Why Are Some Folks Scared of Choppers?

[August West]

People are not used to knives because hardly anyone is seen with one anymore. .

Wrong, people are not used to knives because they don't use them anymore. Chris

 

[Anrkst6973]

stayed off this thread because I will go on a rant in a (pardon to all there) a freakin NY minute. I did ask a few questions of local LEO's and such.. The perception is that a 12 or 18 inch machete would hardly get a second glance but as soon as you add curves (see a D. Farmer Golok or Siegle Kuhkri) it transforms it into a weapon. I'm not sure why but when you add curves or black coating on a blade it magically transforms them into "Rambo-esque" deadly weapons. I havent had a run in with anyone over my V-TAC..yet..You would think trying to clean up the woods would at least get you brownie points!!

 

[Anrkst6973]

Bushman 5 and August are both right. Knives arnt seen because they arnt used anymore..We dont see it here at BF but less and less people go hunting,fishing or have interest in outdoor survival stuff..even with our younger members the culture we are is a vanishing one. Just as my mother was a wonderful cook but she was from an earlier generation..people as a whole just dont do these thing anymore..Do a survey of your neighbors and find out how many eat pre-prepared food 3 or more days a week..how many buy their Thanksgiving feast pre-cooked..We are a dissappearing breed. SD is not an acceptable premise to have a knife in many places and if you say its for hiking or hunting then you might as well be talking to a martian. Steak comes from a white package, fish is pre-battered, and bannanas grow in a big pile in the produce dept!

 

[August West]

Bushman 5 and August are both right. Knives arnt seen because they arnt used anymore..We dont see it here at BF but less and less people go hunting,fishing or have interest in outdoor survival stuff..even with our younger members the culture we are is a vanishing one. Just as my mother was a wonderful cook but she was from an earlier generation..people as a whole just dont do these thing anymore..Do a survey of your neighbors and find out how many eat pre-prepared food 3 or more days a week..how many buy their Thanksgiving feast pre-cooked..We are a dissappearing breed. SD is not an acceptable premise to have a knife in many places and if you say its for hiking or hunting then you might as well be talking to a martian. Steak comes from a white package, fish is pre-battered, and bannanas grow in a big pile in the produce dept!

100% what I am trying to say. :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[k_estela]

I am not afraid of choppers, I am afraid of ignorance and a lack of blade handling courtesy. I am afraid of guys and girls with no concept of how to use them properly around others or those who attempt to conceal their lack of woodsmanship behind a fancy or flashy blade. In an emergency, that blade won't help you, your skills will.I don't want someone to make a mistake in a stressful situation and endanger themself, someone around me or me.

Let's face it, our group of blade enthusiasts are part of the problem too. Sure, "sheeple" society makes up a bigger portion but overly eager (and I'm going to use a term of endearmen her) knife nuts aren't entirely innocent. We can enjoy knives all we want but not everyone has the same zeal.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[Marion David Poff]

I am not afraid of choppers, I am afraid of ignorance and a lack of blade handling courtesy. I am afraid of guys and girls with no concept of how to use them properly around others or those who attempt to conceal their lack of woodsmanship behind a fancy or flashy blade. In an emergency, that blade won't help you, your skills will.I don't want someone to make a mistake in a stressful situation and endanger themself, someone around me or me.

Let's face it, our group of blade enthusiasts are part of the problem too. Sure, "sheeple" society makes up a bigger portion but overly eager (and I'm going to use a term of endearmen her) knife nuts aren't entirely innocent. We can enjoy knives all we want but not everyone has the same zeal.

Just my .02 cents.

Very Good Points...

Marion

 

[RedbeAR15]

Unfortunately too much Friday the 13th, rather than Thursday the 12th

 

[coyotebc]

Part of it is todays solcialisation.
I can remember showing my jackknife in show and tell in elementary school. I don't know if any of my friends fathers didn't carry a pocket knife.
Sadly as the perception changed, most of the adults I know stopped carrying knives at work (usually company policy) Many then got out of the habit of carrying knives. This in turn lead them to not pass the habit on to their kids.
I carry a pocket knife in the office I work in, and am not shy about using it.
Most of the time nothing is said because they think I am odd (read redneck) anyways.

Occasionally I get asked how the companies safety officer can carry a knife, to which I have a few different replies

 

[dougo83]

even my dad, rarely uses a blade. I asked him how come, adding that I use my blade hundreds of times a day. Same with flashlights. He just shrugged, "i just dont"

I rarely use my knife daily. SUre I may clean my fingernails with it or something, but I don't see the need to use it constantly. I carry my Farmer and LM SuperTool all the time. Sometimes they just don't get used.

