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CONTACT!
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Knives & Knife Fighting For Airsoft
The excellent M9 Bayonet rubber trainer, from Cold Steel&trade.
The TrainingTraining is conducted at our weekend events, either on the Saturday afternoon, or on the Sunday morning, just after breakfast. The course takes about two hours to complete, including plenty of time for you to put your new found skills to use in sparring. There is NO additional cost for this training, it is inclusive in the event fee. Plenty of people do it multiple times, simply because it is so much fun. IMPORTANT! Only those players who have successfully passed the course, are permitted to fight with these knives, or use unarmed combat techniques in CONTACT. All others must shoot, run, surrender, die, or talk their way out of a sticky situation. Untrained players are permitted to carry such knives, but only for such nominal actions as cutting the bindings of POWs (Prisoners Of War). The WeaponsSantoprene is a very hard rubber, giving the weapons stiffness and lightness, as well as an absence of sharp edges, rendering them suitable for safe competitive and fun combat in the hands of trained fighters. Sadly however, they will never cut a piece of string. Because they are relatively short weapons, the materials' flexibility works for rather than against the needs of safety. Some who have used longer swords etc., made in this material, have found them too wippy and uncontrollable for fighting without significant levels of protection. Therefore the best blade lengths are in practise just the same as those chosen by the modern soldier for real world work, that is very roughly 6" ~ 8" (150mm ~ 200mm). Not only are they less likely to go floppy with time, they are more easily stowed in one's gear. For this reason we do not recommend the Laredo Bowie which has a 254mm (10") blade. See also the section on "Sheaths" below. Note that the Trench Knives #8 and #9, have odd grips and so may not be suitable for all, plus they will be comparatively bulky when stowed. Also currently these knives are not available through Cold Steel UK. The price specified for these two knives is based upon an average from other sources of supply. Note that the M9 Bayonet is also designed for mounting upon M16's and M4 rifles equipped with a bayonet lug, standard 22mm diameter flash hider and at least 4 3/8" (111mm) of barrel between the lug and flash hider. NB: fixed bayonets are NOT used to execute bayonet charges, but for the control of EPW's (Enemy Prisoners of War). Listed in a table below the images in alphabetical order by model name, are the specifications for the currently approved range of training knives, their model name serving as a link to the British distributor Cold Steel UK. IMPORTANT! The two new knives at the very bottom of the list, the Karambit and the Kukri are included here just for information, as they are currently being tested for possible approval. So please do not buy these knives just yet to avoid potential disappointment. All prices are correct as of the 19th August 2017, and includes VAT, but excludes postage and packing. You may find them cheaper elsewhere on-line.
FYI New For 2017 Under Test For Approval (DO NOT BUY YET)
Click any image to enlarge. SpecificationsThe manufacturers specifications for blade thickness do not match the actual weapons. When I find my micrometer (in storage), I'll add this data to the chart.The # is only for reference to the above images and is not a manufacturers model number. |
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BLANK SheathsSo we are looking in to having some made specifically for airsoft use, and their proposed ideal features will include the following:
If for any reason this project falls through, I will append a list here of suitable sheaths that can be bought on the open market. If you have any reccomendations, please let me know, and I'll add it here. Note that when buying a sheath, most will happily accomodate the blade's length or width, but they may not be able to take their thickness, check before buying, to avoid disappointment. Meanwhile if you would be interested in being kept up to date with this project, please: |
| Send Dean an email |
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And Finally...
Sorry, But NO Tomahawks or Axes!
So by comparison, axes will, for the same amount of effort, always deliver a harder impact than a knife, even when the blow is pulled. This is compounded by the narrower striking surface of the blade of an axe compared to a knife. But this is not the most important problem... Unlike a knife, which has a simple clean striking surface that will skid off people and kit, the tomahawk is in effect a pair of hooks, that can easily become entangled in limbs, gear, clothing and weapons. In the real world the axe wielder simply pulls, hard, ripping flesh and wounding their enemy as a result, or begins to disarm or wreck kit, or bring their victim down, painfully. Now, presuming you don't want to really hurt your friends, you will need to disengage, the trouble is, the reaction of most people in this situation is to take advantage of your courtasy and get a free hit in, probably taking you out of the fight. A somewhat unrealistic outcome. This quite easily creates a tug-of-war situation, raising the tempreture of a mock fight very quickly in to a real one, with the attendant risks to your valuable weapons, kit and even more valuable health! People can do some very silly things, especially when participating in an intense and stressful scenario, and being frustrated by a weapon hang up, but it happens, so its best avoided by omitting the potentially problematical weapons altogether.
But if in the meantime, you just can't resist, and you must really, really have one anyway, then go and see their
Trench Hawk Tomahawk and the
Axe Gang Hatchet.
But remember, you won't be allowed to use it at CONTACT, nor, I suspect, at most other responsible sites.
BTW we have actually experimented with these weapons to demonstrate the issues. The owners went away, bought knives, and left the axes at home, utterly convinced by their own experience mdash;they aren't safe!
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