Misconceptions and stereotypes?

[Knifestyle]

As a few will remember from my first thread, I'm a young blogger trying to detail this hobby and its community to a demographic that are casually opposed to knives, or simply never give the topic thought in their lifestyle. The crowd I'm catering to couldn't be farther than the average forum member here, mostly young adults at best zero exposure to the idea of any tool more complex than a cell phone, and at worst many misconceptions about anything with a sharp edge. I'm quite a ways off from actively promoting the blog, it's currently a couple dozen friends on social networks perusing it and suggesting content. I'm in the process of reviewing people-friendly, entry-level blades that fit our demographic, along with bulk articles to post when my class schedule takes up my free time. Even when it's regular and running, the average user here will just flip through it and sigh how basic it is, I won't bother promoting it to the real enthusiasts.

With a day off of work and too much snow outside to convince myself to leave the house, I'm currently cranking out entries for later posting to give myself some time off once in a while. I've handled history, knife types, related experiences and musings, but I haven't gotten into anything too political or pointed purposely. I'm not touching politics or beliefs outside of tools in the blog, but did design the blog style to make a dent in the stereotypes people have about knife users. Many of my entries so far stemmed from asking honest friends what they really wonder about this hobby. The problem is, they're naturally inquisitive and interested people, I'm looking for what the average person really does think to themselves about this tool.

What are the most common stereotypes and myths that you experienced users run into in your daily life and travels? I've had my share, but seeing as some of you carry knives older than I am, I'm better off asking legitimate sources. Have you found certain career fields attract people who are particularly neutral or opposed to cutting tools? Are there unlikely personality types that tend to surprise knifenuts with their unexpected appreciation? How do you make an effort to ease tension, or in some cases promote your tool for what it is to newcomers? What's causing most of the grief in today's knife world?

 

[gargoyle3]

Run-on sentences are too hard to read..

 

[sweet_hitch-hiker]

ive found most people ask me if i'm going to stab them when they find out i carry a knife. im like yes im going to stab you

to promote it i generally tell people i don't carry it for self defense, and i say that if someone pulled a knife on me, i'd probably try to talk my way out of it and comply with their requests, because as soon as i pull mine out, that means that one of us probably isn't going to be walking away, and i really don't like the idea of that. i tell them i carry it as a tool and for it's utility, sometimes even giving an example of how i last used it. like they look at you like why do you need a knife? so ill say 'like today i used it to cut ______ open'

i also generally tend to carry small knives as they are more people friendly. when people say why knives i say, they are a lot more useful to collect than something like baseball cards. i use them every day as opposed to them just sitting in boxes.

 

[ajpalda]

The most common misconception is that knives are inherently weapons, not tools. Like most people expect only police to carry a firearm, the majority of people expect that your everyday citizen would not carry a knife.

Guns are weapons, and weapons only. Knives, like any other tool, can be used as such, but are made so by the intent of the user. Modern society has tried to lump the two together.

 

[knarfeng]

...
What are the most common stereotypes and myths that you experienced users run into in your daily life and travels? I've had my share, but seeing as some of you carry knives older than I am, I'm better off asking legitimate sources. Have you found certain career fields attract people who are particularly neutral or opposed to cutting tools? Are there unlikely personality types that tend to surprise knifenuts with their unexpected appreciation? How do you make an effort to ease tension, or in some cases promote your tool for what it is to newcomers? What's causing most of the grief in today's knife world?

I find that people who have been raised in a totally urban environment are more likely to view knives as primarily weapons. This is particularly true for apartment dwellers who don't have a back yard to take care of. Also true for those who work in an office instead of on a factory floor. They don't have a daily need for knives and therefore do not understand the viewpoints of those that do, that knives are useful tools rather than merely weapons.

