What makes a knife look "weapony"?

I have never had a bad reaction or seen bug eyes when I use my knife. I use them a lot and will do so right in front of a perfect stranger. But I take my knife out, I use it, and I put it up. I'm not looking over my shoulder to see who is around or trying to hide anything. I look pretty young and I wear casual clothes so it is not because I look old and wise.
 
There seem to be some exceptions at times.
My titanium Military is big, and has the non-traditional materials thing going, but seems to be more often viewed as a tool.
Maybe it's the grind of the blade which looks more utilitarian.:confused:
 
I was working a Household Hazardous waste collection a few weeks back and we had college girls sorting batteries and taping the ones deemed "dangerous" by the DOT. Some arrived in a Tide bottle and they couldn't shake all of them out. I stepped up with CRKT Folding Razel and one girl said "He's got a machete!" It was all I could do to just roll my eyes, mutter "sheeple" and cut the top off the bottle.

So apparently a wide flat pointed blade is "weapony" to college girls.

razel.jpg
 
Actually, this is one of the things I was concerned about when I went shopping for my first knife. I was wanting something a little nicer and more robust than your basic swiss army knife, but not to the point that it would raise any eyebrows.

Bigger knives, black knives, and assisted knives tend to get the attention. However, a large component of it is the person behind the knife and how they dress/act. That said, the town I'm in has a fairly large outdoors crowd, so I'm pleasantly surprised that my big assisted Scallion doesn't tend to draw a lot of undue attention. It helps that I'm a big guy, so it looks 'normal'-sized in my mitts. It also helps that I got the composite version which, as one person described it, makes the knife 'pretty'. Third, I tend to be careful about where I open it, and how I open it (on many occasions, I'll open it with both hands like a standard folder rather than let the A/O kick in, as it can definitely look and sound switchblade-y).
 
All modern features.
-One hand opening
-lock (not lockback)
-clip

Some modern looks
-Metal handle
-Black blade
-Ergonomics.

Basically everything what a slipjoint like a sodbuster or Victorinox doesn't have.
I carried a Böker Trance, got some weird remarks (That's a big knife!)
Carried a CRKT Drifter got some weird looks.

So now I stick with Victorinox and slipjoints.
 
J.Mattson said:
Often times it seems to be the person holding it.
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I think people who use the word "sheeple" a lot tend to look suspicious and dangerous.

mmmm, maybe Im thinking of pretentious?

no but I agree with you. if a crazy hobo looking guy is carrying a brick it looks much more like a weapon than a building material.
 
What makes a 10 inch screw driver less dangerous than a knife is my question!
 
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I don't really care about what people think when I use my folder in public for job-related tasks.

As long as I have a valid reason to use it and not behave aggressively, suspiciously unnecessarily, people should have no reason to fear my knife (e.g. MOD CQD Mark 2 / Al Mar Shrike).

Add tiger-stripes finishes, Bowie tips and other thin pointy tips to the list?
 
I think its the person using it for the most part. If you look kind of shady, your gonna get looks. I am a fairly well dressed friendly looking fella, and never have problems with any knives. I use em all the time on a university campus, and have not yet got a comment or even a glance.
 
In my experience, people tend to get sqeamish around black bladed knives. Unfortunately, the Benchmade 710, 943, even my mini grip all got the same results. I do not have to mention the black bladed SPyderco military that rides with me almost daily.
 
a blood groove, completely unnecessary extra complicated grinds for tacticool looks... tanto tips, lots of holes
 
Sithus1966 said:
I was working a Household Hazardous waste collection a few weeks back and we had college girls sorting batteries and taping the ones deemed "dangerous" by the DOT. Some arrived in a Tide bottle and they couldn't shake all of them out. I stepped up with CRKT Folding Razel and one girl said "He's got a machete!" It was all I could do to just roll my eyes, mutter "sheeple" and cut the top off the bottle.

So apparently a wide flat pointed blade is "weapony" to college girls.

razel.jpg
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it's funny because legislation in Great Britain banning 'stabable knives' says the exact opposite
 
That's funny. When I was packing for a FTX in Army ROTC, another cadet said my Benchmade Nimravus was a Rambo knife.

Rambo knife, really? That thing's got a 4.5" blade, it falls on the low end of mid length fixed blades. It's nowhere near as big as Hibben's designs.
 
coop1957 said:
Is "Weapony" what we use to call "Mall Ninja"?
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Not necessarily.
My Superhawk doesn't look like I'm going to save the civilians at the Mall of America:p, but it does look, to some people, more like a weapon than a tool(even though it looks more like a tool than a weapon to me).
 
PayetteRucker said:
it's funny because legislation in Great Britain banning 'stabable knives' says the exact opposite
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Though Great Britain bans carry of locking blades (hence Spyderco's advent of the UKPK).

On a separate note, someone at britishblades lost a UKPK to the cops because they insisted it was a locking blade because there was a faint click when fully deployed (even though it's a slipjoint).
 
Aside from really large knives (5.5"-6" Cold Steel knives, chopping Busses, etc), I think Hollywood tends to emphasize overly polished blades in horror flicks. But as some have said, I think it really comes down to the person wielding it and the observer.
 
Spine serrations did it for my wife. I have 100's of knives, she likes most of them. When I was testing a knife for a pass around it had spine serrations, as soon as she saw it she said "that's scary looking"
 
cdhumiston said:
Spine serrations did it for my wife. I have 100's of knives, she likes most of them. When I was testing a knife for a pass around it had spine serrations, as soon as she saw it she said "that's scary looking"
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that's the thing, it will vary from person to person.

it could be size, materials, shape, color, serrations, grind, graphics, or any combination thereof.
 
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