Are knives trendy?

The only pocket clips I see are from vets or ROTC dudes in college. A few buddies of mine carry knives, but they're not knife guys. They're into guns a lot more, and I think if you shoot, even every once and awhile, you'll be into knives at least a little.
 
Nice feedback from folks on these thread, thanks for the good read.

I cannot bring to work anything more than a delica/mini grip out to work because I work in a very public place and people have totally freaked over larger knives that I carried before. The 99% of people are still terrified of knives. It might become trendy to YOU, but it is more of an exception than a trend. Also, a lifetime or two ago, most men carried at least a knife.
 
Knives are trendy in the sense that everyone has to have the new big thing. Some examples are Striders, Hinderers, CRKs, Les George, ESEE, Becker, Spyderco's like the PM2 and the Military, Benchmade Griptilians, Zero Tolerance, etc. Some of these have just proven their worth and thus have become respected. Others are collector's items that I personally do not see the value of unless I've pretty much fallen in love with the knife. Nevertheless, many people buy both user and collectible knives often based on what gets the nod from others in the community. So, regardless of the reasoning behind it, I'd still consider that kind of thing a trend.
 
I have never seen a hipster skinny jean geek with a knife clipped to his pocket, but they usually do carry a purse.
 
I noticed a lot of people around campus are starting to EDC knives. Saw some dude drop a SOG flash from his back pack the other day, some other dude had a nice benchmade in his back pocket. Most of the kids carrying fit into the "hipster" crowd, not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
 
I don't think there is a trend to it where I live. Of course between North Texas and Southern Oklahoma most people who carry a knife are using it as a tool and not a fashion statement.
 
I can see what you're getting at. I don't know what the average demographics of knife owners are, if any, but I guess people of all kinds get into them and there are lots of different types of owners. Collectors, hobbyists, people who own them just for utility, etc.

I'm a 23 year old architecture student. Heavily into hobbies, architecture, playing music, wood working, firearms, survival/prep type stuff, etc. Libertarian-ish. I've always been into design, especially functional designs, craftsmanship, quality in materials/engineering/construction, etc. That's a big part of what draws me to knives (mostly higher end knives), is the design, utility, quality, attention to detail, etc. All of the things you can admire. So I might be considered a bit of a collector in that sense, but I also use most of my knives and carry them daily. I like having them as a tool for whatever I might need to use them for. That probably comes from the survival/prep/firearms/outdoorsy part of me.

I don't know if I'm very trendy or not, but that's the kind of knife owner I am. I've always been interested in knives and thought they were cool. A few years ago I realized, "wow, I'm old enough now that my mom can't take away every knife I get and stick them in a coffee can way up high on some shelf where I can't reach them", and I've been collecting them ever since.
 
I would imagine there would be a lot more of a "Hipster" or trendy aspect to knife carry, if the high school rules were not so strict. I can see where something like a knife would become an accessory in the environment of the teenage "I have to be different like everybody else" mentality, that counts as rebellion these days.

Pop culture phenomena, like Zombies and Vampires, have a very influential hold on kids between the ages of 12 and 20. Zero tolerance (the political view on "weapons," not the brand) is probably the only thing preventing knife carry from becoming a full on trend.

With the over-18 crowd, I don't think there's enough interest, overall, in things like knives. By that age, they've become brainwashed and are pretty much ruled by the media, which generally frowns upon "anti-social" behaviour, like knives.

All this does not take into account those raised right and modeled the idea of personal responsibility for your own actions.
 
Surely the Internet has brought fourth dozens of knives that would not have existed otherwise. There is more information now. It has definitely made knife makers known & led to more products.
 
archieblue said:
Surely the Internet has brought fourth dozens of knives that would not have existed otherwise. There is more information now. It has definitely made knife makers known & led to more products.
Click to expand...

Good point. But I think it's just that 'We Who Are Enlightened' ie knife freaks are just in a better position to buy more and more easily. We are a select minority, most people don't know anything about knives, barely which is the handle & which is the blade to judge from most restaurant easters.....
 
Knives are certainly not trendy in the country I live in. :(
Even if you have only a sak with you people look at you if you are some sort of criminal :rolleyes:
 
I sorta wish it WOULD get trendy. There was a time (at least in the US) when a man who didn't have a pocket knife was a rarity. I was a kid in the 60's, and back then most guys had a pocket knife by the age of 7 or so. We had them in our pants pockets pretty much all the time. The schools didn't think a thing about it, and I NEVER heard of someone getting into a knife fight or 'Pulling' a knife on someone. The worst thing that ever happened was that someone might carve their initials into something that they shouldn't.

I really don't know when the world started to become 'Knife Phobic'. I DO know that I fell out of the habit of carrying a knife when I was in the Air Force stationed in Japan. It just really wasn't DONE there. By the time I started carrying again there was a noticable change in attitude towards knives. What used to be a normal everyday fact of life all of a sudden became something that made people uneasy when they noticed. Perhaps it has something to do with the rise of the 'Tactical' knife, and the fact that the average knife was becomming larger? I don't know, but I realized that people's attitudes had changed, and I had to be cautious not to make folks nervious.

If knife carrying became more 'Trendy', it might help move people's attitudes back closer to what they used to be.
 
It seems to me that there's been a resurgence in the popularity of the pocket knife. Lots of guys nowadays are getting into "manly stuff," as evidenced by the growing popularity of moustaches and beards. Things like expensive safety razors, pens, watches, and other gear are being marketed to the hip young man, and pocket knives are starting to be as well.
Check out the Art of Manliness website, for a chuckle (and to see what I'm talking about).
 
I live in SoCal and I actually have been noticing many people in my immediate social circle start to get into knives as well as just the preparedness mindset. I believe part of this is a symptom of a lot of people believing America/The World are headed for darker times and they suddenly realize they aren't even ready to open a box or can if they had to. Another thing that has been mentioned in this thread is men becoming more interested in 'manly things', I have seen that as well.
 
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