While I believe a man armed with a gun will kill a man armed with a knife with alarming regularity, I could use a rugged pressurized pen for work and these look to fill the bill nicely. Just Sunday I went to grab the pen from my back pocket and retrieved it in pieces. Doesn’t look good in front of a client. I found a huge assortment at http://www.bladehq.com/cat—Defense-Pens—257—3. Time to order a couple. 
Okay, I am convinced.
While I do believe a man with a pistol will best a man wielding a blade a high percentage of the time. You will be cut. Depending on distance you will not be able to clear leather quick enough to prevent it. A firearm is not but a tool like anything else. Don’t ever wager on a firearm saving your life in such a situation. It’s one thing to be well trained. It’s another to be over confident. Now if its a shotgun leveled at him, he would prolly wanna stand real still & drop the steel.
Clear leather at the distances we talked about not a problem. I’ll come out and say it. I’m fast. A few years back I was pulling the trigger 200-300 times a DAY. Probably close to half of those drawn from the holster. But I’m not saying a bullet or two is going to immediately drop the assailant!
I just ordered a pen. Maybe not a tactical jobbie, but it suits my need well. It’s a Fisher X-Mark Bullet pen. Go it for 13 bucks on ebay. Should be here Saturday. I can’t wait.
I have seen this test as well. Agreed
Or not, if you know what to do when that flag goes up… (of course even if you’re successful it doesn’t mean you won’t get a fatal wound for your trouble)
But the fact remains, if you Need to know this, your Situational Awareness skills need work.
Dim
Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department wondered how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover 21 feet (6.4 m), so he timed volunteers as they raced to stab the target. He determined that it could be done in 1.5 seconds. These results were first published as an article in SWAT magazine in 1983 and in a police training video by the same title, “How Close is Too Close?”
I am one of the 1% I have a CCW (concealed weapons permit) by my own choice since my Chronic disease has taken it toll on and I had to quit my maftial art training and work on honing my firearms skills shot placement caliber and projectile desing all play a role on incapacitating some one also along with hydrostatic shock ofa projectile.
A second and a half hah? Plenty of time LOL!
Or for the fastest ever
MY BAD… Please continue on with your gunslinger fantasies… LOLOLOLOL
Just because somebody’s skill level is outside your personal experience doesn’t make it fantasy. I put a lot of effort getting to where I’m at. For you to think a gun can’t be drawn and fired in under 1.5 seconds is the fantasy here.
The scenario presented wasn’t realistic. The man was set, with his hand on his pistol waiting for a buzzer. That’s not even close to trying to identify a threat & reacting in real time. But by all means, you have seen the evidence & yet still stand on macho bravado. Good luck with that. Hope you never are put into a situation whereas your life depends on your ego. Have a great day.
Let's face it, the truly dangerous guy is the one that will sit a few hundred yards away, and you might well be dead before you even realize you've been shot.
+1 or calls in artillery… I always liked artillery… Like free fireworks.
OK. He was set. And he got three shots off in under a second. I can get one shot off in about a second not being set. There are a lot of variables like was stated earlier. There is also the fact that when an assailant is shot they don’t always go down right away and can stab you plenty of times before they drop. In general I agree with everything you’ve said. I wasn’t trying to personally attack you, just stating that there are people who perform better than the results of that test.
But he is untrained, unfamiliar with the weapon, unfamiliar with the holster …. if you already have a knife out , holding it above your head, getting ready to sprint at me, i already have justifiable reason to have my weapon drawn.
What i find amusing is this whole conversation is mall ninja heresy … every situation is different. What would decide the outcome of a knife charge is the thirty seconds before the charge.
I agree. It’s all mall ninja talk. Somebody mentioned situational awareness earlier. If you can be good at anything defense wise, that’s what it should be.
I think they put it thus at No Nonsense Self Defence. The best defence scenario is the one that never happens.
And if they don’t put it that way they should, and if they haven’t I claim dibs.