Knives sticking?

[RayMcCullough]

Has anyone who has done test cutting with knives or swords ever had a thrust get the blade stuck? I especially want to know about the knives. Has bone in any form trapped the blade?

Thanks

Ray

[Seth Halsell]

Yes. I was test cutting with a longsword on 1 gallon milk jugs I filled with water. I decided to do a thrust at the milk jug from a right plough position thrusting upward into longpoint while taking a passing step forward and it went right through the jug. It took me a minute to pull the longsword out of the milk jug. I noticed that the hole in the back of the jug was larger then the entrance one in the front. Can't say I've tried this with knives though...yet.

[Jason Taylor]

Can't say this enough: if you're test-thrusting with a knife, make absolutely certain your hand can't slide onto the blade. A small cross on a dagger works well. Most modern knives don't have enough of that to make me feel comfortable, at least the tactical folders and so forth. Most beefy fixed blades have something that works pretty well. At the very least, be cognizant of the danger--it's easy to slash tendons if you're not, believe me.

Has anyone who has done test cutting with knives or swords ever had a thrust get the blade stuck? I especially want to know about the knives. Has bone in any form trapped the blade?

Thanks

Ray

[Shane Smith]

I've field dressed alot of big game with a Kbar and never had a blade stick when thrust through the chest cavity to open it up. Maybe in muscle tissue? I can say a chest thrust on a deer comes right out.

[Tomm Skotner]

I have stabbed a pig through the breastbone. The dagger went about 10 cm. through the bone, but I had no trouble pulling it back out. Mind you, the pig was already dead, of course, and that might have changed the bone tissue in some relevant way. But I doubt that it made a tremendous difference.

I have also tried stabbing dead pigs with swords and spears. And I can tell you after several experiments that such things pierce the fleshy bits so easily it is not even fun to do. There is hardly any resistance at all to be felt. You might as well thrust into thin air. And pulling them back out is equally effortless. So I do not think you will have any more problem with a dagger getting stuck in muscle tissue than you would with bone.

Another point you might find interesting is how much difference armour will make. Using a sword, I can sever the spine on a naked pig with one blow. But when we dressed it in 20 layers of linen I could even nick its skin. If my memory serves me, I think the most any of us managed to cut through was 15 layers of linen. On the other hand, the same linen armour did not make any difference against a spear thrust. The spear went straight through all 20 layers of linen and the whole width of the pig like a hot knife through butter. I would think a dagger behaves much the same way. I cannot recall any attempts at thrusting a sword at an armoured pig (which is odd because it strikes me as such an interesting comparison).

[Shane Smith]

I have stabbed a pig through the breastbone. The dagger went about 10 cm. through the bone, but I had no trouble pulling it back out. Mind you, the pig was already dead, of course, and that might have changed the bone tissue in some relevant way. But I doubt that it made a tremendous difference.

I have also tried stabbing dead pigs with swords and spears. And I can tell you after several experiments that such things pierce the fleshy bits so easily it is not even fun to do. There is hardly any resistance at all to be felt. You might as well thrust into thin air. And pulling them back out is equally effortless. So I do not think you will have any more problem with a dagger getting stuck in muscle tissue than you would with bone.

Another point you might find interesting is how much difference armour will make. Using a sword, I can sever the spine on a naked pig with one blow. But when we dressed it in 20 layers of linen I could even nick its skin. If my memory serves me, I think the most any of us managed to cut through was 15 layers of linen. On the other hand, the same linen armour did not make any difference against a spear thrust. The spear went straight through all 20 layers of linen and the whole width of the pig like a hot knife through butter. I would think a dagger behaves much the same way. I cannot recall any attempts at thrusting a sword at an armoured pig (which is odd because it strikes me as such an interesting comparison).

Interesting insights.

[Eric Sandlers]

I've experienced it before the test cutting with knives and its fine. What i don't have experienced yet is the test cutting with swords.

[Jonathan Hill]

As to if it get's caught I'll have no input. I just wanted to throw in what we are told on how to take the knife out.

"You don't pull the knife out, you rip it out."

Given that approach I don't think the bone would cause too much trouble...

[Randall Pleasant]

Has anyone who has done test cutting with knives or swords ever had a thrust get the blade stuck? I especially want to know about the knives. Has bone in any form trapped the blade?

Ray

I've seen several men stabbed in the chest and back and not once did I observe the attacker having any trouble with a stuck blade. I can't say a knife cannot somehow become stuck but I think it would ber very rare. Of course, I would guess that those knifes that have saw teeth on the back edge would be the most likely to become stuck.

[Michæl Bunch]

I've had blades get stuck in wood but that is it so far. I've test cut on a dead pig and have had no problem pulling my knife out of it, except for the skull. I think that says more about the anterior of a pig skull than about a knife though...

[RayMcCullough]

I never did come back on here and say why I asked. I had a guy tell me that it was better to cut wiht a knife than stab because your blade will get stuck. Ridiculous. Thanks everyone who posted.