Mouse

Knives
by Lynn C. Thompson

The legendary Jeff Cooper, Gunsite Instructor

and the Father of modern tactical handgun shooting once remarked that he would rather carry a
hatchet than a Mouse Gun for self defense. Coopers pioneering research and training changed the
way we study modern pistolcraft. When it came to
guns, he knew what he was talking about.
The phrase Mouse Gun has become almost a
term of endearment for small pocket pistols over
the years. I myself often use the term to describe
smaller firearms in my collection. But its origins
stem from dedicated research on the part of Jeff
Cooper into the role of a handgun for personal
protection. Cooper knew that when examining
your self defense options with honesty you must
evaluate the limitations as well as the potential of
every tool in your arsenal, and a lightweight, low
caliber pistol is severely limited in its uses for self
defense!
This brings me to the concept of Mouse
Knives. Its a phrase Ive been using more and
more over the last 5-6 years as Ive watched so
called self defense gurus in the media extolling
the virtue of their small tactical folders for personal protection.
It has become commonplace to see 2-3" folding knives in the hands of tactical experts in
magazines, being sold as the ideal self defense
tool but, like Cooper, we must research the true
potential of these weapons and tools. We must be
intellectually honest and look at the genuine merits
and failings of these modern day Mouse Knives.
For the purpose of this article, I will define a
Mouse Knife as a blade under 4" that is being
used for self defense.

Cold Steels
Mouse Folders

From Top:
Mini Tuff Lite
Tuff Lite
Med. Voyager Tanto
Med. Voyager Clip Point
Rajah III
Hold Out III
Counter Point II
Medium G-10 Espada
Medium Espada
Photos by Mike Barroca

Advantages

First and foremost in this list of advantages when discussing small

knives is the law. In many states and countries this blade size is the
only legal option. A small knife is politically correct. It is unassuming and non-threatening. Its not going to scare people. This isnt
always a good thing, but Ill get to that...
They are lightweight. You can comfortably carry a Mouse Knife every day, even when wearing light summer clothes or a suit. Theres
no excuse to not have one by your side. We all know that there is no
point in buying something for self defense if it stays in the house.
Its with you, and thats a huge plus.
They are easily concealable. The small profile of a Mouse Knife
makes it ideal for concealed carry. Its better than fingernails! Any
knife is better than no knife at all. When your life is on the line, any
advantage, no matter how small, is worth taking!
In a self defense situation they are harder to disarm. A small, light,
fast knife is a very difficult thing to see, let alone disarm. Or is it?
Ill explore that further in the disadvantages....

Disadvantages

Mouse Knives lack punch. They lack the surface volume to make
big, penetrative cuts and thrusts. You simply may not get enough
edge on an aggressor wearing heavy clothes to do any significant
damage. In that fearful life or death struggle, a scratch may not be
enough.
The Mouse Knife has no intimidation factor. They arent scary, no
matter how many sexy curves designers add to make them look
frightening and those curves, well, many of those curves are often
for aesthetics. They dont aid performance. In many cases they actually limit the knifes capabilities.
Limited Grip is also a
problem. Its hard to get
a strong four finger grip
on these little knives.
This limited grip is going
to cause disarms. This is
the flip side to that adage
that is commonly shared
amongst advocates of small knives for self defense that those
quick little knives are impossible to disarm. We have found that
when dealing with a smaller knife its easier to get around the
steel and to reach, parry, or control the opponents arm. You do not
have the comfort of 7 inches of steel between you and the aggressor.
Weve also found in our studies and research that while the aggressor might have a harder time locking in on your blade, you may
possibly disarm yourself - Without a solid grip on that knife with all
four fingers you may well lose that blade if you over-swing, misjudge distance or clash with your opponent. It happens more often
than you would believe. Its hard to keep a good hold on a small
knife in the mad scramble that is a self defense situation.

Its better than

fingernails!

Cold Steels
Mouse Folders
From Top:
Mini Lawman
Mini AK-47
Mini Recon 1
with Spear Point,
Clip Point, and
Tanto Point
Blade Styles

 Lack of range and reach. You are going to struggle

to fight and leave unscathed. Again, its an ugly
truth, but its the truth. Your blade is too short to
equally oppose longer weapons, and its too short
to stop people from closing on you. Once they have
got control of your knife hand its a whole different
game! There are answers to this but you will need a
much broader skillset in order to survive that type of
encounter unharmed
You cannot adequately block, parry or deflect an
opposing weapon with a small knife unless you are
exceptionally skilled. Its not enough knife for the
job!
Strength. Many thin, lightweight knives on the market today are simply not strong enough. Their tiny
little blades not only have minimal cutting power,
but they are supported by weak little locks. As a Kali
practitioner I train to de-fang the snake whenever
possible. I attempt to cut the aggressors arm or hand
in order to disarm him or dissuade him from pressing the attack. Its a very valid technique that is
functional for self defense. In our extensive sparring
sessions we found that the shock of impact upon
some knives was simply too much for their locks.
The lock was actually failing when the blade was
hit! This is not acceptable!

