"Non knife people" threads, and their implications

It's easy to say that threads which are negative towards non-knife people are ok because non-knife people won't come here to read them, but I disagree strongly with that, and here's why- Over the past ten years I have seen many non-knife people come here for one reason or another, like maybe they are looking to buy a gift for a knife person in their life, or maybe they inherited a knife and are looking for information about it, or maybe they need a knife for work and have no experience with different knife models and brands, or maybe a parent looking to buy a knife for their child who is a cub/boy scout, or maybe they are a person who has just started developing an interest in knives and found this site after an internet search, etc, etc.

I don't think it serves this forum well if people who are new to knives, or just looking for information on knives, visits this forum and finds all sorts of negative criticism of people who aren't into knives or don't know anything about them. How can we expect non-knife people who want to become knife people to stick around if they see a negative attitude towards non-knife people being so enthusiastically expressed. How can we expect non-knife people to see us as reasonable, intelligent people, and not bullies with weapons, if we express and promote such hostile negativity. I'd call that "negative advertising".

It is unlikely that any internet forum is going to make everyone completely happy. There are some things that occur on this forum that I personally feel are negative for knife enthusiasts. But that's the nature of internet forums- they aren't designed to accommodate us as individuals. And so in some instances I ignore what I don't like rather than criticize it. But on a personal note, when I recommend to other people, including non-knife people, that they visit Bladeforums to learn about the world of knives, I feel a lot more comfortable doing so when there isn't a lot of negativity being directed at those very same people. I like to recommend that people visit a forum where they will be welcomed with friendliness and acceptance, regardless of their level of knowledge or experience with knives.

Bladeforums is not a private clubhouse where we can say whatever we want without concern for others. This is a PUBLIC forum that anyone, of any age, can access and read. If we want to encourage non-knife people to become knife people, or at least to be tolerant of us, I think we can start by treating them with a basic level of respect.
 
killgar said:
It is unlikely that any internet forum is going to make everyone completely happy.
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I think this right here answers the entire thread.
As well as about 1/3 of ALL the threads here, and every other forum as well.
 
killgar said:
snip
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There are some people that just look for any excuse to get offended. If those threads didn't exist they would just find something else on this site to piss them off (looking at you prac tac)

The average sane person would look through those threads and get a good laugh. Some people might even read them and realize they have had their own silly reactions to someone with a pocket knife and they might make the effort to respond better in the future.
 
stabman said:
But what are the implications of threads about the implications of implication threads about non-knife people? ;)
I just cannot get worked up about the whole thing.
It is a non-issue of truly un-epic proportions.
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What are you implying?
 
Now after getting a pace maker for my heart I can remind them that the surgeon used a knife for the first step in saving my poor butt !!
Things have changed , I've been using knives for 60 years .They're with me all the time.
 
I think that many people get a thrill out of opening their assisted openers in a fashion that draws attention to them. They think that other people will somehow think the knife is "cool" because you think it "cool"... snap.... Not the case actually.

I think that many people who do not carry a knife are simply potential customers or future users after they see the utility and practicality of having a knife available on a day to day basis. Maybe it will only be a utility knife, but that's a start.
 
I personally like the "non knife people" threads.
Even with the new big disease "Offended" that's sweeping the nation, I doubt that implications would be a factor.
As some have said, can't be too many non knife people reading these forums. Mostly just us enthusiasts sharing stories and a few chuckles.
Also, I personally don't have many real live people that I can talk about knives with. Not to the depth of this forum anyway. So I'm sure that
these forums are some peoples only place to share stories or just let off a little steam.
If we don't understand, then who will?
Cheers
 
Comeuppance said:
How could we combat the prevailing perception of pocket knives being primarily weapons? Entertainment media basically always displays them in a negative light, and your average knife owner isn't necessarily particiularly responsible with them - reinforcing the negative perception.
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I dunno about that being true, at least these days. I see a ton of shows where the protagonist is doing something "good guy-ish", needs to cut something important, and whips out a pocket knife to get it done. These same characters aren't shown using their pocket knives as weapons, merely tools(often using a gun as their weapon, or if they do fight hand to hand with blades, something larger, like a Ka-bar). NCIS's protagonists are noted for carrying pocket knives("Rule #9"), and never(or almost never, I dunno what's happened in the recent season) use them for anything more than utility purposes. The character of Elliot Spencer on Leverage is noted as being skilled with a blade, has been shown to carry a folder in multiple episodes, but never uses them to fight with, only as a tool. Several of the bikers on Sons of Anarchy, who are criminals no less, carry larger fixed blades for close in fighting, but many of them also carry pocket knives, which they just use for utility. On pretty much everything I watch this seems to be how entertainment media displays pocket knives-they are much more often used for utility than violence, even in shows that feature or revolve around a heavy dose of violence. Bigger knives are still seen primarily as weapons, but very rarely in modern entertainment media do I see pocket knives used as weapons.
 
