Usefulness of sterile knives

F

Feneris

Joined
Oct 7, 1998
Messages
112
I realize that in the past an unmarked knife would help disguise an operators country of origin.
But it seems to me that in todays global economy, sterile knives would be counterproductive. Wouldn't it just scream 'I've got major bucks behind me' which means government, probably U.S.?
Am I making sense or just talking out the wrong end of my digestive system?

------------------
Joshua
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
-MacGregor's Gathering, Sir Walter Scott
 
I have a customer that orders his knives from me sterile, because doens't want anything to distract from the lines of the knife. I like my mark, but I can definitely understand his preference for sterile. I also occasionally have military personell that prefer there knives sterile. I figure they have there reasons, so I don't ask.

------------------
Lynn Griffith-Custom Knives
New "Message Board" just added to My website
GriffithKN@aol.com


 
I had not thought about the aesthetics (slapping self on forehead), but then I was thinking more about military use.


------------------
Joshua
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
-MacGregor's Gathering, Sir Walter Scott
 
Imagine, if you will, trying to sterilize a Sebenza or a Military. You would have to be pretty freaking uniformed not to know where those are from.
Checking my Sebenza for authenticity

Custom made knives on the other hand....

I can also see the need where aesthetics and sanitation are concerned.

------------------
The vague and tenuous hope that GOD is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the conscience of millions.

*A. W. Tozer

2 Cor 5:10
 
It may be that I'm "just talking out the wrong end of my digestive system" as Feneris put it, but here's my take-->most blade stamps are placed on the left side of the knife (fixed blades) so that a righthanded user can see it (I would think). There have been times that I wished that the stamp was also placed on the right side of the blade because I'm usually a lefty when it comes to knives. A sterile knife balances things out. No logos, period.

-Greg

[This message has been edited by grnamin (edited 01 December 1999).]
 
There is also a sub-catagory of sterile which is untraceable. I'm thinking of the old Argentine High Powers that were around a few years ago that no importers mark on them. They were pretty common on the surplus market. If one turned up in central Europe or Asia you would never know where it came from. It seems like there would be a lot of production knives, including the Spyderco Military, Benchmade AFCK, Leatherman Original, etc, that would fit the bill. Almost anything that has been in production for a while and is easy to find.

If you found a Spyderwrench somewhere in the middle of the jungle someone would start asking questions I think.


Mike
 
I think you guys are missing the point of sterile weapons. It's well known that sterile M-16 rifles and M-9 pistols exist, and I'm sure just about any weapon any government wants to procure can be ordered free of markings. The idea isn't to fool whoever these weapons may be used against, it's to preserve plausible deniability. That is, if an obviously (insert country of choice) operative is captured, killed or leaves behind some equipment, the country he was in can't hold up a piece of equipment to the international press and prove the country of origin of the operative. Sure, if an obviously American operative is captured somewhere, everyone KNOWS where the guy is from, but they can't PROVE it. It's all about keeping things from becoming "international incidents", not about reality.
 
Hazardous,
AHH-HAA
That's so obvivous, now that you mention it.

------------------
Joshua
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
-MacGregor's Gathering, Sir Walter Scott
 
I know an individual with a totally sterile FN 9mm highpower and some very large question marks in his personal past.
I once gave him a ride to the airport and watched him board while carrying. No ID/passport, Xray or anything. Just two spooks that appeared from nowhere and walked him on past. Security didn't even look up.
I guess some people need deniability?
 
Let us not forget that there may also be times that a civilian, too, may be involved in an altercation in which he loses a weapon, and would prefer the ownership of said weapon to remain unknown. It may be almost impossible to track most production pieces, but how many Wild Things, or whatever you carry, do you think there are in your town. I seriously doubt that there are many people in my town who carry Rat Things, KFFs, kozukas, Kwaikens,etc. A subpeona to the maker can narrow down the owners more quickly than you may imagine.

There was a thread about 2 months ago in which, if I remember correctly, Mike Turber made the astute observation that there may be times when you don't want your lost property identified so it can be returned.

Further, plausible deniability is important in many more places than just on the battlefield.
 
Seriously folks,

My knives MUST be sterile because I've got them all rolled up in bed nice and cozy next to each other and I take them out almost every day just to fondle and cuddle with them and put them in the right mood. When I'm good and ready I put it back in the sheath. But in several years, not a single one of them has reproduced. Darn. I was so hoping that I would be able to breed them so that I wouldn't have to keep paying all that money to adopt more
smile.gif


Paracelsus
 
Hazardous hit the nail on the head. All countries play "games" with their friends as well as their enemies. When some of the players become casualties, the important thing is deniability.

Being sterile isn't just about equipment. Sterility covers the individual as a whole. No ID, clothing, gear, jewelry or accessories that will divulge the true origins of the person in question. These items will often be a mixed bag of articles, each leading to a different, yet misleading country of origin.

Standard procedure in the worlds second oldest profession.

Blackdog

 
Hey! Paracelsus,
Try to stay with the program, there are some serious issues being raised here. Or better yet, why don't you take one of your knives out to the backyard, and bury it. Maybe you can grow a Knife Tree.

Now back to the subject. Should you Covert OPs guys be giving away secrets here? I mean this is the INternet, not exactly secure. Ya' know what I mean? Someone on another thread, said I wasn't thinking ahead preparing for the unexpected. Wow, you guys do plan ahead.
You actually carry a knife that's not a weapon, but want it to be unmarked just in case you have to leave it in someone. Now, that's what I call thinking ahead.

What can I say, but thanks?
 
Blackdog,

I always thought the second oldest profession was Motherhood.

Mike
 
MNH,

Motherhood isn't a profession, it's a life-long commitment, although in my case I'm sure I gave her cause for serious doubt about her decision.
smile.gif
They say insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.

Blackdog
 
Feneris,
I think that a lot of knive companies make sterile knives so people will think they have a large military following. If a sterlie HALO was found across enemy lines how hard do you think it would be to identify? Markings or not, it could be easily indentified. Guns are a different story with stamped serial numbers, but I believe your question was about knives.
Mike Copeland
 
I am sure there are companies that do that. In fact, it seems like something a certain company with a very low molecular activity in their blade material would do.
But, my original theroy was that with todays economy it is very easy to get anything anyplace.
I can be Timbuktu(SP?) and order almost any knife in production and have it with in two weeks.
Twenty years ago some one carrying a Case or a Randall would pretty much point to a US operative. Now, with the Internet, as long it wasn't some Mil. only distibution Warren Thomas, and it was just or Spydie COLD STEEL, it would point to someone with money and taste.
It also seems to me, that the nature of the economy would only increase the plausible denability would actually increase with with the standard marked knife. 'Yeah Sadam, the Trailmaster was made here, but prove that a SAVAT or Mossad operative didn't buy it from Knife Center of the Internet and had it shipped UPS.'
Of course, I don't move in the diplomatic circles, so guess I don't understand how
these things work.
I probably should have explained my theorys at the outset.

------------------
Joshua
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
-MacGregor's Gathering, Sir Walter Scott
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top