WEBVTT

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the

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push daggers are a unique category of

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edge weapon also known as push knives

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punch daggers and gimlet knives their defining

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feature is a unique t shaped handle

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when you grip the handle it automatically

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aligns the blade with the bones of

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the forearm in this way if you

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can punch you can also thrust with

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great power in american history push daggers

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where popular self defense weapons in the

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nineteenth century especially around new orleans and

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san francisco larger versions were also used

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by british forces in trench warfare during

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world war one and later by commandos

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and other elite units in world war

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two as cool as they are the

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question remains how effective are push daggers

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especially for modern self defense

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on the positive side push daggers are

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more space efficient than conventional straight handled

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fixed blade knives this makes them easier

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to conceal and more comfortable to carry

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the t shape of the push daggers

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handle also makes drawing the knife quick

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and positive provided it's design fits the

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user's hand well on the negative side

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the name push dagger litter

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early defines a style of knife as

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a type of dagger whether it's double

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edged or not from a legal perspective

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this is an issue as many laws

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specifically prohibit the carry of dirks and

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daggers unlike other types of knives it's

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also difficult to argue that a push

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dagger is anything but a weapon the

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most common claim you'll hear from advocates

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a push daggers is that they are

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easier or more

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instinctive to use than conventional life designs

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the belief is you simply grab the

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knife and you punch with it the

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problem with that theory is that punching

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itself is not an instinctive skill it

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is a learned skill if you don't

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believe that watch some social media videos

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of people having fistfights and see how

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they throw punches even if you have

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developed a skill to punch well

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you're still limiting yourself to one tactic

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which is thrusting that's not a very

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versatile self defense skill set the best

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way to understand the limitations of a

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push dagger is to actually make a

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trainer get out on the mat and

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work with a partner to be able

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to experience how this functions as a

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weapon and very importantly how the impact

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shock of using the knife transfers back

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into your hand so serious

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didn't we bring steven out here he's

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armed with a training hammer his job

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as an attacker is claim me in

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the head with that hammer okay my

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best case scenario with this is to

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use it based on its best attributes

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somebody uses a thrusting weapon i'm going

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to basically punch into vital targets with

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him well if he's swinging at me

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and i'm thrusting at him not a

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guy

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situations what i have to do best

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case scenario would be to try to

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block and control his arm and then

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essentially thrust multiple times until those wounds

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have cumulative effect he stops trying to

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kill me and he drops to the

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ground not a very efficient way to

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do things now what i could do

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is try to apply more logical tactic

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it's the most dangerous part of his

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body is essentially the hand that allows

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him to swing this weapon so if

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we look at the flexor muscles of

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his forearm the flexor tendons that connect

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those muscles to his fingers this is

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a great target right here so if

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i can cut those muscles deeply enough

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i can deactivate his grip make him

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drop his weapon if i cut those

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flexor tendons deeply enough

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same thing his hand opens up he

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drops a weapon he's no longer lethal

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threat now the problem is when he

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takes a swing with that i try

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to do that it's a very unnatural

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motion for me to try to cut

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that what i have to do is

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i have to drop my elbow way

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down because my wrist is completely in

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line with the blade and cutting here

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is just not a natural act

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imagine what this also does is compared

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to a conventional life where i have

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this extending from the thumb side of

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my hand i can maintain a lot

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of distance here be able to stay

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away from that weapon

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with the push dagger what i have

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to do is make that commitment to

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stay a little bit closer because the

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grip just doesn't work very well but

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the most important thing in the thing

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that you won't understand until you actually

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pick up a trainer and try to

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do this he takes that swing every

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time i do that what i'm doing

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is pushing the blade this way right

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into

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my middle finger knuckle so that lateral

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motion the shank of the blade here

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really is applying hard force into the

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into my fingers where there's absolutely no

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padding whatsoever so managing that impact shock

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it's uncomfortable so it's not only a

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difficult thing to do as far as

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the tactic of using the knife but

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also

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it hurts and it's one of those

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things where once you realize that if

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the first time you realize that is

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when you're trying to use a knife

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in a self defense situation if you

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actually break your finger or damage your

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hand in such a way that you

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drop your weapon obviously that is not

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the best way to save your life

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when you sum it all up push

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daggers are not a great choice when

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it comes to modern self defense yes

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they're easy to

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kerry they're easy to conceal but from

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a legal perspective because by name they

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are a type of dagger they may

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be illegal to carry in many jurisdictions

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more importantly from a tactic standpoint the

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only thing they do well is if

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you punch well you can thrust well

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but that's not a complete skillset you

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want to be able to cut and

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thrust effectively

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yeah and these simply do not allow

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that same articulation that you would have

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with a more conventional knife design just

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as importantly when you do cut with

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these the way that they transfer that

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impact shock is that heat transfer it

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into the inside of your fingers and

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it's very easy to damage your own

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hand when you try to cut with

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power using a push dagger so for

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all these reasons

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as a knife enthusiasts i collect these

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as a self defense practitioner i don't

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carry