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The Use of Knives in Self-Defense

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Overview

Season 2, Episode 15

Join us for an enthralling episode as we delves into the world of knives with Nathan Downing of Silverline Knife Designs. In Episode 15, we explore the intricate balance between craftsmanship and combat, uncovering the vital role knives can play in your self-defense toolkit.

Nathan shares his unique heritage and background, weaving a compelling narrative from his roots in the Ogallala Lakota tribe to his journey through the Marine Corps and his eventual mastery of knife making. Discover how a near-fatal encounter and a stint as a bouncer shaped his perspective on knife combat and led to the creation of his flagship mongoose knife.

In this episode, we discuss the gritty realities of knife defense, the importance of situational awareness, and the stark differences between Piper, Libre, and traditional Filipino blade work. Nathan offers invaluable advice on the legal and emotional ramifications of using a blade in self-defense and emphasizes the necessity of being mentally prepared for the aftermath.

Whether you’re a martial artist, a self-defense enthusiast, or simply curious about the art of knife making, this episode promises to captivate and educate. Tune in to learn why a fixed blade might be your best ally and what it truly means to carry a knife with intent.

Don’t miss out on this deep dive into the world of knives and self-defense. Check out Nathan’s work at Silverline Knife Designs and arm yourself with knowledge that could one day save your life.

Transcript

View Podcast Transcript

00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:11.280
Music.

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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien. Welcome to episode 15, where we talk today with

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Nathan Downing of Silverline Knife Designs and knives and their place in your self-defense toolkit.

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Nathan, how are you? I’m doing well. Good. Jim, how are you?

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Good, good. I’m glad we got to do this and thanks for coming on with us today.

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I actually can give you a little tidbit.

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My actual full last name is Two Eagles hyphen Downing. Tell us about that.

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Well, I’m part Ogallala Lakota, and I’m also Scotch-Irish, but I also have a

00:00:53.901 –> 00:00:57.141
little German and Castilian Spanish mixed in there, too.

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Gotcha. My mother is, I believe she’s half or a quarter Lakota.

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So she, her dad was actually the famous painter for a couple of the March Pow Wow posters.

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He actually is a famous painter in general. he also was one of the indian chiefs

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in blazing saddles and he also was in the movie neighbors.

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He’s a really cool guy and he

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was also a medicine man so i mean he yeah he was

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well well-versed individual well-versed good

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guy to know i’m sure so they named you two

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eagles did you have some kind of seasonal significant meaning or

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someone how did that come about actually it

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was that was our family last name on my

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mom’s side that was her maiden last name my parents

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decided to give me both of their last name and

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i was able to take care of some of my educational stuff because of that said

00:02:00.621 –> 00:02:06.401
last name yeah absolutely the cool thing though i can add in that is actually

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it was based off the chief two

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eagles who was one of the the actual chiefs there at the battle a little

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bighorn and yeah we were able to trace them back all the way to there i mean

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that’s kind of one cool little tidbit yeah definitely some her mother actually

00:02:26.521 –> 00:02:33.521
yeah oh this one’s also going to blow your mind a little bit her mother was actually the german.

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Part of my family and her family actually helped

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build mount rushmore really that was

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a small yeah there were a lot of workers on that that’s so

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cool yeah definitely and then when it comes to my my dad’s side which is the

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downing side we traced our family all the way back to scotland and ireland all

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the way back to 1642 i think something like that wow and when they first came over to

00:03:03.552 –> 00:03:09.932
the United States and basically had a family member on the Downing side there

00:03:09.932 –> 00:03:13.932
in every single American conflict except for Vietnam.

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Yeah. Wow. I mean, and of course, Lebanon and, you know, some of the more recent

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stuff, because my dad wanted to go into the Navy back in the 80s when I was,

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before I was a twinkle in his eye, as they say.

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Sure and he being born he

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uh didn’t go into the navy like he wanted he wanted to be an electrician

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yeah but that didn’t happen and he

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he chose to raise me instead so i thought that

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was really cool and here you are silver line

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knife designs obviously you design and make knives but tell us a little bit

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about you yourself your background your history and how you got into making

00:03:54.572 –> 00:03:57.132
knives in the first place okay

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well the first time i ever really kind of experienced any kind of metal,

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metalsmithing blacksmithing stuff like that was actually back when i

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was younger i was probably about 15 16 when i was working in a farrier’s camp

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back in a back in the day up in wyoming because my dad was tired of me just

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kind of hanging out at the house and he’s like yeah i I want you to go learn

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a trade, go do something.

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I’m like, okay, cool. So I started working on a ranch.

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And I fell in love with working with metal and made my first knife when I was

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up there. It was pretty cool. How old were you then?

00:04:40.852 –> 00:04:42.512
I was 17, basically.

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Yeah i was doing that and then from there kind of ran off and joined the marine corps actually,

00:04:51.782 –> 00:04:56.622
because i always wanted to be in the military as well so i went and did that

00:04:56.622 –> 00:05:01.402
stint i joined the marine corps back in 2005 kind of right in the middle of

00:05:01.402 –> 00:05:03.962
all that nonsense and yeah,

00:05:04.762 –> 00:05:10.222
Then kind of just kind of went from there, came to 2006.

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I was getting ready to deploy out to Iraq.

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And unfortunately, I became a diabetic.

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The pre-deployment shots that they gave me were a little, I guess,

00:05:23.382 –> 00:05:24.542
a little too aggressive on my system.

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I had an antibody issue where I had too many antibodies and nothing for them

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to fight. So they attacked themselves, basically.

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And my pancreas stopped functioning.

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So I was like, well, shoot, my Marine Corps is coming to an end.

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And then there in 2007, I got out on a medical discharge and decided to go pursue other ventures.

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Didn’t really touch on making knives for a little bit or anything like that

00:05:53.922 –> 00:05:55.882
until probably about 2010.

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When I was like, OK, I finally rented a house.

00:06:00.782 –> 00:06:04.222
I had my own little backyard, started working on stuff. And I was like,

00:06:04.282 –> 00:06:08.582
I really need a good work knife because I was working in a warehouse at the

00:06:08.582 –> 00:06:13.002
time and just kind of needed to use a lot of cutting stuff.

00:06:13.202 –> 00:06:16.302
And the little razor blade things that they gave us were kind of crap.

00:06:16.422 –> 00:06:21.542
And they said that we could have our own personal knives to use that if they work good for that.

00:06:21.642 –> 00:06:26.702
So that’s kind of where I started with making knives again. So you made your

00:06:26.702 –> 00:06:31.362
first knife when you were 17 and then out of necessity on the job kind of decided

00:06:31.362 –> 00:06:35.722
you were going to start figuring out how to make your own for that work. Yes.

00:06:37.302 –> 00:06:40.562
And it became kind of a hit. Yeah.

00:06:41.675 –> 00:06:46.575
Made a few knives for family and a couple of my co-workers and didn’t really

00:06:46.575 –> 00:06:53.935
start like selling my knives to the public until 2016 when i bought my house

00:06:53.935 –> 00:06:55.035
down here in colorado springs,

00:06:56.515 –> 00:07:02.915
and i approached nigel february the founder of hyperblade combative.

00:07:04.815 –> 00:07:07.775
And i was i approached him basically said hey

00:07:07.775 –> 00:07:10.655
i noticed you know like you know knives are

00:07:10.655 –> 00:07:13.675
becoming coming a big thing here again like with libre fighting

00:07:13.675 –> 00:07:17.275
systems they have they had a a blade sniff

00:07:17.275 –> 00:07:20.135
make their first knife and stuff like that i know you guys

00:07:20.135 –> 00:07:24.955
don’t have a knife yeah i would love to design you something and he’s like okay

00:07:24.955 –> 00:07:31.055
well what do you got and i showed him the first drawing for the mongoose knife

00:07:31.055 –> 00:07:38.915
which is pretty much my flagship knife and he immediately like Like, yes,

00:07:39.015 –> 00:07:42.895
make this and we’ll work something out.

00:07:43.015 –> 00:07:45.635
And I was like, all right, I can do that.

