In a Fight to the Death, Do You Choose Bat or Knife?

Bat.

Then I would flow like water son!

More podcasts, fewer blog posts

For the record, bat. Use the bat to take a good swing at the guy’s hang with the knife, he’ll drop it, then beat the crap out of him…

My friend who is trained in martial arts and street fighting says a Knife without question – especially if you know the Filipino knife fighting system.. 

Bife….bat with a knife crudely attached to the end.  Destromination.

bat

Bat as it will give me a better chance to thwart the knife attack.

Knife. I’m pretty sure I can take a beating by bat waiting like rocky for the knock out blow, except with a knife.

Depends on your fighting style and comfort range. The bat is going to keep the attacker further away from you, a knife would be better for in close combat. A bat requires swings the take a longer time to recover than a knife that can be used with quick thrusts and jabs.
My thought is go for the knife and get inside the bat swing.

Definitely the knife!

This is how it will go:
My opponent takes a swing at me, I dodge it, or if I can’t I absorbe the damage as best as I can while I burst fore wart. Because my opponent probably used both hands to swing the bat, he is now totally open for my attack because he became unbalanced because of the swing. Moments later, I slid his troat.
I win!

+ a knife is quicker
+ a knife can do more damage in one strike
+ a knife just needs one hand, so you have your other hand to defend or attack too

I really don’t understand those people that claim that a bat will win … they can come by anytime and I’ll show them they are wrong

Knife,

Block an attack from the bat with my left arm (breaks it), stab the guy with my right.

Nothing.
Break the arm. Take their knife/bat. Win using their weapon.

Winning + Humiliation

impossible.

wait. 

doh!

Bat. I know how to swing one. I have a very long reach. And I’ve never been in a knife fight. Why start now?

Bat. You can keep your opponent at more than arm’s length, it’s solid so it can block a knife easily, and if used correctly could break both arms of the other person. Then you could stab them with their own knife, or hit them across the back of the head so hard you break their neck. If it helps, I’m trained how to deal with knife attacks for my work. They don’t teach you about bat attacks, for those you just run!

I immediately thought knife for reasons already stated, mainly that on offense the knife would be advantageous to get inside the bat. But that’s all based on the wrong premise. 

The post doesn’t specify that your opponent, by default, ends up with the weapon you didn’t choose. They don’t, of course. Why should YOU get to decide which weapon your opponent gets? That’s not how it works at all (in theory, of course), and it’s not in the spirit of “an equally matched opponent”. Person 1 gets to choose between a knife OR a bat and Person 2 ALSO gets to choose between a knife OR a bat. 

Presuming the choices are not mutually exclusive between two opponents, there would be 3 possible match-ups: 1) knife-bat, 2) bat-bat, 3) knife-knife.

No way in hell I want to even risk being in a knife-knife fight. Is there ever a clear winner in a knife-knife fight? You’d probably just die of your wounds 2 days later.

So I’ll take the bat for sure because even though it’s slower (and not as sexy) it’s better balanced between offense and defense (reach) and a better choice when I’m faced with presumed uncertainty about which weapon my opponent will choose until we’re 14 feet away from each other on a dry, grassy field. 

Hmm…this is an interesting one. I feel like if you are not a skilled fighter, you want to go with the bat. Of course you have to be strong enough to just keep pounding the shit out of your opponent so they don’t get close enough to do any damage. 

With the knife, you don’t need the strength, but you need skills and agility. You only have a couple chances to impart damage in a knife-fight, but if you get an in you are IN.Considering I’m a weakling, I’d have to take my chances with the knife. I’d hit someone as hard as I could with a bat and they’d probably chuckle. I’d rather strategize as best I could with a good weapon than fight a battle of brawn.

def. knife. Crocodile Dundee style.

Knife. As soon as the opponent swings the bat, he’s dead. The movements are wide, and it’s impossible to change direction mid swing. 

Knife. The bat has the advantage on the outside but once you get within the range the fight is over. 
If you shoot in they have basically one swing to stop you before you get through the range.

