Have people reacted to your knife with shock or fear?

i carry an orange military when i bartend and a friend spotted it when he came in one night and asked "why are you carrying a knife?", i replied with "i always carry a knife, never know when you will need it". and by that answer i did not mean in a self defense scenario, i meant in a utility sense.

This is my exact philosophy on knife carry. I know nothing about knife fighting so that never comes into considration for me. I just feel more comfortable having a knife with me at all times. "never know when you will need it."
 
I had someone freak out on me a few days ago when i opened my benchmade 580. I was holding a piece of tape down with one and and needed the knife opened, so i opened it with one hand (assisted for the win), guy freaked out and said something along the lines of switch blade.

I told him it wasnt a switch blade, and it was legal, showed him why (in a BS way lol), he said cool and walked off.

same night, about the same hting happened again, and it turned into what knife (knives) i was carrying. I told them i would show them what i carry every day and pulled my BM barrage, a leatherman PST, and a Leatherman micra

the reaction was, "you have 3 knives on you?!?!!?!" "why?"

i looked at the guy and said, i have a knife, a pair of pliers, screwdrivers, and scissors. the main knife is easier to open and use, but i have the pliers when i need them and i have scissors when i need them (also included in that was a flashlight in the EDC)

after that, none of them said anything and kept working

it was only the initial shock


by the way, if it makes any difference, i carry this set up every day on Virginia Tech campus
 
Thankfully no, but most of the people I hang around with are also carrying some kind of folding pocket knife.
 
Back in college all of us diesel guys carried a knife, just in case you need one while working out in the shop. But when I got in my general education classes, all of the do-gooders would give me looks. No one every really said anything though.
 
Not were I am working now, and I carry either Spyderco Military's or Para 2's.

And I can leave them out and laying out in the open and never one single word about them.

Literally hundreds of people walking by over time.....
 
The other day in the office I was given a pie as a thank-you gift for a past favour. I asked a couple coworkers if they wanted some and they said sure. As it turns out, no one had a knife to cut it with.

Hesitantly, I reach into my bag and pull out my Opinel 8. There are only a few people around so I figure it's okay.

One female coworker is next to me and she doesn't care at all. She doesn't even mention it. But another female coworker acts surprised and says loudly "why do you have a knife?" as I'm cutting the pie. I look at her and say, "how can I cut a pie without a knife?"

For knife people, an Opinel is one of the least threatening designs. For non-knife people, anything past a butter knife is scary.
 
I live abroad.... I guess pocket knives here are still considered deadly weapons, rather then utilitarian tool. Well, I was in class and my teacher ask me to cut a piece of string for her. I couldn't find any scissors and my knife bag wasn't near by, so I pulled out my spring assisted ZT and proceeded to cut the string. She gave me a weird look, as if I was a criminal. I told here it was my EDC tool. Ironically, it was a Culinary Class that I was attending at that time......with big chef knives all around.
 
I live abroad.... I guess pocket knives here are still considered deadly weapons, rather then utilitarian tool. Well, I was in class and my teacher ask me to cut a piece of string for her. I couldn't find any scissors and my knife bag wasn't near by, so I pulled out my spring assisted ZT and proceeded to cut the string. She gave me a weird look, as if I was a criminal. I told here it was my EDC tool. Ironically, it was a Culinary Class that I was attending at that time......with big chef knives all around.

I too, carry a ZT and I live in the Philippines too but I would never use that to cut a piece of string. That's what I use my honeybee for. Besides if there were chef knives around, why even take out the ZT?
 
Not were I am working now, and I carry either Spyderco Military's or Para 2's.

And I can leave them out and laying out in the open and never one single word about them.

Literally hundreds of people walking by over time.....

