City folks and knives

[heekma]

Howdy folks,

First off, this isn't to knock on those who live in large cities--I live in Dallas myself--or to make any kind of blanket statements, just some observations and some recent experiences.

I grew up in North Iowa, farming community of around 3,500 people. When a guy got a new knife, it was a small occasion. We didn't put on party hats and blow up balloons, but it was passed around, inspected, admired.

I now work at an office in North Dallas. I don't bring obnoxiously large or threatening knives to work, usually a Case Medium Stockman and a Benchmade of some kind--usually a Mini Rukus, Manual Presidio or Rift, something along those lines.

Yesterday I was trying to open a small, single pot mylar bag of coffee. I've learned in the past some open easy, some don't. The ones that don't open suddenly and coffee flies everywhere. This was one of the latter, so without a second thought, I reached into my pocket, pulled out my Mini Rukus, sliced the top of the bag open.

Go ahead, I know stabbing a bag of coffee isn't like stabbing a terrorist in the face. At least the coffee didn't go all over the GD floor.

One of the folks next to me looked at me like I'd just pulled a sword out of my pocket, asked what a person uses a weapon like that for.

I replied, "Opening bags of coffee."

They looked at me like I was a terrorist.

Later that day, someone else needed to open a box. Nobody else had a knife, so I handed them the Mini Rukus. From the look on their face you'd have thought I'd handed them a cocked and loaded gun.

It's an odd thing living in a larger city.

Best,

Heekma

 

[scarysharp]

A case stockman is known as a BIG knife in my office

A Kershaw Leek will almost send people scurrying! (maybe because I work in a school)

Go figure!!

 

[robot37]

I feel your pain. Having grown up on a ranch on the outskirts of Middle Of Nowhere in Arizona, I am deeply and permanently biased against large cities. I've had to live in/near some for economic reasons, but there is nothing that endears them to me.

Fear of pocketknives is the icing on the cake, and symptomatic of deeper social ills, most of which I blame on man's lost connection with nature and the earth.


I mourn the day when small pocketknives started causing people to quake in fear.

-nate

 

[pilote]

...so be smart; carry tools appropriate to your audience...i would prefer to edc a 3" folder but i don't when i work professionally...don't need the unnecessary attention or hassle...

 

[AF]

I think that's why they call them sheeple. What can you do? Carry something a little smaller, maybe a slippie.

 

[ayz]

spydercos tend to scare people more since the blades are so wide

 

[robot37]

...so be smart; carry tools appropriate to your audience...i would prefer to edc a 3" folder but i don't when i work professionally...don't need the unnecessary attention or hassle...

This is exactly what is wrong with society today. It is the most lamentable aspect of the human condition; the only way to enforce decency and civility is to put everyone in a crib and take away anything dangerous.

And it has always burned me up that the audience dictates my limitations despite the fact that I have no desire to threaten or assault any of them. The only rational explanation that I can come up with is that people in large groups tend to become irrational idiots.

-nate

 

[thejamppa]

a reason why I carry slipjoint with me when in city. If I have to do cutting I do with with non-threatning looking traditional or victorinox.

 

[heekma]

...so be smart; carry tools appropriate to your audience...i would prefer to edc a 3" folder but i don't when i work professionally...don't need the unnecessary attention or hassle...

Point is, I didn't realize something like a Mini Rukus would be inappropriate for my "audience" until yesterday. I don't consider the Mini Rukus overly large or extremely threatening, guess I found out not everyone at work shares my opinion.

Personally I'd rather carry tools appropriate to my needs, preferences and uses rather than cater to to someone else's, at least until it's impractical or to my personal detriment, but to each their own.

Best,

Heekma

 

[Folderguy]

A case stockman is known as a BIG knife in my office

A Kershaw Leek will almost send people scurrying! (maybe because I work in a school)

Go figure!!

Hey!! Can I get some luvin for my Cold Steel Black Rhino? Y'oughta see the looks when I thwack that baby hard to dig open a Twinkies bag

Jess kiddin' !!

But seriously, even this little guy

with a blade length well under 2 1/2 inches will get some unwanted attention, unless I'm super discreet with it...

So, discretion rules the day in circumstances/situations where even a little penknife will be frowned upon.

