Kershaw "Needs Work" a "weapon"?

The Needs Work (terrible name, btw) fit classification as a weapon, but to be caught carrying it in your pocket, all but the dumbest cops would know out is a tool. That blade shape is a utility type, not a weapon type. So long as the size and open assist are not illegal in your area, then you should have no issues.
 
People are getting strange about knives nowadays. My son just got a written warning in his job as a maintenance mechanic at a local hotel for using a pocket knife on the job. Someone who saw him using it complained and action was taken through human resources. It stated "for having a weapon and showing the ability and knowledge to use it".

The supervisor also told my son that only people who have concealed carry permits can carry weapons here in NC, including knives. I'm not even going to begin to start talking about how wrong he was because it doesn't matter about state law or what it says or doesn't say. Company policy prohibits possession of a weapon on the property yet issues him a razor knife and a leatherman. By the way the knife was a Byrd Cara Cara non AO.

No he wasn't playing with it, showing it off, or anything stupid. The worst he has done is use it to help other employees open packages who asked for his help.

Strange times we live in.

Joe
 
call me stupid but this is my take on it,
a sharpened object with a workable edge
is a tool it's just a matter of what kind of use you put your tool through
for all i know a screwdriver is just as much of a weapon.

take care
 
I got a free "Needs Work" with a larger knife order. It is the most un-weaponly looking contraption I ever held - ever! Weight it like a brick and blade/handle ergos send one message to the brain, "grip tightly and cut downward as hard as you can."

Gloriied box cutter IMO. I gave it to my daughter when they moved overseas and had to box up the whole household. The right tool for the right job. She loves it for unboxing and making custom boxes out of larger ones.
 
Some people claim the Wharncliffe blade is great for use as a weapon. Why? I don't quite understand what mechanical advantage the Wharny has over other shapes. I think a stiletto type blade should be better at straight thrusts. And I think a style with a large belly curve should be better at slashing. Please enlighten me.
 
The Mastiff said:
People are getting strange about knives nowadays. My son just got a written warning in his job as a maintenance mechanic at a local hotel for using a pocket knife on the job. Someone who saw him using it complained and action was taken through human resources. It stated "for having a weapon and showing the ability and knowledge to use it".

The supervisor also told my son that only people who have concealed carry permits can carry weapons here in NC, including knives. I'm not even going to begin to start talking about how wrong he was because it doesn't matter about state law or what it says or doesn't say. Company policy prohibits possession of a weapon on the property yet issues him a razor knife and a leatherman. By the way the knife was a Byrd Cara Cara non AO.

No he wasn't playing with it, showing it off, or anything stupid. The worst he has done is use it to help other employees open packages who asked for his help.

Strange times we live in.

Joe
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That's seriously screwed up.

Also that's weird wording in the warning. Would it not have counted if he had the knife but didn't know how to use it? o_O
 
The Mastiff said:
People are getting strange about knives nowadays. My son just got a written warning in his job as a maintenance mechanic at a local hotel for using a pocket knife on the job. Someone who saw him using it complained and action was taken through human resources. It stated "for having a weapon and showing the ability and knowledge to use it".

The supervisor also told my son that only people who have concealed carry permits can carry weapons here in NC, including knives. I'm not even going to begin to start talking about how wrong he was because it doesn't matter about state law or what it says or doesn't say. Company policy prohibits possession of a weapon on the property yet issues him a razor knife and a leatherman. By the way the knife was a Byrd Cara Cara non AO.

No he wasn't playing with it, showing it off, or anything stupid. The worst he has done is use it to help other employees open packages who asked for his help.

Strange times we live in.

Joe
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Yeah, that's mostly the type of stuff that I'm concerned with. Not specifically having that happen on-the-job, but just that sort of attitude and policy toward it.

One of my friends was attending a culinary school, kind of a vocational program. The campus had a lot of... Malcontents? Anyway, he was working with razor sharp cooking knives everyday, yet they wouldn't allow a person to have so much as a Leatherman or a SAK.
 
KennyB said:
Now, does that look like a "weapon" to you? "Scary"? I kind of wonder what most people think when they see this knife. I really like it for the function and utility of it, but even to me it looks like a weapon.
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I have a Kershaw's Needs Work knive myself, and honestly I don't think it looks any more like a "weapon" than any other modern, AO or OHO pocket knife.

As someone else has said, given the right circumstances LEO's can often consider just about anything a weapon, but most areas have fairly straight forward length limits that legally define a folding knife as a "weapon" or not (greater than 2", 3" 4" ect.). If it meets the local rules for not being a "weapon" you are unlikely to get any grief from the local LEOs based on the "look" of a knife, unless you put yourself in a situation where they are looking for extra violations to charge you with (public drunkeness, bar fight, assaulting an officer, etc.) you are unlikely to be hassled by "The Man" for carrying a Needs Work .

YMMV of course, so be sure to check your state and local laws.

monger4142 said:
get a swiss army knife instead. won't scare a soul and it will outcut that kershaw all day.
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Actually, neither of those statements are true. I have had people ask me why I am carrying a weapon when I pull a SAK out of my pocket, and as much as I love my SAKs, the sharpness and edge holding ability of them is no where near as good as the several Kershaws I own.
 
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mdauben said:
...
As someone else has said, given the right circumstances LEO's can often consider just about anything a weapon, but most areas have fairly straight forward length limits that legally define a folding knife as a "weapon" or not (greater than 2", 3" 4" ect.). ...
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Or not. Most states simply legislate what is legal/illegal to carry/possess, rather than define what is and what is not a "weapon".

You can certainly be charged with illegally using deadly force with an otherwise legal implement, whether knife or crescent wrench.

- OS
 
And you can be charged with ADW for threatening someone with something that appears to them to be a weapon.
 
ArfinGreebly said:
The Needs Work is a heavy use knife with the edge of a box cutter.
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I'd say it makes a great box cutting-style knife. I wouldn't call it "heavy use," though. If they made a version with a thicker blade/edge, then maybe so. But the edge, including the tip, is so incredibly thin that I wouldn't put it through any heavy use.
 
so do you guys throw a knife in the trash when it gets dull?

Sharpen the SAK, it will cut great, and won't scare anybody. problem solved.

the kershaw knife is small... but the overall design and AO make it scary and "weapon like" to certain people. If the OP had to ask this, it's probably a little to tactical for his use?

I also suggest other traditional looking slipjoint knives. Less likely to scare people.

When you carry a tactical looking knife in certain areas and cultures, It can put you into an undesirable generalized catagory of people. If you're afraid of this OP, go the traditional route.
 
OhShoot said:
Or not. Most states simply legislate what is legal/illegal to carry/possess, rather than define what is and what is not a "weapon".
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And what is "illegal" is what the powers that be consider to be a "weapon". Pocket knives over a certain lenght are not illegal simply becuase they are unfashionable long, its because those same powers that be consider that there is no reasonable use for a knife over X inches long except as a deadly weapon. :rolleyes:
 
mdauben said:
And what is "illegal" is what the powers that be consider to be a "weapon". Pocket knives over a certain lenght are not illegal simply becuase they are unfashionable long, its because those same powers that be consider that there is no reasonable use for a knife over X inches long except as a deadly weapon. :rolleyes:
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So then by that logic, pistols, which 49 states allow one to daily carry one way or another, do not rise to the standard of being deadly weapons, since they are not rifles?

- OS
 
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