EDC and harassment???

Garrett19

Garrett19

Joined
Jul 20, 2003
Messages
71
I posted this on the ETS forum and I am posting it here as well. So if you read this again, I am sorry. But I am curious about other people's expiriences with EDC and the new world we live in.

As some of you know from my postings, I carry quite a bit on my body. More than some and not as much as others. My question for this forum is, have any of you been harassed or questioned by the police, securty guards, bouncers etc for what you carry?

I carry a Swisstool, Spyderco Military, Fox 40, lighter, and photon 2 and I have never been asked once about any of it. Even when I lived in DC, no one raised an eyebrow about my swisstool on my hip. I did not carry my milie as I didnt have it yet. I went in and out of all the Smithsonians with my stuff and not one person raised an eyebrow. Now I do adjust my EDC based on where I am going, ie church, airport, formal engagement, etc, so maybe I have been lucky.

The reason I ask this question is that I read in here and other boards about how people or scared to death to carry a knife in their town for one reason or another, but has anyone really been stopped and had their knife taken away?

My opinion on the deal is that if I dont show it off, then no one will ask me about it. Maybe I have been lucky, maybe I am pushing my luck, but I am just wondering.

Garrett

Semper Fidelis
 
I've had PO's get me out of the car while on surveillance after getting a call about my vehicle sitting in one location too long.

Had two knives taken from me at different times as "illegal" [ due to blade length ].

Both knives were returned after a trip to the chiefs office where he was shown the laws governing knives in this state.

Other than these instances, I have never been stopped or harrassed about what I'm carrying, or why.

I now carry the statute with me to prevent this is in the future. If they are legal without something making them questionable for some reason, I see no reason to "fear" having them spotted and taken.

Brownie
 
Not my style, but a friend of mine asked me to go to an urban hip-hop (blah blah crap music) show at my school. The performers, from their violent bust-a-cap world, must have been paranoid about security because there were about as many security personnel as there were audience members. *Everyone*, including women, were patted down. The dude felt my Strider MFS, asked, "What's this?" and I could only grin and reply, "I've got a large knife that's not prohibited by school regulations."

Remarkably, and much to their credit, nobody panicked. They just informed me that I couldn't get in with the knife.

I actually had about 5 knives on me at the time. :)

Garrett19, the Smithsonian Air & Space museum now has metal detectors. I got into there with a small folder by placing it in the wallet/keys/change bucket, probably because I had so much other EDC crap in there. Can't remember if Natural History has metal detectors, but most museums have lax bag checks. They just take a stick and kinda prod your bag a bit. I call it bag tenderizing.
 
Oh, I've told this story before, but 2 years ago I went to a concert at the Verizon Music Center near Indy. Didn't give a thought to the Avalanche clipped in my right pocket until I approached the gates and noticed the handbag checks, patting down, etc. I simply unclipped the knife and dropped it into my pocket. Well, the sweet young lady at the gate patted me down, felt the knife, grabbed it through the fabric of my shorts, held it for what seemed an eternity, then let go and waved me in. Huh?

You should have seen the look on my wife's face.

Beyond that, no hassles anywhere.
 
Originally posted by loodieboy
...Well, the sweet young lady at the gate patted me down, felt the knife, grabbed it through the fabric of my shorts, held it for what seemed an eternity, then let go and waved me in.
Click to expand...

hahahah!!! that's hilarious. it had probably just "been a while."

:D

abe m.
 
Originally posted by loodieboy
Oh, I've told this story before, but 2 years ago I went to a concert at the Verizon Music Center near Indy. Didn't give a thought to the Avalanche clipped in my right pocket until I approached the gates and noticed the handbag checks, patting down, etc. I simply unclipped the knife and dropped it into my pocket. Well, the sweet young lady at the gate patted me down, felt the knife, grabbed it through the fabric of my shorts, held it for what seemed an eternity, then let go and waved me in. Huh?

You should have seen the look on my wife's face.

Beyond that, no hassles anywhere.
Click to expand...
Are you SURE it was the knife that she had ahold of???.:D.:D.
 
Originally posted by loodieboy
Oh, I've told this story before, but 2 years ago I went to a concert at the Verizon Music Center near Indy. Didn't give a thought to the Avalanche clipped in my right pocket until I approached the gates and noticed the handbag checks, patting down, etc. I simply unclipped the knife and dropped it into my pocket. Well, the sweet young lady at the gate patted me down, felt the knife, grabbed it through the fabric of my shorts, held it for what seemed an eternity, then let go and waved me in. Huh?

