Is a knife a Weapon or a Tool?

Is a Knife a Weapon

  • Weapon

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not a Weapon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
USAFSP

USAFSP

Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Messages
2,357
I say tool. If not then a kitchen knife a weapon. A box cutter is a weapon. A pizza cutter is a weapon. A chisle is a weapon, and an AXE is a weapon... Get it? Yeah I know you can use one that way. I can also throw a brick at you, but generaly they are used to build things.
 
I agree with you, but the difference is that "carry" knives also usually have SD as a component.

When people buy a kitchen knife, a box cutter, a pizza cutter, or a brick, they usually have that primary use in mind and not much else. The same goes for SAKs and small slipjoints, as examples. I don't buy a brick to build my shed, but also to use in SD if I have to. That doesn't enter my mind.

But when someone buys a Kershaw Leek, yeah it is a tool, but I am sure SD is at least in the back of their mind.

So it depends on intent. If someone buys a brick with the intent to hurt someone, it is a weapon. If someone buys a Cuda MAXX to use in their home to open boxes, it's not a weapon.

The reason knives are seen as weapons so often is because they are intended as weapons so often. It is sad that people that use knives as tools take flak for that. But I am sure you also carry a knife in public, at least partly, for that "just in case" SD scenerio.

Remember that most people are idiots. If someone gets killed with a knife, they see knives as the problem. This makes innocent people suffer. The problem is bad, violent people. They will always find a weapon, or make one. Knife laws do no good.

So while I agree with your basic premise, I cannot say that a knife is "not a weapon". Yes, it is a tool and people that see knives as weapons-only are fools. But I carry a knife with me in public, at least partly, for SD. So I very much intend it to be a weapon if the need arises. When I buy a brick or a pizza cutter, SD isn't a concern.
 
I think of them as tools for the simple reason that I have many occasions to use them as tools, and only rarely as a weapon. I'll bet I don't get into more than one knife fight per month! :D

Seriously, since I'll probably never use a knife as a weapon I buy knives that will be serviceable tools. However, If it deploys quickly and easily and seems like it would be well suited for self defense I consider that a plus.
 
yeah I agree though knives can be used as weapons I have only been presented with a few opportunities to use it as such. However everyday I find it a useful tool, and my personal lil buddy. I'd say 80 percent of the action my knives have seen have been cardboard related, and the rest for food and general cutting tasks. I do agree with hair, people as a whole are ignorant to the fact that knives are tools first, weapons second. People at my job have asked if I carry it for self defense and the short answer is yes, with a very long no. Yeah its nice to have as a last resort, but they see how often I cut plastic ties and boxes and open containers with it and now most everyone at work is used to "the knife guy" and actually ask questions regarding steels and materials. I think like anything education is key, I showed a student in my Cisco Class some Darrel Ralph blades on knifeart and he never knew knives could look that way or that they could cost so much. Knives are way more than just weapons, to some they are a way of life......(I sound way too gunghoe)
 
I can't vote due to status, but I consider the knife a weapon and a tool.

And some knives are obviously designed to be more tool like, while others are designed to be more weapon like.

Look at your typical grapefruit knife: it was definitly not designed for fighting.

OTOH, look at the Fairbairn-Sykes dagger that was used by the SAS in WWII: they were designed for killing other humans.
And Pat Crawford makes a knife that he calls the Black Hawk Fighter.
Emerson has the CQC series, which I believe stands for Close Quaters Combat.
So that's at least two custom knife makers who believe in fighting knives.

Ka-Bar covered both bases by creating the USMC Fighting/Utility Knife (known far and wide as simple "the Ka-Bar").


BTW...

and an AXE is a weapon
Click to expand...

Yes!
Some axes were designed to chop wood, and some were designed to kill people.
Have'nt you ever heard of a battle-axe (no, not your mother-in-law...)?

I'm curious, does your belief that "knives are not weapons" represent the USAF's opinion on knives?

Allen.
 
Right on.

To clarify a little bit: I see knives as tools first. I carry them as tools that I use frequently at work. I've never used a knife in SD, and doubt I ever will. I also often carry nothing but a SAK, which is a poor SD knife.

But when I buy a knife, SD is a concern, even if it is a very small one. However, when I buy a brick or a pizza cutter, whether it is better at SD than another model or not is not an issue at all. With a knife, being good for SD at least gets a couple bonus points.

