Misconceptions and stereotypes?

i find that if you run into a situation where a knife can assit a city kat & you do'nt flick it out at the speed of light, then the people struggling with a box or strapping tape ,really appreciate your help.
 
DennisStrickland said:
i find that if you run into a situation where a knife can assit a city kat & you do'nt flick it out at the speed of light, then the people struggling with a box or strapping tape ,really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

This has also been my experience, as a (mostly) lifelong big city dweller. I can't recall ever getting a negative remark when pulling out a blade. Nobody really minds when you use the right tool for a job. I also have no doubt folks would think I was a weirdo (or just roll their eyes) if I used a machete to peel an orange or a balisong to clean my nails while in the company of everyday folk. For good reason. But I don't usually do that sort of thing, even though I'm the typical knife nut just looking for an excuse to use my knives. If anyone had an actual problem with my knives, they kept it to themselves.
 
shecky said:
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.
Click to expand...


Zaner01 said:
Excellent post. My knives are tools to me, but I'm not collecting screwdrivers.
.
Click to expand...

Speak for yourselves, gents. They are tools to me. If you were to look in my tool box you'd see a couple of dozen screwdrivers because I prefer to use the right tool for the job. I even have multiples of the same screwdriver blade because the two screwdrivers have different handles, each of which make the respective tool better for a different usage situation.

My point is, I never carry a knife because I can use it as weapon. I carry it because it is a useful tool.
 
knarfeng said:
Speak for yourselves, gents. They are tools to me. If you were to look in my tool box you'd see a couple of dozen screwdrivers because I prefer to use the right tool for the job. I even have multiples of the same screwdriver blade because the two screwdrivers have different handles, each of which make the respective tool better for a different usage situation.

My point is, I never carry a knife because I can use it as weapon. I carry it because it is a useful tool.
Click to expand...

And yet, if someone carries a knife because it can be used as a weapon, isn't that a legitimate reason to carry one?

I carry some knives as weapons. I also carry knives which are more suited to small cutting tasks. I sometimes carry knives suited to very heavy cutting tasks. All legitimate in my book. :thumbup:

Andy
 
Andrew I am no longer nimble. If I need a weapon I will carry a gun, which has been known to happen.
 
All my knives and guns are tools or gear. I carry the most appropriate tool for the job. I could use a screwdriver, icepick, pipe wrench, etc as a tool for SD. But they may not work as well as a knife or gun in varied situations. I never carry anything as a weapon, it is a mechanical tool or choice of gear that I feel is best suited to preform it's function. If the function is SD then I will use the tools/gear that I feel are most appropriate, right down to my choice of shoes for what I am doing or where I am going that day.
 
The left has convinced a majority of the population that knives, guns or any other tool that requires a degree of skill and responsibility to use is evil. Certainly the peasants can't be expected to take care of themselves and act reasonably! To them, personal responsibility is the enemy. This has led to demonization of tools rather than the punishment of crime.

Frankly, I don't trust anyone who does not at least have an appreciation of guns, knives and other tools. I don't need to accommodate them, as they are of no use to me. If I learn that someone is an "anti", I don't speak to them. I'm unlikely to change their mind, and they will just annoy me.
 
Ive been in the military almost 20 years. This community tends to always have a knife handy for whatever (opening MRE's, cutting cord, trimming back comm wire, etc) and to go without one generally makes me feel naked. Because of this exposure, in general, I think there is no novelty to knives in the day-to-day, as they are a daily use tool. Surely, depending on your peer group, this response will vary.

BTW, I also find multi-tools to be more daily use items than actual knives...I carry both.
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
And yet, if someone carries a knife because it can be used as a weapon, isn't that a legitimate reason to carry one?
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

Some of us try to play down the knives-as-weapons angle. But it's futile, really. Knives (and guns, since some of you insist on bringing them up) have a long history of use as weapons. Trying to deny the connection simply won't work. However, there's no need to be defensive (or offensive) about it.

Even "mall ninjas" are a legitimate part of the group. Let's face it. Anyone who posts notes on an internet forum about knives is a mall ninja to some degree. Some of us just have more sense, and/or taste, and/or money than others. And the mall ninja contingent is a sizable market that the knife industry is more than willing to service and encourage. This benefits all knife users in the end.
 
shecky said:
Let's face it. Anyone who posts notes on an internet forum about knives is a mall ninja to some degree.
Click to expand...

I hate to agree with this, but it is true! The difference between a mall-ninja and anyone else is really just the difference in their enthusiasm for knives (and willingness to share that enthusiasm with others).

To the most anti-knife person in the world, a guy with a key-chain SAK probably is perceived as a mall-ninja.

It has everything to do with where you stand and what you are looking at.
 
