"Why do you always carry a knife?"

Esav Benyamin said:
James K. Mattis, z"l
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/128979-Good-reason-to-carry-a-knife

06-18-2000 02:06 AM #1 James Mattis
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"Good reason" to carry a knife

There are jurisdictions out there, i.e. the UK, and individual authority figures who may ask you for what reason you carry a knife. ("For protection" is the wrong answer!) As if you needed a reason ...

"Good reason?"

My good reason to carry a knife is that God gave me rather weak teeth and rudimentary claws in an evolutionary trade-off. The hairy-armed person who figured out how to put an edge on a suitable rock made it possible for us to be recognizably human in the first place. I wear a wristwatch whether or not I have an appointment to keep, and I carry a pen and/or pencil because I am a literate person whether or not I have a specific writing task ahead of me, and I carry a knife because I am a human and not an ape.

A knife comes in handy for all sorts of random tasks that involve separating matter. Like cutting a string, or making a sandwich, or opening a package. It can also come in handy in an emergency, which need not involve a human assailant, and emergencies are by their nature unforseen, so one should carry a knife all the time.

And in a perfect world where nobody needed a weapon, I'd probaby carry a slightly larger knife, because it wouldn't scare people.

(For some longer thoughts in this direction, visit Daithi's essay at www.knives.com )

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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001

[This message has been edited by James Mattis (edited 06-18-2000).]
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I used to carry one all the time because it's one of the basic most usefull tools a man can carry at all times.

now i carry one all the time because everybody knows I'll have one and I can remember the dissapointed look I got the one time I didn't have one and was asked to get it out to cut something open.

you should have seen that look...

they were like... seriously?????

my wife is a child psychologist and they are about the most left wing radical group of women you've ever met in your life, but two of them carry a knife on them every single day now. One in her purse and the other clipped in her front pocket. Every time I go in their office I do a knife check and they just show me and beam.
 
Reason 1: Boyscout motto...always be prepared. I've had a knife in my pocket (whenever it's legal) since I was nine (mind you the quality and cost have gradually increased).

Reason 2: nature didn't give me claws...
 
Then you get people that think knives should be illegal who stare at you like a gold fish that's just been shown a magic trick, and automatically see them as a threat; meanwhile some actual criminal-minded person could be wreaking havoc with a sharpened yogurt container. It's the same with me for the most part, in the sense that, everyone around seems to think it's weird I have a knife till something made of thick cardboard or plastic appears and needs opened and everyone stares at the dude with the precision cutting tool; previously thought to be crazy for carrying a knife... I will never understand this world, it basically comes down to this. There are those who are blinded by being babied by the world, and think everything is a danger. Then there are the ones who know that being babied by the world is an illusion, and come prepared for the worse, or perhaps better to say, come prepared to prevent the worse.
 
I carry a knife because it's a tool that can be very helpful in oh so many situations. It's been carried by mankind for thousands of years.
If all those non-knife people would just stop and think about it for let's say 0.03 seconds, it should just come quite naturally to them. But
it seems that nowaday the average joe/jane FIRST airs his/her mouth and only then stops to think.
 
I have always carried a knife since childhood, and nowadays I am often the only one around who has a sharp knife handy when one is needed. I like being effective, practical, and helpful to others. A knife helps me to accomplish all three of these goals and fits easily in my pocket. I also use a knife a lot in my work, so not having one at work would be sheer folly.
 
I carry a knife and flash light every day. And I usually get asked several times a week why I carry them by co workers who ironically ask me to use them several times a week lol
 
Why?

Because it balances out the revolver in the other pocket.

It's hard to cut out coupons at the checkout register without one!

It gives me an alternative to listening to the m-i-l ramble and rant.

They are neat. 'Cause I can!

Stainz
 
...because the chainsaw was just so darned uncomfortable in my pocket.


Of course, if my WIFE pulls out one of her knives (all pink) everyone thinks it's the neatest thing. Apparently blonde, blue eyed girls cannot be up to anything nefarious with a pink knife....Lorena Bobbit anyone?
 
sjhong said:
Someone once wrote the perfect reason to carry a knife, I don't remember where:

"Because evolution removed my claws."
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That's great! I love that. I'm glad it did, because now we can choose what claws we want!
 
As my eyesight gets poorer and my hands get weaker, I need a knife to open just about any package. Especially those darn beef jerky things.
 
Because I carry pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, and a myriad of other tools with me. Why leave the knife out?
 
Because I'm a civilized, tool-using member of society, not some barbarian tearing things open with my fingernails and teeth:D

That was one my mother-in-law couldn't say anything back to
 
OrdnanceBubbaUSMC said:
.... it's mankind's most basic and useful tool ....
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I often tell people that a hammer was probably mankind's first and most basic tool...but shortly after it was discovered, they used it to knock a chip off a rock and discovered the brilliance of a sharp edge.

Since that time we have refined and complicated the sharpened edge to the point of having forums like this where we argue about all sorts of silliness as related to a VERY basic tool.

As for carrying all the time? It just makes sense to have useful things with you when you need them.
 
blame it on a combo of a "politically-correct" society that aims at not offending anyone and movies...as cool as Rambo movies are, now everybody sees the knife as a weapon, not as a tool. I used to get pissed at having to answer that question like almost every single day (I usually have a fixed blade at my waist due to the nature of my work), but now I take some time to enlighten the questioner... I think people are getting it, knife quality (and prices) keep going up, which means that the market is going good for them. Also, the number of knifeknuts in here keeps steadily rising.
 
I've been asked this question myself in the past. I usually just keep my mouth shut and point to the items that were just cut. More often than not, I get a sheepish look from the other person indicating that he realized he asked a dumb question.
 
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