- Joined
- Aug 8, 1999
- Messages
- 5,094
I just returned from my trip to South Africa yesterday and I have some interesting observations about knives.
First, I was traveling with other teachers and professors in the Fullbright fellowship program. As far as I know, there were only three or so other people with knives that I knew of although several people carried scissors. Mind you, this was despite the federal government's recommendation that all travelers carry a Swiss Army knife!
As for myself, i carried too many knives because i could not make up my mind which ones to carry, however, what i soon found was that 90% of the time I carried my small Sebenza and I rarely carried anything larger than my 3 1/4" Elishewitz Persian. Other favorites were my serrated Native, Lightweight Calypso jr, CKRT Lightffot urban Shark, and my BM 705. I had larger knives, but rarely carried them because I really felt that they were too large to whip out in front of the people with which I was traveling. I would like to note that one often hears about crime in South Africa, but I really did not find the cities of South Africa any more threatening than similar large U.S. cities. As an African American, I was struck by the friendly nature of the people and a profound fascination with American popular culture. That is not to say that there is no potential for danger, but common sense is much more effective defense than a big knife.
Once it became known that I had knives, I became the de facto handyman. I did everything from opening boxes to removing splinters for people. One time in particular, my Swiss Tool came in handy because the lock used to secure our luggage case on a trailer was missing so I used wire secured by the pliers to keep our luggage intact. Beleive it or not, while I was securing the latch, our travel director asked my why I carried a Swiss Tool!
Finally, I would like to mention a story about a young man who really impressed me. At Kruger Park, I had the pleasure nof going on a night time game drive that was directed by a young man from the Northern Province named James Tsheoga. He could spot anything! He even saw a green chameleon at night on a tree full of green leaves from 50 yards at 30 mph! I was so impressed I gave him my plain 440V Military since as a professional outdoorsman, he will get far more use out the knife than I would. Believe it or not, giving the knife away made me so happy because I knew that I knew that James clearly appreciated it. That's enough for now, just wanted toshare my experience.
First, I was traveling with other teachers and professors in the Fullbright fellowship program. As far as I know, there were only three or so other people with knives that I knew of although several people carried scissors. Mind you, this was despite the federal government's recommendation that all travelers carry a Swiss Army knife!
As for myself, i carried too many knives because i could not make up my mind which ones to carry, however, what i soon found was that 90% of the time I carried my small Sebenza and I rarely carried anything larger than my 3 1/4" Elishewitz Persian. Other favorites were my serrated Native, Lightweight Calypso jr, CKRT Lightffot urban Shark, and my BM 705. I had larger knives, but rarely carried them because I really felt that they were too large to whip out in front of the people with which I was traveling. I would like to note that one often hears about crime in South Africa, but I really did not find the cities of South Africa any more threatening than similar large U.S. cities. As an African American, I was struck by the friendly nature of the people and a profound fascination with American popular culture. That is not to say that there is no potential for danger, but common sense is much more effective defense than a big knife.
Once it became known that I had knives, I became the de facto handyman. I did everything from opening boxes to removing splinters for people. One time in particular, my Swiss Tool came in handy because the lock used to secure our luggage case on a trailer was missing so I used wire secured by the pliers to keep our luggage intact. Beleive it or not, while I was securing the latch, our travel director asked my why I carried a Swiss Tool!
Finally, I would like to mention a story about a young man who really impressed me. At Kruger Park, I had the pleasure nof going on a night time game drive that was directed by a young man from the Northern Province named James Tsheoga. He could spot anything! He even saw a green chameleon at night on a tree full of green leaves from 50 yards at 30 mph! I was so impressed I gave him my plain 440V Military since as a professional outdoorsman, he will get far more use out the knife than I would. Believe it or not, giving the knife away made me so happy because I knew that I knew that James clearly appreciated it. That's enough for now, just wanted toshare my experience.
