Explain knives to non-knife people

DB_Cruiser said:
Me too, but the law being what it is at the moment and given the fear that has been planted in the mind of Joe No-blade, it has its advantages. At the end of the day, it really doesn't affect my life so much that I cannot live with it. I go there to make my fist full of dollars and get out. That's all that place has to offer me.
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I get it. Growing up and having lived here most of my life, I learned early to stay off the streets, stay out of bars, and generally keep to myself.
 
Most of the time, conversations about knives will be like this:
Some person: Is that a knife in your pocket?
Me: Yes
Some person: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! Murderer!!!!!!!!!!

At the end of a day, it is all matter of preference. I cant understand, why some people buy every other year a new phone for 200 - 300 €. That is insane.
 
Byrom Hermo said:
Didn’t read the whole thread but it’s sad that the topic is a valid question.
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Why? Some carry knives and some don't get why those people do. Why not help them get it?

Promoting knives and knife users and being an advocate for all of us here sure is more constructive than just coming here whinging about non-users.
 
This is actually my first post here. I am knew to this hobby but have always had an interest. To me it is the mechanical nature and beauty they have...........I have the same attraction with watches, pens, guns, motorcycles and Italian-made espresso machines. My wife (after years) understands I am drawn to all these things and kind of "gets-it" or understand the appeal of such things to me...................that is something that helps me explain why so many pens, watches to others......the mechanical nature draws me in.............
 
Comeuppance said:
I would probably just boil it down to an appreciation of finely-machined things - like a nice mechanical watch. I like seeing interesting and purpose-built tools that are both enjoyable to operate (really, play with) and there's the added bonus of having a cutting tool on me whenever the need arises.

That said, I don't typically even bother to explain the knife hobby to anyone, though - the topic just doesn't come up. The most conversation I'm likely to have with a non-knife-bro is something like "thanks" after they say "nice knife" if someone happens to see me using one, or "It's fun / well-made" if they ask me why I need a knife that large and/or conspicuously expensive.

Like any hobby, it really does take a personal interest for it to make sense. I 100% don't understand the draw of, for example, Warhammer 40K. The gameplay and the craftier hobby aspects of it just seem incredibly tedious - but I'm sure there's a whole set of forums of people spending hundreds of dollars, taking pictures of their painted figures, recalling cool moments, etc.
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I happen to like knives and 40k. A buddy who plays 40k asked me why I spent so much on a knife I was carrying.

All I had to do was hold up a few models and say "why do you spend so much on plastic and pewter"? :D

My son calls 40k models "plastic crack".
 
Comeuppance said:
....That said, I don't typically even bother to explain the knife hobby to anyone, though - the topic just doesn't come up.
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Only family members or close friends would ever ask me to explain the knife hobby interest. They usually don't understand why I would be interested in buying a new knife when I have more than enough older ones to do whatever cutting jobs I might need them for.
 
Explaining knives to non-knife people is one thing. Explaining addiction is a whole other can of worms.
 
I guess I don't try to explain or justify my knives to non knife people unless they ask in a way that they are actually curious and open to a discussion ...

if they are just anti knife then no sense in wasting your time ... but being polite can only help our situation ... as easy as it would be to say "because I can" or "wth don't you?" ... only fuels the fire needlessly ...

it's the same when people ask me about guns ... I am more then happy to have a conversation as long as they are rational and open to a conversation without just wigging out about it ... and in those cases I say you are welcome to your views as I am mine it's America and thankfully we still have those rights ...

but the anologies of items they may spend money on that others don't is a good start I think ... gives them something to think about as to why they have a $1500.00 cell phone instead of a $50.00 flip phone ... or wear expensive jelewry ... most everyone has their "things" that they can justify spending their money on ...

for us it's just knives ... but staying polite and offering a discussion will go alot farther then being defiant ... as much as the urge may hit too ...

we have to be good ambassadors so we can keep and gain our rights ...
 
I’ve only felt the need to explain it a handful of times. Each time I gave a more or less improvised answer—usually something along the lines of being safe in case of a vehicular or other emergency, a work-related necessity, or the luxury of having a tool within reach which can do what knives do. I know a middle aged man ( a liberal spectrum professional) who stated—though he may have been joking—that the only reason to carry a handgun is to commit a murder or an armed robbery. I believe I gifted him his first ever non-kitchen knives( a Buck and an Opinel folder, an Ontario ranger-rd-6 and a 12” tramontina machete), which he received with interest and appreciation. I wish I had had a revolver on hand to give him at the time. Ignorance is often just as easy to dispel as it is to manipulate into hysteria, IMO.
Another example was a trucker (an example of a job where a one hand opening knife is a necessity) who asked me how I could rationalize carrying a pm2(s110v) in NYC. I said “don’t buy drugs, drink and drive, or pick up prostitutes and you won’t have to.”
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
I guess I don't try to explain or justify my knives to non knife people unless they ask in a way that they are actually curious and open to a discussion ...

if they are just anti knife then no sense in wasting your time ... but being polite can only help our situation ... as easy as it would be to say "because I can" or "wth don't you?" ... only fuels the fire needlessly ...

it's the same when people ask me about guns ... I am more then happy to have a conversation as long as they are rational and open to a conversation without just wigging out about it ... and in those cases I say you are welcome to your views as I am mine it's America and thankfully we still have those rights ...

but the anologies of items they may spend money on that others don't is a good start I think ... gives them something to think about as to why they have a $1500.00 cell phone instead of a $50.00 flip phone ... or wear expensive jelewry ... most everyone has their "things" that they can justify spending their money on ...

for us it's just knives ... but staying polite and offering a discussion will go alot farther then being defiant ... as much as the urge may hit too ...

we have to be good ambassadors so we can keep and gain our rights ...
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This is my approach. How I approach it depends on how the question is asked. I have been asked why I carry a gun by some folks that genuinely wanted to know (and some who already had their minds made up when they asked). I just like to be a good representation and not get angry at folks when they don't get it.
 
To cut things. Duh.

Actually, it's not so simple. It usually becomes a full-on conversation and I let it be an opportunity to help one more person understand knives as cutting tools and not as weapons of mass destruction.

I find it's much more difficult to convince people to co-exist peacefully with wildlife and help them understand that this world is their home as much as it is ours. Particularly snakes.

By the way, my mom carries a little 58mm Victorinox SAK now. That's one successful conversion by me!
 
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