veins, as well as the respiratory system.

There are only three ways of causing trauma to these systems: burning, cutting or crushing. When it comes to burning, I like hot liquids. I have responded to many calls for service with a steaming hot cup of coffee in my hand. Burns do a fantastic job of overloading the central nervous system, causing the person to fixate on their injury instead of what is going on around them. A hot liquid in the hand is a great example of an improvised weapon: it is not carried as a weapon, but is effective none the less.

Edged Weapons and Impact Weapons

There are only two types of weapons that you can hold in your hands: edged and impact. Even a bullet is a hybrid that goes really fast, crushing bone, and cutting through tissue. As a rule, at least with handheld weapons, impact weapons seek bone and edged weapons seek flesh.

If you pick something up, hit someone with it and it does not cut them, then you have an impact weapon. If it cuts them, then it is an edged weapon.

Handheld weapons produce a concentration of force on a small surface area, increasing trauma to that area. The force begins in your feet and travels through your hands to the end of your weapon.

If you end up on the ground in a dark alley fighting for your life and start feeling around for something to use as a weapon, you are way more likely to grab an impact weapon. And that can be a good thing.

Say you pick up a rock and swing it into the head of your attacker, attacking the central nervous system. Just like watching a good show on TV, the cable does not have to go out to mess up your viewing pleasure. All that is needed is a bad signal. So, you hit him over and over until the cable goes out. Since you are in the neighborhood anyway, land a few shots to the collar bone, extending your attacks to the structural system. This can deanimate the entire arm.

The rock is a small weapon that can be easily manipulated. If you pick up something heavy, like many of the objects that the students named in their exercise, you will naturally swing wide to hit with it. The same thing goes for something long. The bigger it is, the more room you need to deploy and use it.

Rethinking Improvised Weapons

So, let’s go back to the students’ homework assignment. There is no need to be exotic. Most people overlooked things that were likely right beside the bed: keys, pens, flashlights, beer bottles, etc. How the object feels in your grip is a good indication of how effective it will be for follow up shots if your first one fails. This is especially important if you are dealing with multiple attackers.

Another funny thing about impact weapons is that you have several natural ones: feet, knees, torso, elbows, shoulders, hands, and the head. We may not be naturally equipped with the best tools to kill someone barehanded, but we are very well equipped to get them to stop attacking us right away.

Now that all of the above has been stated, my favorite weapon, even though it is not so much improvised, is the common 28-inch rattan escrima stick. I have one by every door in the house, and along the seat of every vehicle I drive in. It not only extends my striking distance, but is great for multiple attackers.

After receiving the above information, the troops looked at things a little differently. Maybe you will too.

There’s enough information out there about sharpening knives to fill an encyclopedia and in fact many books have been written on the topic.

Many of us that sit down to sharpen our cutting tools end up with a dull edge, or only occasionally achieve a nice sharp edge. While some of us can get a sharp edge consistently, we find that it doesn’t last long.

I was such an individual at one time and this article is aimed at laying a foundation for getting a consistent edge that will last.

Sticks & Stones

With so many options available for sharpening a blade, it is important to look at the 1tools used to accomplish the task, and what purpose they best serve. Soft stones, like Arkansas stones, are good for putting an initial edge on, but tend to be coarse. An edge from one of these alone usually will not last.

Diamond stones come in many grits, but will remove material fast and the diamond dust will wear off after many uses. I will usually only use these if I need to do extensive repairs to the edge of a blade. Diamond sticks are great for sharpening serrations and are handy to pack for use in the field, although they have the same drawbacks as diamond stones.

My preferred stone is a Japanese water stone, with two different grits. Mine has 300 grit on one side and 800 grit on the other. I will mainly use the 800 grit, unless I have heavily dulled my knife. They are kept in water, and during use will develop a slush of water and stone material that helps to polish the edge as you sharpen.

Technique

Once you have selected a stone, work with one side of the blade, pushing the edge across the stone with the cutting edge first. Do this until you feel a small burr develop on the opposite side of the cutting edge. This lets you know that you have removed enough material to cut a new edge. Flip the blade over and repeat the motion until a burr has been developed on this side, then move on to a finer grit to polish off the burr.

Different stones and blade materials will affect how quickly the burr will develop, so just keep feeling for the burr after every couple of strokes. A tip to ensure you are using the correct angle is to use a marker on the edge being ground. If the marker is only removed near the edge your angle is too steep, and if there is still marker near the edge it is too shallow.

