People Explain Why They Are Afraid of Pocket Knives

[22-rimfire]

...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.

This is is pretty true and I can understand why some people see a big folding knife as scary. To a large degree, they are totally un-necessary.

 

[DocJD]

This is is pretty true and I can understand why some people see a big folding knife as scary. To a large degree, they are totally un-necessary.

Many people now feel that NO knife is really "necessary" . I love my big folders , so I consider them necessary !

 

[22-rimfire]

I love my folders too, but I think I have a grasp of what is necessary in my life (my normal knife usage) and what is just because I like knives. Fixed blades are a classic example of need versus like for me.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

I understand vigilance and I highly encourage it ... but media and politicians have taken things a bit to far and have caused much of the fear people have nowdays.

Sadly the world we live in has changed and there are situations where people do have bad intentions but usually you can tell the difference fairly quickly if you keep your wits. And a world that as a kinfe carrying citizen the same as a CCW carrying legally citizen ... we have the responsibilty to carry in a mature manner and not flash a firearm or knife for that matter.

I encourage everyone that has the want to ... to carry a knife they are super useful tools ... and I have nothing against larger or assisted opening or whatever is your choice of knife ... but use common sense and if youre going to the mall don't whip out a butterfly knife flip it open to cut a tag off the shirt you just bought. Use a tool for the job ... you'll have plenty of time to use your bigger knives camping or at home or hiking or whatever it may be.

It would be like me drawing my .45ACP to kill a spider instead of grabbing the newspaper and swatting it.

I live in the rural midwest where no one bats an eye at a knife or someone in the country with a gun hunting legally and Im lucky that way but I still wouldn't pull out my Becker BK15 to cut my sandwich at lunch in a resteraunt ... there is a happy medium between vigilance awareness and fear ... it's kind of up to us who carry to help show the less familiar that common ground.

 

[jackknife]

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.

Blake, you nail one of the reasons right on. The media. They are not our friends and spread bad imagery for ratings. Hollywood has poured gas on the fire by portraying the knife in a bad light from way back. A bad image that started way before mot of you were born.

I was around for the start of it. Knives were a way of life when I was kid. Every man who had pants on, had a pocket knife on him. And it was always the small two blade jack or penknife, about 3 inches long closed. That gave about a 2 inch blade with a fraction left over. That was the knife that grandpa carried as well as your father. It was the ubiquitous knife of the era.

But, there was another knife, the famed Italian switchblade of the James Dean era. I remember the guys with the duck tail haircuts, hotrodded old coupes, and lots of attitude. They pull that manhood status symbol in a heartbeat to intimidate and be cool. Hollywood was fast to re-enforce the image for sales of movies and TV shows. The knife became the punks weapon of the 1950's. It started to die down in the 1960s, then Buck came out with the 110 folding hunter. History repeated it self and in addition to construction workers and decent hunters and outdoorsmen, the punks of the 1960's embraced the Buck knife.

It became so bad boy imaged that I remember Iron Horse magazine advertising it as the "Official Biker's Knife" by some sales outfit. They really got publicity when Charles Manson loved them so much, he bought them for all his followers, and used them for some horrific butchery. Every swinging Richard in the Army bought them for a cheap price at the PX, and I saw first hand a real knife fight outside a mess hall at Ft. Leonard Wood. By the 1970's the Buck 110 had been pictured in so many crime scene photos that the public image was set in stone with the knife as the bad boy killer image.

By the 1980's, enter Cold Steel and the flamboyant Lynn Thomson and his "Tactical" knife sales. This was the start of the so called Tactical knife craze, and again, Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon with knives playing a greatly increased role in violent films. The new tactical knives joined the Buck knife in slasher films, war movies, and any venue that they could work in a knife scene. A whole new generation was sucked into the knife as a weapon instead of a tool that is useful in everyday life.

The bad image can be blamed partly on Hollywood and the knife industry itself for the way knives have been portrayed to the public at large. And the obsessed knife nut often has to share the blame. Immature knife nuts of all ages 'whipping out' the one handed tactical knife to open a bag of potato chips or some other excuse to flash their pride and joy knife, has done as much to tarnish the image as anyone. As was stated, you never saw grandpa flash a knife. But then grandpa carried a modest size knife that was enough for the usual task at hand instead of a folding combat weapon. Grandpa apparently didn't need the ego boast.

You can blame the media, and the knife industry. But the knife nuts also have to take the blame for every punk that flashed his knife in public trying to get a rise out of people, but was too stupid to realize he's alienating people who witness this behavior.

Factor in the fact that most Americans live in an urban environment, there is very little use for a knife at all. The fact that millions of people don't even carry a knife at all speaks volumes. We the knife carriers are the tiny minority. There's no Russian paratroopers dropping out of the sky to play Red Dawn, there's very few buffalo to skin, and I haven't seen any hostile injun's coming over the hill with war paint on in a coons age. In all honesty, in todays urban living, there's little need for a knife more than a Victorinox Classic except to massage one's ego.