DShiflet said:
I dunno about that being true, at least these days. I see a ton of shows where the protagonist is doing something "good guy-ish", needs to cut something important, and whips out a pocket knife to get it done. These same characters aren't shown using their pocket knives as weapons, merely tools(often using a gun as their weapon, or if they do fight hand to hand with blades, something larger, like a Ka-bar). NCIS's protagonists are noted for carrying pocket knives("Rule #9"), and never(or almost never, I dunno what's happened in the recent season) use them for anything more than utility purposes. The character of Elliot Spencer on Leverage is noted as being skilled with a blade, has been shown to carry a folder in multiple episodes, but never uses them to fight with, only as a tool. Several of the bikers on Sons of Anarchy, who are criminals no less, carry larger fixed blades for close in fighting, but many of them also carry pocket knives, which they just use for utility. On pretty much everything I watch this seems to be how entertainment media displays pocket knives-they are much more often used for utility than violence, even in shows that feature or revolve around a heavy dose of violence. Bigger knives are still seen primarily as weapons, but very rarely in modern entertainment media do I see pocket knives used as weapons.
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Good point.

I wonder if the media and public truly possess the negative perception of knives that many knife enthusiasts believe they do, or is this just an assumption based on the belief that THEY are all against us and out to get us.

I can think of several shows where knives are used as something other than weapons- Remember Macguyver, that was a very popular, and still famous, show. And then there is NCIS (as mentioned above by DShiflet). And then there is Bear Grylls and other similar "wilderness survival" shows. Folders are often used on "Storage Wars", another very popular show. I remember an episode of "The Simpsons" where pocket knives were specifically portrayed favorably. And just recently on Discovery's "Fast and Loud" (Discovery's most popular show), a few of the guys were using folders to scrape rust on a car. And there is also a Viagra commercial where a guy uses a Buck 110 to start a fire. The producers of that commercial could have had him use just about anything made of metal, but they chose to have him use a knife.

And I'm sure there are many other examples that I either don't know about, or can't remember right now.

People on this forum often suggest that the public is rabidly anti-knife, and they express concern that our knife rights here in the US will be taken away and that we will end up like the UK. But I wonder if those people actually keep up on current events regarding knives and the law. For example, just recently a couple of states REPEALED there bans on switchblades, thereby making it LEGAL for ordinary citizens to carry them. That means that two Governors, politicians who need the support of the voters to keep their cushy jobs, actually signed the repeals and made SWITCHBLADES LEGAL TO CARRY. And I read on this forum that one state (forgot which one) repealed ALL of their knife laws. And here in California, a state often criticized for being "liberal" and anti-everything, the California Supreme Court just last December reaffirmed Californians right to carry knives.

While it's true that some individual people have a negative opinion of knives, and will react negatively to knives, perhaps the American people aren't as anti-knife as some on this forum seem to believe.
 
One night, having a beer after work, one of the guys asked if he could look at my knife (he later said that he meant the Leatherman Charge I'd been using earlier) so I handed him the Ti-Lite 6" that I'd been carrying that day (closed of course). His reaction was one of surprise.

Funnily enough the New Zealand laws on carrying knives are pretty liberal, no limitations except you must have "good reason" which given the general usefulness of a knife, food prep, opening packages, cutting down boxes, etc, there are plenty of justifications for carrying a pocket knife. The main reason I see for the "good reason" law is giving them grounds to shut down some young person running around with a carving knife looking for a fight. As I commented when talking to a local knife shop owner, "the kinds of people who give trouble with knives are not carrying $100 folders, they'll just grab a $2 paring knife from the supermarket."
 
The media and culture right now is just so against weapons in general, and knives have been wrongly lumped into that category. It is a shame but it's the way it is for the time being. The road to change is not to be in peoples face with knives, and being overly dramatic with them. Knife laws and attitudes are for the most part crazy.

That being said, the way you act and present your knife (when needed) is everything.

Showing off, opening knives quickly - or wildly is always inappropriate in public. I don't think this is something that has changed over time, and it's unreasonable to want it to be acceptable.

when you're in public and around people you aren't friends with, its especially important to be respectful and safe with tools.

I like to flick knives as much as the next guy, but anytime I use a knife in public I like to take it out slowly and open it with two hands. Sometimes I will even say something like "we can use my knife for this" (god forbid we use a knife when we need to cut something).

If you're respectful to people and handle your knife in a calm manner people won't be alarmed. people might ask dumb questions like "why do you carry a knife" and other insane questions since it is not the norm, but they most likely won't be afraid or startled.
 
Somewhere on the internet there is probably a forum "metrosissiesforum.com", and in it there is a thread- "OMG I was in the park trying to open my bag of chips and this dude next to me pulled out this huge ARMY knife and savagely slashed open my bag of chips before I could cry and run off. That knife was really big, must have been at least an inch and a half long and had these bright red handles. He might have been from some religious cult too because the knife had a cross on the side of the handle."
 
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