Professional Reaction...

Chipperman said:
I am a Veterinarian in Massachusetts. I carry a Leatherman Wave, a Gerber left front, and a Benchmade right front. I also have a Surefire 6P right hip (and a gun on the left hip). I use the Leatherman, Gerber and Surefire countless times every day.
Click to expand...

Wahoo! Good to see another DVM here! I ALWAYS have at least two knives on me at work... my "sheeple" SAK Huntsman is always with me, and something a little more substantial that rotates; either a FB or some kind of larger folder. Unfortunately, cannot CCW in good ol' Illinois... though I can legally carry IN my clinic.

Drop me a line sometime Chipperman, I'd love to talk with ya.
 
There will always be someone who is prepared to freak out over a knife, any knife. I've wondered how some of these people eat anything that isn't pre-digested. Some I'm sure would faint if asked to put a notice on the PIN board. With that out of the way (and those people safely ignored), may I suggest a knife that has a "decorative" feel to it. Once most people see the fancy handle it seems to take away from the weapons aspect. Currently my favourite carry is a Buck Koji folder with handles of carved stainless steel and wood. I work in government offices and Doctors surgeries.
Greg
 
I think the question of a fixed blade knife, smallish or not has been covered, (no one recommends it) sad commentary on our society as that may be. I am one of those who thinks a Swiss Army knife is probably the most excepted. I mean "c'mon how dangerous can a knife that has scissors and a nail file be". A small, classy slipjoint is not a bad second choice, I just think that the MacGyver syndrome has reached a decent part of the sheeple population.

Just my 2 cents,
 
I am a field service tech and carry a knife everyday. While on the job I never get any bad reactions to using a knife, customers see it as a tool. I get it into federal buildings, cruise ships, state buildings, military bases and the like. It is a tool of the trade and it goes where I go. The only exception is when I service a prison system. What few tools I am allowed are cataloged going in and coming out.
 
Saks or multitools (leatherman) are really really good options. They are easier to 'excuse' on account of them being tools rather than just dedicated knives. And after a period of 'acclimatising' the co-workers you are most commonly with and demonstrating that you are sane and have really funky and useful tools, you can start slowly introducing the beautiful 2-inch opinels or other folders you have. And when they get to see how beautiful those are, bring in the 2.5 inch models and then your 3 inch buch etc..etc...

It's called progressive desensitisation in psychology -- works wonders
 
I find that an SAK and a CRK Mnandi are the most office - friendly knives I own. And that is what I generally carry when I'm at work.
 
SAK Soldier, that's the way to go. I've EDCed one in lots of iffy places- college campus, church, financial services firm, and now insurance company (about as Office Space-esque as it comes) and the only thing anyone in any of those places has said is "You EAT with your pocket knife?"

Even better, the answer "Yeah I do" satisfied them.

Even better than that, it's a heck of a lot more useful than a knife with just a blade.

Can't go wrong there.:) :thumbup:
 
Its taken 7 years of de-programming on my part, but I now can pull just about anything out of my pocket (made of steel at least) while at work and no one even raises an eyebrow. This includes bali's and large autos.
 
I'm a technical theater student on a college campus and the rule here is "under three inches and non flick-able or auto or butterfly", so i carry a spyderco native in my right pocket and a benchmade mini-ambush in my backpack to loan out to friends who need a knife when we're working. I used my native to cut a form neatly in half where it should've, but wasn't perforated, in a class of 400 here and no one said a thing. I honestly feel it's how you use the knife and the air you use it with, if you use it quickly and with authority no one will give a crap, if you're sitting around a lot of people nervously and loudly flicking it in and out and twirling it in between your fingers, you will at least get a nasty look or at worst someone may call security...
 
There will always be people who shrink at the sight of a tool. They are projecting their motivations ("I would never have a knife except as a weapon") instead of looking at the knife as a tool. They have been brainwashed by the media (movies, shows, news) to think that way. I have had sheeple comments where I least expected them (at a very rural chemical plant) and not had them when I expected them (inspecting equipment with a government procurement agent present, who actually said she wished she had a knife that sharp).