Its a sad truth, but many of the knives out
there that are being promoted and marketed as tactical tools are not the best self defense option! Again, I
implore you to be intellectually honest when it comes
to choosing a knife to defend yourselves and your
loved ones! If you choose to carry a Mouse Knife for
self defense then you must accept that -at best you
are MINIMALLY ARMED
Now I can hear many of you saying But Lynn, you
MAKE small knives! This is true. I also carry small
knives as part of my EDC. Partly this is due to the fact
I have studied and trained extensively with smaller
knives and I know their limitations and ideal uses.
I have trained hard to find the best ways of making
them work. And primarily, of course, they are COLD
STEEL knives!

Cold Steel and Mouse Knives

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have
a passion for Mini Revolvers and Pocket Pistols. In
my DVD series Never Unarmed I explore not only
their advantages and disadvantages in great depth but
I also discuss potential ways to use these firearms for
self defense. I always strive for that intellectual hon-

esty and try to explore the pros and cons of every self
defense option, and pocket pistols have their place
within my personal self defense ethos.
The same can be said for Mouse Knives. I often
carry a small folding knife in my shirt breast pocket or
attached to my keyring. But it is not the only knife I
carry. Depending on where I am going, who I am with
and what I am wearing I have been known to carry
up to 9 knives at a time. I also regularly carry a large
fixed blade (usually a Natchez or Laredo Bowie). You
could say that when it comes to EDC and SD carry,
I have lots of options and one of them is a Mouse
Knife.
___________________

Cold Steel is an international company with
friends, fans and customers worldwide. Attitudes and
laws in regards to self defense and the use of edged
weapons differ the world over. I count amongst my
friends individuals who carry spears and machetes as
part of their daily EDC. A small folding knife to them
is a tool first and rarely considered as a self defense
implement. I also have friends and customers who are
extremely restricted in their choice of tools for personal protection, either by law, or personal choice. I make
my Mouse Knives for them.
When it comes to designing Cold Steels Mouse
Knives I try to overcome as many of the smaller
knives natural disadvantages as I can.
Whenever possible I try to design my smaller folding knives in such a way that the user can retain a
strong, four finger grip on the handle. I invest a lot
of time and research into handle ergonomics while
exploring as many grips (ways of holding the knife)
as possible. The curves in my knives arent put there
for aesthetics, they are for grip. Form always follows function.
Even my smallest knives feature our Tri-Ad Lock.
It would be remiss of me to create the sharpest
knives without making the strongest ones too. I love
my customers fingers! Ive seen too many flashy
little pocket knives that make woeful self defense
tools but lovely little cigar cutters for your precious
digits! The Tri-Ad lock is designed to not only lock
up like a bank vault, but to survive the rigours of
combat. This is the true purpose of all those spine
whacks and over-strike tests. If Im fighting for my
life I will try and cut and rake and stab with that
knife at every crazy angle I can. Ill hit with the
pommel. Ill do anything I can to survive. In that
frantic melee the last thing you want is for your
knife to collapse and cut your fingers!

 I try to make our small Cold Steel

knives with blades that are as wide
as possible. They not only have the
structural strength to survive, but they
also have as much surface area as
possible to facilitate a deep cut. Look
at our knives and compare them to
those of my competitors. See the difference in thickness and width? This
is why!
With a wide shallow V cross section or a really high hollow grind the
blade can slide in much deeper before
it wedges. It has much greater shearing potential and it cuts much deeper
than a narrow blade. A good example
of this is our Mini Tuff Lite. Its really wide with a great hollow grind.
Its a fine example of a lot of cutting
potential packed into a small Mouse
Knife!
Whenever possible I try to include a
serrated option for our small knives.
Cold Steels serration pattern is designed specifically to grip and rip.
Its also one of the few serrations on
the market that you can snap cut with.
Our serrations bite deep. If youve
only got a small knife to save your
life, serrations will be a blessing.
The 3" Hold Out is my personal favorite Mouse Knife. It has a very wide, flat
grind, a beautifully tapered continuously curved cutting edge and a very acute,
needle sharp point. It has the incredibly
strong Tri-Ad Lock. The handle allows
great traction and strong four fingered
grip in a variety of hand positions. Plus,
its easily concealed and light enough to
be carried all day. To me, it may well be
the ultimate self defense Mouse Knife

Bigger is Better

Anyone who has seen my Warriors

Edge DVD knows I am a fan of big
knives. I have been training to use large
fixed blades for many, many years. With
a Bowie knife in my hand I feel there is
very little in this world to fear.