00:07:46.035 –> 00:07:49.835
Give me a couple of weeks here and I will make you one in steel.

00:07:49.955 –> 00:07:53.415
I’ll make one in titanium and I’ll get them sent out to you.

00:07:53.975 –> 00:08:02.015
So a couple of weeks went by, October rolled by and I made probably four or five initially.

00:08:02.015 –> 00:08:08.755
Actually, and after I sent the two to Nigel and it took nearly a month,

00:08:08.995 –> 00:08:12.875
like it was like October 31st and it finally showed up at his door.

00:08:13.375 –> 00:08:18.055
Why? We were afraid that it got lost in the post. Yeah. Got lost. I had sent it.

00:08:18.695 –> 00:08:22.055
Yeah, we thought we thought it had gone completely AWOL.

00:08:22.295 –> 00:08:26.795
But no, it was just them being very slow, having, you know, the post,

00:08:26.795 –> 00:08:29.815
the postal carriers I guess I have to fight lions or whatever. Yeah.

00:08:30.935 –> 00:08:35.415
Whatever it may be. But when they showed up, he, he was like,

00:08:35.515 –> 00:08:39.635
this knife is, this knife is perfect. And.

00:08:41.099 –> 00:08:45.039
Just kind of rolled from there. And I’m like, awesome. Let’s see if we can get

00:08:45.039 –> 00:08:47.079
some more of these knives in your, your people’s hands.

00:08:47.199 –> 00:08:49.779
So we can have a kind of a good standing with stuff. And then,

00:08:49.799 –> 00:08:56.639
uh, he did a video of him working with the knife and it just kind of went from

00:08:56.639 –> 00:08:59.139
there. Like everything just kind of launched from that point.

00:09:01.299 –> 00:09:08.319
And he started actually teaching me Piper at that point, because I made myself a, a mongoose as well.

00:09:09.279 –> 00:09:11.579
Of course, Of course, you have to have your own Ongos, right?

00:09:12.619 –> 00:09:17.339
Yeah, I had to make my own. I wanted to start learning because I got tired of

00:09:17.339 –> 00:09:19.919
using those shitty old copies. Like those things are crap.

00:09:20.359 –> 00:09:23.539
So the first ones I got a hold of were just god awful.

00:09:24.319 –> 00:09:29.799
It was maybe a week or two after that. I really would love to learn more about

00:09:29.799 –> 00:09:31.999
the system because I had seen it before.

00:09:32.259 –> 00:09:35.539
Like when I got out of the military, I was looking for other martial arts systems

00:09:35.539 –> 00:09:39.159
and stuff like that, trying to get back into that kind of world.

00:09:39.159 –> 00:09:46.839
And I got shown some of Piper and stuff like that from the instructor I was with at the time.

00:09:46.899 –> 00:09:49.139
He was actually teaching me Qikundo.

00:09:50.159 –> 00:09:51.179
Okay. Yep.

00:09:53.159 –> 00:09:56.279
And he’s like, hey, what do you think about this stuff? And we actually kind

00:09:56.279 –> 00:10:01.039
of started exploring with Libre, kind of practicing the five pack and stuff like that.

00:10:01.059 –> 00:10:04.819
And then he’s like, you know, this doesn’t kind of seem to suit you.

00:10:04.879 –> 00:10:12.299
And I’m like, okay. like try doing this one and you show me videos of piper i’m like what is this so,

00:10:13.539 –> 00:10:16.639
it was it was really kind of where everything

00:10:16.639 –> 00:10:20.559
kind of went up from there and then and everything else with the mongoose happened

00:10:20.559 –> 00:10:25.399
but yeah actually being able to have that touching base with nigel and being

00:10:25.399 –> 00:10:31.359
able to learn from him really dialed in a few of my other knife designs that

00:10:31.359 –> 00:10:34.619
that I created after the mongoose.

00:10:35.379 –> 00:10:42.399
The big one that kind of popped up after just the mongoose, it was my honey

00:10:42.399 –> 00:10:44.719
badger knife and the meerkat knife.

00:10:45.359 –> 00:10:50.959
Those two suddenly just became something he really wanted to see more of.

00:10:51.479 –> 00:10:55.039
And that’s kind of what I’ve got now.

00:10:55.159 –> 00:11:00.759
So I have three Piper blades that are just all in to win it.

00:11:01.948 –> 00:11:04.708
For that styling of things they’re great for the

00:11:04.708 –> 00:11:07.768
stab they can work as an edc knife if

00:11:07.768 –> 00:11:11.448
you really have to i think the mongoose still trumps

00:11:11.448 –> 00:11:14.188
both of them in the regard that it

00:11:14.188 –> 00:11:17.848
doesn’t look like a fighting knife it’s very simplistic very

00:11:17.848 –> 00:11:20.948
utilitarian and that’s the way

00:11:20.948 –> 00:11:23.808
i made it so that it could just blend in with a normal knife

00:11:23.808 –> 00:11:27.488
and if you had to use it real quick you could get into

00:11:27.488 –> 00:11:31.428
work and you know do what you have to another

00:11:31.428 –> 00:11:34.748
kind of big one that became a good fan that nigel

00:11:34.748 –> 00:11:39.048
became a fan of a little bit was the hornet knife which is my wharncliffe style

00:11:39.048 –> 00:11:44.608
knife that can be held i don’t think i’ve seen the hornet yet i need to yeah

00:11:44.608 –> 00:11:49.608
i have one sitting on my my bench yeah the hornet was actually one of my kind

00:11:49.608 –> 00:11:53.188
of uh secret squirrel knives because.

00:11:54.048 –> 00:11:57.708
It’s it’s a mean mean little knife

00:11:57.708 –> 00:12:00.468
if you looked on my instagram i think you

00:12:00.468 –> 00:12:03.428
might be able to see one it’s actually made of titanium it

00:12:03.428 –> 00:12:07.508
has a red red paracord handle on

00:12:07.508 –> 00:12:10.408
it yes i have seen that one yep i do remember

00:12:10.408 –> 00:12:13.188
it yep yeah so you kind

00:12:13.188 –> 00:12:16.208
of got your start and then piper kind of

00:12:16.208 –> 00:12:19.488
shaped the directionally where you took your

00:12:19.488 –> 00:12:22.888
blades and so that was going to be part of my questioning is

00:12:22.888 –> 00:12:26.108
you know what’s the difference between piper

00:12:26.108 –> 00:12:33.508
and libre and traditional filipino blade work blade handling why is one preferred

00:12:33.508 –> 00:12:42.328
over the other etc for me personally i i definitely definitely kind of jives

00:12:42.328 –> 00:12:45.208
on the same frequency as Nigel when it comes to,

00:12:46.128 –> 00:12:47.608
knife combative stuff,

00:12:48.228 –> 00:12:53.048
the way we, we, I mean, I, I share his philosophy that.

00:12:54.648 –> 00:12:58.288
You stab live flesh and you cut dead flesh.

00:12:58.648 –> 00:13:06.028
So a lot of what drew me more towards Piper than any other kind of stuff.

00:13:06.168 –> 00:13:10.428
I mean, yes, I practice a lot. I do a scream on Kali and everything like that. Yeah.

00:13:10.708 –> 00:13:14.928
But that comes with JKD basically at this point.

00:13:14.928 –> 00:13:24.508
Point um i was more drawn to it because it was just hands down the most super effective.

