My freind and me got in an arguement (and in my mind everytime he changed the situation he screwed himself more). He says a knife would be better then a silenced gun against a group of hostiles in several rooms close together. He even had the arrogance to say he could sneak up close enough without being heard with a knife, kill him, and let down his body and prevent ALL sound. Is a knife truly the perfect way for eliminating a group of enemies stealthily?

Someguy:

contrary to popular belief and the movies.. 'silenced' guns are not silent.. there is still a popping noise that is audible ..however, a gun does mean that you don't have to be in 'close contact' with the enemy to eliminate them..though, their falling bodies might cause some ' sound disturbance '..and, of course, you can eliminate more than one opponent from a static/undetected position, if well executed.

knife is silent in its use and, when applied properly to the appropriate body part,so will the victim be, but requires the knife wielder to be up close and personal with the victim and to move quickly if trying to dispatch more than one opponent

position and numbers of the enemy force and the environment they're in will determine the right 'instrument' and I can't think of a situation that would make one' better' than the other, it's all dependent on the circumstance..

Hmmm, another fool bringing a knife to a gunfight


Does he honestly think that a group inside a building won't shoot back? Or is he sufficiently bulletproof before he goes into the building?

In the days of the sword a knife was an excellent silenced weapon, 1000 throats could be cut in a night by one running man. It is still an excellent chioce for certain situations, but in all honesty nothing can take the place of a firearm when multiple armed enemies are to be engaged. Tactics used to quietly dispatch a "group" of men in close quarters do not exist in my opinion so the point is mute, but if I personaly had to engage a group of people in close quarters I would use a suppressed mp5 or simmilar weapon and use speed to overtake them as quicly as possible. This is not a situation I would ever willingly engage in if given the choice, there are to many variables to contend with. Now I can also tell you that knives are not always the most silent of killers either. It can take up to 2 min for a man to bleed do death from a slashed throat and he will not be quiet about it, a punctured lung can cause quite the sound as well. This all taken into account If I were to engage a single lone sentry posted on the perimeter than I may chose a knife if I could get close enough but most likely a head shot from a silenced .45 hk would be my number one chioce. Choices are many those who live to tell about the wrong ones are few.

my point exactly weapons grade blades! And think about it, the guy your killing just has to do one gunshot, yelping, loud noise or anything.

quote:

1000 throats could be cut in a night by one running man

Only if they are all tied up and prepped for such an event.

All this fascination with suppressed weapons

The best fighting knife ever made and always will be the is a KBAR.

When my squad need to infiltrate a building we would usally take an sielnced MP5 and knife.

Its depends on the structur of the building, small rooms and small building sielnced gun won't do much than effecting the stoping poewer.

I dont think a man would even have enough energy to slit 1000 throats, Or at least not be careful enough to slit all 1000 and still avoid detection. Less of course your raiding a home for the mentally retarded.

1. The capability of range and the ability of multiple targets makes a gun a better weapon, but when the oppurtunity presents itself a knife is not a bad close quarters weapon, but in most cases a gun will be better.
2. Slitting a throat can actually be noisy, breathing the a hole in your trachea as the air rushes out creates a rather loud sound, not unlike (however morbid this may sound) a party horn. I am not making this up, I remember this from at least on of those beheading tapes.

The KBAR? Totally disagree. While its awesome there are better out there. Check out Dark Ops Knives. They make better ones!

To each his own. Have you held a dark ops knife with blood on the handle?

At least with a KBAR you won't drop the knife because of a little blood.

I have a WW2 KBAR that I carry in my tool bag. It has a good grip and really holds an edge.

Knife fighting is an art into itself and one that requires speed and skill. Firearms are much better and safer on the user.

Harry

Somehow, in sixty plus years or so, I honestly can't envison anyone making the same statement about a 'dark ops knife'!

Gunny:

I think the dark ops thing is more glamour than anything else but it is not my area of expertise.

I forgot to ask him if he knew what the purpose of the groove is for on a KBAR.....

Wow haha... All i can say is over the course of two deployments the only thing my knife has every cut into is some 550 and the occasional MRE

bump

I carried a KA-BAR through viet-nam and I still have a KA-Bar best knife I have ever carried bar none.