Why should I or anyone assume that a stranger with a knife has good intentions? Why are large knives necessary to open a letter or perform a small cutting task? Try using a little Case knife, SAK, or other traditional slipjoint and see if you get the same response.
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Who has an EDC for sheeple friendly carry, and one for who cares?
- Thread starter Aldebaran
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GB940Rookie
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I could give a rats ass what somebody else thinks about my carry.
Hickory n steel
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I haven't met many who care either, I only like having a smaller non threatening knife on me because I feel it's more appropriate for use in public.
I see knives on people's belts or clipped into pockets all the time, I just never really see people using them in public for some reason.
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I usually carry a blade from 3 to 4 inches. There is no such thing as an illegal knife in TX; only restricted areas. And even then you can have a blade that is 5.5 inches. I don't care what others think; I'll carry within the laws. If I need to use it, then use it and put it up. But at the same time I'm not running around threating folks with a blade.
Simply put other people's options don't matter; as long as what I have is legal, in the setting that I'm in.
Simply put other people's options don't matter; as long as what I have is legal, in the setting that I'm in.
Wowbagger
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The sheeple friendly is my miniscule SAK Mini Champ.
Whip that puppy out in front of your city cop and he will start laughing. Guuuuurrrrranteed.
I had a customer say, when I took out a Manix LW to open a package for him : I didn't know the Bowie was standard equipment for the modern mechanic.
Or some stuff like that. Seems like a normal old size knife to me but I may be slightly biassed.
Whip that puppy out in front of your city cop and he will start laughing. Guuuuurrrrranteed.
I had a customer say, when I took out a Manix LW to open a package for him : I didn't know the Bowie was standard equipment for the modern mechanic.
Or some stuff like that. Seems like a normal old size knife to me but I may be slightly biassed.
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Why should you assume they have any intentions at all, good or bad?
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My work edc blades are my larger ones. I do landscaping so my go to folding blades are my spyderco military and Emerson roadhouse. I tone it down when Im not working with, for example, a spyderco manix or Emerson horseman and a slip joint.
I also take exception to the term "sheeple." Let's please give it a rest.
It's not unreasonable for a non-knife person to see a large, aggressively styled knife and think "weapon", particularly if they don't know the person holding it. Even within the knife community, there is far from universal acceptance of the notion that our knives are merely useful tools for peaceful purposes. Many of the threads here on BF discuss the "tactical" and self-defense capabilities of knives; in other words, their capacity to function as weapons.
If you whip out an Emerson Combat Bowie or a Benchmade Bedlam in a public setting, you should expect to upset some people (and, to be honest, that was probably your intent). Regular people, not mindless, ovine drones. Attenuating your behavior to the social setting you are in doesn't denigrate your man- or womanhood, it just means that you are consenting to function as a dues-paying member of the society you live in and from which you benefit. Likewise, if you park your Hummer in two spaces, fart in an elevator, or eat an egg salad sandwich on a packed subway, you're not asserting your god-given liberty, you're being a jerk. Not that you're a jerk, OP, I don't know you.
To answer your question, OP, yes. I live in a major city and I always carry a knife here, usually a locking folder, as well as a multitool (LM PS4) and usually a backup (SAK Pioneer). Our knife laws are somewhat vague, but I am not overly concerned with what the police think of my knife, as we don't have much to talk about generally.
But I do give consideration to the setting I'm in. For example, I feel comfortable carrying my UKPK at school, and the few times I've klacked it open no one has batted an eye (most of the people in my program are in the trades, and are probably not representative of the greater student body). The UKPK is probably my least "threatening" folder apart from a SAK.
At work I feel I have more leeway, and will usually carry my Mini Grip or Sage 5. Both are kind of goofy-looking and not at all "tactical." I still try to use them discreetly.
If I'm carrying my ZT0450, I better know everyone, because it screams "dangerous switchblade," not "benign cheese slicer." An unfair characterization, I think, but one that I am aware of and sensitive to.
In most cases, I also have my SAK Pioneer in my back pocket. This I don't mind whipping out at a restaurant to cut my steak (hate those god-awful serrated chainsaws they give you, no better way to ruin a good piece of meat).
I can't bring any of my tools, even a LM Squirt, into a ballgame. I don't like it, but that's what it is.
It seems like you already have the solution to your problem: you said you carry a backup, so if that is a SAK or traditional then you're set for whichever situation you find yourself in.