00:13:25.568 –> 00:13:31.728
Method for me but it’s not really a martial art it’s a killing system yeah so with that in mind,

00:13:32.388 –> 00:13:35.688
if i’m going to be pulling a knife to have to you know

00:13:35.688 –> 00:13:38.968
do something i’m not going to leave them alive that’s

00:13:38.968 –> 00:13:42.168
where my head goes that’s my mindset that’s my own personal intent

00:13:42.168 –> 00:13:45.408
well you got to of figure if you’re in a situation where

00:13:45.408 –> 00:13:48.088
you need to be using a knife or feel like you need to go

00:13:48.088 –> 00:13:51.908
to a you know that level of force then you

00:13:51.908 –> 00:13:55.188
know much like they talk about in the firearm community you

00:13:55.188 –> 00:13:58.928
know you don’t shoot the wound you don’t shoot warning sight shots

00:13:58.928 –> 00:14:01.868
you know you stop the threat so i imagine that

00:14:01.868 –> 00:14:07.248
applies when it goes comes to blade work too yes absolutely and that’s kind

00:14:07.248 –> 00:14:12.128
of where my my head is always kind of gone gone with when it comes to personal

00:14:12.128 –> 00:14:17.208
self-defense in that regard like you react to the level of threat that’s being

00:14:17.208 –> 00:14:21.268
presented and i’ve i’ve been in a few,

00:14:22.168 –> 00:14:26.888
instances i mean i i did some bouncing work i worked as a bouncer at a couple bars.

00:14:28.019 –> 00:14:35.299
And some music venues. And any time we had to deal with like really rowdy kind

00:14:35.299 –> 00:14:39.059
of people or stuff like that, or we had to keep an eye out on questionable folks,

00:14:39.259 –> 00:14:44.879
it was, you know, oh, are they, are they just being drunk and angry?

00:14:45.099 –> 00:14:50.199
Are they, what kind of presentation are they giving to us? What is what’s making

00:14:50.199 –> 00:14:54.999
them stick out past the baseline of the crowd?

00:14:55.159 –> 00:14:58.379
So we would always gauge or things like that.

00:14:58.399 –> 00:15:02.919
I mean, yeah, a lot of the empty hand work, you know, comes into play.

00:15:02.919 –> 00:15:07.919
But at the same time we’re also sitting there like look we’re not gonna you

00:15:07.919 –> 00:15:14.299
know play play 20 rounds with you to get you out of the out of our space and

00:15:14.299 –> 00:15:19.559
get you from you know making things work more worse than what you know you’ve

00:15:19.559 –> 00:15:21.539
already done but they need to be trying to clean up,

00:15:22.419 –> 00:15:27.239
yeah like trying to clean up but you know someone who vomits like trying to

00:15:27.239 –> 00:15:30.419
clean up the mess but then suddenly you got this other idiot who’s deciding

00:15:30.419 –> 00:15:34.319
to dance around inside vomit you’re Okay, no, we’re not going to be playing

00:15:34.319 –> 00:15:35.279
this game. You’re going to go.

00:15:35.419 –> 00:15:39.639
Right. So it’s just being able to kind of dictate, you know,

00:15:39.639 –> 00:15:42.339
level of four, how it’s going to have to go.

00:15:43.519 –> 00:15:48.659
And sometimes those guys, they’re on more than just the alcohol that’s being served.

00:15:48.839 –> 00:15:52.059
You know, it becomes a little more dangerous.

00:15:52.339 –> 00:15:54.899
Yeah. So now we were talking ahead of this.

00:15:55.579 –> 00:16:00.159
Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. I was going to say, it just really kind of would dictate

00:16:00.159 –> 00:16:03.259
how our actions go from there. Sure.

00:16:03.659 –> 00:16:08.739
Absolutely. Yeah. And we were talking before we did this recording,

00:16:08.839 –> 00:16:12.019
and you had mentioned in passing that you had been stabbed.

00:16:12.179 –> 00:16:14.659
Tell us about that story. Yes.

00:16:15.519 –> 00:16:19.039
The delightful time of when I was stabbed. I say this sarcastically.

00:16:19.079 –> 00:16:22.499
Well, now, was that in context of your bouncing and whatever else,

00:16:22.539 –> 00:16:23.839
or was that completely unrelated?

00:16:24.419 –> 00:16:26.019
It was. Okay. Yeah.

00:16:26.966 –> 00:16:31.726
Yeah, well, the first time I was stabbed, yes, it was totally in context of that. The first time.

00:16:32.486 –> 00:16:38.986
Yeah. Second time, it was a guy tried to mug me, and he wiped the knife at me.

00:16:39.006 –> 00:16:40.546
I’ll tell you that here in a second.

00:16:40.846 –> 00:16:47.146
We had one gentleman who had passed out at the music venue we were at,

00:16:47.246 –> 00:16:52.746
and we got a hold of the paramedics there, and we were working alongside him

00:16:52.746 –> 00:16:54.766
trying to get the guy up and trying to get everything like that.

00:16:54.766 –> 00:16:59.926
And they they dosed the guy with narcan because they could tell he was higher than a nice so.

00:17:01.406 –> 00:17:04.886
When he came to he immediately started lashing

00:17:04.886 –> 00:17:10.306
out and nobody was paying attention properly we were all just kind of like okay

00:17:10.306 –> 00:17:14.606
he’s down and now he’s awake okay come on dude let’s try to go and then he had

00:17:14.606 –> 00:17:19.686
taken his knife out and he stabbed me in the side of my leg and it was this

00:17:19.686 –> 00:17:21.566
crappy Happy little, little,

00:17:21.646 –> 00:17:26.266
you know, gas station folder type thing. Chinese folder. Yeah.

00:17:26.986 –> 00:17:30.586
Right above the knee. And I’m like, oh, did he just punch me?

00:17:30.666 –> 00:17:34.786
What the hell is going on? Yeah. And then I looked down and I thought my, my leg was bleeding.

00:17:34.966 –> 00:17:38.846
I was like, what the hell? And I saw he had a knife. And so he went from being

00:17:38.846 –> 00:17:42.206
conscious to unconscious again, really quickly. Sure.

00:17:42.766 –> 00:17:46.586
We took him out and the police were there.

00:17:46.706 –> 00:17:49.826
They, they took him into custody. Did he ask me if I wanted to press charges?

00:17:49.826 –> 00:17:53.786
Like, I won’t press charges if his insurance will cover what has to happen to my leg.

00:17:54.346 –> 00:17:57.586
Like, hey, he missed everything really vital.

00:17:57.886 –> 00:18:05.226
You got a nice inch and a half wide dash in your leg now because he stuck the bone. I’m like, okay.

00:18:05.666 –> 00:18:09.226
Nice. So basically, we’re just going to bandage it up and call it a good.

00:18:09.346 –> 00:18:10.526
And they’re like, yeah, pretty much. Like, okay.

00:18:11.666 –> 00:18:13.966
So that was my first time being stabbed.

00:18:15.306 –> 00:18:22.846
Second time being stabbed. I was just out being myself, not working,

00:18:22.986 –> 00:18:25.226
doing my own thing, out at a bar.

00:18:27.306 –> 00:18:35.166
And I ended up catching the guy’s knife there on my forearm because I went to

00:18:35.166 –> 00:18:38.326
protect my face because he swung at me when I told him that he could go pound sand.

00:18:38.786 –> 00:18:41.126
And he’s coming at me with a little paring knife, right? Right.

00:18:42.306 –> 00:18:50.526
He, he, he got me decently across the top of my arm and it turned into kind

00:18:50.526 –> 00:18:56.706
of a defense, got cut and then kind of turned into a fisticuffs things.

00:18:56.786 –> 00:18:59.066
Cause when I hit him, he dropped his knife.

00:18:59.786 –> 00:19:03.686
And so it just kind of turned into a normal kind of fight thing.

00:19:04.606 –> 00:19:09.926
And I’m wailing on the dude. apparently someone had seen the altercation happen

00:19:09.926 –> 00:19:15.686
and then suddenly in a couple minutes i mean it was probably five minutes or

00:19:15.686 –> 00:19:19.126
something i don’t know it felt like an eternity for me i’m sure.

00:19:21.115 –> 00:19:24.195
Cops were all over us. They told me to get off him. I’m backing off.

00:19:24.335 –> 00:19:28.055
And they’re like, whoa, dude, you’re cut. I’m like, yeah, this guy just tried to mug me. I told him no.

00:19:28.395 –> 00:19:30.575
And then told him what happened.

00:19:31.995 –> 00:19:38.755
So he already had the knife out. It escalated quickly, but he already had it.

