Although the article goes on about how deadly this huge knife is, it seems almost comically silly and complex. Could this knife really be used as an effective weapon vs other knives or swords?
That’s just ridiculous.
For the price they list (~ $70), I’d be surprised if it was well-made enough to stand up to much combat. Knives are amazingly effective and have stood the test of time as weapons, so it’s unlikely you gain much by re-inventing the wheel. I’m sure if you had a version of this weapon that was well-made and you trained with it so you were comfortable with the idiosyncracies of its grip and blade position, you could use it as an effective weapon. I doubt it would be much more effective than a single blade of similar length in the hands of a trained fighter.
How could you carry that thing around efficiently? It’s not like you can fold it up and put it in your pocket, or slip it into a hidden sheath. I know very little about knife fighting, and can’t judge how good it’d be against other edge weapons, but it seems to me that there’s no way you’d just happen to have it on you during a knife fight. Either you’re the attacker, which means you’ve just been extraordinarily unsubtle about getting near your target with this foot and a half long weapon, or you’re the defender - “What, you’re attacking me, well, I’ll just pull out this four-bladed half-meter-long knife set that I kept hidden away where you wouldn’t notice it.”
The thing looks intimidating, but also appears to be more of a movie film device than a real combat weapon.
No doubt it could be frightening, but someone with eve a fairly short sword would have an advantage.
The big problem is the wrist restraint, it takes away a certain amount of manoeuverability.The user could not move their whole forearm as fast as any competant swordsman using their whole range of arm movement.
Next up is the problem of sheer clumsiness, if the wearer as to parry a blow from an attacker with a blade, the chances are that the weapon would try to swivel around the forearm, it would certainly unbalance it.
As a swinging momentum weapon it looks to be way too short, but looking at the location of the cutting edges, it does appear to be made to strike mainly with sideways motion, and perhaps to thrust.
A thrust would be problematic too, as one or other main blade would hit first, probably another weapon in a defensive block and this would cause the weapon to unbalance itself longditudinally…
Its size means that it cannot be easily hidden for a surprise attack so it does not even make for a very good dagger, and its size means that it would be difficult to disguise an attacking strategy.
Last of all, if this was a good fighting weapon, such an item would have been developed a long time ago, given our turbulant history, since it hasn’t, one can only draw the conclusion that it wouldn’t make a good combat weapon.
Also it might (might) work as a slashing knife, but slashing rarely kills. As a stabber it simply has too many points.
Would you rather get stabbed with a knife or a fork? Same same.
Makes you wonder what actual use such a thing would have. I wonder who makes it? How many did they sell? To who?
Seeing as it’s listed for sale as a “Novelty Item”, I think actual combat effectiveness is not the goal.
And it leaves your hand exposed. Those two center blades would guide a sword or club right in to smash or sever your fingers. It’s a Star Trek geek sort of “weapon.”
You just need a Highlander coat.
As Severian said, it’s pretty clearly a novelty/display item.
The only “real” weapon I can think of that comes lose to this is a katar, which is really just a huge push dagger and a lot less complex. As a wall hanger it’s goofy. For any practical purpose it’s just silly.
Yes, I was a teenager in the 80’s…Anyone remember the movie Krull. That knife from the OP immediately reminded me of the Glaive - I think it was called.
“Four-pronged attack knife.”
“Attack” knife…is that anything like an “assault” rifle? 
That daft thing is as combat effective as a large slami but not nearly as tasty. Using it against an armed oponent would result in the rapid loss of your fingers. Against unarmed it would be of some use, but if the unarmed opponent got any sort of leverage against your weapon arm you could be stabbed easily by your own blade, if a greppler got hold of the wrist guard you’d be mincemeat in no time.
It looks useful for parrying knife thrusts- the dual blade could be used to seize and twist away a thrusting blade. Maybe in conjunction with another weapon it might be a little more useful. Me, I’d lose the wrist guard though- too much a liability in terms of restricting movement. But like others have said, its like a fancy katar. It could function as a kind of swordbreaker.
Phlosphr:
The picture you linked to looks like a thrown weapon rather than a hand-held one. Not that I’ve seen the movie you referred to.
Only if the guy whose sword you’ve trapped is polite enough not to let his blade slip up and cut off a few of your exposed fingers!
Speaking as one trained in a knife-fighting style, I’d say that that…thing… appears to be worse than useless. I’d argue that Bippy’s large salami is actually a better weapon, if only because you’re less likely to hurt yourself with it.
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The split blade design is ideal for channeling weapons straight toward the fingers, which have no protection at all.
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The lateral grip would make it extremely difficult to hold the blade steady under any kind of impact–if you tried to stab with it, it would probably turn sideways on you. You’d be relying entirely on the strength of your fingers to keep it straight. The nature of the grip also inclines me to believe that you couldn’t get enough leverage to use it as a sword-breaker (even if you hadn’t already lost too many fingers).
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The outward angle of the main blades makes the multi-blade design (already inappropriate for a punch-dagger-like weapon) worse, as it would tend to reduce penetration.
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The whole thing is hopeless for slashing; it has too many protrusions and not enough exposed blade edge, and can’t be turned perpendicular to the plane of your arm. You’d be hard-pressed to slash with it without telegraphing such that your blind Aunt Tilly in East Podunk could read it.
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The laughably studded “wrist guard” accomplishes nothing but the restriction of wrist movement. It provides neither stability nor any significant protection for the most vulnerable parts of the wrist. Maybe if the wielder pictured reversed his grip, it would cover a small portion of the major arteries.
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The blade-catchers on the sides provide an excellent opportunity for an opponent to demonstrate that he can manipulate the weapon more easily than its wielder can, while not providing significant protection.
My (non-projectile) weapon-of-choice against someone using one of these would be escrima sticks. It would be trivially simple to disarm anyone stupid enough to use one of these with a stout stick.
Sorry for ranting, but the proliferation of silly knife designs annoys me. I once found knife catalogs mildly amusing, but it’s gotten out of hand.
So what about punching daggers in general? Is something like this really an effective weapon?
Yep. You really don’t want to get jabbed with one of those, and it’s actually pretty good in terms of defence.
TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES! TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES!
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