Who has an EDC for sheeple friendly carry, and one for who cares?

A

Aldebaran

Joined
Sep 18, 2004
Messages
335
I have had to face the decision as to what knife to carry in what situation. I live in a part of the world where having the best tools on you all the time might make a difference. I am 1-1/2 hours minimum from the nearest hospital, good tools are not readily available, and the locals have low education in tools and their uses. Given this I try to be prepared.

Being prepared for me means having a good knife, a multi-tool, and a backup knife. The problem with a knife here is that the size permissible is at the discretion of the police. Does it look dangerous to the particular officer? Then it is a weapon. Where I live, in the middle of nowhere, I can get away with something bigger, like my CH Knives CH 3504, PM2, Ritter Grip, ZT 0566 etc. Even then it could be pushing the size for the comfort of some random police officer.

When I drive to the big city, I know I have to down size. I carry a Rat2, or a CH 3001, or a Delica 4, etc. In the city a knife is almost viewed as a weapon instead of a toll by default.

So who else has this dual EDC requirement?
 
I normally carry a slipjont, and pair one with my buck 110 or fixed blade if that's what I'm carrying. Its Partly for being public friendly but mostly for the tasks more suited for a small blade.
I don't often use a knife in front of strange people out in public, but I have no problem cleaning my nails with a function on my Vic while waiting at a doctors office or something.
This I wouldn't do with something large or modern.
 
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I live near the city so I don't carry larger blades. If I do, I like to also carry a smaller blade for versatility, and if I needed to cut something around someone I think might be spooked, I would use the smaller one. But mostly I just carry around 3 inches, that's the sweet size IMO.
 
gzb said:
Are we back with this "Sheeple" crap again...?
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OK, I will replace "sheeple" with the long phrase "people who act like a crowd of nervous oversensitive fearful humans who almost repel at the sight of a knife ". Is that better? Sheesh.... Use the words you want, don't tell me what words I need to use.
 
Charlie Mike said:
Although high explosives are capable of solving every problem, they are seldom the best solution.
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I dunno, the following expression makes a lot of sense to me;
If all you have is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail.

I also carry a slipjoint, mine is a Lion Steel Euro-Barlow.
Near impervious to the elements and holds a killer edge. Ti liners, M390 blade, and 420 (iirc) for the hardware.
 
Yes, I do. Typically I carry a good medium/large sized folder like a 0562cf, PM2, American Lawman, Blur, etc, along with a small folder like a Delica 4 or a Leek. During working hours however it's just the Delica4.
 
Aldebaran said:
OK, I will replace "sheeple" with the long phrase "people who act like a crowd of nervous oversensitive fearful humans who almost repel at the sight of a knife ". Is that better? Sheesh.... Use the words you want, don't tell me what words I need to use.
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Let's be completely fair to the general populace here - the vast majority of humanity does not need - nor see a need - to regularly carry a knife that is not also attached to a swiss army pocket tool. Larger non-traditional (slipjoint) knives are nearly universally perceived as weapons, and their use as a weapon is what most people have seen the most of, primarily through news and entertainment. You don't see news reports of "man uses tactical knife to open mail, everything is fine don't worry about it" or much of that in entertainment either (with few notable exceptions)

Additionally, some people have been threatened or attacked with knives. I accidentally gave one of my coworkers a sort of flashback when I opened a knife to break down a box, because she had been threatened with violent sexual acts at knifepoint at some point in her past. Being timid or fearful of knives is not a flaw of the general population - it is a conditioned response, sometimes burned in through trauma.

Being cognizant of how your actions will be interpreted is extremely important. Just not breaking any laws and having no ill intent does not excuse making flashy moves with an item that can be seen as a weapon, nor does it make you immune to criticism or questioning when people see you have a 4" tanto that is far in excess of what you would need to cut some tape or open a plastic package.

I still carry larger, somewhat aggressive knives - but I use them sparingly and am careful to use them exclusively in a manner as one would use a tool. I open and use them discretely and with careful consideration of those around me. That is how you represent responsible knife ownership to the world - by making it seem like normal and unobtrusive use of an edged tool, and not being a flashy douche.
 
I have a couple that are specifically for discreet office carry. Most often it's an alox Cadet on a TEC p-7 suspension clip.

Otherwise, outside of the office, I'll carry whatever I feel like as long as it's legal in my state (IL). Don't much care what others think when not at work.
 
