Give a Knife, Save a Life

Give a Knife:

Those of you who read our book, The Rhythm of One, know about my bad experience in Vietnam with less than ideal combat knives. For example, I bought a Pilot’s Survival knife that was only moderately sharp and it preferred to stay that way. Then I took an M-3 bayonet and tried to make it into a fighting knife. It looked great but would not cut melted butter.

In 1968 it was inconceivable to me that an industrialized nation like the US would send its men off to war without a decent knife. Well fast forward forty years and you will find that things have not changed. The only difference is the fighting men are wading in sand not rice paddies. I have seen all sorts of organizations dedicated to sending candy, scarves, and toiletries to men in the Far East and it’s probably just a personal thing, but I would rather do without my favorite cologne than be without a fighting knife.

Tom Sotis of AMOK! http://www.edgedweaponsolutions.com/ sent an email asking for donations of fighting knives to send to Iraq. I doubt if anyone reading this blog remembers a similar WW-II request asking people to donate knives to the Brits. You see the Brits, in their infinite wisdom, listened to their liberal politicians and confiscated, or made illegal, almost all of the knives in England. When war broke out the "Home Guard" were busy making knives out of large nails, screwdrivers, and files. The slogan back then was "Give a knife, save a life," and Americans responded generously with thousands of knives.

Having personally experienced the bureaucracy of the military I am well aware of their phobias regarding men carrying personal edged weapons. However, knowing their thinking and understanding it is not the same thing. Why would they advertise that we have the best-trained and equipped fighting men in the world and not trust them to carry a fighting knife? It just boggles my mind! How can you entrust a young man or woman with operating a predator drone or a Blackhawk gunship and then confiscate their knife as an illegal weapon?

Ah well, some things never change. So, getting back to Tom’s email, I decided to answer the call. We had a few knives that were destined for our Used Knife page on the website and I decided that for the little income they would generate I would prefer to see them being carried by our brave men and women who stand in harms way. You can check on our website http://www.whiteshadowsecurity.com/ and see a photo of the knives under the "tried and true" category. If you have a few knives, or even one knife, that you want to donate please contact Tom Sotis at his email address, sotis@knifefighting.com or myself at ghdave2@hotmail.com . Come on, Give a knife, save a life.