Cold Steels
Fixed Blade
Mouse Knives
From Top:
Mini Pal
Super Edge
Urban Pal
Mini Tac Skinner
Mini Tac Tanto
Counter Tac II
Safe Maker II
Secret Edge
Safe Keeper III
Double Agent I
Double Agent II

Cold Steels
Laredo Bowie

Cold Steels
XL Espada

Not everyone is willing or able to carry a Bowie

Knife every day. Not everyone enjoys the freedom I
possess to openly carry a large fixed blade knife. This
to me is a great shame. The world would be a very
different place if every hard working, God fearing
soul had a Laredo Bowie on their belt!
I also carry several large folding knives, often XL
serrated Vaqueros or Hold Outs. Theres a very simple
reason why I love big knives so much and why I promote them so heavily they work! Big knives get the
job done! We see it all the time in the world of mixed
Martial Arts: Height, weight, strength and reach are
all huge advantages. Translated to blades, we see
length, weight,
strength, sharpness and reach.
All of which
give you the
tactical edge.
Big knives are
scary. They have
the fear factor.
I know several people who
have stopped a
fight by simply
pulling an XL
Espada from
their pocket.
The resounding
clack of that
Tri-Ad Lock and the glint of light along that wicked
7.5" blade will make even the bravest of bad guys think
twice before stepping up to cause you harm. Theres a
comfort in that.
Big knives do more damage. A well designed, large
Cold Steel knife has more cutting edge, more weight
and more surface area to inflict massive damage. For
example - If you carry an XL Vaquero Voyager (one
of my personal favorite folding knives) the width,
thickness and length of that knife is potentially three
times that of the average EDC. Add to that the extended reach that our Voyagers specially designed grip
affords and you are a power!
Im a firm advocate of large knives for self defense.
Look at our Spartan series, our XL Voyagers, Our Hold
Out I (another personal favorite), the Rajah II and our
Espadas. All big, strong, sharp dependable knives that
can easily be carried and concealed, yet they have the
decisive edge in a true self defense situation.

With a Bowie
knife in my
hand I feel
there is very
little in this
world to fear

Mouse Guns
Photo of Mouse Guns

Mouse Knife
Tactics

There is always a place for Mouse Guns, and Mouse Knives

as long as you appreciate and compensate for their limitations.
Once again - be honest with yourself! Examine your choice
for self defense critically and if you are not willing to use a
larger knife then at least invest some time and thought into
how to make that small knife work best for you.
Seek out instruction. If at all possible, this is your best option. Find a good instructor and train. Studying Martial Arts is
a worthwhile and life changing endeavour. Its always a good
thing. It enriches your life and makes you stronger.
If at all possible I suggest training with Guro Ron Balicki
(in my opinion hes one of the worlds best!) or any of his
M.A.R.S instructors worldwide. I also recommend my Warriors Edge DVD series.
Make a foam training knife (PVC pipe wrapped in furnace
foam and duct taped) the same size as the knife you use. Put
on some eye protection and find a training partner. Get your
partner to feed angles at you. Move around. Try things. Use
this safe time to test things out. Learn your strengths and limitations as a fighter just as you are learning the strengths and
limitations of your knife.
Here are some basic techniques to think about, to try and to
explore. This is barely scratching the surface of the possibilities that are available to you, but its a great place to start:

Pressure Cuts

If you must
carry a .25 ACP
caliber pistol,
do not load it.
For if you load
it, you might
use it. And
if you shoot
somebody with
it, and they find
out about it,
theyre likely
to be very upset
with you.
Jeff Cooper

Here I enter into Rons cutting attack and momentarily controls Rons knife arm while countering with a pressure cut to the bicep. The
goal here is to sever the bicep and brachial artery. For best results present your edge at an angle to the target and press it in hard and
slice down to the bone while being sure to draw your entire edge through the target thereby maximizing the depth and length of the cut.
Its gruesome stuff, but we are training for true life or death self defense.

Counter Cut Defense

Here I step into Rons slashing attack and counter cut the fingers holding the knife. Then I immediately re-engage Rons knife hand
with my empty hand to pass it to a safer position while I close to get better control and deliver a second disabling cut. Then, if necessary I can finish the encounter with a deep thrust to the throat.

