How large is to large?

Q

Quy4n8

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
659
How large a blade are you comfortable with around sheeple? I prefer 3-3 1/2" blade, but it seems that even 3" blades get gastly looks and comments at times. What are you most comfortable using and carrying?
 
I prefer a 2 1/2" - 2 3/4" inch blade for my carry knife. Not because of "seeple", because it is what I am most comfortable using. ;)

Paul
 
Richard Sommer said:
How large a blade are you comfortable with around sheeple? I prefer 3-3 1/2" blade, but it seems that even 3" blades get gastly looks and comments at times. What are you most comfortable using and carrying?
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I spent TOO MANY years being concerned about what other people think. Not anymore. Here in the city everyone has their agenda that they want to shove down your throat. They don't care what you think. You gotta take a stand. In the city for me it's a 3.75 black-bladed Strider SnG. It's the baddest blade I can carry, it's legal, and used lawfully to cut my fruit or a box, so who cares? Anywhere else I prefer 4 inches minimum because I have big hands and it is safer for me to use a knife with a bigger handle and that's what matters. Life's waaayyyyy too short, and the clock is tickin'.

--Knifedaddy, "recovering all-around nice guy"
 
Here in NJ blade length isn't a problem, and the area I live in is lightly wooded, with lakes, streams, and the occasional Collucci wandering around. I've had people look at some of my larger knives with surprise that knives came that big, like the Vaquero Grande or Camillus CUDA Maxx or large Sebenza. But no panic and no recriminations.

They weren't born like to be sheep. They were born human. They were taught to be afraid. It's up to us to teach them otherwise.

So I like to carry at least one tiny knife like a SAK or my Bitteroot for utility :) But the big tactical folder comes out whenever I need that, too.

Besides, what do you care what other people think? If your job depends on keeping the customers satisfied or keeping the boss off your back, you have to care. But out in the world, if you're not doing anything grossly illegal, don't listen to the wimps and the wienies. What, are you afraid you'll cut yourself with that great big knife? (You will, but you'll survive it. :D)
 
Most of the time I carry a 3-4 inch blade. I prefer to carry something like my Cuda Maxx. I work in a NC state building, in a very liberal college town. So I don't carry the Cuda to work. If there are any sheepies around I'll use a SAK for cutting chores. But if it just me and my regular group I'll use the 3-4 bladed knife. To me a bigger blade just makes cutting easier.
 
For sheeple encounters I pull out my Adventurer SAK with locking 3.25" main blade. People sometimes look at it funny, but when I point out that it is a Swiss Army Knife, red handle and all, they never make trouble about it.

Ah for the days of my youth. I used to wander through the suburban streets between the Pasadena Rose Bowl and the San Rafael Hills with a 17-inch blade on my belt. The machete was camping gear and never got big complaints. Even the Enfield sword bayonet was generally accepted as useful for cutting brush.
 
Jeff Clark said:
For sheeple encounters I pull out my Adventurer SAK with locking 3.25" main blade. People sometimes look at it funny, but when I point out that it is a Swiss Army Knife, red handle and all, they never make trouble about it.
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You know, someone should make a 7 inch bladed knife with a swiss army handle. Then you could point to it and say, "What, it's just a Swiss Army Knife."
 
knifedaddy84 said:
You know, someone should make a 7 inch bladed knife with a swiss army handle. Then you could point to it and say, "What, it's just a Swiss Army Knife."
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Somebody did. Victorinox.

Swiss army knife maker launches Sikh kirpans

Swiss army knife maker Victorinox launched a series of Sikh religious knives or 'kirpans' in India on Wednesday to mark the 400th anniversary of the installation of the religion's sacred book at its holiest shrine. ((snip))

The single-edged kirpan, sold with a case and a belt worn over the shoulder, is available in two sizes -- 3.6 inches and 7.2 inches. The knives will retail at 1,360 rupees and 3,400 rupees in India and will be sold through 450-odd retail outlets in the country.