Right tool for right task. That applies also for knives. Jack of all trades is master of nothing. For person who has used to carry a knife or tool becomes a habbit. You need a good dress knife. You need a good urban EDC knife and you need good knife for the woods etc.

To me anyway, carrying a knife or pocket knife is die hard habbit. Sharp knife is so much better than dull scissors. In work places scissors are poor with your knife you know you have a sharp and reliable cutting instrument unlike those cheap office supplies they buy to cut down expenses. Knife is only a weapon if you plan to use it such. In todays urban environment knives have lost a lot their status as tool.

Question is how many of us who carry 1 or more knife or pocket knife or multitool really needs knife a daily basis?

I carry minimum 3 things with knives: Victorinox Cybertool for pliers, scissors and cybertool + bits because of my work in IT-section. Texas Jack CV or Stockman CV for general cutting and SAK keyring in my keys. How often do I need knife? In week average is about 3 times a week and those chores or such they could be performed with scissors too.

At least in my case it has grown habbit and this culture in north, like Nordic pro-verb said: "Man without knife is man without life." And that I do not live these days in most urbanized area there aren't that sheeple people around. But as my work includes work in college I've decide its best to carry as none offensive looking knives as possible. Slipjoints are excellent for that. One of the greatest misconcept is that one hand opening knives that has locking mechanism are designed for weapons primarly.
 
knarfeng said:
My point is, I never carry a knife because I can use it as weapon. I carry it because it is a useful tool.
Click to expand...

I carry them because they're useful tools. But I don't need a drawerful of them for that reason. I collect them for other reasons.
 
I have quite a "collection"-but they are all for different purposes. I may have three machetes and 8 axes, but for someone that uses them somewhat frequently, there is a world of difference between each.

For the average user, one axe is enough to get by for their whole life.

I often carry a fixed blade puukko style knife (such as a mora #1 or a WoodJewel Carver) on my belt next to my hammer loop, and noone seems to notice or particularly care. I did have a fellow once ask me if I was carrying a fillet knife with a hint of amusement in his voice, but that's about it. Everyone on construction sites has a blade of some sort, most often it's simply a folding knife handle that takes disposable blades, but it's a cutting tool just the same.

I'm young, and I enjoy going out dancing in clubs and hanging out with my friends around town in addition to my love of camping, bushcraft and running. In those cases, I often carry a smaller knife, like an Opinel #7 that I've had for a while. If I'm concerned about being searched for whatever reason (hasn't happened yet), I will carry a multitool or Victorinox.

I think at this point I'm beyond being a knife nut, even though I still highly value knives as tools, and nearly always carry one. I don't make as many excuses to use a knife anymore, I pretty much just use one if the need arises. I've stopped constantly talking about knives, unless it really makes sense to bring it up (or someone else brings it up). My encyclopedic knowledge of steel times and quenching temperatures is even slipping ;)

And I've hardly been spending any time on bladeforums reading about knives...:eek:
 
People don't call me ninja or tacticool... I get "boy scout" a lot though...

Always prepared...
 
knarfeng said:
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.
Click to expand...

That's a subjective statement.

I believe its narrow minded ignorant people unwilling to learn or consider other possibilties and other's experiences and or they have a personal agenda. This behavior crosses other boundaries also such as racial hatred such as; Chinese haters. . .
 
Last edited:
Fortunately in Maine I've not gotten much problem, but we're a mostly rural state, so...:)

However I work in a tourist town during the summers at a shop selling knives, and we deal with a lot of folks who are definitely of the sheeple persuasion. However, after explaining patiently to them that knives are one of man's first tools and that everything around them (the clothes on their back, the car they drive, the house they live in) were all made with the extensive use of cutting tools it tends to open their eyes a little. Civilization as we know it couldn't exist without cutting tools.

I just love watching the light go on in their head--it's sort of like "Oh, well why didn't I think of that before?" and sometimes they go from shock that we're selling "murder weapons" to actually picking up a good simple pocket knife for themselves. We even keep little freebie knives that we'll sometimes give away to folks who are on the skeptical side (usually to parents who are reluctantly letting their kids buy knives) and tell them to carry them around to see how they like it. Sometimes they'll come back in and tell me how useful it was and thank me. Makes me happy. :)
 
I have been carrying a Victorinox Cybertool and a Leatherman Wave every day for almost a decade - I've had no problems yet, no bad sheeple reactions or legal problems. But I am in a city and I don't think I could go around with a decent sized fixed blade on me - how would I explain a need for that? I think in urban environments the SAK and/or multitool are much easier to get away with. The good thing is that between my two EDC tools I have 4 blades on me all the time - and nobody says a thing!

When I go camping then I'll happily take & use my Kukri with 11.5" blade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top