People Explain Why They Are Afraid of Pocket Knives

I guess an advantage of living small town/rural in a small country with a largely rural based economy is that nobody really bats an eye at the carrying/use of a pocket knife. Nearest I get is the usual 'how much was that one bro?' followed by raised eyebrows.

Unfortunately I don't think it will last forever. 30+ years ago I would walk down the main road to the neighbors farm to ping rabbits with the .22 slung over my shoulder, no prob. Try it now and the first car driving past would likely prompt an Police Armed Offenders call out, helicopter, dogs and all.
Is that 'progress'?
 
I suggest if any "non-knife people" even notice you carry and use a knife daily you are probably doing it wrong. No need to be flashy. I OC a S&W M13 and no one bats an eye so they certainly don't when I use a pocket knife. Just use your knife for the tool it is without pomp, flash, or drama and most won't notice or won't care if they do notice.
 
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leghog said:
I suggest if any "non-knife people" even notice you carry and use a knife daily you are probably doing it wrong. No need to be flashy. Just use your knife for the tool it is.
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I agree very much. I think it is on the knife carrier to be respectful to surrounding and others with fear. Just like a smoker would. Smoking is a right, but it would be silly to walk up to a new born and blow smoke on his/her face and yell “my rights, pussified people”. This is the social norm.

When you are in a farm, it is normal to see someone holding a scythe. But people aren’t pussified because they get socked seeing someone carry a scythe in Toys R Us.

When you are in a porn set, it is normal to see people getting it on. But people are not prude when they see two naked people getting it on a bus station and get shocked.

When you are camping, in warehouse, with friends, with people you know, it is fine to take out a knife to cut a box. But people are not pussified because they get shocked when you take it out and public. It isnt a social norm, in an urban environment.

Seems like common sense. Just be polite. The same reason why you dont just take a shit in an elevator because you want to. Sure, you may not care about what others feel, but that is how you categorize a douche bag. If a person doesnt care about other’s fear, disgust or health, and simply care about self’s wish... That is what a douche bag is.
 
Cursum Perficio said:
I guess an advantage of living small town/rural in a small country with a largely rural based economy is that nobody really bats an eye at the carrying/use of a pocket knife. Nearest I get is the usual 'how much was that one bro?' followed by raised eyebrows.

Unfortunately I don't think it will last forever. 30+ years ago I would walk down the main road to the neighbors farm to ping rabbits with the .22 slung over my shoulder, no prob. Try it now and the first car driving past would likely prompt an Police Armed Offenders call out, helicopter, dogs and all.
Is that 'progress'?
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In New Zealand, yes carrying a gun would get the police called but in my state I see people open carry pistols into stores all the time. Carrying a hunting rifle walking down the road is common as well.
 
jill jackson said:
In New Zealand, yes carrying a gun would get the police called but in my state I see people open carry pistols into stores all the time. Carrying a hunting rifle walking down the road is common as well.
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Pleased to hear common sense still applies in some places in the world today Jill.
 
I have to agree with the comments above but, some people will never figure it out. They will always be in fear.

We have a gal like that at our practice. She will ruin a perfectly good pair of scissors and never reach for a knife. She just does not see a need for a knife except in the kitchen.

Of course, the other side of that is that I will reach for a knife at work before I reach for any of our scissors. They are all trashed.
 
I appreciate that the author took the time to ask his friends questions in an attempt to understand their fear of knives. I believe he is correct when he states that people "have a tendency to fear the unknown." As knife enthusiasts, we don't fear knives because we are knowledgeable about them...and that knowledge is grounded in practical experience. Most of us probably had some training too, perhaps through dad, the Boy Scouts, a friend, or someone else.

Unfortunately, many people don't seem to have a practical knowledge of knives. Knives are an "unknown." The only thing they know is what they learn through crime dramas, slasher films, or newspaper articles on gang-related crime. Consequently, they associate knives with violence and don't understand why a respectable citizen would carry one. Then there are others who just react to how scary some knives look, and they don't give it much thought beyond that.

I used to work with a woman who was scared of my green-handled Victorinox Cadet. I had a good rapport with her, so I asked her why. I learned that she grew up in New York City in the '80s, and the main thing she knew about knives was that gang members use them to commit crimes. I used to poke some friendly fun at her for being so scared. Then after two years of acclimating her to my pocket knives, I bought her a Victorinox Classic for her key chain. She laughed out loud and said, "I guess I'm making progress!" She really liked the knife and still carries it to this day. Will she ever work her way up to a Victorinox Cadet? Probably not, LOL.

Irrational fear often emerges in the absence of knowledge. When I encounter someone who is afraid of knives, I try to understand why. If they are open to discussion, I'm happy to share my thoughts with them. Yet regardless of whether or not they ever warm to knives, I strive to be non-judgmental and respectful. I get the impression that the author is trying to have this kind of attitude toward his friends. If I'm right, then good for him.
 
Eagle Scout said:
Social engineering and John Wayne is dead. My wife appreciates that I carry a knife and she's the only opinion that matters.

Funny how desensitized we've all become to violence yet this is an issue for some. Lots of people live scared, just like they're programed to be.
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Agreed.
 
I once opened a bag of ice for an older lady in work's kitchen with a small folder and she said, that's a lethal knife! Funny thing was there was a whole rack of fixed blade knives, with blades up to a foot long within arm's reach. Sure, they were cheap and dull but she didn't even register that they were knives same as mine.
 