I would fake high to get them to commit to a swing and then shoot for a takedown Royce Gracie style. Once I have a hold of them I can cut hamstrings/puncture chest cavity/slash throats as necessary. Worst case scenario I eat a shot from the bat but if it’s accurate enough to hit me on the level change it won’t be powerful enough to knock me out 9/10 times. And I like those odds

Being the impatient and risky person that I am, I would probably opt for the knife and as soon as the fight starts I would take 5 steps toward my opponent and throw said knife at him aiming for his throat/head. Then proceed to sprint towards him while he is dazed from taking a knife to the head and finish him off with my fists/feet.

Then I would stand up and yell at the top of my lungs: “Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?”
 

Bat.  Largely because I’m a pussy and want to keep my distance, if possible, while killing my alternate self.

Knife. Reading Shantaram By Gregory David Roberts makes me think I know how to knife fight

knife

Knife

I’d go for a bat

Good ol’ Louisville Slugger. You’d have to be really skilled to fight with a knife and the reach that the bat affords you is major.

Lots of comments suggesting that the person with the bat will have one swing and that’s it. If a bat is someone’s weapon of choice over a knife, you can assume that person knows how to handle it pretty damn well and use the reach as a major advantage.

I don’t know, after reading Facing Violence: http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Violence-Unexpected-Rory-Miller I’m much more likely to just fuckin get out of there, man. Escape and Evade! Haha

Knife, only because I think it would be a more effective thing to throw before running. If i hit my target I can run faster. =) 

Further to this, as an English person I’d be crap with a baseball bat (being able to kick a football is probably not that advantageous).

I used to do Thai boxing years ago (just recreational with Master Sken at Stockport), one of his fighters (European champion at the time) took a class one day and demonstrated defence against an Iron bar. The technique basically involved getting in close, blocking an attack with one arm, and elbowing the person in the face with the other: who needs a knife?

Knife. My first reaction to the post title is to throw the knife straight away from 14 feet, if I miss, it’s brown trousers time.

Knife

Bat.  With a bat, I will knock the knife out of your hand and have possession of both.  Can’t as easily knock a bat out of your hands with my knife. 

Bat. The strength would come into play huge with this size of weapon, so I believe bigger men would prefer a bat, and smaller, more agile and/or crafty would prefer a knife.

Being that Jason Bourne can win a fight with a rolled up magazine I’d take a bat. 

Lol, gotta love these random posts. I’d say Bat for myself since I like bashing things. Otherwise, like some others have mentioned … I’d runaway haha.

Congratulations, you have been accepted to Harvard law school! Hahaha, yep community agrees, best answer ++ you chose bat. 

I agree with Bat. FYI for the record.

haha agreed.

hahaha. i think pinning the bat after a huge swing would be game over for the bat guy– part of this strategy depends on how strong you are (and therefore you opponent) if he can effectively make 3/4 swings with less wind-up, you’d have a harder time finding a window of opportunity. 

DONE.

Solid here. I think this makes sense as basic reasoning. 

this strikes me as really smart. I thought of this: move 6 feet in, throw, and follow your knife in. If I had 10 minutes to think about it, I’d choose knife for this reason alone. If prompted to chose immediately, I’d choose bat. 

agreed.

you are a sensible human being.

somehow i believe you know what you are talking about vlad.

ah shit just saw this, i 100% agree. this is probably the approach i’d take now. 

+1 for showmanship.

agreed that brawn has a lot to do with this. i’d hate to face somebody with bat skills and strong arms if i didn’t know about my wicked knife throwing strategy

shit. actually your comment made me think about a long conversation we had afterwards and Filipino knife fighting. That shit is for real!!!

Thank you everyone who took the time to weight in on this thread! My friends and I had a blast debating and arguing your ideas and points. I still haven’t gotten sick of this conversation Hope you have some good ones on your end!!! Maybe even some simulations with props if you are really looking to blow some time with family or friends. Cheers!!! 

