panther, just to weigh in here, and not be a part of the Kung Fu Circle Jerk of Fury that this thread has turned into, I'm not big on blades. I agree that there is a certain grace to them which cannot be matched by a firearm, but sadly most users of blades have never learned this.
That said, forget the messy, ugly gut-cutting shit. Get them in the back, below the clavicle on the left. The puncture in the upper lung prevents them from being able to scream or call for help, and if you use a decent blade like a Sykes-Fairbane there's plenty of metal to get at the heart in the same slice, and they'll bleed out in a matter of minutes.
All things being equal though, a solid shooter is a remarkable antidote for knife wounds.
My $ 0.02
Phaedrus