You want a bit extra to actually pierce the heart, not just reach it, and having a bit of wiggle room to handle any statistical outliers is usually prudent.
Unless you’re going by subcostal distance, in which case it’s just under 3 inches with a variance of almost an inch. If they happen to be a bit larger than average and wearing a heavy jacket, a blade shorter than 4 inches may not be sufficient to get the job done, and even with a 4 in. blade it can be iffy. Your 11cm. table knife starts looking pretty good at that point.
But if the length of the knife is the problem, why attack the heart at all? A blade less than an inch long can sever the carotid artery and jugular veins relatively easily.
It’s meant to cut muscle via saw-like (forth and back) movement and not to make a clean cut through the shirt, whose fibers alone would largely difficult its movement.
Yeah, stomach or large intestine. If he’s lucky it slipped between both. Nasty, but not likely to be fatal provided he gets proper medical attention soon.
If you notice, the arm is shown moving upwards, which with a light duty knife is how you would do it since it can easily be stopped by a bone. Go in under the sternum striking upwards takes you straight to the heart. Also, you don’t need to go all the way through the heart, just a nice size hole will do the job.
Is it just me, or does Brian look a lot like that Mandolorian guy?
Something about the nose and the moustache… specially in the last panel
By the way, never actually seen the show, just clips and memes
Well… That put some colour in his world
8)
Hey! You’re supposed to eat the CRUST first!!!
Only if it’s stuffed-crust
sorry. was referring to the vote incentive art.
Yes, same here
Hah!
Can such a small knife reach the heart? It’s a regular cutlery knife!
I’m outraged, you always use a big knife for that, or better even: a sledge hammer, else the victim can survive and be angry at you… with good reason.
Sure it can, why not? The heart is really not that far from the skin, see e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18187292/
Quote: “Average skin-to-heart distances were: parasternal 32.1±7.9 mm; apical 31.3±11.3 mm; and subcostal 70.8±22.3 mm”. Also look at the “Similar articles” section, quite a morbid sight.
So all the nonsense about more than four fingers (c. 80 mm) pocket knives being dangerous bc of supposedly reaching the heart were… well… nonsense?
I should have known. TY.
There was once a story on 1,000 ways to die that had a guy die when the handle of a fire extinguisher pierced his heart.
It’s long enough. Anything over about 4 inches is more than sufficient to pierce the heart.
That’s more than 10 cm, much more than what Joker says is enough above. Just measured one of those and it’s exactly 11 cm from point to handle.
You want a bit extra to actually pierce the heart, not just reach it, and having a bit of wiggle room to handle any statistical outliers is usually prudent.
But read the comment above by Joker_VD, where it says only 3-4 cm are in fact the barrier. (and is academically documented).
Unless you’re going by subcostal distance, in which case it’s just under 3 inches with a variance of almost an inch. If they happen to be a bit larger than average and wearing a heavy jacket, a blade shorter than 4 inches may not be sufficient to get the job done, and even with a 4 in. blade it can be iffy. Your 11cm. table knife starts looking pretty good at that point.
But if the length of the knife is the problem, why attack the heart at all? A blade less than an inch long can sever the carotid artery and jugular veins relatively easily.
Regular steak knife, serrated for your pain.
And to get entangled in the clothes…
It’s meant to cut muscle via saw-like (forth and back) movement and not to make a clean cut through the shirt, whose fibers alone would largely difficult its movement.
Based on the way it’s drawn, it probably missed his heart as it looks like it went in just below the sternum.
Yeah, that’s more likely to have pierced the stomach. Which is a fairly survivable wound, as far as that goes.
Nicked the bottom of the stomach maybe, a lot of people don’t know where the stomach actually is
Yeah, stomach or large intestine. If he’s lucky it slipped between both. Nasty, but not likely to be fatal provided he gets proper medical attention soon.
Stomach is rather to the right, between liver and heart, correct?
To the left, below the heart (as the owner views). Liver is on the right (again, as the owner views).
And tucked safely behind the sternum, NOT behind the belly button
If you notice, the arm is shown moving upwards, which with a light duty knife is how you would do it since it can easily be stopped by a bone. Go in under the sternum striking upwards takes you straight to the heart. Also, you don’t need to go all the way through the heart, just a nice size hole will do the job.
A steak knife??
Thanks for noticing!
Paul got his game face on.
Hey I wonder if Brian experiencing a fear associated with one of the crew gives them a boost in power or strength?
8)
Yeah, Paul looks peeved
Is it just me, or does Brian look a lot like that Mandolorian guy?
Something about the nose and the moustache… specially in the last panel
By the way, never actually seen the show, just clips and memes
It’s pretty good, if star wars is your jam. I’m looking forward to season 3.
A steak knife… appropriate, considering the wielder (looks like an aspect of the Devourer).
That mean the fork is in the other hand?