You want the entire mark to be ground off and you can repeat this method to ensure a consistent angle until you get a feel for the grind of the blade.

Stropping

Stropping a blade for short periods will remove any wire edge that stones may leave behind. Stropping for longer periods will leave your blade polished, razor sharp, and will hold an edge considerably longer. I have seen a number of materials used to strop a blade, from cardboard to leather. In a pinch you can even use denim or canvas, though for safety reasons preferably not when on your body.

Leather strops can be expensive, but with a simple DIY project you can make your own for much less. Use contact cement to attach a leather belt (not the fake pressed type leather) to a block of wood, rough side out on one side and finished side out on the other. The strop may be charged with a light coat of polishing compound (stick type, not paste or liquid).

Using the strop is easy: just drag the blade across the leather away from the cutting edge (opposite of how you would use a stone) at the same angle as if you were sharpening. Most of the strop work will be on the rough side. Only use the smooth side to clean up the edge with just a couple of final passes.

If you find that you have a sharp edge that dulls out quickly, it’s because there’s a wire edge that feels sharp but folds over after a couple of uses. More stropping will remove this wire and leave you with a clean sharp edge.

Final Thoughts

Deciding whether to strop a blade to a polished razor edge depends on how you will use it. Stones leave micro serrations that will make slicing tasks easier, like cutting through rope. Stropping for long periods will polish these micro serrations away, and will make push cuts easier, like carving a spear point or shaving.

My preference for my EDC, survival, and hunting knives is to strop them to a polished razor finish, because I never know how I will need to use them. A polished edge may take a little more effort for slicing jobs, but the edge will usually last longer no matter what. You will find it more difficult to make push cuts with a blade that isn’t polished and they will tend to lose their edge faster.

I like to stay on top of keeping my tools sharp, so they won’t take as long to sharpen. By doing this you can usually get away with using a higher grit stone the first time. With a little practice you will be able to put a consistent sharp edge on your cutting tools and get the most out of them.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Adam Ziegler as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Adam is a Navy Veteran and avid outdoorsman. He spends his time enjoying hunting, hiking, fishing, camping and shooting.

Let me start off by saying I have a thing for knifes. I’m not sure if it is their simplicity, or their all around general usefulness, or maybe it just appeals to the more primitive part of my brain. One knife I own epitomizes all three of these aspects, my Strider WP tanto point.

This knife couldn’t be more simple, it is a solid piece of S30V steel with an edge, a point, and wrapped in 550 cord. It has proved itself to be exceptionally useful with it’s thick blade and sharp edge.

It has cut anything I have put before it, and also pried and bashed it’s way through jobs no knife should be asked to do and come out no worse for the wear. What could be more primitive than a sharpened hunk of steel with a piece of rope wrapped around it for a handle?

Details

Let’s start by taking a look at the knife itself.  It’s 7 3/4” of S30V steel with a 3 3/4” Americanized Tanto point blade as popularized by the late Bob Lum. One of the more impressive things about this knife if the width of the blade. It’s 1/4” across except for where it tapers down for the point, compared to most knifes this is massive.

My EDC folder is a Spyderco Endura Wave and it has a fairly thick blade at only 1/8”, half that of the Strider. The blade on the very popular Benchmade Griptillian is even thinner. With the blade being this thick it is not a problem to use this knife for more than just a little light pry work. The butt of the knife is squared off and with it’s width is well suited for occasional bashing. I have actually used the butt of this knife to hammer in tent stakes and deal with errant nails sticking out where they should not be.

The blade also has a very attractive tiger stripe pattern that is hand applied to the blade. This tiger stripe pattern has become a de facto trademark of Strider blades. Even the blades put out by Zero Tolerance that are a collaboration with Strider have this pattern. I am not entirely sure what this coating is made up of but it sure works good. I have pretty much abused this knife and it still looks brand new. Plus you cannot discount the CDI factor of tiger stripes.

Paracord Wrapping

I am also a big fan of the handle wrapped with 550 cord. The knife is available with several different colors of cord wrapping including olive drab, black, and coyote like mine. It is a double wrap pattern that Bryan demonstrated on a previous “knot of the week” segment.  This makes the handle big enough to fill the hand but not be too bulky. I do wish the handle was just a hair longer to fit my hand better but it’s girth is just about right.

It comes from Strider with a enough cord hanging off the back to put your wrist through and use as a lanyard. I actually shortened the cord on mine down significantly, I have it mounted to my IBA and the cord was too likely to get caught on things or tangled. The cord can easily be removed for anything you might need cord for including attaching the knife to a pole for use as a makeshift spear if needed. I don’t anticipate ever doing this, but it’s nice to know the capability is there.