Counter Thrusting to Forearm

Here, Ron attempts a cutting attack but I stop-hit the attack with a deep thrust to the forearm followed by a vertical whip to Rons
fingers causing him to lose control of his knife.
Stop-hitting with a thrust requires excellent angle recognition and point control. Drilling both of these things with a patient training
partner is a great place to start. Wear some arm protection, use a blunt padded training knife (a foam trainer is ideal) and feed those
angles! Slowly and carefully increase speed and intensity. Its a tough technique to master but lightning fast in its simplicity and directness!

Alive Hand Defense #1

I can also augment my short blade with the judicious use of my non-knife hand. Using the edge of the hand to viciously cut into the
wrist or forearm can shock the knife arm momentarily and stop its progress long enough to deliver a counter attack - like this thrust to
Rons throat.

Alive Hand Defense #2

Rons thrust to the lower body is intercepted by my palm strike, which pins Rons knife against his hip just long enough for me to
counter with my shorter blade with a thrust under the arm.

Alive Hand Defense #3

When youre armed with a much shorter blade than your opponent you must be prepared to use every tool at your disposal for attack
and defense! Using the bottom of your knife hand as a hammer can put a lot of shock on an attacking limb and disable it long enough
for you to close with your opponent and land a telling thrust.

Counter Punching with Alive Hand

If you are well versed in the gunting techniques found in Filipino Martial Arts youll find you are frequently able to use your alive
hand to punch an incoming knife hand off line long enough for you to land a counter cut with your shorter blade. For best results
practice hitting with both sets of knuckles and with a straight or bent wrist.

Counter Thrusting

If you insist on carrying a knife with a short blade it had better have a substantial handle that you can hang on to, and a dangerously
sharp stabbing point because a counter-thrust against opponents armed with longer weapons will often be your only viable choice.
Here, Ron attempts to slash at me. I take a short step forward and to the side and counter thrust with my 3" Hold Out to Rons fingers. The goal is pin one or more fingers against the enemys knife handle and shear them off - thereby substantially weakening his
grip. Hopefully doing enough damage (both to his fingers and his courage!) to disarm him.

Pressure Cutting

For maximum effect always try to control your opponents attacking limb while countering with a pressure cut. The goal is to immobilize him for a fraction of a second so that you can press your blade deep into his flesh and draw the entire edge through the target.

Many thanks to Ron Balicki for his assistance.

Food for Thought...

One of my aims here at Cold Steel was to

make tough knives that can stand up to any task.
If you only had one knife to depend upon, itd be
one of ours.
Our Recon 1 series is a prime example of this.
A tough, reliable work horse with a multitude of
uses. But, if you are also relying on your knife to
protect yourself and your loved ones you need to
consider how you use it on a daily basis.
EDC (Every Day Carry) and SD (Self Defense) need not be one and the same. If you only
have one knife for every task you need to try
and keep it sharp. If you are cutting cardboard
and packing material all day in a warehouse or
factory then your knife isnt going to be in prime
condition to back you up when you need it.
Remember, if you only have one knife Keep it
sharp!
I believe in the principal of a DEDICATED
SELF DEFENSE KNIFE. Many of my employees carry two knives. The Mouse Knife is there
for the EDC chores. A secondary knife is there
for Self Defense. This is a good option if you
are worried about offending or scaring people
with a large politically incorrect knife. A big
knife can still easily be concealed. Use the small
knife in public and keep your self defense knife
concealed. You wont scare or intimidate anyone
but the bad guy.
The great thing about Mouse Knives (as we explored earlier) is they are small, lightweight and
easy to carry. If you are only comfortable carrying a small knife or if the law restricts you from
carrying anything larger, why not carry two?
A knife in each hand is also a big advantage. If
you carry two, why not carry three? Use one for
those everyday cutting chores and keep two with
their factory edge for those what if moments?
In conclusion. Take time to assess your choices
for self defense carry. Be intellectually honest
Explore whats best for you and what you are
comfortable carrying. Go to a local dealer or
drop into our showroom in Ventura and try a
large Cold Steel folding knife. You may be surprised at how easily it carries and how comfortable (and comforting!) it feels. If you do decide
to carry a Mouse Knife. Think honestly about
how you could use it when the metal meets the
meat. Train hard and stay safe.

Alternatives
to Mouse Blades:
(From The Top)
Counter Point II
5 1/2" Paradox
4 & 6" Ti Lites
Hold Out I & II
Kobun
Counter Tac I
Recon Is
XL Voyagers
Large Espada
Spartan