Like Pogo said; "We've met the enemy, and he is us."

 

[DocJD]

I love my folders too, but I think I have a grasp of what is necessary in my life (my normal knife usage) and what is just because I like knives. Fixed blades are a classic example of need versus like for me.

Understood . I just get worried that once other people get to decide what's "necessary" for us , we won't like the result .

 

[22-rimfire]

That would be Great Britain, Italy, and probably other European Countries, and to some degree NYC today. I carry a knife because I use a knife often. I wouldn't want our law makers to decide that the only acceptable folding knife is a SAK type knife and even that has to have a non-locking blade. Knife Rights has helped a lot. There's nothing wrong with having a knife hobby or even just carrying a knife daily because you use them daily or often.

 

[marcinek]

You can blame the media, and the knife industry. But the knife nuts also have to take the blame for every punk that flashed his knife in public trying to get a rise out of people, but was too stupid to realize he's alienating people who witness this behavior.

Like Pogo said; "We've met the enemy, and he is us."

Yup.

I believe the pussification of America began in the 90's and has been in full swing for some time! If a guy ever shuddered when I pulled out a 4" bladed knife, I think I'd start laughing and tell him to stop being such a little beeotch!

 

[marcinek]

That would be Great Britain and to some degree NYC today. I carry a knife because I use a knife often. I wouldn't want our law makers to decide that the only acceptable folding knife is a SAK type knife and even that has to have a non-locking blade. Knife Rights has helped a lot. There's nothing wrong with having a knife hobby or even just carrying a knife daily because you use them daily or often.

Congrats on 12,000! Every one a gem!

 

[mt666tm]

I still stand by using our knives in public, within reason of course, and I will continue to do so. If I'm at another BBQ you bet I'll use my knife to open a beer bottle, or a bag of chips, or cut a burger in half for my kids. It's a tool, and I'll use it as such.

Hiding our knives, not using them, pretending they don't exist, or keeping your 4-inch folder in your pocket while using a little Swiss-Army 'sheeple' blade all for fear of scaring others will only serve to solidify the negative image the general public has of knives because then by default the only exposure these people will ever have to knives will be media supplied negative exposure.

I believe it is up to us to show people the positive, that knives are tools, and no more a weapon than a hammer, a screwdriver, or a car.

I'm not some wannabe 'operator' lol. I don't dress in fatigues and walk around looking or acting aggressively. I'm a suburban knife nut, and I'm proud of it. And I will try to share this with others if they're willing to be open to it.

 

[James Y]

I see no reason to not be able to carry a one-handed knife for general utility. Nothing wrong with that. I do it. That alone doesn't make someone a tacticool mall ninja with dreams of Rambo-esque glory. There just needs to be some common sense along with it. Carrying a knife of any type is a responsibility, similar to driving a car is a responsibility. Most mature, rational people can handle it. Some people can't, and should not drive a car or carry a knife, regardless of the knife's size/style.

I remember once at a gun shop I was looking at a knife display, and asked to check out a certain one-hander. The very young guy behind the counter took the knife in the display, vigorously flicked it open for the most dramatic effect, and put it on the top of the case. When he did that, a couple people in the shop kind of jerked slightly and looked at him sideways. If he'd have lost his grip on the knife, it would have gone flying up and to his right. Perhaps unwisely, I quietly told the guy it's probably better not to do that around other people. In a loud, obnoxious, entitled tone he answered, "#%!* that! I'll open a knife any way I want. It's my legal right. If anyone has a problem with it, they can go #%!* themselves! They need to #%!*ing grow up and accept it!" (I'm paraphrasing a little, but that's very close to his exact words). This is exactly the type of militant, idiotic "knife person" that gives all knives/knife carriers a toxic image, and only gives truth to the anti-knife fear-mongering.

I also carry 2 SAKs; a Pioneer and an Executive. In some settings, I find it more prudent (and practical) to simply pull out the Executive and use the smaller pen blade for some small chore. Most of the time, nobody knows I'm using it, or are even aware it's in my hand.

Jim

 

[22-rimfire]

The media. They are not our friends and spread bad imagery for ratings. Hollywood has poured gas on the fire by portraying the knife in a bad light from way back. A bad image that started way before most of you were born.....

You can blame the media, and the knife industry. But the knife nuts also have to take the blame for every punk that flashed his knife in public trying to get a rise out of people, but was too stupid to realize he's alienating people who witness this behavior.

...In all honesty, in today's urban living, there's little need for a knife more than a Victorinox Classic except to massage one's ego.

I used to assume that if it was in print or on TV news, it was "fact". I feel certain that others feel the same way. youth... innocence..... I grew up.

Movies are fantasy for the most part. I liked Red Dawn and the Rambo movies too. Real life isn't so pretty sometimes and the bad guys win often.

I wouldn't go so far to suggest that all one needs is a Vic Classic as I don't care for them. The blade is too small and there is seldom a snap. But that is just my opinion. You could go with the "peanut". But that is often a tad small for my hand, but I could live with that. I don't want to live with those constraints or want others to have to live with them. People should be free to choose what they like. But they should be aware enough of the outside world to use it in such a way that doesn't make the knife "the issue", only the use of the knife.

