In the Americas, mountain lions are second in size after the Jaguar. If you have strong wrists that’s very practical. If you have a weapon, use it to poke and stab the animal. Mountain Lion Dangers and how to defend yourself against a Mountain Lion attack. That makes it a target for the dominant hand. People who disappear are the ones who aren’t carrying packs, or they have daypacks that ride low.). If you know you can kill them, they’ll know it, too. Push on that spot and in only a few seconds the lion is going to have to move and think of something different. amzn_assoc_fallback_mode = {"type":"search","value":"self defense"}; I enjoy everything that leads up to it. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing, it’s not easy to even find a jugular vein. Speed: Self-defense situations can arise at a moment’s notice, making the speed at which you can use your EDC knife all the more important. A 12-year-old girl shoots a mountain lion in self defense, while on an elk hunt in New Mexico, at a distance of less than five yards. I don’t like killing and never have. 12.12.2014 - TOPS creation of the knife known as the “Mountain Lion,” was completed after numerous conversations, design ideas, and input from several retired and active members of the famed 10th Mountain Division. It doesn’t matter what attacks you, they know if you’re confident. Our Self … That’s what you need if you want to kill something. Colorado Runner Kills Mountain Lion In Self-Defense . Since “ground truth” has led me to the conclusion that military and survival knives are pretty much interchangeable, I’m always looking for a new knife to put through the paces in a quasi-military survival environment in the jungles of Peru. You’d still have to throw hard and hit the target to make an impression, but hey, if all you’re going to do is throw rocks and yell, golf balls are the best rocks you’ll find. The cats can’t eat everything in one day, and often lose the battle by lolling about until they’re ready for a refill. No wonder there aren’t many of you left. It required two axe blows. 440 stainless steel blade Black composition handle Cast metal throat and end cap 6-1/2" clip pt blade length 11-1/4" overall Imitation leather belt sheath This is the Mountain Lion 1090 high carbon steel, 3/16" thick blade, a 90° spine , blade length is 5 3/8", OAL101/4" inches w/ a scandi grind, The weight of the blade 9 1/2 oz. Point of the throat, just above the collarbones. A mountain lion leaps from a rock in this file photo. One man bashed the cougar with a large rock that happened to be within reach, and a woman involved in a group melee dispatched a cougar with a kitchen knife, in one account described as “a bread knife a foot long.”. How To Stop a Mountain Lion Attack. With this in mind, you can look at the people in North America who have disappeared in the woods and hmm, there’s a pattern there. You can stab the heart area multiple times without actually hitting the heart. Do not approach them – approaching triggers the Mountain Lion’s attack mode. The muscles above that vein are tough and most people today don’t carry sharp knives. If you have a knife, keep it in your dominant hand and be prepared to use it quickly and effectively. For men or women's self defense products, this is the place! I often write reviews of products I purchased or products of which I have an expert opinion, but I do not write paid reviews or accept products for free. If the Mountain Lion is more than 100 yards away, avoid rapid movements and loud, excited talk. Marriott was in the woods at the time to hunt. You are welcome to ask. A mountain lion is long and lean. With today’s short and dull knives you can stab repeatedly and might even poke the heart without doing real damage to it. The only options you have today are spears you make yourself, or trail staffs with emergency spears built into them. For side-splitting humor, check out Funny Grins' huge cache of funny jokes, zany videos, and outrageous pictures. I’ve seen this demonstrated many times in films of other indigenous hunters working with “primitive” weapons. Aim for the rib cage or sides of the body. Being prepared is much better, if you’re not opposed to an occasional killing. Left-handed people, you poor bastards . The blade shape is made to be effective in tactial/defensive uses, but also accomplish camp chores and other tasks that might be required of an operator in the field. A good knife does well up close. Alone in the woods at night, all he had to protect himself was a dull pocket knife and rocks, which he threw at the animal, Richard Marriott told Sky-Hi News. When I was a kid, if we were killing hogs we called for the local expert, Jake. I don’t particularly want to argue the morality of fighting back or the necessity of fighting back, so I just included a suggestion, that if you’re going to scare off a cougar by brandishing a stick or throwing a rock (which is the advice that the park rangers give you), carry some good rocks and sticks with you. Running triggers the animal’s hunting