00:19:39.115 –> 00:19:43.455
He went to punch you, but next thing you know, there’s a knife involved.

00:19:44.495 –> 00:19:48.335
Yeah, he had the knife out, and he was actually trying to use it as an intimidating

00:19:48.335 –> 00:19:51.675
thing to tell me. And he’s like, tell me, hey, give me your wallet type thing.

00:19:51.715 –> 00:19:53.475
And I told him he can go pound town. Gotcha.

00:19:53.935 –> 00:19:58.435
And so he cut at me. Yeah. And that’s where it kind of went from there, right? Yeah.

00:19:58.855 –> 00:20:02.475
Kind of some super simple, super short, kind of ridiculous.

00:20:03.695 –> 00:20:07.055
But I was slightly drunk and just didn’t care.

00:20:07.695 –> 00:20:12.595
Yeah. So, yeah, that was, you know, we talked about that, too.

00:20:12.755 –> 00:20:15.415
And, you know, I’m thinking to myself, all right, well, you know,

00:20:15.415 –> 00:20:19.035
we talk about the self-defense world. How do you stay out of these types of

00:20:19.035 –> 00:20:20.535
things in the first place, right?

00:20:20.635 –> 00:20:24.895
One guy woke up from a bad trip and got the drop on you because,

00:20:25.055 –> 00:20:27.055
you know, nobody saw the knife coming.

00:20:27.215 –> 00:20:32.475
And the next time a guy threatens you with a blade and actually is willing to use it.

00:20:32.535 –> 00:20:36.195
And, of course, you saw that one coming but maybe didn’t think that he was serious

00:20:36.195 –> 00:20:37.975
about it or it happened so fast.

00:20:38.115 –> 00:20:41.455
Oh, you are going to use the blade, right? But in both of those scenarios,

00:20:41.695 –> 00:20:47.395
what would you have done differently and what do you think could have happened to maybe not get cut?

00:20:48.035 –> 00:20:52.135
Sometimes it’s unavoidable, right? But what would you have done differently, do you think?

00:20:53.475 –> 00:20:56.115
Honestly, with the guy who stuck me in the leg.

00:20:57.754 –> 00:21:01.054
Probably should have just stepped back as soon as they administered the Narcan,

00:21:01.134 –> 00:21:04.714
but we were thinking that he was going to be docile and kind of,

00:21:04.714 –> 00:21:07.334
you know, we could just kind of get him up and get him out.

00:21:07.934 –> 00:21:10.854
Hey, man, you doing okay? We’re just going to take you outside and kind of go

00:21:10.854 –> 00:21:14.634
from there and let them sort them out. But it escalated to what it did.

00:21:15.294 –> 00:21:18.534
I mean, it was really just kind of being aware of the situation.

00:21:18.654 –> 00:21:22.694
We really didn’t have a whole lot of wiggle room, in all honesty.

00:21:22.694 –> 00:21:28.854
But the second one definitely could have been me, you know, being a little more aware.

00:21:29.394 –> 00:21:35.474
But even then, I mean, walking, if you’re ever in Denver, there’s like a certain

00:21:35.474 –> 00:21:43.034
hour, like right when the bars close, everyone’s exiting the areas and kind of going like that.

00:21:43.074 –> 00:21:45.594
I was already on foot. I wasn’t like driving or anything.

00:21:45.754 –> 00:21:51.954
Yeah. I actually was, my parents actually lived close enough to downtown Denver that I could walk.

00:21:51.954 –> 00:21:54.954
Sure so i i was i i

00:21:54.954 –> 00:21:59.074
wasn’t like sloppy drunk but i wasn’t fully engaged

00:21:59.074 –> 00:22:01.934
in looking at my surroundings because i’d done this thing

00:22:01.934 –> 00:22:07.394
done that walk a few times didn’t have to have any worries and i figured it

00:22:07.394 –> 00:22:15.254
would be another night like that turned out i was just mistaken i would i would

00:22:15.254 –> 00:22:21.374
say that having good situational awareness yeah is is a main staple i mean that’s,

00:22:21.954 –> 00:22:29.034
If you’re aware of people around you, you’re probably able to kind of get a better idea that, OK,

00:22:29.234 –> 00:22:33.934
I’m going to go this way and kind of avoid them or like get off their track

00:22:33.934 –> 00:22:37.534
or kind of not appear to be as an easy target.

00:22:39.408 –> 00:22:46.008
The thing that’s kind of growing in downtown Denver, I mean,

00:22:46.048 –> 00:22:50.568
that area, it’s turned into a damn madhouse, especially in the evening.

00:22:51.348 –> 00:22:59.008
So you really have to be on your A-game. Paying attention. Like getting out at night. Yeah.

00:22:59.388 –> 00:23:02.888
It’s been several years. If you’re not going from the bar to a thing,

00:23:03.028 –> 00:23:08.408
to a car or taxi, Uber, whatever, and then going, then you don’t know whatever.

00:23:08.408 –> 00:23:10.828
But if you’re not, be in a group of people.

00:23:11.448 –> 00:23:14.568
Yeah. It’s been several years since I’ve been out there.

00:23:14.628 –> 00:23:17.108
I had a buddy of mine that lived there for a number of years,

00:23:17.148 –> 00:23:22.388
and I’d go out every, sometimes every year, but probably every two or so and hang out.

00:23:22.428 –> 00:23:24.768
And we’d hit the bar district down there.

00:23:24.868 –> 00:23:30.908
And we never had any problems directly ourselves, but we were also making sure

00:23:30.908 –> 00:23:32.688
we stayed in the populated areas.

00:23:33.168 –> 00:23:36.928
But I do know that gangs were getting to be more and more of an issue.

00:23:36.928 –> 00:23:39.808
You and of course you know I heard about some shootings or

00:23:39.808 –> 00:23:42.628
whatever but I haven’t been out there for some time

00:23:42.628 –> 00:23:46.408
I’ve still got some people I know out that way but it’s

00:23:46.408 –> 00:23:49.588
probably like a lot of metropolitan areas probably getting to

00:23:49.588 –> 00:23:56.848
be rougher and rougher in some cases yeah and the actual kind of dynamic of

00:23:56.848 –> 00:24:01.888
Denver is different than the rest of the state like you can have a concealed

00:24:01.888 –> 00:24:06.548
carry permit in the in the county of Denver however you

00:24:06.928 –> 00:24:11.008
Like there’s so many other regulations in law that basically say you can’t carry it downtown.

00:24:11.908 –> 00:24:14.528
Yeah, probably because I’m not boring stuff.

00:24:15.348 –> 00:24:21.268
Oh Yeah, that was a big part of it but like just even in general I my dad’s

00:24:21.268 –> 00:24:23.748
been mugged twice he works downtown and,

00:24:24.528 –> 00:24:29.068
He couldn’t have his his own pistol on him So you just give his wallet could

00:24:29.068 –> 00:24:32.988
tell guys get that away, you know, or you know Yeah, tell him to leave him alone.

00:24:33.188 –> 00:24:36.888
It’s like here you got my wallet and then he’s immediately you know getting

00:24:36.888 –> 00:24:40.888
away from the scene and having to deal with those things i mean it in the two

00:24:40.888 –> 00:24:46.108
times that it did happen he was you know like jumped by two people,

00:24:46.608 –> 00:24:49.668
they both armed with guns pointing them at his at him

00:24:49.668 –> 00:24:54.048
telling to give him his wallet phone and everything like that so he he chose

00:24:54.048 –> 00:25:01.608
the path of least least resistance which i’m grateful that he did yeah because

00:25:01.608 –> 00:25:05.308
if it was me i’d be like oh no we’re gonna brawl let’s do this but then again

00:25:05.308 –> 00:25:08.688
And that’s just because I’m a stubborn ass Marine type.

00:25:08.768 –> 00:25:11.068
I mean, that’s that mindset never left me. Right.

00:25:11.208 –> 00:25:18.108
I’m a, I’m stubborn to the core and I’m, I’m okay with dying,

00:25:18.288 –> 00:25:20.048
but I’m going to take them with me.

