The IMHO thread on anti-crazy-gunman-assault plans got me wondering: if you were equipped with only a small Swiss Army-type knife, what would be the most effective place to stab such a short blade to achieve maximum disabling effect? (Discounting of course that doing do would be extremely unwise, the possibility of unarmed attacks, running away, etc.) My first thought would be the neck, since other vital targets seem too naturally armored by the body to guarantee success. But would that actually disable someone effectively, or would it just make them mad at you (at least long enough to kill you)? Apologies for the somewhat morbid question.
you pretty much nailed it in one. You might be able to pierce a pleural space around a lung with that but I would hate to depend on it. Only other suggestion I would have is just poke a hole in his leg hoping to slow your assailant enough from the pain that you might escape.
The neck is a nice big unguarded target I would think, but if you had a good chance to ‘aim’ so to speak, what about the eye. ISTM that being stabbed in the eyeball should slow them down a bit.
My morbid, armchair WAG would be the eyes, if you’re looking for an immediate incapacitation. Assuming you’re quick enough to get over the protective reflex (and for this reason aiming for the throat may in the end be a more feasible solution,) popping an eyeball would seem about the most vulnerable superficial target.
Anybody who’s watched enough MMA can testify that an accidental finger in the eye can quickly stop, or at least severely disable, even the fittest of motivated professional badasses.
I doubt a Swiss Army knife would be able to, uh, make the cut in any case. You would probably just nick it. And you’d have to be holding it down, anyway, so I don’t think that would be possible even with a naked maniac. The eyes are a good suggestion, though, but easier to guard than the neck.
I was thinking yank taut with the left, slice with the right. Can’t be much more firmly attached than a chicken breast, and I cut those apart with a paring knife.
I’m talking about one of these (that’s a cool website, by the way. Did you realize they make regular-sized knives that include a emergency mini-pen and a 16 GB flash drive?). They’re likely not nearly that sharp, and the blade might not even be as long as a penis is wide. I would also think a penis has a lot more “give” than chicken muscle; it would be like slicing a sponge.
In a hurry? A sneak attack from the rear, knife blade shoved upwards at a 45 degree angle just below the base of the skull. I’ll wait now for you to find that “soft spot”. About even with the bottoms of my earlobes. All kinds of good brain stem stuff there, plus the top of the spinal column. Drops’em like a sack o’ potatoes. The eye, leg, neck, dangly bits, throat, can all leave the Bad Guy able to get either a few or many many more rounds off.
I’ve never been in a knife fight, but in my limited experience the key to winning a fight is, when you have affected your opponent (hit him, stunned him, knocked him off balance, hurt him, etc.) press your advantage. Even if it’s as simple as unimaginatively repeating the same action which just succeeded, hit him again. Many times. Rapidly. Fancy combinations that involve repositioning your body, doing a variety of interesting things, and worst of all, spinning, are movie stuff. You don’t need a whole choreographed fight culminating in a finishing move if sixteen hard left jabs in a row will do the trick.
So I’d say stabbing/cutting in the eye, neck, or groin would best be carried out multiple times, rather than winging him and allowing him to recover and express his feelings on the issue.
The throat is hard to argue with. Even it it wasn’t a final blow, could you imagine the panic that a blood spraying throat wound would induce? And 1.5 inches is pleny long to damage lot’s of other stuff. If the throat is unavailable, I say a good old fashioned solar plexus stab should put 'em right where you want 'em!
Peace
Hmm what about that soft spot on the jawline right below the ear? Putting pressure there with my finger is uncomfortable. A knife jab would probably do something
If you are doing it against a moving target that will definitely beat you without it, you’d have to be very lucky to cause any real damage before they took it off you and got medieval on yo ass. Best bet is throw it and run.*
If it is a sneak attack you are planning, any of the suggestions above will cause serious annoyance, if not death.
You might have a slighter chance if your opponent doesn’t know you have it, but… still.