"Why do you always carry a knife?"

We have always carried knives as a species for millennia, we still need to eat, work with our hands and protect ourselves from dangers all of which a knife can help us with, little has changed over time. There are more reasons today to carry a knife than it was befrore the advent of extreme packaging such as the plastics and materials today that cannot be opened by bare hands without the assist of something sharp and pointy.
 
It's like an EDC flashlight. You never knew you needed one until you starting carrying it on your person at all times... and then you'll wonder how you ever lived without one.
 
Favorite reason..... Because I can

More justified reasons;

Because on the ever rare chance I don't carry one I need one and feel stupid for not having one.

Reason for carrying three......... Cause I can :D
 
Because most of the men I work with at an orchard don't carry pocket knives and something always needs to be cut. I'll speak for my hubby, he grew up around cattle, cutting a lot of baler twine, so he would be lost without a knife.
 
Lavan said:
...is the question I got from a lady in my senior single seniors meetup group. We were at one of our events and no one had anything to open a package of hot dogs with other than their teeth.
So she asks me if I have my knife and I take it out and use it and then she......asks..... WHY... I always carry one.

When I looked at her like I did, she got it.

wow.
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Understanding is aided when your teeth are not your own. :D
 
All of those are good reasons, but my reason for always carrying a knife is quite simple: because I always have. In the culture that I grew up in (rural NW Georgia) a man or boy simply wasn't without his pocket knife. It was indispensable. From cleaning out fingernails and making toothpicks to cleaning game or stripping wire on the job, it's the one tool that I use every day, and I feel undressed without one (which is one of the reasons that I never fly anymore if I can avoid it) But, strangely, for all of the time that I have been carrying knives, with all of the things that I have done with them, I never considered my pocket knife to be a potential weapon until all the liberals started harping about it.
 
white avenger said:
But, strangely, for all of the time that I have been carrying knives, with all of the things that I have done with them, I never considered my pocket knife to be a potential weapon until all the liberals started harping about it.
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Of course not. Because back in the days when every man or boy carried a knife, our first reaction to a threat was a punch in the jaw, not deadly force. :)
 
So many possible ways to answer...

Yes, no fangs or claws. Probably because we evolved (or were created, if you prefer) as tool users. Doesn't help if you don't have (or are denied) the tools.

A knife is probably the most generalist, non-specialized tool ever created. That makes it the most generally useful tool ever created.

Because it probably enhances my chances of surviving the unexpected by fivefold or more.

Because these days our packaging is almost universally more durable than the product inside.

Because these days if you NEED a knife, no one else is likely to have one.

Because Leroy Jethro Gibbs says to! (Gibbs' Rule # 9, "Never go anywhere without a knife.", pretty enlightened for TV, actually).

Probably the real answer: because I was born a knife nut, and am never without one without feeling naked, helpless and vulnerable. Apparently my government increasingly wants me to feel naked, helpless and vulnerable. I wonder why that is?

--------------

Yeah, I wear a tiny titanium 185-lumen LED flashlight around my neck on a dog-tag chain. The watches I wear most often have compasses as a function. Two tiny tools to create fire on the keychain...
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Of course not. Because back in the days when every man or boy carried a knife, our first reaction to a threat was a punch in the jaw, not deadly force. :)
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Fantastic point!

I got into MANY fights as a boy. I won some and lost many, but in every single instance my knife that stayed in my pocket through the entire ordeal.
 
Because the ability to separate matter is one the most fundamentally powerful and useful abilities that technology brings us, and gives us the ability to shape our environment to match our needs. Knives and string built civilization--the ability to cut things apart and put them back together is what got us where we are today. Thanks to these two basic technologies we've not just been able to survive, but thrive. :)
 
white avenger said:
I never considered my pocket knife to be a potential weapon until all the liberals started harping about it.
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Lol @ political misconceptions ;)
The "liberals" weren't the ones to take away our right to carry our pocketknives on a plane.
Anyone who thinks that any politician, of any flavor, is actually going to preserve our rights... is wearing rose-colored glasses.
 
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ditto to what unit said. Last fight I got into was quite uneven - it was me against one guy and before I knew it I was surrounded by 7 more. I got my ass kicked but walked out of that place with my knife still in the pocket. The thought of pulling it out never crossed my mind, but would have done it in a heartbeat had any other weapon been produced.
 
Because it's too useful to be without.

In response to the invariable "useful for what?" question...
1) Because I can't chew through zip ties.
2) I don't like the taste of cardboard and packing tape.
3) I hate getting my car keys gunked up by tape residue.
4) Four words "RF welded clamshell packages".
5) Prying up heavy duty staples.
6) Try popping out dead batteries with your fingernails.
7) When I need a poking, prying, or unscrewing tool to get to said batteries (SAKs and MTs).

Do I need to go on?

EDIT: In reponses to the "weapon" comments... I've never cut anybody with a knife. Most people can do that to themselves just fine without my help.
 
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I carry a knife because I like them, and I feel naked without one. As well, I work in LE and know what people are capable of. But like most people, I wouldn't pull it out unless I meant to use it. Same goes for any weapon.
 
I always carry a knife because I tend to put a great deal of emphasis on self reliance and a knife is IMO one of the most useful and practical tools you can possibly put in your pocket and can provide a great deal of self help in a number of circumstances.
 
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