Should "regular" people carry knives?

Shotgun said:
A while ago I read that Doug Ritter had a top ten essentials list for people but one of the things he didn't put on there was a compass. His reason was that most people don't know how to use a compass so it's essentially dead weight and the people who DO know how to use one are going to take one anyway so it doesn't need to be on the list.
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just 'cause folks have a website, and write stuff, does not make them smart or knowledgeable. :eek:
 
Maybe not a knife, but certainly a multitool or SAK is something that anybody can find useful. Even the smallest ones pack a lot of utility. I give out Vic Classics to friends who aren't into knives (i.e. women :) ), and they always end up using them quite often.

None of them has upgraded to anything larger, so it seems like a Vic Classic will cover most of what a person in an urban environment has to do. I'm constantly tinkering with things and fixing stuff for friends and coworkers, so I get a lot of use out of my larger multitools.

I'm a country boy, so knives are an item of clothing to me. Hell, I can remember my dad telling me off for going out on my horse without a knife.
 
Franciscomv said:
Maybe not a knife, but certainly a multitool or SAK is something that anybody can find useful. Even the smallest ones pack a lot of utility
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+1

I can't see people that aren't 'into' knives wearing a neck knife and having another knife in a sheath on their belts, they just aren't interested! But a small SAK costing under $30 (there are plenty of models under $20) would give them a range of useful tools. To carry a few simple items to cover you for various situations makes a lot of sense. I carry a lighter, flashlight and SAK every day - anyone that carries a bag of some sort (like a handbag for a typical woman) would find it even easier to carry a few basic tools like that.

Of course I personally go even further and supplement a SAK with a LM Wave & a LM k502x. I also carry a 2nd & 3rd flashlight. But others less addicted to gadgets could keep it small, light, fairly cheap & simple while carrying 1 lighter, 1 Flashlight & 1 SAK - it really wouldn't take that much for everyone to have a little preparedness every day.
 
Of course, everyone should be able to carry a knife, if they choose not too then that is their option. No matter how insane we think it is, millions of people around the world get by just fine without carrying a knife, knowing how to sharpen a knife, or even caring about either. Not to mention basic knife use is about as simple as it gets, it's not like it takes years of dedicated study to learn how to cut a string or peel a potato. People should be allowed to carry any knife they wish, or not carry any at all, it's really none of our business.

IMO this is dangerous talk, talking about regular people, like we aren't? I think I know the spirit in which it was posted but I still don't like the thought that we would exclude anyone that wishes to learn what we know, regular or not. Chris
 
if everyone carried a knife, even just a keyring SAK, then people would stop asking to borrow mine.

i've carried a knife pretty much every day since my mum gave me a SAK for my 15th birthday.
 
Magnussen said:
I know many outdoors folks who don't carry knives. I recently purchased the book "Snow Walker's Companion". It is a highly recomended winter wanderer's resource and I don't think they made mention to a knife, even once. Ultralight hikers, canoeist and backpackers alike get by without knives all the time. I won't preach to them, though... I don't carry a gun into the wilderness, where others do. If I was going on a trek with someone, I'd feel better if they carried a knife.


Rick
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I was also surprised that the Conovers don't mention knives in their book, especially since they talk in detail about axes, ice chisels, and guns. They must have used something for butchering game and repairing their equipment, so I wonder if they simply have no strong preferences when it comes to knives...

In all fairness, though, knives do pop up in canoeing literature all the time, either as a general "wilderness tool", or specifically in the context of white-water rescue. Which reminds me - I gotta stop reading canoeing books and finish outfitting my boat. :) The ice-out is almost here.
 
I dont know, but it would be cool if you walked into any office place in America, and a normal sight would be some lady flipping a Bali to open a letter, and some guy fixing the fax machine with a Katana.:thumbup:
I would be cool with it.:D
 
Something I will never understand is people who don't think Knives are important to carry. We weren't born with any sharps; that's why a knife is one of mankinds oldest tools.

I constantly run into people who see NO NEED to carry a knife :confused:
I constantly get asked if I have a knife : :mad:

As far as skills go, how can someone gain knife skills if they never carry one and use it ?