00:25:20.068 –> 00:25:24.188
Sure. But you know, that’s not the, that’s not the best mindset to ever have

00:25:24.188 –> 00:25:26.688
in all honesty. I mean, even as a parent.

00:25:27.148 –> 00:25:29.808
Yeah. Go home, go home safe. It.

00:25:31.180 –> 00:25:38.860
Yeah. Yeah. It’s far better to go home safe and intact and trying to stroke your ego.

00:25:39.100 –> 00:25:45.080
Well, I think, you know, if I had to make a positive, put that in a positive

00:25:45.080 –> 00:25:48.180
light for a moment, I think, you know, when it comes to self-defense,

00:25:48.340 –> 00:25:52.900
especially if you are presented the opportunity to use a blade or whatever,

00:25:53.060 –> 00:25:55.880
mindset really is going to play an important part of that.

00:25:55.880 –> 00:26:00.460
And, you know, we talk about grit and having perseverance and,

00:26:00.520 –> 00:26:06.620
you know, the ability to envision you making yourself, making it through a bad

00:26:06.620 –> 00:26:08.800
situation and coming out on the other side.

00:26:08.860 –> 00:26:12.880
I think that sort of mindset can be positive for you.

00:26:13.120 –> 00:26:18.120
So kind of circling this back around to the using knives and self-defense scenarios,

00:26:18.440 –> 00:26:21.360
we’ve kind of talked about a couple of bad things that have happened to you.

00:26:21.360 –> 00:26:27.420
And, you know, some common commonalities are is you need to maintain that situational

00:26:27.420 –> 00:26:31.380
awareness like you do the rest of the time. They can come on fast.

00:26:32.100 –> 00:26:35.900
They can be used and you not even realize it initially.

00:26:36.520 –> 00:26:41.380
And one thing that I heard years ago, and maybe you can confirm or deny,

00:26:41.640 –> 00:26:46.080
but if I had to summarize it, I was told years ago that if someone’s got a knife,

00:26:46.080 –> 00:26:48.860
especially if they pull you pull a knife on

00:26:48.860 –> 00:26:51.520
you and you see them got that knife and pull it on you

00:26:51.520 –> 00:26:54.300
they’re probably more willing to use it than

00:26:54.300 –> 00:26:59.520
the next guy and that’s something you need to be pretty aware of too i i heard

00:26:59.520 –> 00:27:02.220
that years ago i don’t even remember who told me that but if they’re willing

00:27:02.220 –> 00:27:05.940
to carry a knife and if they’ve got it drawn on you they’re probably willing

00:27:05.940 –> 00:27:12.260
to use it on you too and that’s something that you know you got to be prepared for oh yeah definitely.

00:27:13.600 –> 00:27:18.640
Apparently, that guy that I got into the thing with, he had been wanted for

00:27:18.640 –> 00:27:22.540
more than a dozen armed robberies.

00:27:22.540 –> 00:27:25.420
And he actually did stab one of the guys. He wasn’t afraid.

00:27:25.840 –> 00:27:29.920
Like full boat. And he put the guy in the hospital, kind of stabbed.

00:27:30.060 –> 00:27:31.860
He was ready to rock and roll.

00:27:32.120 –> 00:27:37.160
So cordiality on my end, obviously. But we go right back to the thing.

00:27:37.240 –> 00:27:39.960
It’s intent. intent yeah if you

00:27:39.960 –> 00:27:43.120
have intent you will do it your mindset

00:27:43.120 –> 00:27:47.220
says yay or nay that fight

00:27:47.220 –> 00:27:50.860
flight or freeze if you want to play the play that card a little bit but it’s

00:27:50.860 –> 00:27:54.660
yeah it’s all about the intent whether or not you’re willing to go that extra

00:27:54.660 –> 00:28:00.020
mile it’s like no you’re not taking what i’ve earned or here you can have it

00:28:00.020 –> 00:28:03.880
i can replace it yeah it all kind of comes down to that kind of.

00:28:04.903 –> 00:28:07.903
Thought process i think yeah you know the thing about

00:28:07.903 –> 00:28:10.643
knives and playing with knives and

00:28:10.643 –> 00:28:14.383
especially if you’re going to use a knife hopefully for good you know defending

00:28:14.383 –> 00:28:19.103
yourself which is what we’re talking about here is that it’s a very personal

00:28:19.103 –> 00:28:24.583
activity right you’ve got to be very close it’s not long or longer range like

00:28:24.583 –> 00:28:28.383
a firearm might be if you’re opting to carry that or even something Something is,

00:28:28.423 –> 00:28:34.843
you know, I say benign, but something less lethal like OC spray where you’ve got some distance.

00:28:35.583 –> 00:28:39.843
Knives are very, very personal. I mean, you got to be up close and up front

00:28:39.843 –> 00:28:41.143
and it’s going to be messy.

00:28:41.803 –> 00:28:47.463
What is really the viability of, you know, I always emphasize training when

00:28:47.463 –> 00:28:50.943
it comes to whether it’s empty hand or firearms.

00:28:51.063 –> 00:28:54.543
But I assume it’s going to be the same sort of thing for blades.

00:28:54.543 –> 00:29:00.843
But what is the viability of average Joe or average Mary opting to carry a knife?

00:29:00.963 –> 00:29:04.923
And what advice would you give them if they’re going to opt to carry a blade

00:29:04.923 –> 00:29:10.923
as a maybe not their primary go to, but just as an option? What should they be thinking about?

00:29:11.083 –> 00:29:14.503
What should they be aware of? And what should they keep in consideration in

00:29:14.503 –> 00:29:17.683
the back of their mind if they’re going to try to use a blade for self-defense?

00:29:18.263 –> 00:29:23.723
Well, first of all, study your local state laws. Like, that’s a huge thing.

00:29:24.543 –> 00:29:31.283
Know the laws in regards to a fixed blade or a folder, whatever the laws are

00:29:31.283 –> 00:29:34.163
for where you’re at. Know the laws.

00:29:35.463 –> 00:29:37.623
It’s the same even if you’re carrying a gun.

00:29:39.243 –> 00:29:47.803
Know those laws and understand what implications come with using them in a self-defense situation.

00:29:47.923 –> 00:29:52.983
So if you’re going to be, say, carrying a three-inch blade, we’ll just make

00:29:52.983 –> 00:29:54.183
it kind of a general thing here.

00:29:54.543 –> 00:29:58.663
Be it a folder or fixed blade, say you’re carrying that three inch blade with

00:29:58.663 –> 00:30:01.183
you everywhere you go and it’s perfectly legal, everything like that.

00:30:01.203 –> 00:30:02.943
But then the second you use it on someone,

00:30:03.913 –> 00:30:09.673
Because they were trying to rob you or abduct you or whatever the situation may be.

00:30:10.653 –> 00:30:15.713
My advice would be to understand that when you use that weapon,

00:30:15.793 –> 00:30:19.133
you need to actually, it’s not even a weapon, it’s a tool.

00:30:20.013 –> 00:30:23.393
Because your mindset is going to be the one that dictates.

00:30:24.633 –> 00:30:28.053
That’s right there. That mind is your actual weapon.

00:30:28.133 –> 00:30:31.493
It’s a tool. to understand that there’s going

00:30:31.493 –> 00:30:34.173
to be the fight on the street and then there’s going to be the fight in

00:30:34.173 –> 00:30:37.313
the courtroom but when you you know

00:30:37.313 –> 00:30:42.393
like when you feel it in your bones you’re like i don’t want to die and they’re

00:30:42.393 –> 00:30:47.853
presenting that like they’re going to try to kill you you get them first then

00:30:47.853 –> 00:30:56.473
understand your fight’s not over yeah when you when you initiate and apply that killer or intense,

00:30:56.653 –> 00:31:02.233
you’re going to have to have more than one fight, or if you’re lucky, and you,

00:31:03.033 –> 00:31:07.773
got one bad dude, you weren’t sure if he died or not, but you were able to get away and.

