They were not SAS soldiers. Fighting knives and unarmed combat may be part of the public myth of what Special Forces are about, but the reality is more pro-saic. SAS men are issued with a clasp-knife � a multi-purpose tool like a Swiss Army Knife � and a bay-onet. 'I have known a few SAS guys who carried slightly larger knives,' Peter Ratcliffe has written, 'but only for doing ordinary things � not for stabbing people or dogs or slitting sentries' throats.' 21 Although McNab makes great play of what he calls jap-slapping' or unarmed combat in his autobiography, Ratcliffe points out that only the rudiments are taught in the SAS � principally for self-defence against other people armed with knives. The SAS themselves have developed a means of close-quarter battle (CQB) using pistols, which renders knife-fighting and jap-slapping obsolete. After all, not even a black belt can duck a 9mm bullet. As Ratcliffe has explained, 'If you have to kill someone or some animal, in combat, or otherwise, while on active service, then you use your rifle or pistol.