I like a sheepsfoot blade which has the benefit of looking not aggressive. With the new forum barlow that is a sheepsfoot slippie, even better. I usually have a mini-grip sheep with blue plastic handle or the sheep barlow on me depending on the pants I have.

What is the punishment for a "weapon" knife? Confiscation or worse? If it's only to have it taken away I would be more comfortable with something in the gray area but if it's a hefty fine or jail time, stick to the safe side.

SAK's are pretty non-threatening also, I just don't prefer them as the blade is the tool I've found I use the most, except for a flashlight when days get shorter.
 
Aldebaran said:
I have had to face the decision as to what knife to carry in what situation. I live in a part of the world where having the best tools on you all the time might make a difference. I am 1-1/2 hours minimum from the nearest hospital, good tools are not readily available, and the locals have low education in tools and their uses. Given this I try to be prepared.

Being prepared for me means having a good knife, a multi-tool, and a backup knife. The problem with a knife here is that the size permissible is at the discretion of the police. Does it look dangerous to the particular officer? Then it is a weapon. Where I live, in the middle of nowhere, I can get away with something bigger, like my CH Knives CH 3504, PM2, Ritter Grip, ZT 0566 etc. Even then it could be pushing the size for the comfort of some random police officer.

When I drive to the big city, I know I have to down size. I carry a Rat2, or a CH 3001, or a Delica 4, etc. In the city a knife is almost viewed as a weapon instead of a toll by default.

So who else has this dual EDC requirement?
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I plan on being an upstanding citizen at any given time and follow all the laws put in place by the local establishment when out in public, so I don't have any cause to worry about being apprehended by law enforcement and thus don't really care which knives I may have on me as long as they are legal. Fixed blades are not legal to carry in the city so I don't carry them, 3.5"+ blades are not legal either so I don't carry them, but otherwise I don't cater my knife choices to those around me based on their looks.

As for the use of the word 'sheeple', I think it is an ugly word used by ignorant people who can't understand opposing viewpoints and feel the need to degrade others to feel good about themselves; whenever I see someone using it with any seriousness they lose all of my respect.
 
Aldebaran said:
OK, I will replace "sheeple" with the long phrase "people who act like a crowd of nervous oversensitive fearful humans who almost repel at the sight of a knife ". Is that better? Sheesh.... Use the words you want, don't tell me what words I need to use.
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Sometimes people have a good reason to act this way, but they're still acting this way.
They don't know us and shouldn't judge our use and carry of knives, even if they were attacked with one once or something.
And we don't know them so we shouldn't judge their fear of knives, even if many governments who act the same way want to take them from us.
We judge them and they judge us, but they don't get offended on our behalf and we shouldn't on theirs.

Btw we don't call them sheeple to degrade them, we call them sheeple Because they're acting in a Manor reminiscent of sheep.
They can try to help it and be more open to the thought of people carrying knives, but most don't.
 
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Aldebaran said:
OK, I will replace "sheeple" with the long phrase "people who act like a crowd of nervous oversensitive fearful humans who almost repel at the sight of a knife ". Is that better? Sheesh.... Use the words you want, don't tell me what words I need to use.
Click to expand...

You can use whatever words you want, just like we can look at your use of certain words and judge you for it. If you feel like using that particular word go right ahead, but don't be surprised if you catch some flak for it because it's an inflammatory and derogatory slur of a word.

Hickory n steel said:
Sometimes people have a good reason to act this way, but they're still acting this way.
They don't know us to judge our carry and use of knives just because they were attacked with one once or something, and we don't know them to judge their fear of knives just because many governments would would like to take the from us or something.
We judge them and they judge us, but they don't get offended on our behalf and we shouldn't for them.

Btw they can help it and they should just stop acting like in a Manor reminiscent of sheep, sheeple is not describing them but their actions.
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Most people don't have manors to live in, that's only for rich folks; manners, on the other hand, are quite plentiful throughout civilization.

Failing to consider the temperaments of those around you is rarely a good idea, but technically you have the right to do it.
 
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Frankly I've met very few people who've voiced concern about what knife I'm carrying. I think very few people actually care, and I don't particularly care about the one or two that might.
 
The worst reaction I've ever gotten was someone temporarily looking frightened because I was walking towards them with my knife out, but they relaxed when they saw I stopped at the box between us and began opening it.

Others mostly just say "Is that a knife?" and then go on about their business, slightly more informed.
 
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