Hank Reinhardt's Book of Knives: A Practical and Illustrated Guide to Knife Fighting Read Online Free Page B

compared to a good knife, razors and ice picks are fairly popular, and they pack a lot of scare value into a relatively small amount of metal. Surprisingly, one of the most primitive weapons is also one of the best: a good solid hickory stick. It takes a lot of practice to overcome the tendency to merely use it as a club to hit with, but a good man with a stick is someone to be left strictly alone.
    One of the most unusual and surprisingly effective weapons is a rolled-up magazine ( Life had an ideal size and quality of paper for this).

    Many things can be used as street weapons. It’s amazing how much damage can be done with a rolled-up magazine.

    Roll the magazine very tightly and then use it as a thrusting stick. It’s amazing how much damage can be done with such a weapon, especially when thrusts are directed at the nose, teeth, throat, solar plexus, and groin. You can roll it around the left arm and tape it in place, making an effective shield against both blows and cuts. Worn that way it could give real authority to an elbow smash.

    A magazine rolled around and taped to the left arm can make an effective shield.

    I’ve seen some odd things used, but one of the oddest and dumbest I saw was when I was around nineteen. I knew a boy who was really hot after a couple of guys he felt had really done him wrong. He took an Irish potato, pressed a bunch of single-edged razor blades in it, edge out, then dropped it into a sock. He ran into the guys at a drive in, jumped out of his car cussing and swinging that sock. Everybody scattered because he was really swinging wild. He hit one guy on the shoulder, making some really nasty cuts. But then when he drew back, the sock bounced around and hit him in the back of the head. He yelped, jerked back and it bounced again and hit his hand. This time he dropped it and the other two closed in and damned near beat him to death.
    I didn’t know any of the people involved personally. They were just faces I saw around. I heard someone went to jail, but I’m not sure who.
    Now the sock and razor blades is a real nice idea, but any fool can see that you have to tie it to the end of a stick to keep it from turning on you. And you damned well better practice with it before you go using it for real.
    This is not a book about unconventional and makeshift weapons, so I won’t be going into much detail about these things. But remember this: Almost anything can be used as a weapon when the need arises. What you have to do is look quickly and almost instantly evaluate the potential as a weapon of any object within reach. Flashlights and bottles are obvious, and a pencil or ball point pen makes a crude but effective stabbing instrument. A rock is not merely to throw, but can be used effectively as a hand ax. If you don’t have anything, grab something, even if it’s just your mother-in-law.

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    KNIFE CONCEALMENT
    Concealing a knife and yet having it readily accessible is virtually an art form. It also requires a skill closely approaching that of a good stage conjurer. You must be able to move deftly and swiftly, and your audience needs to be just the tiniest bit distracted—at exactly the proper moment. I’ve known people who were simply incredible at getting a hidden knife out where it could be useful. With a bit of boastful modesty, let me say I wasn’t too bad myself.
    Back in my wild and rambunctious days, I carried a knife in my back pocket.

     
    Not only a confident and aggressive posture but a reassuringly normal one.

    I would make a couple of stitches in my pants so the knife would stand upright next to my wallet. This allowed me to hook my thumbs in my back pocket in a casual manner. I could walk around or merely hang about. In any sort of confrontation, this is not only a confident and aggressive posture, but a reassuringly normal one. But it also kept the knife well within reach if it were needed.
    This is so natural a stance that most people don’t realize that your hands are