This is a question we’ve probably all thought of at one point or another. Whether it’s to satiate a curiosity, win a bet, or just to learn how to better protect yourself and your loved ones, it’s a good question! But which one is better–a gun or a knife? The answer depends on the situation.
When the distance is under 21 feet, a knife will win over a gun: In most cases, it will reach the gunman before the gun can be drawn. When it’s over 21 feet, the gun wins, as the gunman has more time to draw their gun. There are factors that can change these outcomes, however.
So, the general rule of thumb is 21 feet: Over that, and a gun is better. Under that, and a knife is better. But as with just about everything, there are factors that can affect that rule and exceptions to it. What are those–and how can you use them to your advantage should you ever find yourself in a situation against a gun or a knife?
(Please note: None of this is professional or legal advice and there is no attorney-client relationship or other professional relationship. This is for informational purposes only. While we strive to keep everything as updated and accurate as possible here at Blade Fun, we do not guarantee that any of this is updated or accurate. Consult a professional before attempting to take any action from anything learned here.)
When a Knife is Deadlier
There are a few different times a knife will be deadlier than a gun:
When under about 21 feet: The sprinting speed of the average person is enough to cover about 21 feet in 1-1.5 seconds. This means that if you have your gun holstered and have to draw it against a knife attacker, if the distance between you two is under 21 feet, the knifeman will probably win out. Even above 21 feet, a knifeman can sometimes win if the gunman is untrained or simply too slow.
When the gun is out of ammo: This one is fairly obvious, but if you’re out of ammo, you basically just have an oddly shaped, slightly unwieldy club. If someone is chasing you with a knife, you’re unlikely to get the time to reload. In times like these, the knife’s going to be deadlier–knives don’t need to be reloaded.
If you’re untrained with a gun: Guns have more moving parts and take more skill to wield than a knife: You’ve potentially got to rack the slide to put a round in the chamber, flip the safety off, then actually be able to aim the gun and hit your target. Compare that to a knife, which is much more intuitive: Just about everyone knows how to slash, stab, and cut.
So, if a beginner gunman faces a beginner knifeman, the knifeman will probably win out (assuming they’re a small enough distance apart).
If you miss: As I said earlier, guns take more skill to use. If you miss, you likely have more ammo, but it both means you have to shoot more and the knifeman has more time to close the distance.
On top of that, in most cases, guns aren’t like the movies portray them: Unless you’re a crack shot even in the face of pressure, it’s going to take more than one or two shots to take down someone. In a high danger, high stress situation (such as when someone with a knife is charging you), you’re unlikely to stop the attacker without firing several shots.
When the knife-wielder is smart: This isn’t one very many people think about, but a smart knife-wielder won’t whip out a knife and start charging you. Instead they will conceal the knife until they are close enough to you that you can’t do anything–then they’ll use the knife.
If you’ve ever seen those scenes in movies or TV shows where someone gets killed in public by an assassin with a silenced pistol, imagine that, except with a knife. Even silenced guns cause a loud pop! that brings attention to the attacker. Knives only really bring attention to the attacker if the victim screams and points at them.
But, assuming the attacker is smart and waits until they’re close before attacking with a knife, that’s unlikely to happen. Since they’re closer, they’ll be able to more accurately attack with the knife, potentially causing instant death. On top of that, if a person does get stabbed/cut by an attacker (in a situation as described), they’ll be more likely to scream for help rather than scream for revenge on the person who attacked them.
Of course, if this is actually a worry to you, I have to ask: What is it that you’re doing that would cause you to worry about a professional, public hit like that?
Practical Takeaways
Having all the factors/situations in which a knife is deadlier obviously helps settle a bet or satiate a curiosity, but what are the practical takeaways when it comes to defending yourself or others?
Well, first of all, if you’re over 21 feet away from an attacker with a knife and have the training to smoothly, quickly draw a gun, you’re probably good to draw your gun without needing to create distance. You could also just run and hide and/or get help (which, in most cases, is recommended).
If you’re under 21 feet away, you have a few potential options:
- You can run and scream to get help and/or hide. This is recommended for just about everyone in every situation. If you can run away, do it–that’s the safest bet.
- You can draw your own knife and/or use martial arts/hand-to-hand (knife) combat to defend yourself or others (this is not recommended).
- If you’re carrying a gun, you can create space in order to help you draw and use it. Ways to create space include things like:
- Running away and drawing your gun.
- Backing away (rapidly) to draw your gun.
- Dropping on your back to create temporary vertical space (the knife attacker now has to drop to the ground as well to attack you).
- Dropping to the ground and rolling (the knife attacker now has to move both vertically and, depending on how close they are, horizontally twice).
If you’re interested in learning more about creating space to draw your gun, Funker Tactical has a great YouTube video about this here. (Again, don’t take any of this as professional advice–consult an actual professional for that.)
