Had my first "non knife" guy moment.

Meh, you were at Best Buy. Pull a knife out (on request) and they step back. Pull a phone out (or any portable electronic device) and they step closer lol.
 
salmonkiller said:
If an item I am considering purchasing needs to be opened/inspected at a retail store the I usually ask the clerk if they have a knife.If they have one then use theirs.If they say no then I ask them if it ok to use mine.No surprises for strangers.This happens to me every now and then at Lowe's and home Depot.
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everyone's different but i don't get involved with lending out a knife to employees at a store. just what you need in this law suit crazy society is for that person to cut himself with your blade or something like that, than all of the sudden you have all kinds of problems.
 
Tallahassee said:
Of course the guy could just have been cautiously giving you room in case you were some random klutz with poor motor skills.
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Probably. But more probably a typical feminized generation Z wimp, precisely as you described.

My personal rule of thumb from experience is don't trust anyone under 30.
 
For people who aren't familiar with knives, your BM has three strikes against it:
-serrations
-a swedged tip
-quick opening via flipper
Not threatening to most of us, but to the layperson, you have a very frightening "switchblade with teeth". Be cogniscent of your surroundings and those who surround you when you decide to pull out ANY knife. Flying under the radar and keeping a low profile is your best bet to avoiding trouble.
 
El Bandit0 said:
Be cogniscent of your surroundings and those who surround you when you decide to pull out ANY knife. Flying under the radar and keeping a low profile is your best bet to avoiding trouble.
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+1

Should you have to? No, of course not. You don't have to do anything - but you may continue to draw unwanted negative attention. Up to you if you want to deal with that.

Is it often prudent? Yes. I carry two knives (and like both), one of which is significantly less "threatening" looking (traditional slipjoint with two blades - one even smaller than the other) for just such an occasion. Plus it is better at slicing apples than my bigger knives - which, if I'm honest, is what I end up having to use a knife for on a daily basis most often.
 
Or you could do what my dad did the last time he used my knife - take a few seconds deciding on exactly how it opens, then only open it half way and hold it by the blade to cut open a bag lol.
 
The 300 does not look like a people friendly knife, so I don't blame him, and I don't think flipping the knife open, even without any wrist, helped your cause. If a stranger whips out a knife real quick, even to cut something, I wouldn't feel too comfortable either. It wasn't like the box was going to run away, you could have just manually opened it nice and slow. It's all about the presentation, knives just look so much worse when you show people how fast you can whip out a knife and start using it, but if you go slow and show them its a tool, they are a lot less likely to be afraid. It really helps if you have a more people friendly knife like a mnandi or something too.

To be fair though, he did ask for a knife, and got what he wanted, and more.

I'm not against fast opening knives, in fact I have a few assisted openings, flippers with bearings, etc, but after years of EDC, when you are in front of sheeple its just best to manually open it, cut discreetly, and put it away, less questions asked and less hassle.
 
I use mine whenever and wherever I need to. Or even want to. I like cleaning my fingernails while watching my kids play soccer.

Funny looks? Yeah, I'm sure I get'em, but I'm too busy doing whatever I was doing to need the knife out anyways.

My ZT561 draws some attention, but then again, so does my Alox Farmer. One because, well, its a big honkin' knife, which I like. The other, because its shiny.

I carried a Dragonfly for a long time, even took it into Disney World, after it was spotted, with their permission.

Eh, most folks are so concerned with the knife I have, the completely overlook the 1911 printing under my t-shirt, so, it works out. :D

Since the TSA ban of 2001, knives will never be looked at again in the same manner, by folks that don't own/use them. If box cutters can wreak so much havoc, imagine what a 4" Elmax blade must look like to them

Have pity in your eyes when you gaze upon them, for they will never know the satisfaction of having the right tool, for the right job, at the right time.

KNIFE NUTS RULE!!!!!!

:D

Moose
 
I had a similiar experience at Sears a few years ago. I bought a roll chest tool box, I go to the pick up area and a young guy wheels it out from the warehouse. In order to fit it in my ride, the young guy offers to remove the box but he does not have a knife on him. So, I pull out a Gerber 06 Auto, hit the button, and remove the box. I thought nothing of it and didn't notice his reaction, but later my wife tells me that his eyes about popped out of their sockets! I guess he wasn't suspecting that type of blade.
 
Wow. Just wow.