 

[uncouth]

I find that people who have been raised in a totally urban environment are more likely to view knives as primarily weapons. This is particularly true for apartment dwellers who don't have a back yard to take care of. Also true for those who work in an office instead of on a factory floor. They don't have a daily need for knives and therefore do not understand the viewpoints of those that do, that knives are useful tools rather than merely weapons.

I think you hit the nail on the head there.

 

[Dagon]

My friends are rather amused.

Now, while it's pretty doable to convince most people that knives are tools, that reasoning doesn't work anymore when they know you have more than, say, 10 of them!

 

[wolfdog]

A good starter is the traditional Swiss Army Knife. It's a bottle opener, a corkscrew, a pair of Scissors, screwdrivers, torx bits, hex bits, etc etc. Great for picnic outings. And yes, the blade comes in handy too. Opening packages, cutting string, etc. etc.

Ironic in a way that an Army knife is not a weapon, but that's the way it is.

 

[Sid Post]

The craze for TACTICAL knives has done everyone a real disfavor. Mall Ninja's love cool tactical looking knives but, how often do they get used? And when they are used it's generally not in self defense.

Most people carry a slip joint of some sort which is about as far away from a weapon as you can get. I grew up on a farm so, carrying a pocket knife was like wearing shoes and underwear and I never gave it a second thought. The hysteria over 9/11 has caused everyday things to be viewed with ill intent today. Can I take a "Coke" with me to the airport? No. Finger nail clippers? Oh my!!!!

I find it ironic that I can't carry a Victorinox pocket knife with me to most government building (at least they let me in with shoe laces and don't view them as a strangulation device .. yet). Do I really the need blade? Generally not but, the tweezers, nail file, screwdriver, etc. all are handy tools that work much better then car keys.

My mother never understood until one day I gave her a "Swiss Army" knife. When she went to work (retail sales) she was englightened. She found using a small knife to cut, clip, open, etc. things was much better then whatever plastic card, coat hanger, or whatever was on the counter.

 

[cgmblade]

Read this thread if you haven't already.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694239

Also consider including multi-tools in your blog. Your peers may be more receptive of the idea of having a small mult-tool like the Leatherman Skeletool w/ pliers, screw drivers, etc. to work on the bikes, boards etc.

And please post a link to your blog when you get it up and running. I'm sure many of us would like to visit.

 

[shecky]

My friends are rather amused.

Now, while it's pretty doable to convince most people that knives are tools, that reasoning doesn't work anymore when they know you have more than, say, 10 of them!

A dose of reality for us knife nuts. We are actually the nuts!

Trying to claim that knives are just cutting tools seems to betray a bit of embarrassment about the way most of us feel about knives. I don't think I'm out on a limb here saying that most people who post on this forum are not simply interested in tools. Knives are more like fetish objects to us. We collect them, modify them, maintain them in a variety of ways from the crude to the outlandish. We take pictures of them to show fellow members. We form bonds based solely on the use of particular brand names. Make emotional connections with knives Granddad used. For most of us, knives are more than tools.

I suspect this admiration for knives often shows much more than we realize. As a result, we get sometimes unwanted attention or sometimes ridicule. Thus the frequent threads about negative reactions from "sheeple".

I've always viewed this knife nuttery as my own personal quirk. I don't expect people to accommodate my admiration of knives, any more than I accommodate grown men and women dressing up in Star Wars or Ren Fair costumes. They get to laugh at me, get to laugh at them. Nothing personal.

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

Run-on sentences are too hard to read..

Ditto for incorrectly punctuated sentences, or those with typos.

 

[Raymond1000]

My friends are rather amused.

Now, while it's pretty doable to convince most people that knives are tools, that reasoning doesn't work anymore when they know you have more than, say, 10 of them!

I’m a carpenter and I own more than ten saws. More than ten tape measures. More than ten hammers. More than ten nailsets. More than ten prybars. More than ten…many tools.

Sometimes different varieties of tool for different applications. Sometimes multiples of the same tool, each kept in different toolboxes.

