Feeling Comfortable: The weapon your friend carries

[joesteph]

Suppose you didn't carry a weapon yourself, not even a pepper spray. You know two guys who do carry a weapon, and say it's cooler weather, so each can carry his weapon without detection.

One carries nunchaku, the other carries a folding knife with a 4" blade.

Which man would you feel more comfortable with going out at night, maybe to a bar for a few drinks, and say you've parked your cars in a lot a block away.

In other words, does the weapon the man carries affect you in terms of comfort regarding him, one carrying a sticks weapon, the other a blade, knowing that, if there's an assailant or assailants, the weapon will be used.

[bushido_man96]

It would depend, I guess, on what each was capapble of with his/her weapon. I think that the knife is more practical, and probably less likely to cause problems if seen.

[Vierna]

^ seconded... doesnt matter whats the weapon, only the skill of a person using it. although, Im a little more comfortable with stick weapons

with blade, you can easily kill a person, but with stick its more likely to knock them out....

[tonydee]

That's a very, very strange question. I'd say anyone who goes somewhere where they feel they need to carry such a weapon is not good company. Carrying a knife suggests more practical, considered bad company. Nunchaku scream self-taught Bruce Lee backyard hack to me. Of course I do acknowledge that some very small percentage of people that pick them up do actually know how to use them, but even from that group, many are living in wanta-be ninja la-la land, and I would not want to be depending on their conflict avoidance skill, fighting skill, or general good judgement either.

It also depends on how serious a conflict you expect to get into: if it's life and death stuff, with the other guys at fault, I'd prefer the knife unless I knew the person was very skilled with nunchaku. They're less likely to hit me by accident. If the other side had knives and comparable general fighting skill, nunchaku may be good for the extra reach, and as they're less likely to be familiar with the threat. If the conflict's not serious but you know the guy's going to drag out a weapon, then perhaps the nunchaku are less likely to get me into the middle of some serious trouble with the police? But perhaps not too!

Another consideration is that I use a knife rather effectively myself, whereas I've no special skill with nunchaku, but the same may well be true of the opponents....

Cheers, Tony

[sensei8]

Interesting!

For me, it would depend on their abilities with the weapon because I don't want to be standing there after my friend had his knife or nunchaku taken away from him. Now, the attacker(s) are armed to the teeth and I'm not. I'd rather he had neither because just the sight of having either might cause some difficulties for both of us as well as having the police haul us both away.

If we're going out, just leave the weapons at home/dojo. Don't bring unwanted grief to our doors by brandishing a weapon that someone might see. Then the next thing I know is that we're living out the bar scene from Star Wars. Thanks, but, no thanks!

I'd be uncomfortable with either because, what if I'm accidently struck/stabbed by my well meaning friend with the weapon? Many bad things can come from this and none of them look good...for me, that is!

[tallgeese]

Knife, all the way. I'd question the judgment of someone wanting to carry a set of 'chucks under their coat.

Not to mention, I know how to use a knife if he goes down. That's important. It the same reason I don't like it when my buddies start using some bizarre holster system or handgun with European or other odd controls. It doesn't lend itself to to me using it if they go down.

On a side note, I like to have a feel for where the guys I hang with carry their stuff. Again, it's in case they can't use it any more and I need to.

[rogue2257]

As much as I love my nunchaku, and I do LOVE my nunchaku, I admit I struggle with the notion of actually carrying them around for a number of reasons. It's something I had briefly considered for a time and decided against, and I'll tell you why.

First, there's the issue of concealment. It is far easier, and much more logical, to carry a knife for personal protection because a knife is simply far far easier to conceal. I know we were hypothetically discussing cold weather, and thus having coats available, but even so, it would be more difficult to conceal and subsequently draw (under stress) a pair of nunchaku than a knife.

Secondly, I think the public perception of someone that carries a knife is very different than someone that carries around a pair of nunchaku. Carrying a pocket knife is hardly uncommon, even as a tool, not necessarily as a weapon. But someone that carries around nunchaku on the other hand... Even I, as a martial artist that regularly practices with nunchaku would start questioning the judgment there. I would have to wonder if this person is trying to show off, if they're just "playing karate," or what exactly their intent is in carrying a weapon that most people have seen only in movies.

On the other hand, I've always shied away from advertising myself as a martial artist to the general populous, as I'm sure many of you do, and carrying nunchaku hardly helps with that goal. I get so tired of people asking inane question about martial arts that I just don't talk about it. "So can you beat me up?" "So is karate better than kung fu?" "So can you teach me how to kill somebody with the death touch?" ...etc,etc... I'm always willing to have a down to earth conversation about martial arts, but in my experience, it unfortunately doesn't usually turn out that way.

So finally, on top of all the rest of that, even for those well practiced with nunchaku, it is far far easier to use a knife. The nunchaku is a complex weapon, and when it comes right down to it, sticking the pointy end of a knife in somebody else might just be easier.

[bushido_man96]

I agree with the nuchuku thoughts. Its an eyebrow raiser, to be sure.

With all this in mind, how would you feel if your friend had a liscence to conceal and carry, and did so?

Personally, I like this scenario better.

[Montana]

That's a very, very strange question. I'd say anyone who goes somewhere where they feel they need to carry such a weapon is not good company. Carrying a knife suggests more practical, considered bad company. Nunchaku scream self-taught Bruce Lee backyard hack to me.

100% in agreement with you on this one! If I'm with a "friend" that is carrying a large knife, nunchauku or worse, a gun...well, I wouldn't be with them in the first place. To paranoid for me, or we're someplace we don't need to be in the first place.

I carry a kobutan on my keychain and it serves a dual purpose. First, combined with the snap hook that snaps to my belt loop and the kobutan slips in my back pocket, so I've never lost my keys in carrying them this way in 30 years...and yes, I have the kobutan if I need it...and actually have used it a couple of times in self defense.

Someone that carrys a large knife for the sole purpose of defense scares me. someone that carries nunchaku because they anticipate problems...well, I don't hang with people that think like that. And guns...forget it and get the heck away from me!

[tallgeese]

Just because you think people are out to get you doesn't mean that they're not .

Seriously though, I don't think weapons carry is all that paranoid. I think that if one wants, they should carry the highest level of weapon that they are legally authorized and trained to carry. Done responsibly, this should be comforting to everyone around them, not a source of worry.

It's rare to find me outside the house without a gun. You'll never find me outside the house, with my kids to look after, without one. But that's just me, I'm not paranoid, just prepared.

You have to think as any weapons that you might carry to deploy as an augment to all your other skills, not a replacement for them. Which is kind of the mentality I see a lot. They are there to deal with situations where using merely unarmed skills is a tactical and dangerous mistake. Cops are notorious for the concept of talking about shooting every problem that comes up rather than choose to train more time in their unarmed skills.

The thing is, we wrestle and fight WAY more people than we shoot. There are times that vs. a knife, it may make more practical sense to control it rather than try and clear leather and shoot the bad guy, say extreme close quarters. However, the response you'll always hear to the argument for practicing it is "I'll shoot him".

Unarmed skills are a set of tools, so are weapons skills. One augments the other not replace it. Carry of a concealed weapon, be it knife or firearm, merely increase your response capacity to a broader range of situations.