00:31:08.933 –> 00:31:12.673
Find help or anything like that, and then they find the guy dead somewhere else,

00:31:12.753 –> 00:31:14.333
be like, hey, yeah, he attacked me,

00:31:15.247 –> 00:31:19.087
I felt a general danger to

00:31:19.087 –> 00:31:21.947
my well-being and my life and I acted

00:31:21.947 –> 00:31:24.627
accordingly and you understand I guess this is

00:31:24.627 –> 00:31:29.747
what I used or you ditch it like I and if the guy didn’t have a knife or anything

00:31:29.747 –> 00:31:33.387
on him when they found him dead he’d be like yeah I took his knife from him

00:31:33.387 –> 00:31:39.787
and seven and I ran through the knife somewhere and in my in my haste yeah or

00:31:39.787 –> 00:31:42.707
however you want to phrase it you know Kind of building that kind of thing.

00:31:43.007 –> 00:31:49.787
Yeah. So that it’s always going to be more than one kind of altercation you have to worry about.

00:31:50.007 –> 00:31:54.187
Yeah. And so that’s the common thing, I think, what we’re saying between if

00:31:54.187 –> 00:32:00.627
you opted to use a blade in self-defense or a firearm, that is a commonality they both share.

00:32:00.927 –> 00:32:04.047
Because we say that all the time in the firearms community.

00:32:04.407 –> 00:32:07.527
Know your local laws. laws know that

00:32:07.527 –> 00:32:10.767
even if you get through from a criminal perspective

00:32:10.767 –> 00:32:14.327
assuming you’ve met the reasonable man jury criteria

00:32:14.327 –> 00:32:18.007
that they use to judge the outcome that you’re

00:32:18.007 –> 00:32:23.147
likely going to have to deal with civil and you know if you get up and run away

00:32:23.147 –> 00:32:28.047
that’s great but you should also probably be the one to call 9-1-1 and just

00:32:28.047 –> 00:32:32.747
know that saying i feared for my life is not just an automatic get out of jail

00:32:32.747 –> 00:32:35.907
card you’re still going to have to go through that reasonable man jury.

00:32:36.487 –> 00:32:41.047
And meet or address all the criteria that they have for that we’re not trying

00:32:41.047 –> 00:32:47.107
to give legal advice here but the point is is that legalities and being certain

00:32:47.107 –> 00:32:51.787
that you can respond the way you need to and understand what the legal ramifications

00:32:51.787 –> 00:32:53.487
are and what you should do.

00:32:54.147 –> 00:32:59.767
Is is very important so i think that’s some great advice certainly uh whatever

00:32:59.767 –> 00:33:05.247
things should they They be prepared for if they opt to use blades and self-defense.

00:33:05.807 –> 00:33:07.387
Be prepared for a lot of blood.

00:33:08.367 –> 00:33:11.707
No. Yeah. The obvious. Be prepared for that level of gore.

00:33:13.177 –> 00:33:17.937
That’s a great point because as soon as you as soon as you step like you can

00:33:17.937 –> 00:33:22.877
you and i say we could get into a fist fight but the second one of us deploys

00:33:22.877 –> 00:33:25.577
a knife you are immediately changing,

00:33:26.737 –> 00:33:30.437
the that person’s bodily condition say

00:33:30.437 –> 00:33:33.077
because you can get into a fist fight and wake up the next day and be like yeah

00:33:33.077 –> 00:33:36.497
whatever i was in a fist fight but as

00:33:36.497 –> 00:33:42.737
soon as you stab someone else you are immediately decreasing their value of

00:33:42.737 –> 00:33:49.037
life you’re causing them to bleed so it’s just like having oil in a motor you

00:33:49.037 –> 00:33:53.077
know when all the oil runs out it stops yeah right so,

00:33:53.637 –> 00:33:57.617
you’re prepared for a lot of blood and it comes fast and it happens quickly

00:33:57.617 –> 00:34:05.497
if you’ve done your job right oh yeah i know there’s plenty of medical documentations

00:34:05.497 –> 00:34:11.157
on how exsanguination Extinguination works on people in an average.

00:34:11.837 –> 00:34:14.017
Sometimes it’s quicker. Sometimes it takes longer.

00:34:15.657 –> 00:34:19.597
But today, exinguination is exinguination.

00:34:19.797 –> 00:34:24.037
Be prepared for that kind of mess. And you may even lose your knife because your hands get wet.

00:34:24.357 –> 00:34:26.417
Yeah. Yeah, that’s another good point too.

00:34:27.017 –> 00:34:30.417
A whole other kind of situation.

00:34:30.517 –> 00:34:34.077
Say you stuck the guy a couple of times, your hands are covered in blood.

00:34:34.077 –> 00:34:37.097
And say you get

00:34:37.097 –> 00:34:41.857
cut too in that section too because that’s another thing when the knife is involved

00:34:41.857 –> 00:34:46.837
whether you’re the one who’s using it or they are always be prepared to be either

00:34:46.837 –> 00:34:52.477
cut or stabbed as well yeah you know never going to be in a dueling kind of

00:34:52.477 –> 00:34:57.017
fashion it’s going to be in an ambush or counter ambush yeah back and forth have that kind of.

00:34:57.918 –> 00:35:01.598
Have that kind of understanding with it. Yeah, that’s a really good point too.

00:35:01.798 –> 00:35:06.918
You know, I’ve done a tiny bit of knife defense in my limited Krav Maga experience.

00:35:07.198 –> 00:35:12.118
And that’s the one thing that fortunately a lot of instructors do a good job

00:35:12.118 –> 00:35:16.338
in emphasizing is, look, if you get into a knife fight or you get into a brawl

00:35:16.338 –> 00:35:19.558
where a knife’s involved, you can just assume you’re going to get cut.

00:35:19.998 –> 00:35:23.178
It’s about how little you get away with being cut.

00:35:24.058 –> 00:35:27.018
But if a knife gets involved, you’re probably going to get cut.

00:35:27.178 –> 00:35:32.578
It doesn’t matter who you are. On a related note, I heard this years ago,

00:35:32.638 –> 00:35:35.758
and I hear things, and I remember the things I hear, but the problem with me

00:35:35.758 –> 00:35:39.178
is I never remember who first said them to me or where I heard it.

00:35:39.578 –> 00:35:43.438
But I remember, I think I was actually reading a forum, and it may have been

00:35:43.438 –> 00:35:48.158
Krav related, or I may have just been reading miscellaneous martial arts forums

00:35:48.158 –> 00:35:49.438
as I’ve done over the years.

00:35:49.518 –> 00:35:54.318
But a gentleman said, he said He said something, in fact, and I can’t quote

00:35:54.318 –> 00:35:59.058
exactly, but he said, there’s no such thing as a knife expert,

00:35:59.338 –> 00:36:04.118
a knife fighting expert, because if there were, they would probably all be dead.

00:36:04.898 –> 00:36:09.398
What do you think? Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah. I 100% agree.

00:36:09.398 –> 00:36:13.078
Agree when it comes to having those

00:36:13.078 –> 00:36:16.958
kind of engagements you really want

00:36:16.958 –> 00:36:20.658
to limit how many of them you have because in

00:36:20.658 –> 00:36:23.538
one way or another like we

00:36:23.538 –> 00:36:26.298
just said if you’re in a knife fight be prepared to get

00:36:26.298 –> 00:36:29.038
cut or stabbed it happens even with people

00:36:29.038 –> 00:36:32.698
who are very well versed with an eye yeah um

00:36:32.698 –> 00:36:35.878
you can be on that receiving

00:36:35.878 –> 00:36:39.758
end and it will be your last so there’s

00:36:39.758 –> 00:36:42.438
some guys who step away from everything like that and try to

00:36:42.438 –> 00:36:46.098
do their very best not to get into those situations because they’ve seen it

00:36:46.098 –> 00:36:52.758
enough or they’ve killed enough people to know that this isn’t something where

00:36:52.758 –> 00:36:59.278
you come out on top you have to kind of understand your limitations as a person

00:36:59.278 –> 00:37:01.838
mentally physically physically, emotionally, everything.

