A Tale of 4 Knives

Sometime back in the 1980's I decided it was important to carry a good quality knife.  I messed around with some decent knives.  I carried a Gerber for awhile and it was a pretty good knife.  I still have it.  In the 1990's I was a little more flush and bought several products from Cold Steel.  I liked the knives and other items and still have many of them.  I keep a small shovel in my trunk and for a long time this was my carry knife:

That's the Cold Steel Large Voyager with the tanto blade.  I developed a fondness for that blade style, it's a tough design that offers a lot of penetrating power.  I carried that knife from the early 1990's until January of this year.  The pocket clip on the far side broke.  I could have sent it in and they would have replaced the knife for a fee.  They have really changed the knife design though and I wasn't sure I would like it.  I though about the Recon, it's similar to that knife, but after some research and talking with some knife fanatic friends I went with this:

That's Benchmade's Nitrous Stryker out of their Black category for law enforcement and military.  It's an assisted open knife, meaning it can be opened easily and quickly with a single hand.  I worked with the Voyager until I could flip it open one handed.  It took some oil and a lot of experimenting a practice.  The Stryker is faster and easier.  The Stryker is tip down carry and the blade is a bit smaller, with a modified tanto blade.  It seems to be a bit heavier made though and it is made in the USA while the Cold Steel products, while excellent quality, are made else where.  I don't have the almost 20 years of experience with the Styker yet, but from initial appearances, it should make it barring theft or loss.  I did decide to check out some more knives though, and may still get the Recon just to see what the triple lock is like, however this is my current backup to the Stryker, it stays in my briefcase:

That's Kershaw's Blur with the tanto style blade.  It's blade shape falls somewhere closer to the Stryker's modified tanto but between the Stryker and the traditional shape of the Voyager.  It seems to be high quality, and has an assisted open also.  The Kershaw Speed Safe seems as fast as the Benchmade Nitrous system.  The overall knife length is a bit shorter than the Stryker, but blade length is the same.  The Blur has a bit more belly to the blade.  I prefer the shape of the Styker's handle, and it's titanium liner with G2 scales verses the Kershaw's stainless liner and G2 scales, so the Benchmade is a bit lighter, on the other hand the Benchmade sells for almost double the Kershaw.  Both will shave out of the box.  The Kershaw also offers the ability to change the clip from not only right to left hand carry but from tip down to tip up on either hand.Benchmade makes less expensive knives, but not any assisted opening or using the Axis lock system.  The H and K and Harley Davidson lines tend to be less expensive.  Kershaw runs the gambit from $20 up in price. The less expensive knives like Benchmades Red category and the Kershaws less expensive ones tend to be made outside the US.  Benchmades H and K line I think are US made and seem to be in the $30 to $40 range.

 This is a nice little Kershaw I picked up for $20 or $25.  It lets you change the clip from left to right hand but doesn't to change from tip up carry.  It's called a Burst.  I am also interested in picking up a Kershaw Brawler with the tanto blade.

Recent Shooting

There was an incident in Florida recently that worries me.  It worries me because it involves self-defense laws and carry laws and gives the anti-gun lobby ammunition.  It also worries me because it again reminds me how little, we as citizens understand our rights concerning self-defense and how our legal system works. 

First off, I doubt we know all the facts, because all the facts are almost never made public knowledge, but based on the evidence currently in circulation it seems clear that the individual involved was not acting in self-defense.  Florida self-defense laws may differ from Tennessee, but I doubt any state would uphold a self-defense plea where the defendant pursued the other person.  At that point, the other person is retreating and is no threat, by pursuing the defendant is escalating the situation and has become the aggressor.  The fact that the dispatcher told the man to stop the pursuit makes his case even weaker.  Neighborhood watch or not, the man is not a sworn police officer and has no right to detain an individual, much less pursue and apprehend him.