Sheath

Finally, let’s take a look at the included sheath. It’s a custom molded piece of fairly thick Kydex made from a single sheet folded over and riveted together. It’s very rigid and wide at the opening making re-sheathing of the knife very easy without looking. The sheath is screwed to a Tek-Lock from Blade Tech for attaching to different size belts.

I’m a big fan of the Tek-Lock’s, they have an adjustable bar on the inside to make it fit different size belts but still fit snugly enough not to move around. One thing I found is that if you remove the belt adjustment bar you can barely fit the center section through a loop of PALS webbing and then reattach the adjustment bar to put it on any MOLLE gear you might have. I’m not sure if it was designed this way intentionally or not as Blade Tech also sells a separate MOLLE-Lok but this process works for me.

Mounting

The way I use this piece of kit is mounted to the front of my IBA slightly left of center line where it still can be reached with either hand, but can also be quickly grabbed by my left hand in a weapon retention scenario as a “get off me” tool. It is still easily accessible to my right hand if I ever need to get to it for more mundane (and common) tasks such as cutting or prying. I do hate carrying an expensive knife like this but good kit is seldom cheap and this knife was made to be used.

The Strider WP is one of Strider’s most inexpensive knives and is a great knife for those who need a true hard-use tool.  While it’s still not cheap, I consider it a lot of knife for the money. After using this knife for a few years I have a real craving for one of Strider’s folders but I’m still not sure about EDC’n a knife that costs that much and I refuse to buy a safe queen. Maybe one day…

Keep up the good fight
~Rob

Editor’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Rob Kroupa as an ITS Contributor. Rob is Active-Duty Air Force stationed in Alaska, a fellow Texan and ITS Plank Owner. Be sure to check out his blog at tacticaltexan.wordpress.com

It’s Law!  The President signed the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2892) for FY 2010 late yesterday (Oct. 28, 2009) that includes a permanent “fix” so that any folding knife with a bias toward closure cannot be declared a switchblade by U.S. Customs.

The significance of the legislative victory that was led by AKTI and supported by several other organizations cannot be overstated. If U.S. Customs had succeeded in broadly redefining a switchblade, domestic manufacturers and all owners of folding knives would have been in jeopardy.

That’s because an import restriction becomes an issue for interstate commerce. And where local law enforcement might be uncertain about how to correctly apply their state law, they often turn to U.S. Customs to provide guidance.

However, knife owners should realize that they are still bound by the knife laws of their state. And if you travel to another state, you are bound by their state laws.

AKTI continues to monitor federal and state laws and to work to protect knife rights for all, introducing reasonable and responsible changes.

We just received this exciting email from American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) and wanted to share the great news with everyone!

The U. S. Senate’s Solution to Customs’ proposal to ban assisted-opening, one-hand-opening and other folding knives has passed in both the House and the Senate.

Next step – the President’s desk!

You can keep and use your folding knives permitted in your state! With today’s vote in the U.S. Senate (and the President’s expected signature of H.R. 2892), the American Knife & Tool Institute has accomplished the seemingly impossible. Thanks to the help of many AKTI members, supporters, lawmakers and supporting organizations, we have turned the proposed U. S. Custom’s proposed re-definition of switchblades into an effective and sweeping clarification of the Federal Switchblade Act of 1958.

As of today (October 20, 2009), the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, with Senate Amendment 1447 language still intact, has passed both the Senate and the House. This bi-partisan amendment was co-sponsored by 20 U.S. Senators, led by John Cornyn of Texas, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The Senate amendment essentially adopted the switchblade exception language which AKTI sponsored in Texas and that was signed by Texas Governor Perry on June 18, 2009. U.S. Customs, thanks to an outpouring of grassroots support and the intervention of more than 20 U.S. Senators concerned about the potential financial devastation to the entire sporting knife industry, became active supporters of the amendment.

AKTI thanks the following co-sponsors for the bi-partisan statesmanship that clearly saved all folding knives which we estimate are 80 percent of current sales in the nearly $1 billion sporting knife industry.

John Cornyn (R-TX)                            Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)                             Ron Wyden (D-OR)
John Barrasso (R-WY)                       Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)                   Susan Collins (R-ME)
Bob Corker (R-TN)                             Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)                         Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
James Inhofe (R-OK)                         Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)                            Jim Risch (R-ID)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)                           Jon Tester (D-MT)
John Thune (R-SD)                            David Vitter (R-LA)

Prior to the Senate adopting the amendment, U.S. Customs also participated in negotiations on language, which they then supported. AKTI thanks both the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs for their ultimate support.

