"Good reason" to carry a knife

I memory of the OP:

Why I carry a pocket knife...

There is one reason, but to explain.

I'm a curious person (we know what curiosity did to the cat) and on a whim I may take a hike, climb a tree, bike, climb around in abandoned buildings, rewire a light, go for a sail or whatever comes to mind. So on occasion I have found myself in precarious situations that required a knife to alleviate the problem and on occasion I have been without.

Luckily I have escaped to tell you about it.

My reason can be summed up as this:

It is better to have and not need, than need and have not.
 
i carry a knife because i can- in the uk we can carry a sub 3 inch bladed knife which is "readily foldable at all times" ie a slipjoint without good reason, though with certain exceptions- such as court buildings.

i do this because i am allowed to, and i feel very strongly that if i ignore these simple seemingly unimportant rights- like the right to collect firewood on common land or the right to see my mp whenever i want, then it is easy for the public to become accustomed to the authorities removing rights- it might start with pocket knives, and end with free speech.

also, a knife is mans oldest tool, it allowed us to make fire, and get red meat, which in turn gave us the sustenance we needed to develop our brains, and thus society and indeed the governments who would now remove these tools from us.

also, i just think they're kinda useful
 
HI,
Why would we carry a knife? But i like the Indian Knife with Elephant teeth carving. Anyone know about tools and equipment? :jerkit:

(( Yes, I know about tools and equipment. I also know about spam. I bet you don't know what that smily means, though. You jerk. ))
 
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I usually carry a knife. Sometimes I don't because where I live it would be looked down upon by many people, or many would be afraid of it. However lately I've said f**ck them...I'm going to carry my blade because it is legal and because I want to. You wouldn't understand...but you may be relying upon me one day.
 
I carry a knife because:
1) I can
2) To annoy the police chief I work with who thinks I am not allowed by law (he is wrong)
3) It is a VERY useful tool
4) to echo thefifth "It is better to have and not need, than need and have not."
5) Because my P7M8 makes folks nervous.
 
I carry my knives because without them, I am the same as the helpless dimwits who can't open packaging or cut their own food.

Seriously though, I find a use for my blades every single day.

Packing tape
Zip ties
Food wrappers(Have you ever noticed that when you try to tear them open per the directions, they always split open and explode food everywhere?)
Envelopes
CD wrappers (Fingernails just ain't gonna do the job here!)
Wire, string, rope and 550 cord
Stray threads poking out of my uniform ("IP's" or Irish Pennants)
Field expedient pencil sharpener
You name it

I've never been asked why I carry a pocketknife, but then again, I live in South Mississippi, where just about everyone who has any sense carries some kind of pocketknife.

The only people who don't carry around here are the "enlightened" visitors and college students, who eschew the use of tools, preferring instead to devolve into helpless, scrabbling whiners who can't cut their own food.

I never allow anyone to borrow my knives because I've stopped too many people in the nick of time from using my blade as a screwdriver or prybar. Somehow, they just don't understand "what the big deal is. it's just a knife."

Morons.
 
James Mattis said:
There are jurisdictions out there, i.e. the UK, and individual authority figures who may ask you for what reason you carry a knife. ("For protection" is the wrong answer!) As if you needed a reason ...

"Good reason?"

My good reason to carry a knife is that God gave me rather weak teeth and rudimentary claws in an evolutionary trade-off. The hairy-armed person who figured out how to put an edge on a suitable rock made it possible for us to be recognizably human in the first place. I wear a wristwatch whether or not I have an appointment to keep, and I carry a pen and/or pencil because I am a literate person whether or not I have a specific writing task ahead of me, and I carry a knife because I am a human and not an ape.

A knife comes in handy for all sorts of random tasks that involve separating matter. Like cutting a string, or making a sandwich, or opening a package. It can also come in handy in an emergency, which need not involve a human assailant, and emergencies are by their nature unforseen, so one should carry a knife all the time.

And in a perfect world where nobody needed a weapon, I'd probaby carry a slightly larger knife, because it wouldn't scare people.

(For some longer thoughts in this direction, visit Daithi's essay at www.knives.com )

------------------
- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001



[This message has been edited by James Mattis (edited 06-18-2000).]
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Well said:thumbup:

I am going to forward this to some of my family and friends.
 
Why carry a knife? It's getting difficult to open just about anything these days. The packages are getting tougher, I'm getting weaker, and I can't see the little perforated tab that you can rip. Theese problems are solved by using a knife to open everything from beef jerky, to the clamshell packages that all the stores use.
 
I carry a knife because they've child-/theft-proofed darn near everything these days and it's become near impossible to open a package without a knife!
 
gottahaveit27 said:
I usually carry a knife. Sometimes I don't because where I live it would be looked down upon by many people, or many would be afraid of it. However lately I've said f**ck them...I'm going to carry my blade because it is legal and because I want to. You wouldn't understand...but you may be relying upon me one day.
Click to expand...

I would carry a khukri if I could get away with it .Screw what others say.
 
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