A plastic Spyder.....

[Carl64]

So, if a terrorist can use a knife to take over an airplane on which I am a passenger, then I don’t need a knife?

Note that "you" was used in both parts of the sentence, but you replaced one of them with a reference to another person. Let me rephrase their statement for you:

If A PERSON can hijack an airplane with a knife, then THAT SAME PERSON does not necessarily need that exact tool to do that job. Due to the nature of the job, if it can be done with a knife it can be done a bunch of other ways to. Therefore, a knife is not needed and a ban on knives will not solve the problem.

Note that these are "if" statements, so there is no solid assertion that it CAN be done as easily as it is said, but IF it can then a knife surely isn't the only magic tool that can do the job.

 

[ghostrider]

Note that "you" was used in both parts of the sentence, but you replaced one of them with a reference to another person. Let me rephrase their statement for you:

If A PERSON can hijack an airplane with a knife, then THAT SAME PERSON does not necessarily need that exact tool to do that job. Due to the nature of the job, if it can be done with a knife it can be done a bunch of other ways to. Therefore, a knife is not needed and a ban on knives will not solve the problem.

Note that these are "if" statements, so there is no solid assertion that it CAN be done as easily as it is said, but IF it can then a knife surely isn't the only magic tool that can do the job.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Carl64]

Thanks for the clarification.

I hope it didn't sound rude or anything.

 

[ghostrider]

I didn't take it that way.

I thought I made it clear I was unsure of his statement when I said I wasn't sure what he meant by it. You're post helped.

 

[Carl64]

Cool. Now we can get back to planning our next month's knife budget like normal.

 

[ghostrider]

Amen Bruda!

 

[DaveH]

I haven't seen this point mentioned yet.

Why risk the good name of spyderco on something like a plastic knife that will end up in some stupid persons possession? Ievitably people get a hold of stuff and misuse it and cause a stink.

Sure this happens with everything including pocket knives, but at least it's clearly a legitimate product with standard uses. A plastic knife as is descibed in the first part of this thread is not what I would consider a legitimate product for a knife company.

With one exception, "Dark Ops" seems like a company to make those kinds of things. It would fit with their advertising image they have created.

 

[ghostrider]

Who cares!

The bottom line is this: traditionally, when Spyderco comes out with a new model, they have a tendency to discontinue an older, slower selling model. This means that, hypothetically, if they come out with a plastic knife, it will mean one less steel knife. Also, since Spyderco is a small company, it will mean less R & D for other more important (IMHO) innovations.

Worrying about the political correctness of, or the image of a plastic knife is kind of silly in light of the fact that they put out knives like the Civilian, Matriarch, and Military.

 

[Clint Simpson]

Sadly, 9/11 hasn’t taught us much. Unless “more cowering, and placing my safeyt in other's hands” is a lesson.

Carl was right about my statement, and for the record, I'm pro-second amendement and a memebr of the "A man's got the right to defend himself" crowd.(the CCW permits are waiting on money )

Thank's Carl, you saved me a rant

traditionally, when Spyderco comes out with a new model, they have a tendency to discontinue an older, slower selling model.

Traditioinally they do but not always. To keep to the core issue, what if they wouldn't discontinue an old model and the new plastic one had innovative, really useful features.

One must not live in fear of change because there MIGHT be consequences. Consequences are not always bad.

Why risk the good name of spyderco on something like a plastic knife that will end up in some stupid persons possession? Ievitably people get a hold of stuff and misuse it and cause a stink.

People do that with their serrated knives now.

 

[ghostrider]

Carl was right about my statement, and for the record, I'm pro-second amendement and a memebr of the "A man's got the right to defend himself" crowd.(the CCW permits are waiting on money )

Thank's Carl, you saved me a rant

My appology. Again, that's why I put that comment about me "not being sure of you meaning" at the beggining. When Carl clarified things for me, what you said maid much sense.

 

[ghostrider]

Sadly, 9/11 hasn’t taught us much. Unless “more cowering, and placing my safeyt in other's hands” is a lesson.

Clint,

This comment was not dirrected at you, it's more my view of how eye see things in America today. Trying to address the topic and not the person.

 

[ghostrider]

Traditioinally they do but not always. To keep to the core issue, what if they wouldn't discontinue an old model and the new plastic one had innovative, really useful features.

One must not live in fear of change because there MIGHT be consequences. Consequences are not always bad.

Now that is an interesting hypothetical. I'm guessing that means R & D in the other areas also wouldn't suffer as a result.

It would definatly be interesting to see what they come up with.

 

[Carl64]

...that couldn't be used for stabbing? That could provide the benefits of a non-metal knife and maybe even give them a better name. Not everyone looking for a non-metal knife wants a Cold Steel dagger.

Not like the slightly blunted Salt, but a full sheepsfoot. And why not made from G10 instead of FRN? I'll bet a sharp serrated G10 blade could cut through rope if it had to. Boxes and tape would be easier too.

Also, it would be less scary-looking for its environment (areas metal knives are typically feared). I normally hate the idea of trying to dumb something up to submit to irrational fears, but maybe in this case it's OK to go for non-threatening because others will be disarmed.

 

[Sal Glesser]

We realize that the "plastic knives" currently on the market are quite successfull in their sales.

AG Russell did it many years ago. Lansky and many others added their models. Cold Steel's versions are well made and offer a degree of function.

We did discuss the concept with our crew. Without saying anything good or bad about the concept, the decision was made that we would not create plastic models in the current trend.

sal

 

[Spectre]

I have a training Native made entirely of plastic. Let me see if I can find a pic...

Well, not a great pic, but you can get the idea. The blade is wide enough to be fairly safe.

John

 

[Andre]

Thanks for the post Sal. That kind of puts everything into perspective. It was an interesting thread at times though

 

[hk_bladelaw_hk]

I have to say, I find them interesting as a last ditch effort in self defense. Such as the Karambit or push knives, they are fairly cheap (10-20 bucks)

Who knows...maybe i'll buy the emerson non metallic karambit eventually...

 

[dialex]

I think feudal Japan proved that when weapons were banned from all but certain classes of people that people will make weapons out of things that were just tools before. Human nature you know? Nunchucks were just two pieces of hard wood of equal length with metal wrapped on the bottoms and secured together at the top with a horse hair cord, used for breaking ice until weapons were banned.

Just my point. If a certain type of potential weapon is banned, the terrorists (or whatever) will focus their mind to using something else that's (yet) legal. And I dare to say they'd succeed eventually to find something. It has been proven

BTW, I was thinking nunchaku was a tool used for decorticating cereals.

 

[Xian]

The most interesting potential of these items are not their ability to avoid detection, it's their immunity to rust, light weight, and low cost. You can stash them in a tackle box, in the shower, or what not.

 

[infamous]

The topic concerning the various types of reinforced plastic knives has been discussed previously on the general forum, and the bottom line in my opinion is that Spyderco should NEVER degrade their name, corporate identity, and brand recognition, by ever associating themselves with such a product, as I feel, and I'm sure that I am not alone, it would be an insult to everything Spyderco stands for, unless the day comes when a plastic can attest to the Spyderco quality of which we all have grown to depend on, and trust.