But on the other hand, while the public outrage is understandable, the outcry will get the politicians involved and as a general rule, politicians are only interested in appearances not really outcomes.  When publicity is allowed to run a legal case, you end up with things like the OJ trial.  Who knows what would have happened if the police and DA in that case had been left alone to build a case on their own?  Instead things were rushed and the defense was able to poke enough holes in the case to get an acquittal.

One of the issues is the fact that there hasn't been an arrest.  That actually, at least in Tennessee isn't that unusual.  The reason why seems odd, but it involves the way most of the US court systems are designed.  First off, every state may be a bit different, but probably not much.  Most states have different levels of courts.  As a general rule most states have counties or parishes.  There is usually a city court, with a judge elected or appointed who hears cases involving city ordinances and possibly city traffic offenses.  Sometimes there is a traffic courts.  Next there is usually a county court with appointed or elected judges.  This court generally hears certain types of contract disputes, misdemeanor criminal offenses and acts as a preliminary court in a lot of civil and criminal matters.  In larger populated areas the courts may be specialized or have special sessions.  In my area of the country this is referred to as General Sessions Court. The next level would be the state courts.  Usually these courts are divided into Chancery and Criminal Courts.  In some areas, judges may handle more than one county and it is called a Circuit Court.  There is usually a special court for Juvenile Justice, although sometimes the Family Court section of the Chancery Court will handle that as well.

If an arrest is made the court of jurisdiction is usually the General Sessions Court.  What then happens is a series of court appearances which usually lead up to a preliminary hearing where the Judge determines if the matter can be settle in General Sessions or not.  Felony matters, crimes involving a year or more of incarceration or community supervision, fall under state court jurisdiction.  How long this process can take depends on the individual judge and local practices, but in many cases can last a year or more.  This can involve a great many court appearances for witnesses.  It is unfortunately open to abuse.  If it is determined that the case is the jurisdiction of the state, or if it can't be settled in sessions court, it is bound over to the grand jury.  The defense can pretty much at any time ask that it be bound over.  This is actually another defense tactic to stall.  It will now have to wait until the case can be presented to the next available Grand Jury.  If the prosecution and defense agree there is a case and it falls under state jurisdiction, and they have a plea agreement, they can ask that it be moved to state court without a grand jury, this is called pleading by information.

A lot of people think a Grand Jury has something to do with guilt of innocence.  It doesn't.  All a Grand Jury does it look at the evidence the prosecution is planning to present and determine if there is enough there to justify a hearing.  They don't see or hear anything from the defense and they don't necessarily see all the prosecution's case.  The state wants to present enough evidence to get an indictment or a true bill, that is all.

In cases where an investigation is turned over to the District Attorney's office, the state investigators don't usually arrest anyone immediately.  They usually build a case then present it to a grand jury directly, bypassing the whole General Sessions Court.  If the Grand Jury returns a true bill, it is in the form of what is called a "pickup" indictment.  This indictment acts as the arrest warrant and the case is instantly in
Criminal Court.  This greatly cuts down on the number of court appearances for the witnesses, so law enforcement likes to do this.  This is how most of the more serious offenses in my section of the country are handled.  It offers the advantage that the investigators have time to build a case, where with the intial arrest, you have court appearances eating into your time and you have to have your case ready on a particular date.  Any new information you developed may result in setting the case back as you present it to the court, ect.  Also the officers hate sitting in court, because you rarely have the luxury of showing up just before they hear your case and leaving immediately after. You could easily kill a whole day in court only to find out you weren't needed. Another advantage is the person under investigation may think he is free and clear and might do or say something to help convict him.  Also people connect to him would not be as guarded as if he were already involved in being prosecuted.    The disadvantage to this is that from the time the investigation starts until the person is picked up on the indictment, it doesn't look like much is happening.

Anyway, I wouldn't throw too big a fit because no one was arrested yet.  It isn't likely it isn't being investigated, just likely they intend to sneak it through a grand jury first.  Let them make a good case.  Don't forget it though.  I could be wrong and this seems like a case that needs justice.