Carry a SAK to use in the presence of others. There's something about the SAK that says "harmless" to a large precentage of the population. Carry something else - what you really want - to use when not in the presence of the sheeple.

Your approach depends to a large degree on your position at the bank. Are you their supervisor, or the other way around? Are there those who will report you to "corporate" for carrying a "weapon"?

I work in an office made up entirely of chemical engineers (well, one nuclear engineer). I am not the only one who has a visible pocket clip. And I am not the only one with a carry permit, and it would be a mistake to think I am the only one with a firearm in the office.
 
FisherBBC said:
I work in the banking industry. ... Do you professionals think that carrying a small fixed blade knife on my belt would be even more of an issue???
Click to expand...

Is this a serious question? Are you really contemplating carrying a fixed blade in your office job as a way to have fewer potential problems with sheeple colleagues?

At present I work off-site via telecommute. Meaning: I get to wear whatever I want and carry whatever hardware I want! :D But back when I was working in an office in the U.S., I carried a Buck 526 Executive most days. If carrying a larger knife means that much to you, quit your current job (on your own terms) and get a different gig. But don't screw around and get yourself fired for "carrying a concealed weapon" or some other bogus, trumped up sheeple/HR charge.
 
I'm kind of new to the forums but I've been lurking for a few months and a knifenut since I got my first pocket knife 39 years ago. It seems to me that we should all be doing whatever we can to acclimate the bait fish that surround us to the presence and peaceful use of edged tools. I'm not suggesting showing up with a machete on your belt or anything else that would get you fired, but if we don't at least stand our ground and try to take teeny tiny non threatening baby steps forward we will sooner or later be looking at bans on sharpened pencils. Of course not all sheep can be convinced, but I have managed to convert one or two with useful inexpensive gifts like the CS redi edge. No I am not a fan of CS but this was back when they still had decent products and no counterproductive marketing. Sureley someone makes something similar which would be appropriate as an xmas gift for secretaries or anyone else in the office who ever has to open mail cut string open boxes etc.
 
Its going to be hard to acclimate the sheeple after 9-11 when planes were supposedly hijacked using box cutters. Ever since that day the face of the nation has changed regarding cutlery and unfortunately so has the way people are viewed when carrying a knife. Education is the best way to go as far as hoping to get the sheeple to the accepted level we once had but most people that are the non carrying public out there think when they see a knife on someone in public that if a box cutter could hijack a plane what could you do with that 3" blade? You know these people, we all see them. They are the ones that gasp in a restaraunt when you pull out your own steak knife, even though they are sitting at their table with a knife by their plate, or the ones at the office struggling to open a box with their keys or a half opened pair of scissors or a letter opener. How many of you have noticed 'non pointed' knives being used since 9-11 at local restaraunts in your own areas?

Many companies adopted a 'no knife policy' after 9-11. Phillips 66, Conaco, among many others prohibit the carry of knives by their employees. None of the crew at the service station, convenience store where I get my diet coke everyday are allowed even to carry a box cutter at work. I saw one a while back and asked him if he needed my knife to open a box he was struggling with. He said he wasn't even allowed to borrow it or he'd be fired. Upon further probing he admitted it was a new policy since the World Trade Center attacks.

The point is that all of these tell tale signs are there and they speak of widespread social changes happening right before our eyes since that day.

This reason, among others like the recent Wal Street Journal article on tactical knives is the reason we have a new organization being formed at the ground level right now headed by Doug Ritter bringing knife makers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, cutlery lovers and everyday carry people together in an organized way that is unprecedented in history.

Join up today. http://www.uskta.org/

STR
 
I'm a lawyer, so I can't carry anything if I'm going to court. No exceptions. Never leave one in my brief case or jacket just in case I foreget. At the office, I generally have a SAK, bantam alox in my pocket, never have gotten any looks. In fact, I always use it to open beer bottles on friday afternoons.