 

[shinyedges]

I still stand by using our knives in public, within reason of course, and I will continue to do so. If I'm at another BBQ you bet I'll use my knife to open a beer bottle, or a bag of chips, or cut a burger in half for my kids. It's a tool, and I'll use it as such.

Hiding our knives, not using them, pretending they don't exist, or keeping your 4-inch folder in your pocket while using a little Swiss-Army 'sheeple' blade all for fear of scaring others will only serve to solidify the negative image the general public has of knives because then by default the only exposure these people will ever have to knives will be media supplied negative exposure.

I believe it is up to us to show people the positive, that knives are tools, and no more a weapon than a hammer, a screwdriver, or a car.

I'm not some wannabe 'operator' lol. I don't dress in fatigues and walk around looking or acting aggressively. I'm a suburban knife nut, and I'm proud of it. And I will try to share this with others if they're willing to be open to it.

I agree, I want to use my 0452ti to cut my sandwich, so I do.

A guy at work called pocket knives weapons. I told him he was standing right next to a 3ft long pipe wrench, and that was a weapon. He looked over at it, looked back to me and said, that is true.

Literally everything is a weapon. Or should I say can be used as one. Almost regularly cars and trucks are used as weapons, no one bats an eye at the guy getting into his car in the grocery store parking lot.

Yet he could decide to run you over. Just the way some one could decide to stab you. The object is just a tool. Fear of tools is irrational. Respect for tools is a must.

Everyone watches the news and clutches their blankets a little closer each night lol

 

[22-rimfire]

I agree, I want to use my 0452ti to cut my sandwich, so I do.

I would too.

 

[danbot]

I still stand by using our knives in public, within reason of course, and I will continue to do so. If I'm at another BBQ you bet I'll use my knife to open a beer bottle, or a bag of chips, or cut a burger in half for my kids. It's a tool, and I'll use it as such.

Hiding our knives, not using them, pretending they don't exist, or keeping your 4-inch folder in your pocket while using a little Swiss-Army 'sheeple' blade all for fear of scaring others will only serve to solidify the negative image the general public has of knives because then by default the only exposure these people will ever have to knives will be media supplied negative exposure.

I believe it is up to us to show people the positive, that knives are tools, and no more a weapon than a hammer, a screwdriver, or a car.

I'm not some wannabe 'operator' lol. I don't dress in fatigues and walk around looking or acting aggressively. I'm a suburban knife nut, and I'm proud of it. And I will try to share this with others if they're willing to be open to it.

You liked the wannabe operat0r part? I've seen them in action before. Usually they are quite young guys. When they're older, its as sad as it is funny! But one of my points was, that we need to be responsible in the way that we use our knives in public. A family party is a different situation almost entirely. Most of the family knows that I'm a knife nut, and it can be easily explained to non-familiar guests. But if I'm cutting a kids burger in half at a public park with complete strangers around, I'm not gonna do the quick draw "THWAAK" in front of them. I'll just open the knife like its no big deal, use it and continue to pretend that I'm "normal".

 

[shinyedges]

I would too.

The extra blade length is nice for cutting food away from home.

 

[shinyedges]

You liked the wannabe operat0r part? I've seen them in action before. Usually they are quite young guys. When they're older, its as sad as it is funny! But one of my points was, that we need to be responsible in the way that we use our knives in public. A family party is a different situation almost entirely. Most of the family knows that I'm a knife nut, and it can be easily explained to non-familiar guests. But if I'm cutting a kids burger in half at a public park with complete strangers around, I'm not gonna do the quick draw "THWAAK" in front of them. I'll just open the knife like its no big deal, use it and continue to pretend that I'm "normal".

I agree. The dramatic opening doesn't belong in every situation, but nothing is wrong with regular retrieving your knife to perform it's intended function... cut something.

 

[DJC72]

Perception also influences how people see reality. If I show these two knives to non knife people, the first comment I get is how beautiful the knives are.

If the Fiddleback was blacked out with a red spider on the blade, the same people might freak out. People need to overcome their fears with research and logic. BTW, this thread needed some pics.

 

[22-rimfire]

I agree. The dramatic opening doesn't belong in every situation, but nothing is wrong with regular retrieving your knife to perform it's intended function... cut something.

This is one of the reasons I really like the Steel Will Mini Cutjack. You can open it quickly with wrist motion for the loud smack or nudge the opener and it opens almost without sound and slowly.

"If the Fiddleback was blacked out with a red spider on the blade, the same people might freak out. People need to overcome their fears with research and logic."

That takes way more effort and people seem to be comfortable with their fears.

 

[shinyedges]

This is one of the reasons I really like the Steel Will Mini Cutjack. You can open it quickly with wrist motion for the loud smack or nudge the opener and it opens almost without sound and slowly.

An opening for every occasion!