 

[dougo83]

^ interesting.

people here are utterly freaked out by hikers with knives. I really don't understand being afraid of people that are prepared.

You are making a huge leap here. Most people don't see carrying a knife of any kind as "being prepared."

I have to say this would freak me out a bit as well. I don't see to many guys carrying a hawk on the trails I hike. On the pack, I probably wouldn't notice, but if you're truckin along with a hawk in hand, I'm thinking you're looking to chop something!

An axe or even a hatchet probably wouldn't get a second glance from me, btw, but out here in the central plains, my first association with a hawk is as a weapon.

I would assume that is the primary reasoning behind carrying a 'hawk. To chop things? I wouldn't bother packing my hatchet just for the extra weight, I intend to use it.

to those who feel that we should be discrete with how we carry our knives, i say BOLLOCKS! People are not used to knives because hardly anyone is seen with one anymore. Wear your knife, wear it proudly, use it responsibly, and gift lots of knives and information to non knife people.

I refuse to use my knife to make a statement. Yea, I carry the 110 inits belt sheath if I decide to carry it, but I am not interested in what others think about my blades. I don't want to hear their opinion, so I save myself the irritation...

 

[Bushman5]

I rarely use my knife daily. SUre I may clean my fingernails with it or something, but I don't see the need to use it constantly. I carry my Farmer and LM SuperTool all the time. Sometimes they just don't get used.

why not? i simply do not understand how any person can go thru the days tasks without using a knife! I used my Spyderco large Manix 12 times in the last half hour, never mind the close to hundred times today i used it while walking the shoreline, or this morning etc etc etc.

 

[k_estela]

What is true of the part is not always true of the whole. Bushman, your needs are different from others and they may never be the same. It doesn't make it wrong. What is the point of arguing? Isn't this thread a little ripe? Unless someone has some pure genius to say, I think we all get the picture. Let's let this one go to the bottom before it gets heated.

 

[dougo83]

nevermind...common sense evades some...

 

[j williams]

I am not afraid of choppers, I am afraid of ignorance and a lack of blade handling courtesy. I am afraid of guys and girls with no concept of how to use them properly around others or those who attempt to conceal their lack of woodsmanship behind a fancy or flashy blade. In an emergency, that blade won't help you, your skills will.I don't want someone to make a mistake in a stressful situation and endanger themself, someone around me or me.

Let's face it, our group of blade enthusiasts are part of the problem too. Sure, "sheeple" society makes up a bigger portion but overly eager (and I'm going to use a term of endearmen her) knife nuts aren't entirely innocent. We can enjoy knives all we want but not everyone has the same zeal.

Just my .02 cents.

well put Kev. :thumbup:


Not everyone has the same needs as another. Someone in Maine might use a chopper regularly, while someone in LA might not feel the need to own one. You dont need a chopper to be prepared, or practice skills.

I dont own any choppers anymore save the machete in the garage...I get by just fine with the Farmer, swisstool spirit, and my med fixed blades......

 

[j williams]

What is true of the part is not always true of the whole. Bushman, your needs are different from others and they may never be the same. It doesn't make it wrong. What is the point of arguing? Isn't this thread a little ripe? Unless someone has some pure genius to say, I think we all get the picture. Let's let this one go to the bottom before it gets heated.

:foot:

didnt see this.... sorry guys.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

What is true of the part is not always true of the whole. Bushman, your needs are different from others and they may never be the same. It doesn't make it wrong.

I'd just like to point out that a lot of the problem is from the opposite direction (in the world, not this thread). To wit: folks think that because they don't need one, someone else shouldn't have one.

 

[din]

two words, vic: jason voorhies.

 

[Shotgun]

Well I gotta say that for a long time I was really scared of hatchets. Not because they had a rep for being weapons but because I didn't know how to use one properly. Once I started getting into knives I started reading everything I could on hatchets including proper technique and the fact that they need to be RAZOR sharp to work safely. Now my favorite blade is a Gransfors.

 

[Shotgun]

I'd just like to point out that a lot of the problem is from the opposite direction (in the world, not this thread). To wit: folks think that because they don't need one, someone else shouldn't have one.

Yeah I agree with that. Hell that happens in this sub-forum all the time. People look down on gear that they don't need but is a necessity to someone else. I really don't think there is just one reason people are apprehensive about choppers.