 

[Itch Blade]

This is exactly what is wrong with society today. It is the most lamentable aspect of the human condition; the only way to enforce decency and civility is to put everyone in a crib and take away anything dangerous.

And it has always burned me up that the audience dictates my limitations despite the fact that I have no desire to threaten or assault any of them. The only rational explanation that I can come up with is that people in large groups tend to become irrational idiots.

-nate

This post isn't necessarily speaking directly to you, so don't take the entire post as aimed at you.

Just as you have a right to carry that knife and use it in a responsible manner, they have the right to be in a nonthreatening environment.

People fear knives because knives can be disfiguring, painful, and lethal.

As the knife carrier, and ambassador for the knife community, it's your responsibility to not whip out a threatening knife and throw it open. A Leek is a good example of a bad knife to snap open. It's pointy and the Speedsafe screams weapon.

In sailboat racing, there are rules based on which side the sail is filled. If the wind is coming over the port (left) side of the boat, you are said to be on port tack. If it is coming over the starboard (right) side of the boat, you are on starboard tack.

It is the responsibility of the port tack boats to avoid the starboard tack boats. However, as a starboard tack boat, you can not just go ramming other vessels because you had right of way. In a manner, it's your right as a sailor to not get hit. I feel this is very relevant in the carriage of knives, just because you CAN use a Zero Tolerance and clack it open doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[Motomedic01]

Hey look- a n00b post!

So, I should worry about what other people think about what I carry? I've been carrying a Spydie of one form or another (or a BM, or..) since I was 14. I'm not about to quit because a co-worker thinks it's scary. I'll vote with the "carry what you want" crowd, thanks. Today, it's my new Poliwog.

 

[Folderguy]

This post isn't necessarily speaking directly to you, so don't take the entire post as aimed at you.

Just as you have a right to carry that knife and use it in a responsible manner, they have the right to be in a nonthreatening environment.

People fear knives because knives can be disfiguring, painful, and lethal.

As the knife carrier, and ambassador for the knife community, it's your responsibility to not whip out a threatening knife and throw it open. A Leek is a good example of a bad knife to snap open. It's pointy and the Speedsafe screams weapon.

In sailboat racing, there are rules based on which side the sail is filled. If the wind is coming over the port (left) side of the boat, you are said to be on port tack. If it is coming over the starboard (right) side of the boat, you are on starboard tack.

It is the responsibility of the port tack boats to avoid the starboard tack boats. However, as a starboard tack boat, you can not just go ramming other vessels because you had right of way. In a manner, it's your right as a sailor to not get hit. I feel this is very relevant in the carriage of knives, just because you CAN use a Zero Tolerance and clack it open doesn't mean it's a good idea.

You can say that again. Depending on the circumstance, it might just get you arrested. Or worse.

 

[robot37]

Just as you have a right to carry that knife and use it in a responsible manner, they have the right to be in a nonthreatening environment.

People fear knives because knives can be disfiguring, painful, and lethal.

I don't disagree with the first point quoted above. But the thing about threats per se is that intent matters far more than ability. How many times have we heard the phrase, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," yet all we have at our disposal as a society is regulation of ability because we have yet to create the thought police who can stamp out evil-doers in the moment that the bad idea hatches in their mind.

So until then, legislation restricting certain types of tools and other implements is about all we can go with. But it nevertheless pisses me off to no end that I have not a single bad bone in my body, yet I am limited in what I can carry around because of what some other jerks did.

I'm not trying to buck the system per se, but I can clearly see the systems limitations and loopholes, and it makes me wonder "what's next."

As to the second point quoted above, I could say the same thing about fire extinguishers, 3-hole punches, ballpoint pens, glass bottles, etc.

But like I say, until the thought police arive on the scene (which will be never), we gotta play nice with the masses.

-nate

 

[dsmegst]

Hey look- a n00b post!

So, I should worry about what other people think about what I carry? I've been carrying a Spydie of one form or another (or a BM, or..) since I was 14. I'm not about to quit because a co-worker thinks it's scary. I'll vote with the "carry what you want" crowd, thanks. Today, it's my new Poliwog.

No one's telling you not to carry, so long as it's legal. It's just that when you live among the misinformed, it's better to be discreet and educate them. When you flick open a folder, wrong or right, they will still think you're a threat.

