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| This is a katana |
There is an old saying which is, "Don't take a knife to a gun fight". On the surface, this sounds like intelligent advice, however there are some considerations that are not immediately obvious. On this blog we speak about firearms quite a bit, and I often feel badly for this as many of the people from nations who are frequent readers of this blog, aren't permitted to defend themselves with legal firearms. For those readers, this post should be particularly interesting.
In Argentina this week, a 49 year old man, a steelworker, and his wife were sleeping in their home at about 3:30 am. Four young men, two with handguns entered the home and beat the couple, and proceeded to rob their home. Then, the woman was separated from her husband. The husband began to panic and noticed the Japanese katana that was hanging on his wall. The middle aged man used the katana against the four men in self defense and in defense of his wife. The men exited their home with a number of the couples belongings and crashed their getaway car just afterward. Soon after, police arrested the four men, and an accomplice.
I will not include the particularly graphic injury photos which have appeared in many places on the internet, but suffice it to say, the katana inflicted significant and probably permanent nerve and skeletal damage on the four home invaders. More than one of them was placed in intensive care, at least initially. At least one of them will sport permanent scars, and I don't care how good the ER physician doing the sutures might be.
Sadly, the man and his wife are presently living elsewhere as they fear retribution from the men who committed the home invasion and/or their relatives or gang members. I don't know how realistic this concern is,even in Argentina, as I don't know how many people would risk such injuries,and the men who committed the initial home invasion and assault are not likely to be up to criminal activity again for awhile.
This raises some important questions. For those of you who cannot legally own firearms, how comfortable are you with a Japanese sword like a katana, or a machete ? How physically able are you to inflict maximum damage in a life and death situation, even with lots of adrenaline flowing ? Most importantly, how sure are you that you could keep on swinging and avoiding the katana or the knife being taken from you during such a situation, especially with multiple attackers who apparently forgot they possessed firearms ?
A close friend of mine who is a Scot tells me that he is never without his sgian dubh. In fact, he wore it when he got married. He says that all kilted gentlemen are in possession of one.
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| this is a sgian dubh |
In reality, there are times in which, in tight space, a knife could be more effective than a handgun.
A knife is less comfortable for me, and is something with which I have less experience and training, but it may be something some of you wish to consider. However, a katana, a machete, a sword, a sgian dubh or even a tactical knife are dangerous to children who find one, and can be dangerous to you should someone enter your home, find one, and attempt to use one against you. Make sure that you are in good enough physical condition in order to use one of these on an emergent self defensive basis. Make sure also that you have mentally explored the possibility of using one of these on a home invader. The very best survival tool is your brain which will lead you to the tools which are best for you.