I hope nobody walks off with one of them!! :( :mad:
 
Every once and a while, I'll get people staring when I go into a Walmart or what-have-you. Most of the time however, people hardly notice. I feel the reason that they hardly notice, is because I don't give them a reason to. That said, I feel I should mention that I carry a 5.5" cutting surface FB for SD. I realize that this is a big taboo to some people, but before you start throwing the "you're ruining our ability to carry knives!" argument, let me explain:

Here in Oregon, you're legally allowed to open-carry any length knife. You cannot conceal carry any kind of blade, and we don't have a Concealed Weapons License, only a Concealed Handgun License. That said, I choose not to carry a handgun for my own reasons, that I don't feel I should have to explain here. Also, I don't carry any-kind of folding assisted opening blade for other reasons, again, that I don't feel I should have to explain. So my alternative, was a fixed blade for SD (which I happen to prefer to folders anyway, but that's a different topic).

At this point, I feel I should mention that I just ordered 2 SAKs for my everyday knife needs. One tiny one for the keychain, and one for my pocket that's a little larger. So I carry two totally different styles of knives, each suited for their respective tasks. I'm not about to pull my 5.5" blade from it's sheath on my belt to open a box, it's just unnecessary. If I need to do this task or something simliar, my SAK will work just fine. However, if I need to defend either myself or my loved ones, the SAK most likely isn't going to do the job I need in that situation, hence the FB.

The rule that I operate by for my FB, is that unless I see a gun or a knife in the hands of my assailant, my own knife isn't going to leave it's sheath. I have no training in terms of firing a handgun, nor have I taken any classes, but I treat my knife like I'd imagine anyone who carries a handgun treats their weapon. If it's got to leave it's holster/sheath, it's because the situation has become such that I am fearing for my life enough to take another human beings' life to survive. I've had a few people ask if they can see my knife and my answer is always a polite "no". When they ask me "why not?", I ask them if they'd be asking to see my .45 if I were carrying one of those instead. I've yet to have a person say that they would.

I've read through this entire thread and the few things I've noticed that I think bear repeating are thus:

-Keep in mind your appearance when you're deciding what blades to carry for the day. If you look scary, suddenly any tool you're using is going to look scary

-Don't use too much knife for the task. If you're opening boxes, cutting string, repairing things, ect.; chances are, a SAK or similar length blade could do the job.

-Keep in mind the type of knife that you have. If you're using an assisted opening folder and it's not necessary for the cool sounding "flick" noise, or you can use both hands to open it, why not do so? I'm not saying hide it under the table and open it, but at the same time, there's no reason to make a big elaborate motion and sound when all you're doing is cutting some tape.

-Exercise common courtesy when you've got a weapon or even a potential weapon (in the case of SAKs, for example) that can take a human life. This is quite possibly the most important thing I feel should be relayed to anyone considering carrying a knife. It's probably the reason that it was possible for people to carry knives as much as they did "back in the day" without an issue, as well as the reason we have such problems with them now. I'm not saying that you need to cater to anyone's fears, or ignorance at all. I'm saying be courteous to the fact that they have the right to react however they want, just as much as you have the right to carry said weapon. The best you can do is like someone else already mentioned in this thread, have a response ready in case people give you that classic "Why do you carry a knife!?" line. Wether that's a witty one-liner, or something to educate them further, probably the worst thing you can do is react to their negativity, with your own brand. It doesn't do anyone any good in the long or the short term, so why do it?

This deserves a repost.
 
At work I carry Spyderco Militaries now. I had a lady freak out OMGWTFBBQ style when I pulled it out one day, can't remember why. I'm thinking... I'm wearing a gun ... and you're worried about this knife?
 
On and off, I carry a large Sebenza annual. I took it out the other night at an elementary school fundraiser to cut pizza since no one had a knife. I got a different reaction than I would have thought. The women were saying "what a pretty knife".
 
On and off, I carry a large Sebenza annual. I took it out the other night at an elementary school fundraiser to cut pizza since no one had a knife. I got a different reaction than I would have thought. The women were saying "what a pretty knife".

Cuz it is. Carrying a very classy blade can be more acceptable - compared to guys that wave their Rajahs out then are aghast when they scare the crap out of regular non knife people and "educate them on how it's a tool" ...lol... :)
 
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