I’m not a double edge fan but...

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Do you use double edge knives for self defense?


  • Total voters
    4
There are important non-weapon uses for a double-edged knife.

I never carried a double-edged knife in EMS (I preferred a cheap switchblade), but many of my colleagues did.

When a car is upside-down and partially crushed, you have to worm your way into the wreckage to get access to tbe patient. It can be much tighter and cramped than a craw space or a culvert pipe.

A double-edged knife lets you cut in different (and opposite) directions without changing your grip on the blade, which means that you're less likely to lose the knife when you're cutting up tangled clothes, seatbelts, and so on. It's like using a wrench in a difficult, awkward part of a car engine that you can only sneak one hand into.

Dropping a knife because you change your grip can be dangerous to you or other rescuers that may be assisting you, as an extrication is a chaotic, dangerous process . . . and unsecured blades can hurt or kill first responders under these conditions. It's easier to lose your grip on a knife when you're wearing the protective work gloves that go with the bunker gear (or turnout gear).

Lanyards are no good either (in my opinion, but some of my colleagues would disagree with me), as you don't want a nylon cord or strap getting tangled up in the wreckage and trappping you in place.

This is why many medics and EMTs sometimes carry double-edged knives.

I preferred a cheap, flea market switchblade, as it can (obviously) be opened quickly with one hand, so it stays closed until the exact moment I need it, so it's safer than crawling into the wreckage with an unsheathed knife.

I often treated my cheap switchblades as disposable, as they were against policy . . . so I could ditch mine in case I was afraid of getting busted and losing my job.
 
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