Surprisingly thorough response there Michael, but interesting.   See 8 other replies

A thrown knife is certainly an effective weapon at range but it takes a lot of practice to make it effective and even then it is hard to hit a vital enough spot to ensure the target is imobalized. Depending on the target someone struck by a thrown knife but not in a vital are could be cpable of still firing a fairly acurate shot. Then there is to be concidered that once you have thrown a knife you are atelast temporatily disarmed even if you have a second knife you will have to unshieth it which gives the oponent time to act. I suppose while we may be talking about a worst cace scenario where the attacker is physicly fit and on level ground and all this is till a much more common scenario than encounering someone withteh skill level to throw a knife effectivly.An officer is much more likely to encounter someone in good physical condition who even with limited skill could slash away and do some serious damage rather than someone with the near ninja like skills it takes to be a good knife thrower.And yes that last bit was thrown in mostly for humor.   See 8 other replies

I think what I was mixing up was that the 20 feet is about a holstered gun and the 16 may refer more to a gun already drawn which would give the gun user more fo a chance but still be a danger at the closer range since one can't assume that the first shot fired will disable or even hit the target. So basicly best to be cautious and fire before you take the risk of letteing them in that close. I suppose in law enforcement training they are prepairing for a worst casse scenario wherein the openent is of equil or greater skill, physicly fit and on level ground. It is likely worth taking extra precaution as the weapon retention holsters law enforcement officers are required to carry are so good at retaining a weapon that an overweight man with a bad limp would still have a chance of closing a distance of 40 feet before someone could pry a gun from that particular style of holster. As the term "weapon retention" implys they are desighned to secure the weapon so it is not easily removed as the thinking is that every precaution must be taken to ensure that someone can't snatch a cops gun away from them.   See 8 other replies

So I just typed out a lengthy and detailed description of how and why I believe that you are correct with a few added points of interest and then my Hulu window decided to jump back to my profile page and delete the entire post before I could submit it....I doubt I could typ it all out again and wouldn't want to spend so much time all over agian especialy withthe chance that Hulu wil eat my post again so I will just sort of sum it up here...   See 8 other replies

That's the general idea, but it presumes a couple of things, like the person armed with the gun has it holstered or at least not in hand and already aimed at the knife wielder.
I've always heard 20-21 feet as the danger close distance, and when you take a "permit to carry" training course, you have to qualify on the firing range at 21 feet.
But, there are several other factors involved, most notably the competency of the 2 combatants, physical fitness (a 350 lb guy with asthma probably won't close the distance fast enough <grin>), terrain and topography (obstacles, and who has the high ground).
A knife in trained hands does have the added advantage of being both a ranged and close combat weapon, although the range of a thrown knife is far shorter than any gun, the 16-21 feet range is well within it's capacity. and in very close quarters, the gun severely limits the defensive and offensive options of the holder, it only works in one direction, a knife can injure or kill from multiple angles.   See 8 other replies

I will have to wait until I have watched enough of the series to see what you are talking aobut in regards to the knife vs gun fights in this season but I can certainly offer an opinion on the knife vs gun situation in general.One of the first things taught in police training is that within a range of about sixteen feet a knife becomes a potentially lethal threat that requires defensive action. This is due to the fact that this is the range where the person with the knife may be able to clear the distance to the target and attack before the officer can aim and discharge a firearm. Even wounded from a first shot some attackers may be able to close the distance and attack before being subdued. This may not give the knife wielder an advantage but it certaily lessens the advantage granted by a firearm. While the last i was told the danger zone was at sixteen feet I can see where some may give it a longer range such as twenty feet as a precaution. In any situation a guin is a range weapon and has more advantage at a distance whereas a knife is a close combat weapon and becomes more efective the shorter the distance to the target.   See 8 other replies

It's supposed to be "That when", Hulu doen't let us edits our posts, Also one typo and you can't under stand a the idea of whole paragraph   See 8 other replies