Public perception of people carrying knives

link2derek said:
Most of the "general" public are generally ignorant; therefore, I don't care what they think. But that's just me - YMMV...
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You sound like me.
I dress how I want.
I wear beat up shoes, old shirts etc.
It's not like I don't have the money to get new stuff, I just don't care what other people think of me.
I don't care if someone doesn't like my knife. I'm not breaking any laws. Get over it.
But luckily, my are is full of hunters and outdoors men so I've NEVER had someone get scared.
Stupid comments, yes, but no fear.
 
I suppose it has to do with appearance and size. I've never had anyone bat an eye when I bring a Case Doctor's knife to my favorite sushi bar or steak and ale joint. Whipping out my SAK Pioneer at a neighborhood gathering to pop open a bottle of beer usually illicits a, oh look, that knife is cool/cute/what is it? Now, there was one occasion where a neighborhood BBQ for one of our returning from the Sandbox neighbors drew some bizarre responses, when our soldier whipped out his Spyderco Military to cut his steak, and one of the neighbors asked if that knife was used to dispatch a few Taliban, and if the Army allowed him to keep this "issue" knife; it's all about the size and overall appearance.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
I suppose it has to do with appearance and size. I've never had anyone bat an eye when I bring a Case Doctor's knife to my favorite sushi bar or steak and ale joint. Whipping out my SAK Pioneer at a neighborhood gathering to pop open a bottle of beer usually illicits a, oh look, that knife is cool/cute/what is it? Now, there was one occasion where a neighborhood BBQ for one of our returning from the Sandbox neighbors drew some bizarre responses, when our soldier whipped out his Spyderco Military to cut his steak, and one of the neighbors asked if that knife was used to dispatch a few Taliban, and if the Army allowed him to keep this "issue" knife; it's all about the size and overall appearance.
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Id'n it neat when you get actually positive reactions?
 
davek14 said:
Id'n it neat when you get actually positive reactions?
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I was at the post office this week and someone needed their tape cut but they had no scissors, I opened my spyderco dragonfly swiftly and cut the tape.
They thanked me. :D
 
I always carry a blade on me, since I could remember. I live in Dallas and I use my knife for everything, even stirring my coffee and I have never gotten nasty looks...
 
I have got strange looks at the sight of my knife in public before. Once was in a waiting room at the hospital, the curious gal asked what was on my belt. She seen my belt sheath for my buck 112. We were in the emergency room waiting area waiting on news about my cousin who was brought in by helicopter from a car wreck and i had left work wearing the uniform with the plant name and my name on the shirt so i reckon they figured i was just a normal dude. I told her it was just a pocket knife. Good thing she didn't spot the concealed Glock or she would've really freaked :eek: the other time i was walking through the mall with my daughter and the rent-a-cop saw the clip of my Spyderco on my pocket and came up giving me crap about it being a no weapons zone and i respectfully informed him that it wasn't a weapon, it was a tool just like him and that if it was truly a weapons free zone then they should have armed security and with that we headed out to the truck before he got mad and called a real cop. Luckily he couldn't see the concealed Glock ;)
 
Pocket clips, assisted opening, "mean" looking "tactical" knives are what most non-knife people find threatening, just like they are scared of any all black military style firearm. A traditional slip joint or lock back is less "threatening" to most, they look like what their parents/grand parents used, so are seen as a "tool" not a "weapon".
 
atavist said:
If carrying a knife gets you looked at funny you need to move (IMHO)
But then I live in the mountains in Montana. We have lions (not just bob cats) wolves and bears and I have a toddler. I open carry a 44mag super blackhawk and a 5inch fixed blade...only take the gun off if I'm going into a bar, knife stays on. ... only comments I have ever gotten were curiosities about gun model and holster manufacturer.
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Where abouts in Montana? My parents live in Wolf Creek.
 
