Rubber Knives

[Mistassailant5]

Has anyone on the forum ever trained using rubber knives. Plus does anyone generally know how much these cost?

[tallgeese]

Yes, I've sed them. They are okay and not horrible espicially if you haven't got anything else to work with.

Then next better step is to go to wooden facsimilies. This way you get a litte feed back on the cuts.

Another really good option is the knives with felt blades that you can use as markers with lipstick and such. This doesn't give you the "rap" feeling when you get struck it does give you a visual cue.

If you've got the coin, the Shocknife system, which uses electical jolts on contact is excellet. From experience, I can say it really does feel like you're getting cut when you catch the blade.

Probably the knife I use to train knife skills the most with is a metal facsimile. It looks real, and thus heightens you mental appreciation of the exercise and still gives good physical feedback on contact. Plus, they're really durable. Also, the have a pretty low cost associated with them.

The cost on rubber knives is pretty cheap, but they aren't the best item to use in my mind. At least not the best in cost v. training benefit. Wood is a bit more pricy but more real. The metal and the felt bladed are the next step up in price and probibly the most efficient. I'd have to look to see what they are running. Shocknife will be the most expensive option, and will probabliy be out of range for most of us.

[DWx]

They're a good cheap training tool. Can't really add much to tallgeese's advice. One thing which irritates me about the rubber knives is after you've used it for a while the ends can sometimes become a bit bendy, not all that realistic.

[JohnASE]

Cheap rubber knives run about $3.50-$4. They're straight, plain, tanto style. The blade is pretty floppy, and they're pretty short.

There's also a hunter style rubber knife that's larger and stiffer. It's shaped more like a bowie knife. I'm not sure how much they are, but they're more. A wild guess would be in the $9-$12 range.

Wooden tanto knives run about $5. They look like short, guardless bokken. I've seen wooden hunter style knives, but I don't have any idea what they cost.

[Mistassailant5]

Thanks for all the advice guys