Confrontation with a knife

Unfortunately, a lot of people young and old have found themselves confronted with
a mugger armed with a blade demanding  money or valuables.

What can you do in this situation?

Do you give up your valuables?

Do you fight back?

Will you risk being hurt?

What should you do? 

Firstly, let's examine the manner of the attack.

You are held up at knife point. That means the attacker hasn't made up his
mind to attack you yet or they may NOT wish to use it at all.

They are making the knife a psychological threat.

They feel the presence of the knife will  MAKE you succumb to their demands.

They are carrying the knife as a psychological boost, a confidence boost.

They may be a down and out coward but it is an EXTREMELY dangerous job finding out; nor do you want to know.

As I said they may not intend to actually use the knife but changing circumstances
or sheer desperation may force them to.

An example is a drug junkie looking for a fix - a VERY unpredictable assailant.

How important are your valuables?

A lot of self defense books, courses and  magazines recommend giving up your wallet, handbag or purse.

They are not as important as your life.

This is good, sound and sensible advice.

The average person may accept this and give up their belongings.

But others may not.

You may be furious that some LOW LIFE  wants to rob you of your hard earned
money and valuables.

A fair point and one that isn't easy to answer.

Each one of you will have your own thoughts on this matter. However, I would like to post this question to all of you:

How can you be sure that you can entrust your lives over to a assailant all stressed up, to not attack you with that knife?