Kirpans are generally sold outside Sikh temples, or gurdwaras. Local versions retail at between 100 and 600 rupees.

Goel said over 10 million rupees were spent on the dyes and designs for the Victorinox kirpans. He gave no estimates for sales.
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(The entire article is available at the link above.)
 
Yeah, I care what people think, but the deciding factor for me is "what's the right knife for the job?" At my desk I've got a 4" AG Russell fruit testing knife to cut my daily apple, but I don't carry it. Outside the house, almost all my non-food cutting is done with a 2" Case Texas Toothpick, and if I need something bigger (very rarely), I've got a 3.5" BM 940. I'm more likely to need the screwdriver on an SAK than a 4" knife blade, which is why I keep an SAK in my briefcase, messenger bags and backpacks.

How big a knife am I comfortable using around people? As big a knife as it takes to do the job.
 
I have stopped caring what people think of the knives I carry. Most of my folders have blades between 3 1/2" and 4" and I sometimes carry fixed blades of around 5".
 
I USED to not care what people thought until I realized that the people I might be offending are in a great position to get me fired or otherwise make my life miserable. The fact is I cannot control their lousy attitude but I can avoid confrontation.

I choose my battles and I choose not to fight perception.

My solution is to carry something I want to carry but I don't pull out unless I need to, my Yojimbo here lately, and something nice but benign to use in full view of others, like my SAK. Size doesn't seem to matter so much as overall design.

If it's really a problem for you like it was for me several months ago, get a blue handled Dodo. It's the knife made for knife knuts living among knife knazis. It's PC, knife law friendly in most places, and a damn good knife. I never thought I'd love such a small knife so much and now that it's back from Warranty and Service land it's going straight back into my EDC.
 
I usually carry two knives, if one is "scawy!" I make the other more sheeple friendly.
Though some people freak out even at a lil baby knife.
 
I carry a fixed blade most of the time, nothing smaller in blade size than the larger blade in my avatar. Actually, I carry that blade from time to time. It has Cocobolo scales and 4.25" blade of 440-c. The smaller blade is also 440-c and has Amboyna Burl scales. I don't carry a knife like that usually because it's a rather specialized knife with a somewhat blunted drop point tip not especially suited for penetration but more for skinning type chores.

(Powering up rant mode)
I used to be shy, not wanting to offend people, but no more.
If anyone has a problem with me carrying a perfectly legal knife as I mind my own business while taking care of my business, then that's between them and their mental health professional.
I'm a tool user and my knife is one of the most useful tools. I'll not deny myself the right to carry it/them ;) just because it makes some people all 'fraidy. Again, time to seek a mental health professional's help if it bothers one too much.
They need to grow up and get used to the fact that the world does not nor will it ever revolve around them and there are some folks who will carry and use a legally carried knife unashamedly. What is happening to the American Spirit?! The USA used to be all about self sufficiency. We grew up carrying our knives everywhere and no boy or man dreamed about going out for the day without at least a pocketknife.
Now, this country full of hoplophobic cowards looking for someone to take care of them, someone to cut their tofu steak for them with a plastic blunt tip knife. :grumpy:
This country is getting wayyy too full of lilly-livered wussys who wrongly think that the absence of edged tools will make them feel "safer". That and their own personal cop to watch over them 24/7 and keep them safe from the bad guys, of course. :mad: :rolleyes:
This is just so wrong.

Sooo, I carry pretty much what I feel like carrying as long as it's legal here in Florida. If you have the legal right to carry a nine inch bladed fixed blade then exercise that right if you so desire. Abide by the legalities in your area and EXERCISE YOUR RIGHTS. Why walk around hiding your stuff and apologizing when you use it like your spreading some kind of disease? :barf:

I'll step off the podium now and leave you with this:

Caring about the feelings of others is fine. It shows compassion and compassion is a good thing. Just don't let the paranoia of others turn YOU into one of them.
A knife is just a tool that even the most liberal of sheeple has at least one of in their own kitchen.

