I have been debating for a long time now if I would ever need to start carrying a knife or knives with my EDC. It was a fear of mine to carry a knife. Not because I may have to use it, but because I saw myself getting into a knife fight. I thought about it. I mean, I really thought about it. Pretty much everything I have seen which uses a knife is against someone else that uses a knife. I told myself, why would I every use a knife when I carry a gun. If I am beyond two arms reach, I will do “Shooting in Motion” from Combat Focus Shooting. Now when I am within one arms reach that might change the tactic I use.
I was too worried about getting in a knife fight with a knife fighter or with someone who trains a lot with knives. The likelihood of that happening is very low, but still possible. Now that problem is out of the way, I asked myself, why do I need to carry a knife? The more I talked with my brother Ian Strimbeck from Down Range Firearms Training and my distant uncle Alessandro Padovani from Safer Faster Defense, they made me realize how important it is for threats within one arms reach. It gives me an option if I have to defend myself with deadly force and cannot reach my firearm. Also, Alessandro has a training DVD called Safer Faster Knife Defense that can be found in the I.C.E. Training Store. I highly recommend this DVD.
I have been carrying a Sypderco Endura and Delica with a wave now for a few months. Ian showed me some fundamentals on reverse edge grip. With Alessandro’s DVD, I learned even more about knives and the employment of his methodology. Here’s the thing, the more I carry my knives, the more I realize I need more training with them. I tell people all the time, just because you buy a gun it does not mean you can use it efficiently.
After I had this revaluation, I finally bought the Syderco trainer copies of my knives . I was fortunate to find the Delica trainer with the wave, but could not with the Endura. As you can see from the different photos I have posted, I made wave in the Edura trainer. It only took about five minutes with a Dremel Tool. Alessandro told me it was pretty simple. So I knocked it out.
You will see me continuing my education with edged weapons to become more well rounded with attacks within one arms reach. Also plan to add the knife work I am comfortable with teaching in Close Quarters Defensive Concepts.