This isn’t like having more than ten slip joints and rotating them in your pocket. A carpenter needs multiple tools for multiple circumstances.

 

[A.P.F.]

A dose of reality for us knife nuts. We are actually the nuts!

Trying to claim that knives are just cutting tools seems to betray a bit of embarrassment about the way most of us feel about knives. I don't think I'm out on a limb here saying that most people who post on this forum are not simply interested in tools. Knives are more like fetish objects to us. We collect them, modify them, maintain them in a variety of ways from the crude to the outlandish. We take pictures of them to show fellow members. We form bonds based solely on the use of particular brand names. Make emotional connections with knives Granddad used. For most of us, knives are more than tools.

I suspect this admiration for knives often shows much more than we realize. As a result, we get sometimes unwanted attention or sometimes ridicule. Thus the frequent threads about negative reactions from "sheeple".

I've always viewed this knife nuttery as my own personal quirk. I don't expect people to accommodate my admiration of knives, any more than I accommodate grown men and women dressing up in Star Wars or Ren Fair costumes. They get to laugh at me, get to laugh at them. Nothing personal.

I am not sure that I like the term 'fetish objects', no matter how accurately it may apply. However, I am compelled to agree with your post. We do share a common bond as affectionados of sharp pointy objects and as such, must find contentment on the fringe of modern society. That said, my attitude is 'I am what I am, deal with it.'

 

[dinozzo]

Well in my opinion, in this day and age its very hard to convince someone that a "weapon" is a tool...For many reasons that image is put into their mind as something that is bad and scary...Much like an Ak47 is a symbol of terror, no matter what, thats what people think if they see one. Same goes for a knife, they might have injured them selves with one, or seen a news story of a stabbing, instantly that image of a knife is something that hurts or kills people...so its not an easy thing to try to convince them that it is a tool first and weapon second... The same goes for many things in America and other countries as well because its so urbanized that people have no use for a knife, an axe or many other tools, because they have never done something that required one... Dont get me wrong i was born and raised in California and i know people there that carry knives and what not but most people do not see the need for them or think bad things about them... But thats how its going to be, and i dont really think it will change

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

One problem many of us run into with dealing with the common, non-knifed citizen, is that in our modern world, knives are rarely needed at all. So, when a knife is seen outside of a kitchen, some people, since they don't need a knife themselves, they see knives as weapons rather than tools.

Andy

 

[jackknife]

A dose of reality for us knife nuts. We are actually the nuts!

Trying to claim that knives are just cutting tools seems to betray a bit of embarrassment about the way most of us feel about knives. I don't think I'm out on a limb here saying that most people who post on this forum are not simply interested in tools. Knives are more like fetish objects to us. We collect them, modify them, maintain them in a variety of ways from the crude to the outlandish. We take pictures of them to show fellow members. We form bonds based solely on the use of particular brand names. Make emotional connections with knives Granddad used. For most of us, knives are more than tools.

I suspect this admiration for knives often shows much more than we realize. As a result, we get sometimes unwanted attention or sometimes ridicule. Thus the frequent threads about negative reactions from "sheeple".

I've always viewed this knife nuttery as my own personal quirk. I don't expect people to accommodate my admiration of knives, any more than I accommodate grown men and women dressing up in Star Wars or Ren Fair costumes. They get to laugh at me, get to laugh at them. Nothing personal.

Great post, shecky!

And you're right, we're the nuts in the eyes of the greater society. Knife knuts. Some people collect coins, some stamps, some beer cans. But some of us are obsessed with knives to the point we collect them in very large numbers. The difference is how society sees it. It's awfully hard to hurt somebody with a stamp. But knives do get used for violent assaults, and this unfortunatly colors things.

Most of us live in a urban or suburban type of place where one can get by with no knife at all. Millions of people do it everyday. I know we think its crazy, but to them, most of society, they think we're crazy for obsessing over knives so much that we have more than one on our persons at a time when they can't see why have one at all. Like it or not, the great majrity of people don't share our affliction of knife collecting.