Can't some people put two and two together for $%#$& sakes, and realize it's a handy thing to have ?? Doesn't even have to be anything extraordinary, just a simple pocketknife. I've been packing a blade since I was about 8 ( 40 years ago ;) Now my love for knives has turned into my hobby , as well as my lifestyle. I feel completely unprepared going around with no blade.
 
Well, here is my 0.02: I think that today, in urban societies, people has been conditioned NOT to use a knife (or a gun, or flashligth), because they had been taught to DEPEND on others (the State?, the Police?). Judging by the opinions presented, there are people who are used to fix many (most) thing by themselves (the forum members), and there are people who don't. Besides, there is the the perception that many people have of a knife (any knife): a weapon. If one stop to think, western society tends to the avoidance of "dangerous object": cans that don't need a can opener, electric pencil sharpeners, electric razors, and many other instances (not to mention firearms).
Men is becoing less and less self-reliant. Every time I use my folding knife to sharpen a pencil for the nurses or secretaries in my hospital, the look at me like if I just had sprouted a horn in my forehead.
So maybe that's the reason (or one of them), why so many people don't use a knife: they have been portrayed as dangerous objects, used only by weirdos or delinquents (and like them, many others objects, that were nothing but tools).
 
Yeah...the 2 things I've always carried on my person was a watch and a knife.
First knife started out as a cheap ole K-Mart special, but has since then evolved into much better and sometimes bigger knives. Yes, the watch also evolved.....Timex to a Rolex.
I love my watch as much as I love my knives and wouldn't want to be caught without one or the other!
 
I'm an intelligent tool-using mammal. Therefore I find a knife pretty handy just like Homo Habilis before me. ;)

The thing is that in the modern urbanized world most things have been pre-cut or perforated for us, so the factories have essentially acted as knives for the masses. I'd rather carry the dedicated tool though, just like how I like to carry a pen even though typing is often both faster and easier to read. :)
 
Magnussen said:
I know many outdoors folks who don't carry knives. I recently purchased the book "Snow Walker's Companion". It is a highly recomended winter wanderer's resource and I don't think they made mention to a knife, even once. Ultralight hikers, canoeist and backpackers alike get by without knives all the time. I won't preach to them, though... I don't carry a gun into the wilderness, where others do. If I was going on a trek with someone, I'd feel better if they carried a knife.


Rick
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Actually, on page 118, "Each person should have a pocketknife, as well as a match case."

I was at a winter camping conference, a few years ago, where the Conovers were the guest speakers. I don't remember them mentioning knives at all.

Doc
 
I think we have the right to carry a knife, However, before you carry one, you should prove to yourself that equipment is not the crutch that you lean on to survive. Go out for a good long outing with nothing but what you are wearing, After that, survival should be a piece of cake.
 
I carry a pocket knife and have for years, but I rarely *need* to use it in town. Like others have said, most packaging is made to open with your hands. Letters don't need a knife. Most boxes can be opened just as easily with a key as a knife. If I need to cut anything at the office, there are plenty of scissors or even wire cutters if I need to cut zip ties. Pencil sharpeners if I need to sharpen a pencil... etc etc. My day to day just doesn't require one.

I use a knife, because I want to, but my wife for example, has almost zero need for a knife outside the kitchen... and she doesn't ask for mine either.

Now when I'm out in the field, I use one often, but that's a different story...
 
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Seriously, there are people who don't carry knives! Their like one of the oldest tools known to man and some people can't even use them properly, or their scared of them.
 
Brad "the butcher";8008315 said:
I try to educate people tearing at things with teeth,keys,pencils........ plus I don't mind a" friendly debate" with those who think carrying a useful tool is dangerous or not needed.
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I find those people much more receptive to the message of blade edc once they have broken a tooth, or one of those $ 100 high security car keys trying to open some bombproof clamshell packaging.
 
I'm still preaching to 7 year olds that they need to use a machete :/

Your buddies will razz you until they need to use it, or watch just how handy having one can be.
 
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