Common sense and common courtesy: don't wear ratty sneakers to the symphony, don't wear a ten-gallon hat to the movies, and don't whip out your XL Espada at the PTA meeting.
And stop saying "sheeple."
It's not unreasonable for a non-knife person to see a large, aggressively styled knife and think "weapon", particularly if they don't know the person holding it. Even within the knife community, there is far from universal acceptance of the notion that our knives are merely useful tools for peaceful purposes. Many of the threads here on BF discuss the "tactical" and self-defense capabilities of knives; in other words, their capacity to function as weapons.
If you whip out an Emerson Combat Bowie or a Benchmade Bedlam in a public setting, you should expect to upset some people (and, to be honest, that was probably your intent). Regular people, not mindless, ovine drones. Attenuating your behavior to the social setting you are in doesn't denigrate your man- or womanhood, it just means that you are consenting to function as a dues-paying member of the society you live in and from which you benefit. Likewise, if you park your Hummer in two spaces, fart in an elevator, or eat an egg salad sandwich on a packed subway, you're not asserting your god-given liberty, you're being a jerk. Not that you're a jerk, OP, I don't know you.
To answer your question, OP, yes. I live in a major city and I always carry a knife here, usually a locking folder, as well as a multitool (LM PS4) and usually a backup (SAK Pioneer). Our knife laws are somewhat vague, but I am not overly concerned with what the police think of my knife, as we don't have much to talk about generally.
But I do give consideration to the setting I'm in. For example, I feel comfortable carrying my UKPK at school, and the few times I've klacked it open no one has batted an eye (most of the people in my program are in the trades, and are probably not representative of the greater student body). The UKPK is probably my least "threatening" folder apart from a SAK.
At work I feel I have more leeway, and will usually carry my Mini Grip or Sage 5. Both are kind of goofy-looking and not at all "tactical." I still try to use them discreetly.
If I'm carrying my ZT0450, I better know everyone, because it screams "dangerous switchblade," not "benign cheese slicer." An unfair characterization, I think, but one that I am aware of and sensitive to.
In most cases, I also have my SAK Pioneer in my back pocket. This I don't mind whipping out at a restaurant to cut my steak (hate those god-awful serrated chainsaws they give you, no better way to ruin a good piece of meat).
I can't bring any of my tools, even a LM Squirt, into a ballgame. I don't like it, but that's what it is.
It seems like you already have the solution to your problem: you said you carry a backup, so if that is a SAK or traditional then you're set for whichever situation you find yourself in.
Common sense and common courtesy: don't wear ratty sneakers to the symphony, don't wear a ten-gallon hat to the movies, and don't whip out your XL Espada at the PTA meeting.
And stop saying "sheeple."
Carry what you like, within reason, and be discreet. Don't pay too much mind to what others think as far as your carry preferences.
Example: I carry a (lisenced) pistol and a fixed blade w/ a 4in blade most days. Looking at me one would not suspect I am carrying anything. The knife lives on my weak side hip in a slim kydex and the pistol lives on my strong side waistband in a cordura holster. Under a jacket or even T shirt, it is almost invisible. Never had a problem.
Example: I carry a (lisenced) pistol and a fixed blade w/ a 4in blade most days. Looking at me one would not suspect I am carrying anything. The knife lives on my weak side hip in a slim kydex and the pistol lives on my strong side waistband in a cordura holster. Under a jacket or even T shirt, it is almost invisible. Never had a problem.
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I honestly just wouldn't worry about it, unless it's against the law or against company policy, then fudge 'em. Of course I dress rationally, I hate having excess crap that I'm not going to use. If I'm doing office work, I'm not likely to need a Buck 110 for anything, it just ends up being weight, a Case Peanut or my Kershaw Leek is more than enough. If I'm out doing field work a larger knife may be in order or a multi tool.
I always think these threads are interesting. Do non knife people get scared by a 4 inch blade on a folder? A 3.5 inch blade? A 3 inch Blade? 2.5 inches?
Is it really the blade itself or the demeanor of the person using the knife?
I cqrried an Endura exclusively for several years, then transitioned to a Military for a couple of years. When I used these in public, I never encountered an alarmed or anxious reaction. Of course I used the knives as tools with no drama or interest in others reactions.
