Edged Weapons vs. Impact Tools

I do not claim to be an expert on blades or impact weapons, though I have significant training in both.  I always carry a knife, though it is much more an emergency rescue tool then a weapon within my scope of use.  For deadly force, the obvious choice remains the firearm, if available.

If unable to deploy a gun in the face of a deadly threat, the next best options are typically blades or impact weapons.  I will say up front that if facing a single, violent, deadly threat, and I had the option between a sap or a small knife, I would take the sap.  Impact is immediate, and it proves very decisive if landed in a vital area. 

However, if facing multiple adversaries, I may air on the side of the knife, because the intimidation factor of a blade may be very valuable when facing multiple bad guys.  Humans don’t like getting cut, and the knife is much more intimidating than an impact tool.  Likewise, you should consider animals.  Dog attacks are common.  Ironically, while impact on a human adversary is often much more immediate than damage caused by a blade, with large, aggressive dogs, that is not the case.  Pitbulls and other such dogs are almost impervious to impact, yet are just as vulnerable to cutting as anything else. 

Here, Gabe Suarez does an excellent, brief, breakdown between the two choices:

If you want a true deep dive into edged and impact weapon considerations, watch this show I did with Phil Elmore on the topic:

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