If you’re worried about an intelligent assassin with a knife waiting until they’re close enough to you to attack, I again have to ask: What are you doing that this would be a worry for you? But in terms of what could help you in a situation like this, you can keep situational awareness to watch for such intelligent attackers and train in martial arts to better handle yourself against such a close-range attack.
Ultimately, it would be hard for you to go wrong with improving your situational awareness, training and improving in martial arts (both using a knife and having a knife used against you–just don’t train with a real one!), training and improving in drawing your gun and shooting it, and–most importantly–running away! If you have the option to run away, take it.
When a Gun is Deadlier
Now, in terms of when a gun is deadlier, it’s basically the exact opposite of a knife:
When you’re over 21 feet away: If you’re at a long range, a gun is obviously going to be better than a knife. Even if the attacker throws a knife (and is really good at it), they’d have to be a world-class knife thrower to have a chance to hit you from a long distance.
At over 21 feet away, assuming you’re good at drawing and using a gun, you’re likely going to win out over someone charging you with a knife. The likelihood of you winning out increases as you create more space (such as the ways talked about above).
When the gun is already drawn: If your gun is already drawn, you have a much higher chance of winning out in a knife vs gun fight regardless of the distance. The chances increase even more if the gun is loaded and off safety. Of course, this is unlikely to be the case in a public situation where such situations are likely to happen (why would you have your gun drawn in public?), but in situations such as clearing a house from an intruder, you’re much more likely to have a gun drawn.
However, this also means that if someone has a gun drawn on you, you’re much less likely to win if you’re the knife-wielder. We’ll go over more practical takeaways for all this in a bit, but this is something to keep in mind.
If you’re highly skilled with a gun: If you’re highly skilled at creating space, drawing a gun, and using a gun, you’ve got a much higher chance of properly defending against a knife attacker. Of course, this also means that if you have to defend yourself against a skilled gunman with a knife, your chances of winning are reduced.
When the gun-wielder is smart: Unlike the situation described in which the knife-wielder is smart (and waits to use the knife until they close the distance), the exact opposite is true of someone with a gun. A smart gunman will create space. This could be anything from using a rifle to shoot someone far away (like a professional hit–again, if this is a worry: What are you doing?) to simply backing up when robbing someone at gunpoint.
And similar to how a smart knifeman is unlikely to get caught, a smart gunman is also unlikely to get caught.
Practical Takeaways
Again, knowing the situations and factors that cause a gun to be deadlier is great for settling a bet or satiating curiosity, but what are the practical takeaways?
If you’re under 21 feet away from a gunman, you’re better off to try to use a knife against them assuming the gun isn’t drawn. However, that’s unlikely to happen because if the gun isn’t drawn, they probably aren’t attacking you. As usual, it’s best to just run and hide and/or get help rather than attacking.
If they have the gun drawn, then your best bet is to run away. If they’re trying to rob you, follow along with what they say and throw whatever it is they want behind them. That forces them to turn around, and when they do, you run away.
If that’s not an option (you can’t run, they want to kill or harm you, etc.), then you’ll either need to somehow attract help or close the gap and attack either with a knife or hand-to-hand combat (how won’t be covered here–you should get professional training for that). Again, it’s best to just run away and avoid confrontation.
If you’re over 21 feet away from the gunman, it’s best to run and hide. If your gun is holstered, you’re unlikely to be able to draw it before getting shot. Even if your gun is drawn, it’s best to hide and take cover rather than engaging in a firefight.
It’s important to note, though, that there’s a difference between cover and concealment. Concealment is something to hide yourself behind that won’t actually stop bullets. Cover does stop bullets, but may or may not hide you (it won’t hide you if the attacker knows where you are). What is and is not cover won’t be discussed here (it’s recommended you get professional advice for that).
When the gunman is smart, then you’re also going to want to keep situational awareness, though in a slightly different fashion: You’ll want to take note of all exits, covers, and concealments so that you can run and/or take proper cover from a gunman. While training in drawing and using your own gun could potentially help in some situations, it’s unlikely to be better than simply running away and/or hiding.
Again, you’re hard pressed to go wrong with training in martial arts (both in situations where you have the [prop] knife and where the attacker has the [prop] knife), training in drawing and using your gun, improving situational awareness, and–again, most importantly–running away, hiding, and/or getting help.
Conclusion
The basic rule of thumb is that if you’re over 21 feet away, the gun wins–and if you’re under 21 feet away, the knife wins. There are exceptions to this, but in most cases, those are the cases.
In terms of what you can do to help defend yourself and others, you’re going to be hard pressed to go wrong with:
- Running away, hiding, and/or getting help.
- Improving your situational awareness so that you can have a good idea of when something will go wrong and where to go/what to do about it.
- Improving your skills in martial arts–both with a knife and against a knife.
- Improving your skills in drawing and using your gun.
You should also be cognisant of any laws surrounding the use of firearms and/or knives and should seek professional help in getting training to help defend yourself and others.
If you liked learning about this stuff and want to learn more about knives (and other stuff), we’ve got a whole bunch of articles you can check out here.