Least threatening knife attributes?

Reminds me of carrying my CRK PS to the office yesterday. Used it to open mail. Got a call 30 min later to get to the boss without my knife. After a short dumb discussion I asked him to follow me to have a look for himself.

I went to my office to get the knife and asked him to follow me into the kitchen. I took out a pretty big chef knife and a bread knife and placed them on the counter. I then placed my PS next to them.

He looked at me funny and had to smile then laugh. Then he told me to respect the angst of others and to not bring my PS to the office again. .....
 
Any one hand opening will evoke images of a switchblade. Sad but true.

SAK's of course are the best. Probably followed by Opinels, followed by any slipjoint.

One thing I like about an Opinel is that a #8 is a good sized knife and still looks fairly non-threatening.
 
I agree that traditional slipjoint patterns like a Stockman, Trapper or Barlow seem to be more accepted since they conjour up memories in people of their fathers, grandfathers etc. carrying a similar knife. Up until recently I carried a Griptilian, a Benchmade 530 or an Endura Waved as my EDC. Lately I switched to a Buck Trapper or Stockman. Today I'm carrying a Solo with Jigged Bone due to being in town with the more restrictive blade length laws.

I also agree that many people aren't afraid of knives, they are afraid of someone carrying a knife. The argument that only criminals carry knives is asinine and only serves to brainwash the general public more that knives are weapons, not tools.
 
903lew said:
However, most important should be the conduct of the user. Don't be a **** and people _should_ not get freaked out.
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Precisely! :thumbup: Don't act like a jerk, and people are fine with you. Act like a 13 year old boy who needs to whip his penetrator out of his pants constantly and play with it...and people will treat you like a 13 year old boy who needs to whip his penetrator out of his pants constantly and play with it.
 
ev13wt- so just keep kitchen knife at your desk to open your mail :D.

I find my Spyderco Bug is not very threatening. I used it to open a package of hot dogs at a church beach trip and some of the high school girls thought that it was really cute.

Ric
 
I recently got a Boker CLB designed XS, which IS a slip-joint. Boker even includes a torx wrench to remove the thumb-studs so that it's 'world-legal', if you need it to be (it's sub 3"). Other than that, everything about it screams 'tactical', LOL. This thing makes an unbelievably loud THWACK when opened one-handed w/purpose. Let's just say I open it calmly, if I use it all. Stockman, SAK , or Opinel out of the desk drawer get 'er done. ;)
 
asdf12345 said:
Do you think a light grey or blue handle scales would be politically correct?
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No, and I don't understand this concern.
Are you talking about the colors of the Union and Confederate armies :confused:
I think people have moved past that by now:p

How about wood, or does that evoke the "hunter" + "southern conservative" image too much?
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No. Hunters down here don't use wood much, and i don't think a southern conservative carries any one type of knife that would identify them as a "southern conservative".


How about a SAK Alox Cadet ?
I can't think of anyone that would be offended by silver or aluminium, but you may:p
 
Phydeaux said:
ev13wt- so just keep kitchen knife at your desk to open your mail :D.

I find my Spyderco Bug is not very threatening. I used it to open a package of hot dogs at a church beach trip and some of the high school girls thought that it was really cute.

Ric
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Ahh I should really try that. :D
 
I'd love some feedback on this- I find it helpful to get into the habit of never referring to it as a knife, but as a "gentleman's folder." It's like it gets people thinking of their grampy's trusty ol Case knife or something. Even if your actual tool is worlds away from what we all accept to fit the criteria of that "Gentleman's" genre. Like some turbo high speed Zero Tolerance or something. Refer to your "Gentleman's folder" before you pull it out to cut something, and open with two hands... yes? no? its a start?
 
Blues Bender said:
OK...now you're just over thinking this...
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+ 1 but thats ok you have lots of company. Sometimes me included. Just pick something that does not seem agressive to you. Then trust your own judgement and put it in your pocket. As noted by others your mannerisms are more important in most cases than your choice of knife.
 
It really isn't that hard to figure out what you want in a "least threatening " knife. It is a SAK, Multitool or your traditional slip joints or lock backs
I've whipped out my leatherman on countless times in public. Several will notice it but they see it is a MT and go "oh, ok" and go on their business. I'll do the same with my more "tactical" knives and they give me a bit more space. You wan't get the same reaction as a gun but the bigger the knife, the more scared people get.

What people (as I perceive it) find threatening
-non-traditional and abnormal blade shapes/grinds
-lots of black and coated blades
-large blades
-fixed blades
-serrated blades

And if you're in England
-any kind of blade
-spoons
 
Conduct is more important than what you carry IMO, unless you're not allowed certain stuff... ;):D
 
Scurvy092 said:
SAK or any multi-tool.

Those or traditional slip joints/lock backs.
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Interesting. I metal detect as another hobby and I find old knives. The old folders that I find predominantly are usually SAK size or sometimes smaller. Not the five inch blades of today.
 
I think it's both about how you look and conduct yourself but I think it also has to do with what people are accustomed to. The reason saks, multitools, slipjoints and kitchen knives are acceptable is because people know what they are and they're seen for what they are, a tool. You pull out a 4" tiger stripe tactical folder and people will get freaked because they're not accustomed to seeing a tool that looks like that.
 
pjackst said:
Refer to your "Gentleman's folder" before you pull it out to cut something, and open with two hands... yes? no? its a start?
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Better to act/use it like its a Gentleman's folder. Actions speak much louder than words.
 
No, I cannot say that we all agree that the attributes you mention are politically charged. That is a bit of a stretch in my view. You have some interesting opinions, I'll give you that much. See if this helps put things into a bit more perspective. To the people (in your environment) that do not carry a knife, ANY blade shape presents a threat. It does not really matter if the blade is serrated, tiger striped, black, tanto, clip point, or whatever.

People that do not necessarily need or carry their own knives are also not all the same. Some really don't care one way or the other. Some folks actually mind their own business and do work when their at their 9-5. As a couple people have already mentioned, you are over thinking it. If you are that concerned about it, go to your HR office ask for a copy of the company manual and look for the policy for carrying and using knives. Whatever that policy is, stick to it despite what any of your coworkers say or how they look at you.

I was in a similar situation a while back. My advice, the less you care about the opinions of others, the happier you will be.
 
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