Sure, social conformity can and often is taken to the extremes. But on the flip side, when I take my wife out to a nice dinner date and end up near a table full of rowdy, loud and obnoxious bunch of jerks, it ruins the evening. There's no need to ignore social graces just to prove a point.

BTW, I share your frustrations. I should be able to carry what is legal but my work place has other ideas.

 

[Itch Blade]

I don't disagree with the first point quoted above. But the thing about threats per se is that intent matters far more than ability. How many times have we heard the phrase, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," yet all we have at our disposal as a society is regulation of ability because we have yet to create the thought police who can stamp out evil-doers in the moment that the bad idea hatches in their mind.

So until then, legislation restricting certain types of tools and other implements is about all we can go with. But it nevertheless pisses me off to no end that I have not a single bad bone in my body, yet I am limited in what I can carry around because of what some other jerks did.

I'm not trying to buck the system per se, but I can clearly see the systems limitations and loopholes, and it makes me wonder "what's next."

As to the second point quoted above, I could say the same thing about fire extinguishers, 3-hole punches, ballpoint pens, glass bottles, etc.

But like I say, until the thought police arive on the scene (which will be never), we gotta play nice with the masses.

-nate

Fire extinguishers, 3 hole punches, ballpoint pens, and bottles all are most certainly dangerous, but not intrinsically so.

A fire extinguisher usually hangs on the wall until it expires. Most people don't take the extinguisher off the wall and spin it around their finger John Wayne style. (I definitely never tried that one as a kid )

A pen held in the writing position is very much different from one being held like a dagger. Likewise, a glass bottle to the lips is different than one held like a baseball bat.

I'm not trying to debate or even disagree with you, just expanding on the concept.

There's no mechanism to differentiate a knife being used responsibly and one being used dangerously until the blade hits whatever you are cutting. A knife cuts, that is its sole function.

 

[richw]

BTW, I share your frustrations. I should be able to carry what is legal but my work place has other ideas.

Legal has nothing to do with what is required at work. It is legal to walk around in shorts, shirtless, and flip flops, that doesn't mean your place of business is wrong to require you to dress in a certain manner....

 

[Motomedic01]

As I said before, today I'm carrying a Poliwog, which is not the most intimidating of blades, for sure. I have carried larger knives, and HOW you open it and use it can have as big an impact as the knife itself. Open it discreetly, with both hands even, cover a lot of the knife with your hand and use just the tip, etc., and the sheeple won't run and scream. I frequently open my knife halfway, use the tip, and return it to my pocket.

Now, let's face it. We've all seen the guy who flicks open his automatic straight up and out at chest height, in a fashion best suited to Hollywood, then uses the knife to open his Chee-tos. Puh-leeze. That's the kind of stuff that sends people running for cover, screaming "the Zombies (replace with favorite bad guy) are here!"

So, social conformity and all that notwithstanding, common sense and a bit of judgment goes a long way indeed.

 

[pilote]

Hey look- a n00b post!

So, I should worry about what other people think about what I carry? I've been carrying a Spydie of one form or another (or a BM, or..) since I was 14. I'm not about to quit because a co-worker thinks it's scary. I'll vote with the "carry what you want" crowd, thanks. Today, it's my new Poliwog.

go for it; it absolutely is your right...

but also post here about all the negativity you'll get from doing so...the world gets pretty small when people start avoiding you...if you don't care about that, they by all means, carry what you want whenever and wherever you want....

--

...read your 2nd post...you do use common sense...good man...

 

[midnight flyer]

This is a subject that has been beat to death here. Beat to death.

We get it. YOU are a manly man following his instincts to carry a large cutting instrument and you need to show it to others. All others that don't appreciate this are weiners.

Some suggestions:

- Change jobs and work with other manly men
- Leave you knife in your pocket and avoid the disappointment you are feeling when you see other's reactions
- Use the appropriately sized knife if you are in a sensitive environment. A properly sharpened "peanut" will open even the most ferocious of coffee bags. It can also easily perform other office tasks such as opening mail, cutting tape, lifting a staple, etc.

I live in San Antonio, about 4 1/2 hours south of you. With our urban sprawl it is estimated that out entire metropolitan area encompasses about 1.4 million people, so we are out of the small town category. Folks around here are more surprised if you DON'T have a knife in your pocket than if you do. Around here even most women carry something with a cutting edge on it.

Robert