Most people are ignorant about knives because people make judgements based on image and what they see in movies. It pains me how ignorant most people are.

But while screwdrivers and hammers can be used as weapons, SD is rarely a category in which they are judged. Let's be frank: knives are often carried with SD as a concern.

Just to vent a little bit... I live in a state where I can carry a gun, but not a butterfly knife. I can carry a 7'' fixed blade, but not a 2'' switchblade. Knife laws and the publics conception of knives don't make any sense.

Luckily, working at a newspaper where many people carry knives as tools, I can use whatever knife I want and not freak anyone out.
 
Yup, my Benchmade 805s and my Cold Steel Vaquero Grande are tools...Tools to seperate flesh with.:D.

My Glock 10mm model 20 is also a tool.:D.
 
Knives can be either. It depends on the intent of the person wielding one. By default I consider them tools.
 
I don't consider anything to be a weapon until it is used in a violent manner.

I have yet to stab, cut or shoot anyone. Therefore, my guns and knives are not weapons.
 
allenC said:
I'm curious, does your belief that "knives are not weapons" represent the USAF's opinion on knives?
Click to expand...
As I recall from my USAF days, air strikes are a weapon!

Knives are tools, right from the beginning: tools to kill animals and cut them up for dinner. Tools to fight off marauding neighbors. Tools to invade non-marauding neighbors.

I don't carry knives for fighting, but I wouldn't hesitate to use one for self-defense if I broke my cane on someone's head and he was still being obnoxious. :p
 
Knives in history were always considered to be both, weapon and tool.Anything that has a sharp edge and/or a sharp point can be used both ways. Some are more suited for special tasks than others.In the minute they were used to cut a string, food or whatever they are a tool. Whenever they are used to kill,threaten or wound they are a weapon. By the decision of the owner it is the one or the other.
 
I do not think that the term weapon is really defined.What makes an object a weapon?For me it does not make sense to vote for one or the other. Because again :if an object, whatever kind it is , gets used to harm a man or animal it becomes a weapon. I believe, that there is just no clear answer to that question.If one chooses to use the knife strictly as a tool than its just a tool. If one cooses to carry it, or uses it for self defence than its a weapon. Someone mentioned a brick before. Same thing. Peaceful brick laying around somewere. Is it a weapon? No, it a brick!! Pick it up and throw it at someone. You used it as a Weapon. Take it and use it to hammer a pole into the ground-You used it as a tool. Knives can be used as both, --so, there really is no final answer .
 
both, knife is a useful tool and a extremely dangerous weapon. A weapon which is availaible to everyone and even untrained person can kill with it within seconds.
 
Good thread ,to put it into perspective what's a brick ?building material or weapon? Don't fancy getting smashed over the head any more than being stabbed.Now off my soap box!:D
 
Intent.

The classification of anything can be summed up with that word. I carry an automatic knife or a balisong. This is a tool. I also carry a serrated rescue blade. This is a tool. I carry a SAK. This is a tool.

I also carry a Spyderco SPOT in easy reach hanging from my backpack strap.

This is a weapon.

A tire iron used to change tires is a tool. A tire iron used to cave in somebody's head is a weapon.

An SUV used to drive the kids to school and soccer practice is a vehicle. An SUV used to run over a halpless bystander is a weapon.

A glass bottle used to hold liquid refreshment is a recepticle and drinking device. A glass bottle, which is then broken and used to cut somebody is a weapon.

A gun used to punch holes in paper is a toy (OK, a "sporting good"). A gun carried in case of self defense is a weapon. However, even a gun carried as a weapon can be considered a tool in certain professions, like law enforcment or military.

Intent is the key. Intent can change situationally, of course, and many otherwise innocuous objects can turn into weapons in a hightened situation. A foot can be a deadly weapon if used the right (wrong?) way. Assigning intent to an inanimate object can be tricky. Some objects, like knives and firearms, might have some inherent "intent", from a stigma long associated with them. The vast majority of us will vehemetly describe our knives as "tools", yet none of us would say that they wouldn't immediately think of their knife as a possible weapon in a SHTF situation (unless that person happens to have a gun or other more appropriate tool handy).
 
Always a tool---however, even older "urban warriors" like myself have tucked in the deep recesses of my brain, that just "maybe" if, God forbid, a serious, unpredictable event should occur, I might just be very fortunate to have a credible sharp pointed "tool" at the ready.;)
 
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