Originally posted by Gollnick
Keep in mind that the events of 9/11/01 were propagated with "box cutters," tools that I think very few of us would even call knives. These things are flimsy, made of bend-up sheet metal, have a razor-blade for an edge, only about 1/2" of usable edge, and no lock mechanism. No serious military or "self-defense" expert would consider this an appropriate weapon. But they got the job done that morning.
What was the job? To hack and slash and stab and kill all of the people aboard those planes? No. Just to create fear and to intimidate. And, properly brandished, even one of those plastic knives would do just fine.
The thing that really upsets me about this little project is that our FBI seems arrogantly unwilling to leverage the existing database. They have to go out and do everything themselves and do it there own way. They're gonna build their own collection of disguised and concealable knives. Why? There are several people here who have extensive collections of disguised or concealable knives. There are people here whos life-passion is to catalog and collect such knives. And I'm sure that if they were asked by the FBI crime labs to help, they'd be more than happy to lend their knowledge in the interest of homeland security. I myself could contribute three or four good examples for them. But if they want to go off by themselves, take the "not invented here" attitude, and make stupid mistakes, then fine, they can do and do that. The annoying thing is that they're doing it with my money.
Excellent post, Gollnick.
I agree with you - there are better ways to spend American tax dollars. If they are going to do it, it should be done right.
I'd be glad to help them with it if they contacted me. Not to brag, but this stuff is a serious interest of mine and I've spent more time than average on researching it and becoming knowledgeable about it. I've got a nice little collection of mostly modest, but very realistic and valuable, concealable weapons, and an at least rough working knowledge of all of them. Not to mention that but I make goodies like this on a professional custom level. I could do a better job on that report, more realistic and more valuable in the manner in which it was presented. That almost reads like a Bud K catalogue, infact it does.
I know there are Fed's out there reading this - come on guys, start emailing people in the know - go over to
www.donrearic.com look at the article on Small Knives, Theory and Application, contact its author, contact me, contact anyone who shows a remote knowledge of this stuff. A Lab rat with a computer terminal can only do so much (as we can plainly see).
Originally posted by tonyccw
What I find disturbing is the list of items that they emphasized presented no metallic signature. It wasn't common knowledge until people started reading that list. Since we don't X-Ray people yet, all those plastic and ceramic items are impossible to detect with just the metal detector. Making it easier to have them being carried on board an airplane.
My $0.02.
People have known about non-metallic knives before this. Still I say the majority of people who will know about the very high quality ones, custom made carbon fiber, G-10 or ceramic, are only going to be people in the business of needing them, or collectors.
The lettuce knives and stuff - sure. And no, I dont dismiss those easily, they could make a nasty stab wound. Stabbing kills better than slashing anyway, so their cutting ability is a non-issue.