Start of the Day

The boy came home from school yesterday with a cardboard carton of orange juice crammed into the stretchy nylon mesh pocket of his backpack. After an intense interrogation, I was able to determine that apparently the orange juice had manifest itself into the backpack pocket sometime between boarding the bus yesterday morning and my discovering it at 7 PM that night, but he insisted he planned on drinking it. Not sure how long he had it and knowing it probably had not been refrigerated in several hours, I felt it safer to not drink it and deposited it in the garbage. He was still sleeping when I got into the shower, but was sitting innocently on the couch almost ready for school, he forgot to use deodorant or brush his teeth, when I went to wake him. When I went to start coffee, the juice carton was sitting on the kitchen counter in a pool of yellow liquid, even more battered than the previous night. A second small pool of yellow liquid was in the middle of the kitchen floor. The cardboard container had apparently defeated him. That is how the day started for me.

New Post

It's been a long time since I posted and I apologize if anyone is actually reading.  I really haven't had much to say about the world of firearms.  I am still carrying the ugly Glock 19 and it is still the most comfortable firearm of its size I have ever carried.  I am beginning to feel the itch, all firearms enthusiasts know of what I speak.  The itch to acquire additional firepower, whether you need or can justify it or not.   It's been coming on for awhile but I haven't had to funds.  Still don't but may have in the near future, so the actual acquisition may still be 45 to 70 days away, but the pleasurable shopping and research commenced on two days ago.  There are some decisions that must be made.  I have long wanted a subcompact 9mm.  After my surprise over the Glock 19, my inclination is to buy a "Baby" Glock 26.  I like that it works the same as the 19 and that I could use the 19's spare magazines and spares for the 26 so I would have 2 15 round spare mags rather than use the 2 10 round magazines that come with the gun.  So I will most probably go that route, however I also want another .45 ACP.  I have a bit of ammo left from the 1911, and I like .45's.  The Glock 30 is the compact .45 ACP model and it falls in size between the 19 and the 26, although a little wider than both.  It hold 10 rounds of .45. It is heavier loaded than the 19 though.  Even with the weight and extra width, it should carry almost as comfortably as the 19 and probably more than the compact 1911.  It also has the advantage of the same operating system.  I could also buy extra magazines for the full size Glock and have 13 round spare clips if I want, or later buy the full size .45 just because you can never be too well armed.  Of course, I could also buy the new XDM.  They are a bit more expensive locally than Glock but the triggers are very nice and the operating system is very similar to the 1911, other than not being exactly a single action.  The match grade barrel is nice too. But they are a bit bulkier for carry.  I don't want the full size .45 for regular carry, just because a coworker says they are a bit heavy.

The ex is returning in May and wants a replacement for her Bersa that was stolen, but she thinks she wants a 9 mm rather than another .380.  I agree with this, but haven't found a local outlet for Bersa, the place her original was purchased is no longer with us.  So that gives me another reason to shop.  A coworker is looking hard at the Ruger LC9, she of course is waiting until she finds a pink one.  We are still not sure if she is really wanting a pink gun or just enjoying watching us shudder at the thought.  It does look like a viable option for the ex though, it is actually about the size of the Bersa, although not the two-tone of her old gun and actually offers holds the same number of rounds, maybe even 1 more.  It might be a little bigger, but the polymer frame should make the weight similar.  The Bersa was easy to carry, and had an awesome double-action trigger.  Not sure how the Ruger stands on trigger and I am sure the recoil will be worse, but hopefully the carry will be similar.  I have taken a liking to the Desantis sof-tuck for my Glock, and will probably go that route with both the 30 and 26 when I get them (I eventually plan to own both).  I also want to try a decent ankle rig with the 26 at some point.  That might make a good carry plan for her and the LC9 or the Bersa.  I want to see her go to the 9MM.  For one thing, .380 ammo has improved a lot, but is kind of pricy compared to 9MM.

Anyway, my big decision is which to get first the subcompact 9 mm or the compact .45.  Than whether to stay Glock exclusive, go with another polymer, or just buy metal again.  Of course, I might just fall in love with something I see too.  I will report back soon.