This is the latest subject to grind the gears in my twisted little head: Given an EXTREMELY CLOSE-quarters-combat situation(torso-to-torso), what would be more effective, a derringer or a <4" knife?
The situations I am contemplating run along these lines: rear-quarter gun grab/chokeout, face-to-face grappling, pinned against a wall, held by 2-3 assailants, pinned to the ground, at the bottom of a dogpile, etc. A common factor in all of these situations is a VERY limited range of motion available for your arms/hands. Of course, getting into a situation like these is an unforgivable lapse of situational awareness and tactics, for which I would DESERVE to get killed - these measures are merely so that I can survive to tell my grandchildren, "Never do anything as stupid as what I did once!" So, given these conditions, which would you choose?
If my strong hand were free enough, I would simply access my primary weapon(Glock 27) in its strong-side belt holster and deal with the matter normally - but, in a grappling/gun grab situation, I foresee my strong hand being tied up, either securing my weapon in its holster, or fighting off my opponent's hand. So, it looks like I'll have to counter-attack with my weak hand.
The thing is, an empty-handed blow requires range of motion in order to generate a respectable impact - otherwise, you're just rabbit-punching. Extreme-close-quarters distances can't be expected to allow that range of motion - indeed, by their nature LIMIT the distance your arm can move and your fist can travel to strike. Neither can I guarantee that I would be able to reach a pressure point on my assailant's body AND exert sufficient pressure to make him disengage. Fist-loads or other impact weapons are out, if I can't move my arm enough to swing respectably. So, I'm down to a small fixed blade at the belt, a folder in my weak-side pocket, or a derringer in my weak-side front trousers pocket, as I'm pretty sure that I could access these locations even if disadvantaged as described.
Because range of motion is limited, I'm limited to a short blade, whether fixed or folding - I can't draw a 6" fighting knife if I can't move my hand at least 6" so that I can clear the blade from the sheath. A folder has to be opened first, and easy though it may be with a good design, you still have a partial grip on the knife while opening it - if you wrap your fingers completely around it in a firm, solid grasp, you've blocked the blade from opening. But, with a short fixed-blade, I grasp the handle firmly to start with, yank hard, and in 4" or less of movement, the blade is out and ready for use. Likewise, I can pull a derringer out of my pocket with 4-5" of movement - or, if there's enough slack in my slacks, fire from the pocket into an assailant on top of me.
With a short blade, I can stab a couple of inches into my assailant's flank, belly or thigh, slash a bit, and generally do some constructive damage. With a derringer, though, if I jam it into the soft parts of my opponent's body as I pull the trigger, he gets the bullet AND the powder gasses - which I think would be even more effective. Pocket autos may jam after the first shot, but the derringer WILL fire both barrels from the pocket, or while in contact with my assailant's body. The same is also true of a .38 snubby, but a derringer does the same job while being even smaller and flatter(yes, you DO lose 3 shots to gain compactness!).
So, with this in mind, the gist of this long-winded post is that I chose a .38Spl derringer as a close-range backup. Now, it's your turn to shoot me down and weigh in with your own opinions.
The situations I am contemplating run along these lines: rear-quarter gun grab/chokeout, face-to-face grappling, pinned against a wall, held by 2-3 assailants, pinned to the ground, at the bottom of a dogpile, etc. A common factor in all of these situations is a VERY limited range of motion available for your arms/hands. Of course, getting into a situation like these is an unforgivable lapse of situational awareness and tactics, for which I would DESERVE to get killed - these measures are merely so that I can survive to tell my grandchildren, "Never do anything as stupid as what I did once!" So, given these conditions, which would you choose?
If my strong hand were free enough, I would simply access my primary weapon(Glock 27) in its strong-side belt holster and deal with the matter normally - but, in a grappling/gun grab situation, I foresee my strong hand being tied up, either securing my weapon in its holster, or fighting off my opponent's hand. So, it looks like I'll have to counter-attack with my weak hand.
The thing is, an empty-handed blow requires range of motion in order to generate a respectable impact - otherwise, you're just rabbit-punching. Extreme-close-quarters distances can't be expected to allow that range of motion - indeed, by their nature LIMIT the distance your arm can move and your fist can travel to strike. Neither can I guarantee that I would be able to reach a pressure point on my assailant's body AND exert sufficient pressure to make him disengage. Fist-loads or other impact weapons are out, if I can't move my arm enough to swing respectably. So, I'm down to a small fixed blade at the belt, a folder in my weak-side pocket, or a derringer in my weak-side front trousers pocket, as I'm pretty sure that I could access these locations even if disadvantaged as described.
Because range of motion is limited, I'm limited to a short blade, whether fixed or folding - I can't draw a 6" fighting knife if I can't move my hand at least 6" so that I can clear the blade from the sheath. A folder has to be opened first, and easy though it may be with a good design, you still have a partial grip on the knife while opening it - if you wrap your fingers completely around it in a firm, solid grasp, you've blocked the blade from opening. But, with a short fixed-blade, I grasp the handle firmly to start with, yank hard, and in 4" or less of movement, the blade is out and ready for use. Likewise, I can pull a derringer out of my pocket with 4-5" of movement - or, if there's enough slack in my slacks, fire from the pocket into an assailant on top of me.
With a short blade, I can stab a couple of inches into my assailant's flank, belly or thigh, slash a bit, and generally do some constructive damage. With a derringer, though, if I jam it into the soft parts of my opponent's body as I pull the trigger, he gets the bullet AND the powder gasses - which I think would be even more effective. Pocket autos may jam after the first shot, but the derringer WILL fire both barrels from the pocket, or while in contact with my assailant's body. The same is also true of a .38 snubby, but a derringer does the same job while being even smaller and flatter(yes, you DO lose 3 shots to gain compactness!).
So, with this in mind, the gist of this long-winded post is that I chose a .38Spl derringer as a close-range backup. Now, it's your turn to shoot me down and weigh in with your own opinions.