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I know many people often joke that someone should never bring a knife into a gunfight, but the fact is that a knife can be an exceedingly effective attack weapon. Note, not defense …attack. Most knife attackers that are shot are often inexperienced people that were using the blade as an intimidation tool rather than experience and committed attackers. Someone who wants to attack you with a knife – as opposed to showing you a blade and hoping you will handover your wallet – will do the following:

(.i) He will approach as close as he can, (ii) he will keep the knife hidden, and (iii) the sudden attack will involve multiple stabs (not just slashes).

As for the poster who asked about knife training – there are several effective systems for blade use, with some of the more effective ones being Filipino with styles like Pekiti Tirsia Kali teaching a very effective knife system. There are also other systems ranging from a South African system often used by criminals (they use cheap switchblades and like to shake or ‘shimmer’ the blade as they attack), to a very effective American-created style called Libre Fighting Systems that, in my opinion, is even better than Pekiti Tirsia in terms of using a knife. Some of the things taught in Libre border on the criminal. And talking about criminal, there are some prison-style attacks that are almost exclusively stabbing-type moves, and they are very effective (and yes, there are people who teach prison-style knife, and even a prison-style boxing system called 52 Blocks).

Anyways, underestimating a knife is something that can be quite dangerous. Fortunately most knife users are only employing the blade to threaten/intimidate their target, which means that the target has sufficient time to – if a CCW holder – defend themselves. However, if the knife user is going for the attack, by the time the target knows he is a victim he will already be stabbed multiple times.

As an aside …many of the knife defenses taught in martial arts are completely useless. Against a committed attacker NONE of those fancy wrist movements will work for over 90% of their users. The most effective self-defense against a knife attack is situational awareness. That is even more effective than having a firearm when it comes to a committed knife attacker.

Sources: Before I got licensed and got my 2,500 Dollar Glock (in my country things are expensive and prices ridiculously ramped up ...that 2,500 Glock would cost about 550 in the US), I studied a variety of different knife combative systems that taught me just how dangerous a knife is in the right hands. I honestly couldn’t over emphasize just how dangerous a committed knife attacker can be, and that within 5 feet I would be more effective with a blade than with my overpriced G19 (and I say this as someone who does very well in IDPA). I have also realized that many gun owners think they own death rays, and a number develop very bad habits/expectations where they feel they are somehow protected because they have a firearm. A firearm is simply a tool, and a tool that without proper dynamic training (and I don't mean plugging paper), situational awareness and proper mindset, will only work against people who are even less prepared than you are. Against someone who is better prepared, even when he 'only' has a knife, many gun owners would not even get a chance to understand what is happening before they have at least 7 critical stabs in their torso.

The only saving grace is that most knife attackers are (a) inexperienced and (b) almost always interested in intimidating rather than doing the stealth/surprise attack that you normally see in Filipino/Prison knife systems (where the victim literally doesn’t know what’s happening before the blade is in their body).

Some knife attack videos:

What a knife attack may look like

The Truth behind Knife Attacks