House support has been strong and broad-based during this effort, going back to more than 80 members of the bi-partisan Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus sending a letter on June 22nd for the industry position to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Representative Robert Latta (R-OH) and Walt Minnick (D-ID) were staunch, active supporters of the sporting knife industry throughout the entire process in the Senate and the House.

Finally, as H.R. 2892 came back to the House for work in conference, AKTI wants to recognize the support given by various House committee chairs and their staffers.

David Obey (D-WI) – Chair House Appropriations
David Price (D-NC) – Chair House Appropriations (Homeland Security Subcommittee)
Henry Waxman (D-CA) – Chair House Energy and Commerce Committee
Bobby Rush (D-IL) – Chair House Energy and Commerce Committee (Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee)
Charles Rangel (D-NY) – Chair House Ways & Means Committee
Sander Levin (D-MI) – Chair House Ways & Means Committee (Trade Subcommittee)

As provided in Amendment 1447, U.S. Customs agreed to add a fifth clause to section 1244 of the Federal Switchblade Act that exempts “a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife.”

AKTI expects that the President will sign this bill.

Thank you to all those lawmakers, AKTI members, AKTI Grassroots Supporters, the NRA, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and Knife Rights for their support of a campaign that began with an AKTI call to action at the Blade Show on May 29.

Goldie Russell
AKTI President
President, A.G. Russell Knives

Jan Billeb
AKTI Executive Director

Today we’ll share our thoughts on hook knives with a review on the Benchmade Rescue Hook Model 7.

We consider a hook knife to be an invaluable piece of equipment in almost any situation.

The purpose of a rescue-hook type tool is to not only enable you to provide assistance in a rescue, but to also aid in self-rescue.

There are a myriad of different applications for a hook knife, which we’ll outline below, but primarily a hook knife provides a safe way to cut danger out.

Description

The Benchmade Rescue Hook Model 7 is made from 440C Stainless Steel with a black oxide coating.

It features a rubberized coating on the handle, spine gripping threads, finger hole and an integrated cutting-edge guard.

The Model 7 weighs 1.6 oz. and measures 4.5″ tall by about 2″ at it’s widest point of the grip with a 0.5″ blade.

An optional MOLLE Compatible soft sheath measures 5″ tall x 2″ wide and attaches with a single MALICE Clip.

The sheath is available in Black, Olive and Coyote. It also has a nice bottom elastic-retention band which further secures the Rescue Hook in the sheath.

The Model 7 is made in the USA and has an NSN number, which stands for National Stock Number. It basically means that it’s a standard item available for military purchase, but is also available commercially.

Versions

Benchmade also offers three other versions of the Rescue Hook. The Model 5, which is essentially a shorter version of the model 7.

The model 8, which is much longer than the model 7 and the Houdini Pro, a pocket-knife like tool which features a folding hook, LED flashlight and spring-loaded glass breaker.

The Model 7 is the only hook available with rubberized coating, which we feel helps trememdously when wearing gloves or working around water. It’s also the perfect size for carrying attached to your gear or on a belt.

Uses

• General Troop/Safety

Individual troops can use it as a strap cutter to help egress from vehicles after roll-overs, IED’s, etc. It can also be used to cut seat belts, uniforms and any other gear that gets hook up inside a vehicle. Also useful for cargo webbing, shrink wrap, cardboard boxes, etc.

• Medical

Used to remove clothing, boots and gear from wounded soldiers for initial evaluation and immediate treatment of injuries. Also ideal for cutting bandaging, medical tubing, casts, etc. We recommend when cutting pants to start at the cuffs and cut up rather than trying to cut down from a pocket.

• Airborne

Use it as a cut-away tool during parachute malfunctions or during a line-over situation during a jump. You certainly don’t want to pull out your knife and start cutting your way out of a malfunctioning chute, because chances are that you’re going to cut yourself in the process.

• Military/Police

Use on detainees to remove flexi-cuffs to provide a safe alternative to using a fixed blade or folding knife, which could cut the detainee or be taken and used as a weapon against the officer/MP.

Here’s a YouTube video we made showing the Rescue Hook Model 7 in action:

Benchmade also offers a lifetime warranty and LifeSharp service on every edged weapon or tool they sell, which we’ve personally used.

All you have to pay is $5 to cover the handling and return shipping and you’ll get a nice factory-sharp knife sent back to you.