Haha, yes! P.S. I’m in Bangkok right now for a consulting gig for a few weeks. Any chance you guys are coming through? 

no i’ll be in Bali with Elisa in David for the next few weeks, probably won’t make it to BKK in Q1. Have a great time! 

a sniper rifle or grenade ?

Bat.

You might cut somebody but not fully. if you get even a tip of that bat with a full swing its going to break something.

rifle! 

The bat. Easier for a novice fighter to use.

But if I had the training, I’d definitely go with the knife.

I go with Bat…..it has the advantage of length to keep distance. NO I would not swing it wildy though, I circle in slowly using the bat in a jabbing motion to keep the distance. At this point I employ one of the other weapons I already have (legs) to take low kicks to my opponenet, aiming primarily for the nerve group on the thigh..the ones that give dead legs. From there its just a matter of time before they give way and after that, i can use the swing motion of the bat if I need. 
Of course the knife fighter (again like someone else states) may well rush me…closing the distance is thier best weapon. However as was stated in the rules you start 14 feet awayy from each other so using the bat it is well within your reason to keep whatever disntace you need.

agreed here! i’m thinking of pulling together a padded kit so i can test this stuff out with friends

and throw it at their eye!?!

Knife no question.  With the bat to do real damage you have to have some wind up which means only one good swing.  The guy with the bat would have to keep it wound up for his swing while playing a game of cat and mouse.  If he swings and misses then the knife guy can close the distance and on the back swing will be hit with the inside of the bat or even the knuckles of the bat guy.  Then its over.  Knife vs knife would suck, but I’d rather be cut up and alive than dead.  

I pick KNIFE.

If my opponent has a bat, I’m pretty sure I can just run towards him, having my head covered by my arms and pray to God the receiving hit is on my arms and not on my ribs.

If I’m able to survive that, I know 100% sure I’d get his throat in seconds.

BUT, if my opponent has a knife I have no freaking clue what I’d do.

I think I’d pick knife again but to be honest, I don’t think I’d survive a fight like that. I’m pretty positive I would be able to kill him but I’m pretty sure he’d stab me good as well.

No happy ending on this one.

haha oh man i’d take bat against you man! please, somebody start making kits so we can test this shit out. i will pre-order ! !

i have this over-inflated sense my my batting prowless which plays in to my thinking here. i think i can do 3/4 swings that do damage!!!

Hi Dan, just read your post that you are going to be in Singapore. I’m from Germany and will be in Singapore from 26.01 – 16.02.12. But I suppose you might have left by then. It would be great if I could meet you to have a chat. I have quit my job last December to start my business. This is part of my reason going to Singapore. Any chance to meet you there another time or do you know anyone else who’ll be there? I’m always keen to meet other entrepreneurs to exchange thoughts.

Nothing, I like to put my back against the wall, it’s to the death, after all.  If I had to choose, I would take a bat, as a bat could be an effective defensive tool as well as offensive.  The knife is lethal, if you get a chance to use it properly, odds are in my favor with the bat, I presume, because I hope to never be in this situation.

Hey Dan,
Years ago I studied kung fu for a couple of years and my teacher was – at the time – one of the leading combat martial artists in Europe. He reckoned that it was safer to take on a man with a gun than a man with a knife! I saw him take on someone with a knife once and it wasn’t pretty for either of them, though the guy with the knife fared much worse. The guy with the knife made the major league mistake of trying to actually use it. It turns out that even self controlled martial arts masters don’t like that much. Who knew…?

damn. that sounds like something a kung fu guy would say! !! I’m assuming you haven’t watched this movie

http://youtu.be/4DzcOCyHDqc

ah missed ya!! congrats on the biznass!! i don’t have a lot of contacts in SIN right now, hoping to be back to visit soon!

Knife.

Bat.  Jabs to the face.  Cant do much of anything after a bat jab to the face.  Plus, it’s surprisingly hard to get a knife to stick in someone.  Slashes work well, but it takes awhile for them to incapacitate someone.

On a related note, I sat next to a 10 year old boy on a flight back from Hawaii a few days ago.  We talked Zombies vs. Vampires for over an hour.

I chose Zombies.