I'm a partner (owner) of my firm, so I'm the one that would set the rules if we had any about knives, and a generally smallish folder would always be appropriate. My SAk and my small barlow are generally what I carry, sometimes my Calypso, jr.

I've carried some much larger knives, including an HI kerambit in a Tom Krein sheath at the office, and even I think that's a little weird, since I did it "just because" not because there was any real purpose to it.
 
I remember 9-11very well. I lost at least one friend for sure in the pentagon but that doesn;t change the stupidity of the reaction. It has so far proven impossible to keep weapons or drugs out of maximum security prisons. The question should not be how to keep knives or shampoo or whatever off of planes but rather what would have happened if the people on flight 93 had all been armed. El Al has never been hijacked and they give you actual metal utensils with your meal including a semi sharp and pointy steak knife. Everyday there is a moron on TV enlightening us by asking "Are we safe?". NO! WE NEVER WERE AND WE NEVER WILL BE! The ONLY sensible approach is to adopt the Israeli attitude of targeting terrorists,bad guys, psychos or whomever is trying to do us harm and if this fails and they get through anyway and manage to escape hunt them down and kill them a la Munich 1972. I am not Israeli nor jewish but it seems obvious to me that no method is perfect but none has worked better than theirs so far.
 
I am actually too young to have a concealed carry permit. I do work two jobs and carry at least one knife to both of them. The first one is lifeguarding, no one cares. The second, I run a small retail store and carry a CS Laredo in my pants and under my shirt. At the retail store, however, we have quite a large selection of knives.
 
I agree with everyone who says that the most people-friendly carry is a multitool. I would say of the multitools the most friendly is any of the alox models, followed closely by the brightly colored Leatherman Squirt (small and cute). Once you have acclimatized people to your cute and useful multitool, it is much easier to create some leeway to what you carry. That said in general, however, fixed blades in an office environment are a BAD IDEA.

I think a lot of it has to do with your attitude as well. Yes, you can say you're only using your knife for a specific purpose, but if you are acting 'defensive' about it you might as well admit you're doing something wrong. I find that the best thing to do when opening something is, if questioned, to just look surprised and ask them if they have a better idea ;)

Office-friendly dress knives I can think of off the top of my head:
CRK Mnandi, Mcusta knives, William Henry knives, Spyderco Cricket/Lava/Kiwi/Kopa/Poliwog, anything with brightly colored handles, anything with wood handles, most keychain knives.

Stay away from black blades, serrations, 'tacticals' .... the odd blade shape of the Snody might get some reactions too.
 
As already mentioned, SAK's, small slipjoints, and small, upscale folders are the way to go (I wear a suit and tie and work in a Federal building).

I was at a management conference a couple of months ago. In the hospitality suite, after the day's session, someone asked if anyone had a knife (to remove a wrist band). I was the only one, but the knife in question, a Koji Hara folder with MOP scales and milled bolsters, caused absolutely no reaction.
 
Hey Fisher..

As most people probably have said. Carrying two knives,, sometimes even three knivers isn't unheard of...

Depending on what I'm doing, ,where I'm going I may have multiple knives on my person at any given time...

I keep a small SAK in my pocket for times when Sheeple are around, or people I don't know...

I also openly carry fixed blades around, doing my daily chores,, shopping whatever..
I've never had a problem, other than a plain clothes cop seen what he thought was the butt of a revolver sticking out of my pocket as I was going in and he was coming out of a store..
He waited for me outside and quietly stopped nd asked what was in my front pocket...

It was a TOPS Wolf Pup clipped to the inside of my pocket..
I showed him,, he was cool with it, and chatted about knives for a few minutes..I handed a card and away we went...

Now if I'm going to a place where there will be possible troublle,, concert, peeler bar ect,, I don't often carry more than a small SAK...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top