Quote Originally Posted by Syme View Post
If you are going to use a knife for self-defense, the most important thing to have is serious training. Don't carry a knife for self-defense unless you have spent the time and money to take a serious, in-depth combat knife course. The course should last a couple of months and won't be cheap. Don't think you can just buy a neat knife and carry around with you and you'll be ready to defend yourself with it. Unless you actually know what you are doing, pulling a knife in a self-defense situation actually makes you more likely to be hurt or killed than if you didn't have the knife at all. It's incredibly dangerous, much more dangerous than using your bare hands or just trying to run away. You are quite likely to end up getting slashed/stabbed with your own knife. If you don't have the needed training, don't carry a knife for self-defense. Also, be intimately familiar with your state's knife laws. In many places the carry of knives is actually more restricted than the carry of handguns. All told, if you really want to carry a deadly weapon for self-defense, a pistol is a better choice. It is much easier to use effectively, it is much less dangerous to you, and it is likely to be subject to fewer legal hassles.

That said, a good self-defense knife will have a blade profile suited to effective slashing, as well as a tip suited for effective stabbing. It should have grip shaping that allows for a strong, positive "saber" grip. The blade should be thick enough to have the necessary strength to stand up to the stresses of hard slashing and stabbing.

And just to repeat: Get serious training, or don't carry a knife for self-defense.

EDIT: And thinking that a big scary knife might end a confrontation just by it's appearance is probably like thinking that racking the slide on your pump-action will scare off a burglar: Silly, unrealistic, and possibly dangerous.
Where would one go about finding one of these combat knife training classes? I've never heard of this before and would be seriously interested. I'd rather carry a knife than a gun on a day to day basis.