[BadKitty]

I think Stumpfenhammer's knife-carry suggestion can work for some women in some circumstances. More on that in a minute.

However, in most instances, for "most women", I just kinda feel that a knife is a bad idea. When we consider a face-to-face situation, like a man running up to a woman on the sidewalk, his physical strength is probably going to overpower her enough to gain control of her knife. Plus, he'll probably be pissed that she pulled a knife and it may stoke his aggression. Frankly, men see women as weaker and, physically, we are. Therefore, I'm not confident that a little lady holding a knife out would be much of a deterrent.

Also, we must take into consideration that women, by our nature, tend to not want to hurt people. So, having to stick a blade into someone and slice them is not in our nature. That kind of contact is too personal on a human level. I think that most women would prefer to engage an attacker at a distance via a gun or pepper spray. So, knife training is essential here. Even then, I personally wouldn't want to go "hand-to-hand" in a knife fight with some guy.

That said, I do carry a knife in situations when I cannot reasonably carry a gun. I might have it in my purse (on a date) or in my front jeans pocket while walking in uncertain area. The knife is really more of a last-ditch kind of thing. I have defensive tactics training for how to physically defend against a knife-wielding attacker; but, not training on how to use a knife on an attacker. I personally feel more comfortable using my non-weapon defense tactics against a knife or non-knife holder than knife vs. knife like it's West Side Story or something. That said, a knife could deter the garden variety of homeless bum wanting to steal your phone. A knife probably won't deter the aggressive strong armed robbers that we have walking around the college campus over here.

Take note that I am taller and more athletic/muscular than the average woman. I'm the size and weight of an average man. Plus, I have a warrior/survivor mindset. So, some clown running up to me better be up for a fight. But still....psychologically, I'm not really down for stabbing someone unless I really had to.

The original article/post was related to *running* with a gun. I can't imagine most people would want to go running or jogging with a knife in their hand. They'd have to stop, out-of-breath and attempt to skillfully address an attacker with a knife that's probably sweaty from running with it. For this exercise, I would recommend jogging with a pepper spray. While I was training for my academy, I would go on runs in the evening after I got home from my desk job. It would be dark out and I used to live in a sketchy neighborhood. I had a handheld pepper spray that came in an elastic sleeve with an elastic band to go around one's hand. I could comfortably jog with it in my hand and know that I could immediately spray somebody if needed.

Regardless of which option someone chooses, she should be prepared to train with it and use it. I don't think there's a knife class near me; but, it's something to look into.