00:37:02.498 –> 00:37:06.878
And you have to know when it is good to step away from that kind of lifestyle.

00:37:07.018 –> 00:37:12.178
Because if it starts becoming very normal for you, and you just have no care

00:37:12.178 –> 00:37:17.618
in the world of how your engagements go or anything like that, you need to step away.

00:37:18.713 –> 00:37:23.453
But you don’t. That’s where that’s that’s when you get complacent and you die.

00:37:23.593 –> 00:37:26.313
Well, hopefully you’re in self-defense scenarios.

00:37:26.493 –> 00:37:30.393
You’re avoiding being in repetitive scenarios where those sorts of things are

00:37:30.393 –> 00:37:33.233
happening on an ongoing or regular basis anyway.

00:37:33.433 –> 00:37:36.113
But that’s certainly a good point. If you do get to that point,

00:37:36.233 –> 00:37:40.253
you’re visiting the same roughneck bar every weekend and getting cut every other

00:37:40.253 –> 00:37:44.853
month and you haven’t decided to back away and not visit that bar again,

00:37:45.033 –> 00:37:47.453
then you do need to keep yourself in check.

00:37:47.453 –> 00:37:51.013
And if you’re not backing away for the normal reasons you should be,

00:37:51.133 –> 00:37:56.313
then maybe that’s cause to consider a lifestyle change, if nothing else.

00:37:56.873 –> 00:38:03.633
So if if someone that again, we’re talking about the average Joe and average Mary here possibly.

00:38:04.433 –> 00:38:09.073
And we’ve gotten past, you know, we’re comfortable or just have accepted the

00:38:09.073 –> 00:38:14.533
legal ramifications about using deadly force, using a blade, you know, the normal.

00:38:14.533 –> 00:38:17.853
And it doesn’t really change between using a knife or a gun.

00:38:17.953 –> 00:38:19.473
It’s that escalated force.

00:38:19.593 –> 00:38:24.873
It’s the level of force being used and the type of damage that level of force can be used.

00:38:25.053 –> 00:38:28.213
If we’re comfortable with that, we think we’re okay with blood.

00:38:28.553 –> 00:38:32.373
We’re okay being close. We’re okay with the fact that I’m probably not going

00:38:32.373 –> 00:38:37.693
to see or fill a knife initially, and I still think I want to include it.

00:38:37.733 –> 00:38:42.193
Maybe it’s my primary go-to tool, but certainly maybe a secondary.

00:38:42.193 –> 00:38:47.893
You know, all of us guys carry a folder in our pockets around the clock, like most guys should.

00:38:49.033 –> 00:38:52.553
What, what would you get? What advice would you give for someone starting out

00:38:52.553 –> 00:38:55.893
now? I know you make knives, but what’s a good option for someone?

00:38:56.093 –> 00:39:01.253
Should they really rely on a folder? Should they carry a fixed if they think they want to?

00:39:02.375 –> 00:39:05.715
What what’s a good place to start yeah i’m sure you are.

00:39:08.195 –> 00:39:11.475
I’m a little biased in that regard you don’t have any folders do you,

00:39:13.115 –> 00:39:20.835
no i do not i i am not a very big supporter of folding knives because just like

00:39:20.835 –> 00:39:27.055
in any anything there’s gross motor skills fine motor skills yeah that’s an

00:39:27.055 –> 00:39:27.935
excellent point too too.

00:39:28.575 –> 00:39:31.535
And folders require some fine motor skill.

00:39:32.155 –> 00:39:35.835
Yeah. Just like holding your knife tip up. That is something that is taught.

00:39:36.075 –> 00:39:42.035
Yeah. It is not something that is hereditary because like, even as infants,

00:39:42.075 –> 00:39:46.355
we, we will grasp something and it’ll be tipped down no matter what it is.

00:39:46.735 –> 00:39:52.275
Cause that is the most natural. That is what our DNA dictates.

00:39:52.315 –> 00:39:55.735
That’s what our programming is on that level.

00:39:56.155 –> 00:39:59.275
So being, more towards a

00:39:59.275 –> 00:40:03.055
fifth blade gross motor skill yeah easy

00:40:03.055 –> 00:40:05.895
to deploy and that’s an excellent point because i’ve

00:40:05.895 –> 00:40:10.775
always heard or generally heard that fixed is the way to go but the point of

00:40:10.775 –> 00:40:14.355
you know remembering that when you’re under stress and you’ve got that heart

00:40:14.355 –> 00:40:20.135
rate go up and that adrenaline dump out you’ve got tunnel vision you have auditory

00:40:20.135 –> 00:40:23.755
exclusion and your fine motor skills go out the window,

00:40:23.915 –> 00:40:28.175
so you’re not going to be able to get that little thumb knot on that nice little

00:40:28.175 –> 00:40:29.675
folder you’ve got in your pocket.

00:40:30.635 –> 00:40:34.435
That’s a good point for fixed in the first place. Yeah.

00:40:34.575 –> 00:40:38.155
Even then, if you have like the Emerson Wave type of kind of thing where you

00:40:38.155 –> 00:40:41.775
can pull it and it automatically deploys, you still have that ratchet.

00:40:42.275 –> 00:40:46.835
That thing can fail. That’s one of my biggest reasons why I hate CO copy knife,

00:40:46.975 –> 00:40:51.815
because that ratchet will fail, but that’s also a big reason why a lot of those gangsters.

00:40:52.832 –> 00:40:55.972
Would have it edge in and tip down so they’re relying

00:40:55.972 –> 00:40:59.172
on that gross motor skill being tipped

00:40:59.172 –> 00:41:02.412
down being able to do the hammer fist type motion stuff like

00:41:02.412 –> 00:41:08.092
that yeah and if that blade fails when you stick something it’s gonna crank

00:41:08.092 –> 00:41:13.392
basically you’re gonna be going from having a straight piece to suddenly like

00:41:13.392 –> 00:41:18.492
a 90 degree angle or something like that it’s gonna bend away from you if that

00:41:18.492 –> 00:41:20.652
locking mechanism fails.

00:41:20.752 –> 00:41:24.892
Yep, fold back on you, and then you’ve done yourself some damage. Yeah.

00:41:25.492 –> 00:41:33.012
I mean, having it go its way, I mean, you’re going to have a deal with,

00:41:33.072 –> 00:41:37.112
you know, oh, crap, I just cut myself instead, and my knife doesn’t work anymore.

00:41:37.572 –> 00:41:41.552
So folders, I don’t prescribe to them at all.

00:41:41.872 –> 00:41:47.752
Fair enough. I will stick with my fixed blades because it’s instant ready to go.

00:41:48.232 –> 00:41:54.612
And the second it’s out of sheath, it’s in action. Yeah. It doesn’t matter if it’s edge in, edge out.

00:41:55.032 –> 00:41:58.452
It doesn’t matter. And you don’t have to think about cutting your fingers so

00:41:58.452 –> 00:42:01.132
much, at least with it collapsing back on you anyway.

00:42:02.032 –> 00:42:05.252
Yeah. And if it cuts your fingers, it means you didn’t grab your handle tight

00:42:05.252 –> 00:42:07.692
enough. Right. Kind of having that thought, too.

00:42:09.352 –> 00:42:14.152
You deploy things with all that adrenaline, everything going on,

00:42:14.252 –> 00:42:17.012
and the fine motor skill goes out the window.

00:42:17.272 –> 00:42:23.792
Yeah. I know you can cut somebody a bunch, but they’re going to still be whatever

00:42:23.792 –> 00:42:28.952
percentage combat effective against you if you’re having to use your knife to defend yourself.

00:42:29.232 –> 00:42:33.432
Still takes, even if you got them good, it still takes several minutes for them to bleed out.

00:42:33.832 –> 00:42:38.472
Yeah. And that’s why if you’re going in, just stab.

00:42:39.652 –> 00:42:44.132
Because what I’ve seen and learned from other things like Libre,

00:42:44.212 –> 00:42:47.252
Kali, and stuff like that, they like to cut their arteries,

00:42:47.432 –> 00:42:54.832
cut tendons, do a lot of ripping motions, and target non-primary organs.

