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Every man needs to carry a pocket knife with him
- Thread starter tylosaurus
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You're right, it doesn't belong here. Any more politics or religion and the thread gets closed. There's places for both but not here.
arizonaranchman
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As soon as I get dressed in the morning my Barlow goes into the right front pocket. It stays there til I go to bed. It's just one of those essential tools that I need multiple times a day without fail. The world sure has changed and it isn't for the better.
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Only because they ask those of us with pocket knives to borrow them!constantly, for stuff that you shouldn't even use my nice folder for, like trying to pry open stuck doors... carry your own knife!
This.
Nice story, OP. I think every woman needs to carry a pocket knife, too. For some reason, I get asked by women for knives more than men.
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I carried a large folding knife on my uniform belt when I was a cop. First a Buck 110, then a Gerber Bolt-Action folder. It was strictly a tool for use in case I ever needed to free a trapped accident victim. I never carried one in my pocket during that time, on or off duty. When I got out of that line of work, that Buck 110 stayed in a tool box for about the next 25 years, and the Gerber sat in a desk drawer. The only cutting object I had with me was a Leatherman multi-tool which I kept in a tool bag along with other tools I needed, because they were decent needle-nose pliers. I almost never used the knife blade that I can remember.
I only recently (about 3 years ago) took an interest in pocket knives, but more as a hobby. I carry one (or three) for fun, but I still don't need one on me. I almost never need to use it where I couldn't just as easily grab a kitchen knife or scissors to get the same thing done. So for the 20-ish years between me leaving law enforcement and deciding to drop a Peanut in my pocket, what gender did I change to? And do you think that Peanut (or stockman, or whatever random collection of metal and bone) re-masculinized me magically?
My Dad was a chemical engineer, who later became a salesman, and then started his own company which was successful and provided a good living for our family and for about 50 other families who worked at his company. He took care of my mother, my two sisters, and me, and after my mother passed away rather young, he remarried and took care of a second family very well (my step-sisters, who are my family as well) until he passed away at age 88. I don't think there was a finer man that I ever met and I don't ever recall anyone that had anything bad to say about him. I don't ever recall him carrying a pocket knife. I am pretty sure he qualified as a man. You think otherwise, let's get together and chat about it.
This is the sort of "holier-than-thou" condescension that I don't like to see on this forum. Time I took a little break from it, looks like.
I only recently (about 3 years ago) took an interest in pocket knives, but more as a hobby. I carry one (or three) for fun, but I still don't need one on me. I almost never need to use it where I couldn't just as easily grab a kitchen knife or scissors to get the same thing done. So for the 20-ish years between me leaving law enforcement and deciding to drop a Peanut in my pocket, what gender did I change to? And do you think that Peanut (or stockman, or whatever random collection of metal and bone) re-masculinized me magically?
My Dad was a chemical engineer, who later became a salesman, and then started his own company which was successful and provided a good living for our family and for about 50 other families who worked at his company. He took care of my mother, my two sisters, and me, and after my mother passed away rather young, he remarried and took care of a second family very well (my step-sisters, who are my family as well) until he passed away at age 88. I don't think there was a finer man that I ever met and I don't ever recall anyone that had anything bad to say about him. I don't ever recall him carrying a pocket knife. I am pretty sure he qualified as a man. You think otherwise, let's get together and chat about it.
This is the sort of "holier-than-thou" condescension that I don't like to see on this forum. Time I took a little break from it, looks like.
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- 6,174
I guess I have finally reached the "old geezer" stage, because I'm starting this post with a "back in the day" leader.... 
Way back when I started first grade, my grandfather gave me a small, used Imperial peanut-sized pocket knife, saying "Now that you're going to school you need to have your own knife. You can't be borrowing one from other people." Every boy had at least one in his pocket and at least 75% of the girls carried a pocket knife in their purses. I can't remember a day I didn't carry at least one pocket knife, and after I started 5th grade, I carried 2 pocket knives every day. Most of the time they were used to sharpen pencils or play mumbley-peg. Our class room pencil sharpeners seldom worked. And yes, we played mumbley-peg on school property during school hours.
Personally, I still carry a minimum of 4 knives a day - paired folders in the front pockets and paired fixed blades. Redundancy is your friend.
It's only been in the last 8 - 9 years that I have been encountering more men who don't carry at least a pocket knife on a regular basis. Prior to that, I was almost NEVER asked by someone to borrow a knife from me. They had their own. As to how many women carry knives in their purses now-a-days, I don't have a clue. Two things I learned A LONG TIME AGO is "never ask a woman her age and never ask her what she has in her purse".
I have 3 theories -
1 is that I'm encountering more non-native Texans who have moved into the state from knife-unfriendly states.
2 is that people are getting out of the habit of carrying knives due to workplace rules, TSA rules, etc that either ban carrying knives or make it very "socially incorrect"
3 is that both 1 and 2 are jointly contributing to the change.
Way back when I started first grade, my grandfather gave me a small, used Imperial peanut-sized pocket knife, saying "Now that you're going to school you need to have your own knife. You can't be borrowing one from other people." Every boy had at least one in his pocket and at least 75% of the girls carried a pocket knife in their purses. I can't remember a day I didn't carry at least one pocket knife, and after I started 5th grade, I carried 2 pocket knives every day. Most of the time they were used to sharpen pencils or play mumbley-peg. Our class room pencil sharpeners seldom worked. And yes, we played mumbley-peg on school property during school hours.
Personally, I still carry a minimum of 4 knives a day - paired folders in the front pockets and paired fixed blades. Redundancy is your friend.
It's only been in the last 8 - 9 years that I have been encountering more men who don't carry at least a pocket knife on a regular basis. Prior to that, I was almost NEVER asked by someone to borrow a knife from me. They had their own. As to how many women carry knives in their purses now-a-days, I don't have a clue. Two things I learned A LONG TIME AGO is "never ask a woman her age and never ask her what she has in her purse".
I have 3 theories -
1 is that I'm encountering more non-native Texans who have moved into the state from knife-unfriendly states.
2 is that people are getting out of the habit of carrying knives due to workplace rules, TSA rules, etc that either ban carrying knives or make it very "socially incorrect"
3 is that both 1 and 2 are jointly contributing to the change.
I think my wife owns more knives than I do!
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I don't think I've ever had to close a BladeForums thread before because some folks offended other folks by being in favor of carrying a knife. But Gary is off tomorrow, and I'll be working, so I'm not leaving this to fester.
First time for everything, I guess.
Thread Closed.
First time for everything, I guess.
Thread Closed.
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