Oh, and BTW, I carry a Chinook II in my left pocket and a Cuda Maxx in the right when I'm not in the mood to carry a fixed blade.
 
I work in sales and often have to use my knife in front of customers to open packages and general cutting chores so I'm fairly aware of how they are perceived. If I'm carrying something in the 2.75-3.25" range then nobdy really seems to give it a second though. On the occasions I've gone in the 3.5-4" range then it does get a few looks and comments but nothing too bad. Havn't carried larger then that yet. Normally I prefer to carry something around 3" because I'm comfortable with it and so are the sheeple, but I have a new knife coming that is about 3.75" and I'd really like to make it an EDC so we'll see how that goes.
 
I tend to stay in the 2.5-3.5" range for utility use...

my spydie military is clipped inside my work bag... and I just sent payment today for a 5" custom(tichbourne h5) that I will be carrying and using at work and wherever else I happen to go.
 
What sheeple think has zero to do with what size knife I carry. :)

I don't carry small ones to use around them.I want people to see good people with large knives! I don't want the sheeple to think,"well I know some folks who carry small knives,but no one needs to carry a big one".....
 
From my experience at work, a gated community where the average house costs about 2 mill all the up to 30 mill, is that you need to "train" the people you're going to be around. My PO Box is about half way into work, so whenever I get a knife package I usually pick it up on my way in and I've always made a point to open the package when I get there. When I first started the job I was mainly getting antique slipjoints and I made sure that I'd show them to everyone at work. But soon I was getting knives like a 13 1/2" Randall Thorpe bowie, Maxx's, etc and its gotten to the point where the people at work don't even blink an eye (and of course the folder, no matter the size would go immediately into my pocket :D . Then I started selling knives to everyone at work (including giving knives to the few good looking females). The biggest hurdle was getting the millionaire members used to seeing me pull out a folder with a 4 to 6" blade. It started out with my using whatever knife I had in my pocket to cut transponders (used to activate the gates on property and stuck to windshields with double sticky tape) off of car windows. And it soon progressed to cutting javalina's out from under cars, cutting rattlesnakes out of tennis nets etc. I can now flip a 4" bali out or use my MT CT II in front of members and they don't blink an eye. My one lone challange is to be able to carry a large fixed blade on my belt...and I'm working on it :cool: .
 
It isn't an issue at work, and I don't even tolerate, much less accomodate whining sheeple, so I carry whatever I want, or whatever fits what I'm doing. Despite the attitude, I really don't need, or care to carry, a large knife most of the time, and typically carry, along with a SAK, a 3-3.5" folder, or sometimes a 3-4.5" fixed blade.
Anyway, I'm usually around a blue-collar/country/outdoorsman crowd who judge people based on their actions, not what they look like, wear, or carry.
I gather I'm a lot more fortunate than some of us in that regard.
 
Forget sheeple. I have a little knife I made a few years ago... fixed blade with a drop point and a fileworked vine pattern spine. Little tiny maroon linen Micarta handle, brass thong hole liner and pin. The entire thing is 3" long with a 1.5" blade. It is in a little tiny Kydex sheath that is on my keychain. Went for coffee and our bleeding heart liberal friends said:

"Gee, did you start carrying a knife with you all the time?" (noticing the little teensy weensy thing on my keychain along with the ninja-killing whistle and Arc AAA next to it)

"Ummm, sure," I replied, thinking to myself "And I have two others that are much bigger in my pocket that you don't even know are there."

He said, "Why?"

I said, "Mainly to open packages and pick at my fingernails. But, there isn't honestly a whole lot you can do with a knife this big."

His wife said, "So you kill people wiith that?"

I said, "Yeah, that's right."

Stupid conversation, right? So for some people, no matter how cute and inoffensive a knife is there is no salvation, yet these same people will be the first to ask you for your knife when they need it.

Here are some pics of the murder weapon I carry around with me (note, the Arc AAA is about 1/2" longer than a AAA battery, for size reference):

keychain1.jpg


keychain2.jpg
 
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