00:42:55.172 –> 00:42:59.252
I mean, you’ll go for kidney, liver, eyes, and stuff like that, too.

00:42:59.632 –> 00:43:04.272
Which is all fine and dandy. I absolutely think it’s great. If it works for

00:43:04.272 –> 00:43:05.432
you, then absolutely do it.

00:43:07.146 –> 00:43:11.226
With Piper, that I’ve learned, we have one target, and it’s the heart.

00:43:11.886 –> 00:43:15.666
Everything else is tertiary when it comes to an engagement.

00:43:16.046 –> 00:43:21.266
Yeah. While it’s finding the… If you stop the motor an inch or two right below

00:43:21.266 –> 00:43:25.606
the left nipple or right into the side.

00:43:26.126 –> 00:43:29.366
Yeah. You go between the fourth and fifth intercostal space,

00:43:29.686 –> 00:43:31.146
leads you right to the heart.

00:43:31.286 –> 00:43:36.006
There you go. Or you stab straight in into there or right above the clavicle

00:43:36.006 –> 00:43:40.366
or below the clavicle into subclavian artery.

00:43:40.786 –> 00:43:46.046
Sure. Causes very rapid exsanguination. Yeah.

00:43:46.786 –> 00:43:51.506
That massive trauma. And it decreases that. Yep. And it decreases that time.

00:43:52.026 –> 00:43:56.546
You have to wait for your threat to not be a threat. Right.

00:43:57.146 –> 00:44:00.926
So, you know, it’s like firearm training, martial arts, whatever.

00:44:00.926 –> 00:44:04.846
It’s about finding the school you’re most comfortable with and philosophies

00:44:04.846 –> 00:44:09.666
or approaches that, you know, set the light bulbs off to you or resonate with

00:44:09.666 –> 00:44:11.406
you and what you’re trying to do.

00:44:11.706 –> 00:44:16.166
Just in thinking about wrapping things up here, what would be at this point?

00:44:16.246 –> 00:44:19.226
We’ve talked about a lot of different things. What would be your number one

00:44:19.226 –> 00:44:23.666
pointer for someone considering having or and or more importantly,

00:44:23.706 –> 00:44:26.506
using a blade for self-defense? Would you say?

00:44:26.906 –> 00:44:30.786
Be prepared to use it. I think that’s like one of the biggest things right there.

00:44:30.926 –> 00:44:35.106
Because if you’re not prepared to use what you have to defend yourself or defend

00:44:35.106 –> 00:44:37.146
those around you, don’t carry it.

00:44:37.646 –> 00:44:43.546
If you don’t feel comfortable with applying that level of force to preserve

00:44:43.546 –> 00:44:45.006
yourself or someone else.

00:44:46.072 –> 00:44:53.672
Don’t don’t step into that into that ring don’t do many people have is when

00:44:53.672 –> 00:44:59.192
like yeah i i can i’ll carry a gun with me and people leave me alone no that’s not the case at all,

00:44:59.832 –> 00:45:04.992
so i mean having having the tool and not having the willingness to use that tool will get you,

00:45:05.752 –> 00:45:11.392
hurt or killed yeah i think that’s a another excellent point you’ve made no

00:45:11.392 –> 00:45:18.472
know the legal ramifications and know whether or not you’re going to be willing to use it.

00:45:18.512 –> 00:45:21.352
Cause if you’re not, you don’t need to be doing it in the first place.

00:45:21.352 –> 00:45:25.392
And you know, those are two common, not only have a great pieces of advice for,

00:45:25.492 –> 00:45:27.472
you know, knife handling,

00:45:27.612 –> 00:45:32.352
but it’s the two things that are definitely in common with the firearms world

00:45:32.352 –> 00:45:34.472
as well. So that’s good stuff.

00:45:34.712 –> 00:45:37.872
How can they find you if they want to know more about silver line?

00:45:37.872 –> 00:45:40.752
Because i’ve got one of your mongooses i

00:45:40.752 –> 00:45:44.152
still my favorite fixed blade i love that thing a

00:45:44.152 –> 00:45:46.932
little strobbing i did with it and it’s i’ve cut myself

00:45:46.932 –> 00:45:50.332
more than once it’s sharp it’s good stuff where can

00:45:50.332 –> 00:45:56.052
they find you yeah it was it’s funny now it wasn’t time it wasn’t at the time

00:45:56.052 –> 00:46:01.572
i did it oh don’t feel too bad i’ve cut myself more than i care to mention with

00:46:01.572 –> 00:46:05.232
my knives i mean other than an occupational hazard but just even in training

00:46:05.232 –> 00:46:10.132
how to use my weapon yeah a tool I call it a tool.

00:46:11.612 –> 00:46:17.632
You guys can actually find me on Silverline underscore knife underscore designs on Instagram.

00:46:18.332 –> 00:46:22.032
Or you can just type up Silverline Knife Designs on Facebook and you can find

00:46:22.032 –> 00:46:25.252
me on there. I have a users and collectors page on there as well.

00:46:25.852 –> 00:46:30.872
When it comes to getting a specific model, you’ve got to let me know.

00:46:31.052 –> 00:46:33.632
If you want something custom, we can talk about it.

00:46:33.992 –> 00:46:39.992
I have quite a few knives right now that are in various stages of being complete.

00:46:39.992 –> 00:46:49.232
And my prices kind of are kind of fixed right now and i’m not going to lower my price but i’m not.

00:46:50.332 –> 00:46:55.172
Extravagantly expensive i’m i like to say that i’m very affordable i think based

00:46:55.172 –> 00:46:58.612
on a lot of the custom blades that are out there on the market your price is

00:46:58.612 –> 00:47:04.452
very reasonable for for what you’re getting i’ll say that yeah i was just gonna

00:47:04.452 –> 00:47:08.552
say yeah i i i try to make a good good knife,

00:47:09.232 –> 00:47:11.072
for, you know, the common folk.

00:47:11.732 –> 00:47:17.732
Yep. If it costs over $300, you’re not going to use it as often, right?

00:47:17.852 –> 00:47:21.812
And I like to have my knives in people’s hands that will use them.

00:47:22.052 –> 00:47:28.752
Well, if you’re like me, I’m afraid to use and mess up anything super expensive.

00:47:28.872 –> 00:47:32.512
So a knife I like to use. So it’s great.

00:47:33.092 –> 00:47:36.812
So Nathan, this has been great. I appreciate your time. Thanks for coming on.

00:47:36.812 –> 00:47:40.692
Hopefully, people can make a decision for themselves whether or not a blade

00:47:40.692 –> 00:47:44.392
is something they want to consider in their self-defense tool arsenal,

00:47:44.752 –> 00:47:47.772
whether or not they think it’s something they can do or are prepared to do.

00:47:48.132 –> 00:47:51.232
But I think we’ve had a good talk, and I appreciate you coming on here.

00:47:53.172 –> 00:47:58.332
Yeah, thank you again for having me on. I really, really appreciated it,

00:47:58.412 –> 00:48:02.272
and I’m glad that I was able to answer some questions that you had.

00:48:02.272 –> 00:48:09.552
And hopefully more folks will approach either you or myself for any further

00:48:09.552 –> 00:48:10.592
questions that they may have.

00:48:10.772 –> 00:48:17.832
I mean, we touched on quite a few topics here. So I’m always one for going more

00:48:17.832 –> 00:48:20.452
in-depth with folks if they really want a more in-depth answer.

00:48:21.272 –> 00:48:27.512
I’m available pretty much 24-7. I tend to work 20-hour days when I’m in my shop anyway.

00:48:27.692 –> 00:48:30.252
So you guys can always reach me at any time.

00:48:30.852 –> 00:48:35.792
Well this has been great you guys uh thanks so much nathan and be sure to check

00:48:35.792 –> 00:48:38.232
out silver line knife designs thanks so much.

00:48:38.800 –> 00:48:57.813
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