I work with a bunch of guys who all trap hunt and fish (as do I). If you don't have a knife you get made fun of. We regularly bring our collections in to work to play with, i mean, admire and discuss. Along with rifles. I worked in a rural school for a year and on multiple occasions sat down with staff and students to discuss knives and rifles and hunting. Had one senior come to school after gutting a deer that morning not realizing he had wiped his face with a bloody hand. So, very few weird looks about having a knife on you or using it.

Small town Sask Canada for reference.
 
I would love to carry a small EDC fixed blade, and even though it is legal for me to do so, I don't need the grief or pain that comes with it.

Public perception in my area of the the world is that knives are weapons and are somehow evil. People see a knife and assume that the only reason you would have one on your person is to harm another. You do not have a knife, you have a weapon so there is no question of what you intent is. Remember, knives are evil! If you have a knife, you are evil!

I can hurt or kill someone with my car or motorcycle with less effort than I ever could with a knife.
 
afishhunter said:
Pocket clips, assisted opening, "mean" looking "tactical" knives are what most non-knife people find threatening, just like they are scared of any all black military style firearm. A traditional slip joint or lock back is less "threatening" to most, they look like what their parents/grand parents used, so are seen as a "tool" not a "weapon".
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sabre cat said:
I would love to carry a small EDC fixed blade, and even though it is legal for me to do so, I don't need the grief or pain that comes with it.

Public perception in my area of the the world is that knives are weapons and are somehow evil. People see a knife and assume that the only reason you would have one on your person is to harm another. You do not have a knife, you have a weapon so there is no question of what you intent is. Remember, knives are evil! If you have a knife, you are evil!
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When I see all the lover's names carved in trees at the local park.

I just think it's crazy how many people bring knives on a date.

(OK, so where's the smilie for "deadpan")
 
sabre cat said:
I would love to carry a small EDC fixed blade, and even though it is legal for me to do so, I don't need the grief or pain that comes with it.

Public perception in my area of the the world is that knives are weapons and are somehow evil. People see a knife and assume that the only reason you would have one on your person is to harm another. You do not have a knife, you have a weapon so there is no question of what you intent is. Remember, knives are evil! If you have a knife, you are evil!

I can hurt or kill someone with my car or motorcycle with less effort than I ever could with a knife.
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I EDC a small fixed blade.

I've had some people balk, but IMHO, it's good for them. They see it. They see me use it for some innocuous task. They get scared. Then nothing bad happens. That happens enough, they will get over it.

Doesn't hurt that I work in a field where knives are pretty much standard issue and people are more likely to ask to look at your blades than they are to ask you "why do you need that?" (because they have one too)
 
Never had a problem carrying anything. I don't pull my knife out in public unless I'm carrying something with wood on it. And then only if there is a real reason.
 
Never had an issue. Even in setting where I expected people to freak out, it's never been an issue. I'm a Vermonter, but my wife is a Connecticut girl, with Connecticut friends. I'm a massive outcast among the primped and polished CT folks that my wife is friends with. When we were at a very high-end wedding together in DC and nobody could eat their steaks because there weren't any knives at the table, everybody got a big kick out of it when my Manix 2 came out of my pocket so I could eat my steak while they all sat around. Truth told, every one of the guys at the table had a pocket knife burried in their pocket too, but they all have manners that I don't have, so theirs stayed in their pockets. :)
 
Jim85IROC said:
Never had an issue. Even in setting where I expected people to freak out, it's never been an issue. I'm a Vermonter, but my wife is a Connecticut girl, with Connecticut friends. I'm a massive outcast among the primped and polished CT folks that my wife is friends with. When we were at a very high-end wedding together in DC and nobody could eat their steaks because there weren't any knives at the table, everybody got a big kick out of it when my Manix 2 came out of my pocket so I could eat my steak while they all sat around. Truth told, every one of the guys at the table had a pocket knife burried in their pocket too, but they all have manners that I don't have, so theirs stayed in their pockets. :)
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Sounds a lot like me and my wife :thumbup:
 
davek14 said:
When I see all the lover's names carved in trees at the local park.

I just think it's crazy how many people bring knives on a date.

