- Joined
- Jul 7, 2000
- Messages
- 1,556
We often complain about the way in which people perceive our knives since some of them look at our tools as weapons. Many of these people, however, carry Swiss Army Knives in their pockets or purses. How can this be? What makes a knife a tool versus a weapon? To get some insight I decided to conduct a small experiment:
I grabbed 10 knives that I had laying around and asked a non-knife-knut friend to put them in order from least threatening to most threatening.
The knives I picked to be evaluated were as follows:
Bear MGC small balisong
Benchmade AFCK
Benchmade 940BT
Small Camillus CP75 boot knife
CRKT Bear Claw
CRKT Small Crawford Kasper folder
CRKT Neck Peck
Spyderco Delica
Spyderco Gunting
Spyderco Native
Heres the order she put them in from least-to-most threatening:
I asked her to identify what characteristics of certain knives made them look like tools or weapons. Here are some of the points she brought up:
-She said that the cord wrapped handle of the Neck Peck made it look more utilitarian. The rope made her associate it with other tools. This leads me to believe that adding lanyards to some of my knives might make them seem nicer to sheeple.
-She thought that the balisongs skeletonized handle made it look like a tool.
-The color of the 940s handle was a factor in its perceived uses.
-The bear claw is too small to be threatening. She thought it was so small that it couldnt do much damage to someone.
-The Guntings ramp appeared to serve a utilitarian function to her. She assumed it was a tool on the knife. She said that since the ramp couldnt be used to stab someone it lowered the threat level of the knife.
-She thought that the spydie hole looked threatening. She couldnt site any reason why but she said that the hole in the blade made it look more weapon-like.
-The AFCKs size was an obvious threat to her.
-The full serrations on the Native and the Delica looked jagged and threatening.
-The all black appearance of the boot knife was a big threat to her. She said that it looked like its only purpose was to stab someone.
So what have we learned? Serrations, black blades, and large knives = Evil. Lanyards or other functional items = Utilitarian.
These are points that have already been brought up but I decided to find out for myself. I hope you find this information useful in the selection of what knives you carry for various occasions.
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Karma is only justice without the satisfaction
[This message has been edited by ThinkOfTheChildren (edited 05-23-2001).]
I grabbed 10 knives that I had laying around and asked a non-knife-knut friend to put them in order from least threatening to most threatening.
The knives I picked to be evaluated were as follows:
Bear MGC small balisong
Benchmade AFCK
Benchmade 940BT
Small Camillus CP75 boot knife
CRKT Bear Claw
CRKT Small Crawford Kasper folder
CRKT Neck Peck
Spyderco Delica
Spyderco Gunting
Spyderco Native
Heres the order she put them in from least-to-most threatening:
I asked her to identify what characteristics of certain knives made them look like tools or weapons. Here are some of the points she brought up:
-She said that the cord wrapped handle of the Neck Peck made it look more utilitarian. The rope made her associate it with other tools. This leads me to believe that adding lanyards to some of my knives might make them seem nicer to sheeple.
-She thought that the balisongs skeletonized handle made it look like a tool.
-The color of the 940s handle was a factor in its perceived uses.
-The bear claw is too small to be threatening. She thought it was so small that it couldnt do much damage to someone.
-The Guntings ramp appeared to serve a utilitarian function to her. She assumed it was a tool on the knife. She said that since the ramp couldnt be used to stab someone it lowered the threat level of the knife.
-She thought that the spydie hole looked threatening. She couldnt site any reason why but she said that the hole in the blade made it look more weapon-like.
-The AFCKs size was an obvious threat to her.
-The full serrations on the Native and the Delica looked jagged and threatening.
-The all black appearance of the boot knife was a big threat to her. She said that it looked like its only purpose was to stab someone.
So what have we learned? Serrations, black blades, and large knives = Evil. Lanyards or other functional items = Utilitarian.
These are points that have already been brought up but I decided to find out for myself. I hope you find this information useful in the selection of what knives you carry for various occasions.
------------------
Karma is only justice without the satisfaction
[This message has been edited by ThinkOfTheChildren (edited 05-23-2001).]