Let's see, the clerk has been called stupid, illogical, lame, a wimp, and a "typical feminized generation Z wimp". And his entire childhood has been psychoanalyzed. And what exactly did the clerk do that was so wrong? Did he run and get the manager? Did he call 911 to report a man with a knife? Did he demand that the OP put away his "weapon"? Did he drop to his knees and beg "Please don't kill me?" Did he say "Whoa, what are you a serial killer?" No, apparently he didn't or I assume the OP would have included that in his story. Did the clerk do ANYTHING that had a negative effect on the OP or endangered the OP's knife rights in any way? Not that I have heard.

And for the sake of clarity, the OP never mentioned the age of the clerk. It's interesting that some people just assume that he was young. As if all young people possess some inherent personality flaw that makes them inferior and deserving of criticism.

I've been on this forum for over ten years now, and here are a few observations I have made during that time-

1. Some knife enthusiasts are just plain arrogant. Their basic attitude is "I carry a knife, that makes me better, smarter, superior, than everyone who doesn't. And anyone who doesn't carry a knife or likes knives as much as I do is a stupid idiot who deserves to be ridiculed at every opportunity".

2. Some knife enthusiasts have very "thin skin" and have a persecution complex. They expect people to react negatively to their knives and they look for those negative reactions. And of course, when knife enthusiasts look hard enough for negative reactions, they WILL find them, even if they aren't there, even if they are only in their imagination.

A number of times on this forum I have seen members say something like "I can't stand these sheeple. I was out in public today and some guy was staring at the knife on my belt/clipped to my pocket/in my hand. What's with these people. What an idiot. You'd think he'd never seen a knife before". Of course it didn't occur to the knife enthusiast that maybe the guy wasn't staring, maybe he was admiring, or maybe he was trying to figure out what brand or model it was. Which I'm sure is something that many on this forum have done when they have seen someone else with a knife out in public.

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And to some knife enthusiasts, everyone looks like "sheeple".

I wonder if anyone sees the double standard at play here? In my opinion, assuming that people are "sheeple", criticizing them, and questioning their intelligence simply because they don't share our interest in knives, is just as bad as people who think all knives are weapons and everyone who carries one is a serial killer.

I don't think the knife community is well served by an us-versus-them mentality. I don't think we benefit by condemning people simply because they don't display the same interest/love/worship of knives that we have. But I know, it's just so much fun, and makes one feel so damn superior, to label people, call them stupid, and proclaim how much smarter we are than them.

Just my humble opinions.
 
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I own dozens of knives, machetes, tomahawks...basically, if it has an edge, I'm likely interested in it. That said, I've seen enough people doing stupid crap with knives that I too would likely step back around a stranger using a knife.
 
I personally find it very disturbing when people start referring to non-knife/non-gun people as "sheeple".

Here are the first three steps of eight steps to genocide as defined by Genocide Watch, shortened for brevity's sake:

1. CLASSIFICATION: All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them” by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi.

2. SYMBOLIZATION: We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people “Jews” or “Gypsies”, or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of groups.

3. DEHUMANIZATION: One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.

More info here:

http://www.genocidewatch.org/genocide/8stagesofgenocide.html

So, let's examine the term "sheeple".

"sheeple" indicates stage 1 has already been reached because it separates "us versus them" e.g. knife/gun people vs non-knife/non-gun people.

"sheeple" indicates stage 2 has been reached because it is a name of a classification.

"sheeple" indicates stage 3 has been reached because equates non-knife/non-gun people to animals (sheep).

I hope you find this disturbing too.

Toshi
 
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I'd likely have stepped back too. I don't know you from Adam. Neither does he. HwangJino and DShiflet nailed it
 
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I always take four steps back when someone breaks out a broom or a mop.
Just don't want to get involved. The clerk was probably approaching break.;)
Cheers
 
Any normal sized person could wreck %$#$ up with that knife. You can't blame the non knife people. Some would understand and many won't. We live in a world where most of us could get by without a knife on us everyday iif we had to.

Its also great reason to carry a sak, ukpk, or any number of slippies. I carry a bigger trapper slippie in my bag but I just picked up my first peanut. I'm pretty excited about it. Its elegant understated and traditional.
 
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I prefer to think that instead of backing away out of fear that he was giving you room to let you really go wild; pop off a shoe, grip it in your toes and just round-house that sucker open.

While I trust my knife-carrying coworker, I stay at a safe distance when he's cutting down boxes simply because accidents can happen. For the same reason, I'd rather people give me my space. One ill-timed sneeze and it's an express trip into the femoral artery! Staying outside arm's length isn't due to intimidation, it's common sense.
 
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