I have always believed that the problem with using moderately large modern folders in front of other people originates with the user rather than the knife. If the knife doesn't impress the user as a big deal, it likely won t make that impression on an observer.
At least in my experience.
I must admit I haven t lived in too many rough inner city neighborhoods.
Is it really the blade itself or the demeanor of the person using the knife?
I cqrried an Endura exclusively for several years, then transitioned to a Military for a couple of years. When I used these in public, I never encountered an alarmed or anxious reaction. Of course I used the knives as tools with no drama or interest in others reactions.
I have always believed that the problem with using moderately large modern folders in front of other people originates with the user rather than the knife. If the knife doesn't impress the user as a big deal, it likely won t make that impression on an observer.
At least in my experience.
I must admit I haven t lived in too many rough inner city neighborhoods.
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I can't recall even once that anyone's been way bent out of shape about my knife, had a few misinformed people tell me it was illegal before. Although, I did have someone get intimidated by my flower clippers once but they were tactical special forces flower clippers and I was really brutalizing some milkweed.
Uncle Timbo
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All my friends and coworkers know I'm a redneck hillbilly from WV. What else would I carry? A Swiss Army knife?
I carry my Spyderco Sage I for hard work and her sister, Sage II, for those other times.
I carry my Spyderco Sage I for hard work and her sister, Sage II, for those other times.
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Take exception all you want. And for all the rest of you who will "lose respect for me" for using the term "sheeple"... so be it.
There are those among us who don't know the law, and therefore think we should act according to their wishes and predjudices. There are folks that will have a great conversation with me, until I happened to tell them that I was packing a loaded Glock, whereupon their demeanor would take a 180 degree turn... simply because I'm packing a weapon. Never mind that I'm licensed to do so, and perfectly legal in doing so, and that if I hadn't told them I had it on me they'd have never known... I'm somehow offending them by carrying a loaded weapon in their presence. I'm not assuming, this has actually taken place. I've run into folk who are genuinely disgruntled and uncomfortable with me exercising my constitutional rights.
Those folk, like the term or not, are sheeple to me. A law abiding citizen is a law abiding citizen... regardless of your taboos.
And if all somebody has to wear is ratty sneakers, who the hell are you to deny them entrance to the symphony?
Stop saying "sheeple"? Hmmph. Stop BEING sheeple.
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Amazing the reaction the term sheeple brings. You mean like this??
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This is kind of what I'm getting at.
When I CCW, I never ever talk about it, not even if I know my interlocutor is also carrying.
Part of concealing a handgun is keeping your mouth shut.
It's not your exercise of rights they are uncomfortable with, it's the firearm itself. You have one, they don't. Are they supposed to feel safer that you're carrying and they're not? If they're not supposed to react in any way, why mention it in the first place? You have asserted an imbalance of power to your advantage. It is completely within the realm of reason to expect this person to feel threatened, not by your constitutional right, but by your Glock. And by your apparent indiscretion, as evidenced by your casual conversational mention that you are "packing a loaded Glock."
I think it's disingenuous to pretend you don't understand the difference.
I never said you would be denied entry. But you are speaking to my point.
You will, most likely, be admitted to the symphony in your ratty sneakers (unless there is a strictly enforced dress code, in which case you won't). You will also be the target of sneers, side-eyes, derisive snorts and general condescension. Is this right and just? No. Should you expect it? Yes, you know where you are. And you know very well you have an acceptable pair of shoes.
If someone experiences a traumatic event directly involving a knife, and becomes scared of knives because of that, this doesn't necessarily make them a sheep. This is a completely natural response: the brain associates knife with bad news, and makes the person afraid of knives for self preservation reasons.
Now, if someone is scared of knives just because someone else is, or because someone else told them they should be, they are a sheep: A weak minded fool who can't think for him or herself and blindly follows others.
Sheeple is not accurate as a blanket term (blanket terms are generally made by foolish people). But on a case by case basis, it holds merit.
I've read sheep so much in this thread that it's starting to look weird as a word....
Now, if someone is scared of knives just because someone else is, or because someone else told them they should be, they are a sheep: A weak minded fool who can't think for him or herself and blindly follows others.
Sheeple is not accurate as a blanket term (blanket terms are generally made by foolish people). But on a case by case basis, it holds merit.
I've read sheep so much in this thread that it's starting to look weird as a word....
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Same here, makes life easier sometimes. I find the fact it is on my keys seems to help people cope as well.