Once in a while I see a member of society with a knife, some small pen knife or sak on a keychain. Or maybe one of those little Leathermans like a juice or squirt. And to them, thats perfectly adaquite to do what needs to be done. Face it, how much blade do you need to open mail, a UPS box, cut a piece of twine, or normal every day cutting jobs?

But then you get the mall ninja punks who use any exuse to flick out the blade of thier latest toy with a great flourish, and thus making themselves look silly, but also making some people around then uncomfortable. What do you think is going to happen when some anti-knife legislation pops up and they have a chance to do something. You're going to have 70 year old Erma Smith telling her rep about the young punk at the mall with the knife he just flipped the blade out with.

Hollyweird has not done us any favors, portraying knives as weapons. And theres a big macho/cool thing about the slick new one hand tactical of the month knife. Just look how many posts there are from young very impressionable guys asking about the knife is a certain movie, or TV show. some of the blame of the dim view on knives can be laid right at the doorstep of the knife comunity itself. consumers and makers. There's a lot of Walter Mity would be Jack Baur's out there. Do you think it does us any good to have a knife company advertising their knives are good for 'de-animating' enemy sentrys? It may have started with James Dean, but it's still going on. Just look at what sells hot. Watch the posts here and see what is the cool thing. A knife manufacturer gets a knife on an action TV showm and his sales go up, and he rakes in the money. All the would hero's want what they see on the screen. Just like when Clint Eastwood came out with the first Dirty Harry in 1969. You couldn't find a .44 S&W anywhere. Waiting lists at the gun shop. Same with knives. The knife manufacturers create new market drives to make more money.

A lot of the misconceptions are our own fault. We'd all better face the fact that as knife lovers, we are the ambasidors of the knife world to the rest of the sheeple. Want them to respect you and your right to carry a knife, act responsible. Wearing black fatigues and flashing a waved folder around ain't it.

 

[Zaner01]

Trying to claim that knives are just cutting tools seems to betray a bit of embarrassment about the way most of us feel about knives. I don't think I'm out on a limb here saying that most people who post on this forum are not simply interested in tools....

Excellent post. My knives are tools to me, but I'm not collecting screwdrivers.

My explanation is, I have the collector's urge. I also collect manual typewriters, Nikon lenses, and various other gadgets. I own very few fixed blades -- it's the "gadgetness" of a folder than interests me.

The notion that we collect them from weapons comes from two sources: from the paucity of applications to justify the amount we spend collecting them, and also from those people who actually do collect them and promote them as weapons.

It's hard to protest that this is a misconception while the owner of a certain company, with initials that might be, I dunno, Cold Steel, is stabbing cars and slicing up man-shaped targets on YouTube. The misconceptions and stereotypes are on display everywhere.

 

[PayetteRucker]

As the idea of any tool more complex than a cell phone

Here's the first misconception that came to my mind. A cell phone is extremely complex. A knife or a hammer or a saw or an axe are NOT complex... unless you like fancy folders with 25 working parts...

 

[Fort Henry Custom Knives]

I find that people who have been raised in a totally urban environment are more likely to view knives as primarily weapons. This is particularly true for apartment dwellers who don't have a back yard to take care of. Also true for those who work in an office instead of on a factory floor. They don't have a daily need for knives and therefore do not understand the viewpoints of those that do, that knives are useful tools rather than merely weapons.

The craze for TACTICAL knives has done everyone a real disfavor. Mall Ninja's love cool tactical looking knives but, how often do they get used? And when they are used it's generally not in self defense.

Out of all the Quotable material here - I think these two really sum it up.

I don't share my passion with anyone locally and have never met another KnifeKnut outside of a Knife Show.

Just the way it is, good luck in your endavor to "explain" this hobby in today's world. I hope you do well and receive accolades for your work.