You should have seen the look on my wife's face.

Beyond that, no hassles anywhere.
Click to expand...

Just be glad that security person wasn't a dude!!:cool:
 
Airports, bus stations, courthouses, big city schools with metal detectors, and youthful entertainment venues are all places that I've observed problems.

The courthouse was pretty irritating. All I had on me was an M4 Sebertool on my key ring. Besides tools it had a flimsy 1.5" knife blade. The guards kept referring to it as "my weapon" as they took it and held it until I left the building.

The airport in San Diego was worse. I had a completely edgeless and pointless Swiss Tool on my keyring that they wouldn't let me take on a plane. It had been allowed in Denver.
 
The county courthouse and police station here in Spokane both have lockers for your gun and or knives. I just trade my carry permit for a locker key and sign in. No hassles about what I'm carrying or why.

Those are about the only places I ever go where it could be an issue.
 
When I visited Washington DC recently with my parents, my Dad and I both forgot to leave our knives in the car (I've got him carrying a one hand folder all the time now, he finds them pretty handy :D ). We didn't even try to get into the Smithsonian because of the metal detectors and the notices they had posted out front. They said that any knife found would be confiscated, no questions asked. I didn't want to risk it nor did my Dad, so we walked around the mall instead. Other than that, I've never had any big problems besides the usual "Why are you cleaning your fingernails with that big scary knife?!" idiot comments. This was from a fellow soldier, the knife was a Camillus EDC. Pathetic.
 
Originally posted by brownie0486
I've had PO's get me out of the car while on surveillance after getting a call about my vehicle sitting in one location too long.

Had two knives taken from me at different times as "illegal" [ due to blade length ].
Click to expand...
Brownie, As I understand you were an LEO, and currently train them? I'm surprised you'd be put through this, what were you doing?

I've never had a problem. I'm pretty sure I'm legal, but don't show, don't tell.
 
Originally posted by loodieboy
Well, the sweet young lady at the gate patted me down, felt the knife, grabbed it through the fabric of my shorts, held it for what seemed an eternity, then let go and waved me in. Huh?
Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky. At least Boy George wasn't doing the "pat downs". :D
 
My parents took a trip to Washington and they wouldn't let my Dad into the Smithsonian because he was carrying a Opinel folder. This was in 98 or 99. They didn't keep it but they wouldn't let him in with it.
 
One guy I used to work with called my Vic Tinker a "weapon". And this from a guy who was in the Army:rolleyes: My boss is an old Navy guy. He had seen my M-16-03Z. His question..."Got yer frog stabber? Good, open the mail":D This Halloween a buddy asked "Anyone got a knife?" while looking right at me. You should have seen the look on his face when I handed him the Ayoob:eek:

Frank
 
The security guard once approached me and asked me to leave my Buck/Strider Solution in the car next time.
 
from what gathered in this and other forums, no one has been stoppe on the street and told to surrender his blade. I know about courthouses, schools, airports, clubs, concert halls, etc so I excluded those stories in my "research". ONe of the posts said that if you just mind your own business and you are smart about where you go and with what in your pocket you should be OK. I agree completely with this idea. No one seems to care about what I havein my pockets or on my belt unless I get it out. The Spyderco Military is a big knife, but it doesnt look like much in my pocket. And everyone is so used to seeing multitools now that I havent heard of anyone having a problem with them.

Thank you all for your replies and input. I appreciate it very much.

Garrett

PS: I hope after I leave the Marines I dont end up in a job where a SAK is considered a weapon. I dont think I could bear it!!

G
 
well, i like one thing about my job for sure: most days when i come in, my coworkers say, "hey! what knives did you bring today?" or "can i look at your knife?" i'm only too happy to oblige!

abe m.
 
Actually, the part I hate is when I follow the rules. If a place says "No Knives" then I leave them at home or in the car.
That gives me a helpless feeling.

When you go into some of these places your personal safety is now dependent upon some sleepy-eyed rent-a-cop.

Call me crazy.
 
The "knife police" are all around me. Being a budding knife nut can be difficult. "What do you need that for? or Why do you have to make all the kitchen knives so sharp?!..."

Hey sheeple, I'm not the problem, but you MAY be the problem:o

--------
"Get up from your chair, walk to the window and open it. Stick your head out, and yell 'I'm a mad as hell (knifenut) and I'm not going to take it anymore!'"
 
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