instinct and encourages it to attack. Interesting science news, crazy science fair experiments, fun brain games and more cool science stuff for kids, parents, teachers at Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab. It includes a black ballistic nylon sheath with a You might think of spears as long distance weapons, but actually some of the old advice about how to use them involves gripping them at the hilt and using them as knives. Double-edged, sharp on both sides, with the belly of the blade swelling near the point, where in that interior zone it will do the most damage. Keeping a fire going may deter the Mountain Lion from entering your campsite area. IA: 17-Year-Old Shoots Mountain Lion in Self Defense After the Department of Natural Resources reviewed the law, they returned the lion to Jake. The Mountain Lion knife was made to be tough enough for these guys. Lever the blade back and forth with the ribs as a fulcrum and you slash everything. A couple of years ago I wrote a piece for my website Jimmy’s Backpacking Page called “Defense Against Animals.” The pages there covered some useful topics like what to do to avoid alligators and tactics for bear country. Get something solid, and learn to poke instead of swing. They collapse when you poke something. Survivors of cougar attacks seldom do more than wound the cat and escape. Runner kills mountain lion in self defense after attack at Horsetooth Rock. You and me, let’s do it. (Today (12/18/2017) I thought I would add something about passive defense that was in my original article. It’s a horrible process but it works really well. Problem is, people miss. They’d either be lucky enough to get away or wind up as lion food. Chances are good that you don’t, and sticking a mountain lion that’s chomping on your arm would be a tough job even for Jake. to the bathroom). A missed throw is just reinforcement of the idea that you’re defenseless and ineffective. Mountain Lions prefer to hunt in the evening and nighttime hours. If you’ve come to the festival with the right equipment, you’re much more likely to go home the winner. If you see a Mountain Lion approaching at a slow but steady pace, they are most likely readying to attack. Even if the lion held still it would take several passes with the average pocket knife, applied in a slicing movement, to even get down to the vein. Cuts both ways. I personally believe that I also have a right to life and in peacetime situations I will make it very difficult for anything to kill me. That worked every time, because Jake knew his business. Many people who survived cougar attacks had help. No guns, no explosives. Groups of people seem to deter Mountain Lion attacks too so travel in groups, even when making short trips (e.g. Stay in groups and continue to observe the Mountain Lion. More than that is better. Usually, when he hunts he has his pistol with him. If a mountain lion attacks you, you probably won’t see it coming. If you’re working with a long blade and you stab a mountain lion in the left side of the chest or on the side behind the shoulder blade, you’re at least in the area of the heart. Check out Bible Blender for bible study blended with science, history, technology, and your analysis. There’s a grisly old hunter’s trick you might find handy for such situations. Colorado Man Attacked by Mountain Lion, Hits It With Pocketknife and Rocks: 'I Had an Eerie Feeling That Night' By Ewan Palmer On 8/19/19 at 7:50 AM EDT Share amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Two simple solutions were found. So, we see here two knives I made. If you have an eight-inch blade (not counting handle) you should be good from either side. In national parks in India, people are allowed to collect wood. Stand on high ground and begin looking for rocks, sticks, or other weapons. A mountain lion is long and lean. I no longer belong to Google Adsense so Google will not be scanning your activities here unless you are using Chrome Browser or Google Search. During these hours, stay near camp and do not wander around alone. Hunting parties go back later, with dogs, and execute the animal if it’s still around. amzn_assoc_linkid = "aa7b8e5d408049bfc161effde59fe787"; Most of the people who find themselves facing mountain lions today haven’t pondered the moral issues. A good trail staff or a collapsible baton gives you a good shot at reasonable self defense. TOPS Knives presents a knife tough enough for the 10th Mountain Division. In most ways I’d rather not know these things, and it doesn’t make me feel better to know that I didn’t learn much that was new during my time in the military. Even if the woodcutters simply strung a wooden club across their shoulders, so the butt of the club hung behind their necks, the tigers kept their distance. Mountain Lions or cougars as they are sometimes called have been described as an ambush predator that has amazing abilities that include leaping as high as 15 feet and as far as 40 feet by using their powerful limbs. 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