Knife use on college campus

E

edcrefiner

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
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270
Hi,

I was just wondering how people will perceive the legal and practical use of a knife on a college campus. Of course, the knives will be used for a utility purpose only. Will students... be afraid? Call campus PD? Give strange looks? Or simply neglect its presence?

I will be heading back to one of the University of California campuses in a few weeks. The knives are legal under state law pertaining to California universities. Please post experiences. Thanks.
 
Its way you use knife. Don't flick it open but open it slowly and use it specific work. People hardly have problems with that. Alsoknives with satin blades and or colorful handles tone down weapon likeness.

You should not worry how appear, just use your knife as tool and people will percieve it as tool. Don't play with your knife, don't flick it open or anything what mall ninja's would do and you'll do fine.

SAK like Victorinox is very hard to percieve as weapon so getting alox victorinox would be quite safe choice. Traditional knives generally look less like weapon than more modern one hand knives.
 
thejamppa said:
Its way you use knife. Don't flick it open but open it slowly and use it specific work. People hardly have problems with that. Alsoknives with satin blades and or colorful handles tone down weapon likeness.

You should not worry how appear, just use your knife as tool and people will percieve it as tool. Don't play with your knife, don't flick it open or anything what mall ninja's would do and you'll do fine.

SAK like Victorinox is very hard to percieve as weapon so getting alox victorinox would be quite safe choice. Traditional knives generally look less like weapon than more modern one hand knives.
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Very sound advice :thumbup:. Be sure it is okay to carry a folder on campus as well.
 
I carried a SAK all through college, no one ever really cared. I actually had a professor call out in the class if anyone had a knife so he could cut open a box of books. A few people chimed in they had one, so more people carry than you think. Carry with an objective, and only use when needed and no one will notice or car likely.
 
CA campus knife laws are sub 2.5" blade and no locking mechanism. fixed blades are out as well. i find the spyderco honeybee/grasshopper are a good choice as are standard swiss army knives.

as for use keep discreet and dont draw unnecessary attention to yourself.
 
edcrefiner said:
University of California......
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Current UC policy;

You can have a knife, such as a pocket knife, as long as the blade is not more than 2 1/2 inches long, it does not open automatically and has only one sharp edge.
 
thejamppa said:
Its way you use knife. Don't flick it open but open it slowly and use it specific work. People hardly have problems with that. Alsoknives with satin blades and or colorful handles tone down weapon likeness.

You should not worry how appear, just use your knife as tool and people will percieve it as tool. Don't play with your knife, don't flick it open or anything what mall ninja's would do and you'll do fine.

SAK like Victorinox is very hard to percieve as weapon so getting alox victorinox would be quite safe choice. Traditional knives generally look less like weapon than more modern one hand knives.
Click to expand...

Good answer. There are people who could use a Spyderco Military in public without freaking anyone out, and others who would make others nervous with a SAK Classic.
 
AFAIK my college doesn't have any anti-knife policy...other than a restatement of state law.

I've always carried something...but keep it low key and out of sight unless i need it.
Once i forgot about a folder clipped to my pocket and i think one of my proffs did a mild double-take, but he didn't say anything.

In another class an exacto knife is required material, so it's not like we don't have blades. On the first day the teacher needed to open something and another student handed her a pocket knife, she used it and gave it back, none of the other students even twitched. I used my leatherman juice to sharpen my drawing pencils the rest of that semester....no bad reactions.

My overall impression is that college is more like the real world in that people view you as a responsible adult until you give them reason to think otherwise. Unlike primary school when any number of things result in you being guilty until proven innocent.

So, check the school's rules, use common sense and don't be flashy. You should be fine.
 
I know at my university there are a lot of people who carry knives. In my law enforcement class alone I saw atleast 10 people walk by with one clipped in their pants. One guy I talked to actually carried a 5.11 Journeyman, another carried a Kershaw Cyclone. Another I noticed carried a Smith and Wesson cheapo.
 
I too go to college in CA and always have a knife or 2 on me. Although restrictions are tight I carry what I want, because as many here have stated if using it correctly no one breaks their neck to look at you as they walk by. I always have a 3"> folder clipped in the right front pocket.

I have never shown someone or been confronted about a knife on me while at school. When I do use it I typically make sure much of the knife is covered with my hand and kept close to my body. Ideally I cut in the direction facing away from fellow students. Personally I think you can carry/use a knife with no issues as long as you don't go out of you way to flaunt/display your actions with it.

Lately it has been convenient to just carry a Victorinox Cadet. While at school I haven't faced anything a Cadet couldn't handle, yet.
 
Thanks guys for the advice.

I recently purchased a Boker Subcom for college because it does not look like a knife when closed. Also I am pretty sure that the UC schools allow locking blades because state law does not specifically forbid it on a campus.

In another forum some enlightened citizens even argued that any type of folding knife no matter the size is allowed on campus and that the UC system merely misinterprets the law.
 
Higher learning? One would thik there would be rules forcing all of the students to carry one. After all isn't about preparing them for life? :)

In this state pretty much everyone carries a knife everywhere they go. Some get used to open boxes, others mail. A few get used for heavy duty work like cutting string and card board. :)
 
Johns Hopkins does not have a knife policy. No toy guns -- no real guns -- and they are dead serious about it.

I try to get a sense of who my students are before I pull a knife out to perform some sort of EDC chore; but, I have yet to get a negative reaction out of anyone.

This does not mean that I'm not extremely careful.

Dorms might have a stricter weapon policy than campus in general. But, still, people do have multi tools and kitchen knives; I assume that anything you could get away with carrying on the street is probably okay in the dorms.

By senior year in undergrad I did keep a kiddy tee-ball bat in my girlfriend's dorm. My dorm was a quiet, small, place filled with foreign students on scholarships -- but hers was a mix of everybody. Occasionally you could get drunk assholes hopping from party to party looking for a fight. A tee-ball bat, we discovered, is the perfect compromise between speed, power, and ease of handling; get it in hot pink and you can tell the authorities that someone got it for you as a joke.
 
I've carried many knives on college campuses here in Nevada, I was carrying my Case Swayback and waved Endura the other day and you could plainly see the clip on my Endura. I walked by campus police and received no second glances. Just act like you usually do and don't flash your knife. Also, carrying a traditional or SAK usually won't attract much attention from your peers while a modern knife will. I think twice bout pulling one of my knives out in public and its usually my case.
 
Plenty of people at my college carry knives. I've even seen a few professors carrying blades around campus. I mostly carry my Rift when I'm on campus.
 
Although the state allows it, my college has a practical "no weapons" policy. Basically if you're using it as a tool you're fine. I pulled out a SAK Spartan the other day in a bio lap to use the tweezers to grab some beetles from a petri dish and nobody gave me a second look...
 
As long as it's a legal knife, you should be fine as long as you don't "Ninja flick" it open a bunch.
Used as a tool it usually doesn't get any attention at all.:thumbup:
 
A couple of years ago here on Valentines Day we had a nutcase shoot students in an NIU class. I'd leave knives home.
 
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