James Y said:
Sometime after the 1970s or '80s, the once-common carrying of simple pocketknives among boys and men fell out of vogue, for whatever reasons. Now the concept of carrying any kind of pocketknife is an alien concept for most people, even a traditional pattern. Unfamiliarity with the concept, and the idea of a knife in a pocket sounds scary to some people.

As for fearing an object as opposed to a person, how do we know that he or she didn't have a traumatic experience in their past involving someone armed with a knife? Because if that's the case, in some instances seeing a knife pulled out of a pocket *might* act as a trigger.

Some non-knife people are scared of knives and some are not. My co-workers are mostly non-knife people, but they're used to seeing me using all kinds of knives at work. Some other people might be afraid at seeing a SAK or small pen knife used to cut an apple. Again, the unfamiliarity some people have with carrying a knife around.

IME, most people don't really care, as long as you don't go whipping your knife open with a dramatic flourish, or whipping out a CS XL Voyager to cut a tiny, loose thread off your shirt.

Jim
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It was pushed along by the public school system that started banning them going back to 1960's.
 
I read these threads and I often think of this pic:

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Two young men, brothers, in our booth looking at my knives, Brannaman Pro Am, Oct 2016, Santa Ynez, Ca. Notice both are already wearing belt knives. Hope for the world yet is what I think of.

Big brother bought one of mine too. And when a young person comes into my booth with money they've earned they don't pay full retail, its a karma thing.

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Little brother rocked that pink kids rope we sold em too:

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Yep hope for the world...sigh... nuther sip of coffee.
 
Hoo doggies! The overcompensation is thick in here!

Manly!

I'm going to suggest an exercise for people who want to look more deeply into this "terrified sheeple looking at me funny" phenomenon.

Find a female. "Big sister" would be perfect. One of those "Grandmas that long since gave up pulling any punches" would also be great.

Show them the story about opening the beer bottle and the woman laughing. Ask the female to be straight with your tough guy "I don't carry a pink knife" self, you can take it :D....and ask her to tell you why that woman laughed.

It may be enlightening.
 
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Most of my friends and coworkers have come to rely on me as the guy who will always have a knife when they need it. Fellow students seem to tolerate me cutting food in class. I open knives slowly when others need them and usually pull out a secondary multitool if I'm sharing so they see a tool and not a weapon.
 
There will always be people who are afraid of knives in any environment. They would probably be uncomfortable with Uncle Bob pulling his knife out and cutting open a bubble pack that they were struggling with. They see knives as the embodiment of evil just like firearms. They are used to hurt people and crime. This perception will likely continue to increase with the feminization of America. Gone is the pioneer mindset. These same people probably see the survival TV shows as ridiculous... and something prehistoric. Why wouldn't you just have a tent? Even here folks that camp say... I've never had to build a fire and I take my shelter with me. Hunting? Same mindset.... it's 19th Century. Skills.... just hire somebody....

The feminization of America is primarily a Post WWII phenomena. For those that are old enough.... remember hippies and long hair and your father's reaction? It had to do with breaching accepted societal mores of the time in defining male versus female in the US. That same father probably carried a pocket knife every day because he used it often. You laugh... but think about it. The need for knives has not changed. The thing that has changed is the perception that you need to have all your tools with you.... the edc thing.
 
If I was somewhere out in public and someone whipped out a knife at "lightning speed", I would be startled too! Until you know what their intentions are, its a threat!

Once I've realized it's not a threat, I would probably do a face palm, shake my head and then laugh at the wannabe operat0r!
 
Threat perception..... not so long ago you wouldn't even have identified it as a potential threat until they used it for some illegal purpose.
 
I’ll open with; this is just my take on things and YMMV.

Some relatively innocuous knives were used to hijack planes on 9/11; the TSA classifies knives as weapons, not tools. Now, in the eyes of the public, they’re no longer tools - bigger knives = bigger weapons.

The large number of people no longer work with their hands. I know many engineering students who don’t know how to use a screwdriver/pliers/etc. We live in a throw-away culture where things are not fixed but discarded.

I, too, have little patience with sheeple, but even less with ridiculous macho posturing. Whipping out a blowtorch when someone asks for a light sounds idiotic, but it’s similar. Is there really a need to pull out a large folder when something modest will do (other than showing off)?

I carry (as least) two knives, so I have one for public use (a SAK, or a slippie in MOTS), and something more substantial for “as needed.”

Responsible knife ownership is like responsible firearm ownership.
 
Cursum Perficio said:
Pleased to hear common sense still applies in some places in the world today Jill.
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I too live in an area that has lots of hunting /fishing and small farming . Very rural and mixed with wilderness . Knives and guns are just everyday tools here . So long as you look and act the the part of being about some legitimate activity , nobody even gives special notice . Midwest rural USA is blessedly "backward " .
 
Good article. I think in this day and age, people are just naturally afraid. People have always been like that, but in today’s culture with everything that’s flashing in our faces everynight on the news, people jump to conclusions without actually stopping to think. The media has done a good job at making us think that anybody at anytime can be a threat.
With that said though, I see their point. A couple people have said it on here, that when Grandpa needed to open something with a knife, he didn’t pull out a bayonet. He pulled out a small 2” Buck knife, and it worked just fine and wasn’t intimidating. Where as we kind of overcompensate with a “tacticool” knife. We just like the blade, but other’s (who are sometimes misinformed) see it as a scary.
 
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