(OK, so where's the smilie for "deadpan")
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I would bring a knife on a date. I need to defend myself when my wife spots me walking through the front door after a night on the town with another woman.:D
 
2 incidents.. One Thanksgiving I was at friends house and we had about 20 people around the table and I was asked to cut the turkey.. their knives didn't work.. So I finally pulled out my lazer sharp Para 2 and started cutting into that bird perfectly (I was pretty clueless while doing it because people thought of how clean that knife was).. it made some peoples stomachs turn about me using a pocket knife on the turkey everyone else would eat..Some kndly suggested I go back to the dull kitchen knives "meant for carving the turkey. ha ha!

The other happened just last week when a security guard escorted me to my car while I was in the hospital childrens cancer ward with a pocket knife (an Emerson horseman to be specific) ..They asked me to return the knife to my car and they followed me all the way to the car to make sure I left it in there before I retruned...even though I was in the hospital for the last 14 days/24hrs per day straight (My daughter has cancer and it is a "weapons free" zone). When I came back to my daughters room I saw that my mom left a steak knife for cutting bread that was twice as long as the Emerson. O MY GOSH NO!!!!!! I felt like calling security just to make them feel like jerks and then call security on all the other parents I saw in the unit with pocket knives, steak knives they brought from home. But of course I didn't. In a cancer ward you needs things to make your own food, your childs food (no child can stand eating hospital food while sick). One also has to wash clothes including doing your laundry while there and many other things ect.. parents don't leave their kids there alone while undergoing chemo..so it is like a sort of camping out. Hospital does not supply thigs for parents. Plus I am a single dad so the only one staying and taking care of my daughter while in there. So it feels weird having to rip through plastic with finger nails and do the hundreds of things I need a knife for while living there. I will nobody here understands this situation unless you went through this with a child yourself..One just does not leave the hospital and leave teir child there.. sometimes there are complications that cause longer stays. I was there for 3 weeks once and never left the hospital except to get food from the grocery store 1x.
 
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I carry at least 2 knives and a knuck on me daily. Sometimes 3. Always a large self defense folder, a punch dagger on my belt and my knuck in one of my pockets. I don't care about showing my folder's pocket clip on the right front pocket. The only times i fully conceal it in my pocket are at school or in the office. But when out in the public, I realized the average person is a bleeding moron, so to hell with what they care.
 
colubrid said:
2 incidents.. One Thanksgiving I was at friends house and we had about 20 people around the table and I was asked to cut the turkey.. their knives didn't work.. So I finally pulled out my lazer sharp Para 2 and started cutting into that bird perfectly (I was pretty clueless while doing it because people thought of how clean that knife was).. it made some peoples stomachs turn about me using a pocket knife on the turkey everyone else would eat..Some kndly suggested I go back to the dull kitchen knives "meant for carving the turkey. ha ha!

The other happened just last week when a security guard escorted me to my car while I was in the hospital childrens cancer ward with a pocket knife (an Emerson horseman to be specific) ..They asked my to return the knife to my car and they followed me to the car to make sure I left it there even though I was in the hospital for the last 14 days/24hrs per day straight (My daughter has cancer and it is a "weapons free" zone). When I came back to my daughters room I saw that my mom left a steak knife for cutting bread that was twice as long as the Emerson. I felt like calling security just to make them feel like jerks and then call security on all the other parents I saw in the unit with pocket knives. But of course I didn't. The childrens cancer ward you needs things to make your own food, your childs food (nobody eats hospital food for 9 months, do your laundry ect.. parents don't leave their kids there alone while undergoing chemo..so it is like a sort of camping out. Plus I am a single dad so the only one staying and taking care of my daughter while in there. So it feels weird having to rip through plastic and do the hundreds of things while trying to prepare food. I guess nobody understand this situation unless you went through this with a child with cancer..One just does not leave the hospital.. sometimes there are complications that cause longer stays. I was there for 3 weeks once and never left the hospital except to get food from the grocery store.
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Dang dude. I hope your little girl gets better. Thoughts and prayers for her from me.
 
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