What other applications for the Rescue Hook can you think of?

We just received an update on the next step in the battle against the U.S. Customs and their proposal to revoke earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades.

To recap, the proposal would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, but its overly broad new definition of a switchblade would also include all one-handed opening knives and most other pocket knives!

If you have not been keeping up with the news surrounding the legislation, we invite you to read these posts, which will get up to speed.

U.S. Representatives will be back in D.C. right after Labor Day and American Knife & Tool Institute has been working behind the scenes to get them on board with the Senate amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2892).

What You Can Do

AKTI needs you to support this effort!  If you are a company representative or an individual, it’s time to ask for amendment support from key House committee and subcommittee chairs and ranking members.

If you have a business in, sell products in, live in, or plan to vacation in, or hunt or fish in WI, CA, NC, KY, TX, IL, NY, MI, go to the AKTI Web site where you’ll find a list of key Congressmen with addresses and fax numbers.

You’ll also find individual and company letters to House Members for you to download, personalize, sign, and then both fax and mail.

Please choose the appropriate letter and do this ASAP. The fate of the sporting knife industry and your ability to carry/use folding knives depends on it.

Contact David D. Kowalski, AKTI Communications Coordinator at 715-209-7389 (cell) with any questions.

Behind The Scenes

The Customs fight is NOT over. During this August recess, AKTI’s DC lobbyists are contacting staffers of important House committees and subcommittees. With their bosses typically spending time in their home districts, staffers have more time to meet in August.

AKTI’s lobbyists are focusing on key committees to get them to support House adoption of Senate amendment 1447 to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2892).

This amendment would add a fifth exemption to the Federal Switchblade Act at Section 1244 that would exempt any folding knife with a bias toward closure from being declared a switchblade.

Customs supported this amendment in a conference call with key Senators in July where the AKTI lobbyists were the only lobbyist participants. AKTI keeps working on this critical effort because it is so vital and is not done until the bill becomes law.

Please help fight for your knife rights by acting now!

We wanted to take this opportunity to bring you an update to our previous article on the fight for your knife rights.

U.S. Customs has proposed revoking earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades. The proposal would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, its overly broad new definition of a switchblade would also include all one-handed opening knives and most other pocket knives!

On July 7, 2009 the U.S. Senate voted to pass Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2892) by margin of 84-6. This bill contains Amendment 1447 which was added to clarify the definition of a switchblade.

Amendment 1447 can be explained with these two points:

1. First, the language in the amendment clearly covers virtually all non-automatic folding knife mechanisms, regardless of whether they have a spring assist or not, or whether they are designed to be opened with one hand or not. These style folders are biased toward closure as compared to a conventional switchblade in which the spring is constantly applying pressure on the blade when the blade is closed and thus it is biased toward opening, requiring only the release of the blade to open automatically.
2. Second is the question of how this applies to Customs and how it will regulate their actions in regard to such knives and eliminating their most recent interpretation of the Federal Switchblade Act.

Amendment 1447 was co-sponsored by Senators Cornyn (R – TX), Pryor (D – AR), Hatch (R – UT), Vitter (R – LA), Risch (R – ID), Chambliss (R – GA), Corker (R – TN), Enzi (R – WY), Barrasso (R-WY), Graham (R – SC), Roberts (R – KS), Wyden (D – OR) and Crapo (R – ID).

This bill has not become a law yet! It needs to go through a House/Senate conference and then signed by President.

The Conference Committee will not meet until after the August Recess, in the mean time Knife Rights and the American Knife & Tool Institute are working with friends in the House and Senate to gather further support.

They’re also working with colleagues in advocacy groups such as the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, to talk with those who will be ensuring the amendment remains in conference.

Knife Rights states that it was your letters, faxes and emails that led to this success. If this amendment gets through the Conference Committee, it will stop Customs’ rulemaking and protect your pocket knives with a permanent solution.

While reading one of our favorite sites, SoldierSystems.net, we came across this article on a new organization called KnifeRights.org. Their number one goal is to provide knife and edged tool owners an effective voice to influence public policy and to oppose efforts to restrict the right to own, use and carry knives and edged tools.

U.S. Customs has proposed revoking earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades. The proposal would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, its overly broad new definition of a switchblade would also include all one-handed opening knives and most other pocket knives!

Please support this organization and go here to download a model letter to send to the Customs and Border Patrol, as well members of Congress!

Knife Rights is spearheaded by Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive, who is a highly respected member of the survival community.