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Why doesn't anyone carry a knife?

W

will62

Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Messages
372
One of the small towns in the area has a festival celebrating apples. My wife's employer had a float in the parade and she was there recruiting in the area. We arrived about an hour before the parade to help with finishing touches for the float and booth. They were in the process of hanging banners on the SUV pulling the float and had nothing to cut the cord they were attaching the banners with. Of the four men there I was the only one carrying a knife or a multi tool.

I have the same problem at my own job as I am the only tech who carries a pocket knife. The other techs will use their keys or a box cutter if they can find it to open boxes. The other option is to ask me since they all know I carry at least one knife. Due to a bunch of stupid rules all I am allowed to carry is a knife with a blade under 2.25 inches which usually means I carry a Kershaw Chive or a Buck model 303 Stockman. No full size multi tools allowed either.

Have people gotten too used to easy opening packaging and would prefer to make do with a pen or a key? Has the PC stuff gotten out of hand?
 
We have so many utility knives and x-acto knives at work, it really doesn't matter if I carry a pocketknife or not. I still do most days. :)

This has been my EDC most days recently, when I remember. Generally paranoid of carrying a knife without a lanyard (all of my other carry knives have lanyards) but so far I've been lucky with this one.

DSC_4047_zps23337c63.jpg
 
People just don't see a need anymore, take a look around at how many still wear a wrist watch or carry a pen, in 2013 a gentleman need only carry a smart phone and his credit/debit card.
 
I couldnt even make a day without a knife (im a plumber). I have noticed most people dont carry at least one knife, which is stupid, even for someone who doesnt like them they cant deny the functionality of a good knife.
 
Brainwashing from public school - my hometown permitted kids to have pocketknives, but they've been prohibited to students in most schools for awhile.
 
I guess I am out of touch, I wear a watch, prefer cash and carry a pen and pad. Don't get me wrong I like my smart phone ad have a debit card but old school still has a place. At least until they come up with a pocket sized laser that can cut 2 inch rope in one pass, shave your arm hair and skin a deer, I will still carry a pocket knife.
 
kornphlake said:
People just don't see a need anymore, take a look around at how many still wear a wrist watch or carry a pen, in 2013 a gentleman need only carry a smart phone and his credit/debit card.
Click to expand...

Or a comb, or a handkerchief or know how to tie a tie.
 
Box cutters are well suited to lots of cutting tasks. Truthfully boxes and packages aren't all that demanding, a house key will usually suffice and its an item that most people use far more often. Conversely, unlocking a door with a knife is a pretty frustrating experience.
 
Im one of the few that carry one too.

just seems eith technology people are getting too comfy.
 
Isn't that the truth.... with knives, people think the employer is responsibile to provide their "tools". So few wrist watches or pens anymore. I can understand the watch thing (due to cell phones), but I can't understand the pen thing.... (other than the cool factor) when half the people you run into can't even add or substract in their head, make change without a calculator telling them the right answer, or remember a telephone number.

Some of the sub-3" blades are very functional. My EDC fixed blade has an effective blade length of 2.25" or about 2.5" as measured from the handle. It is a very useful size and I guess I could get used to a sub-2" blade length as well.
 
I prefer a box cutter for breaking down boxes just because the company supplies them for use in the shop. In the field I prefer to use my knife since I deal with a lot of elderly people who freak out at the sight of a box cutter more than a pocket knife. It is a sad state of affairs when a man does not feel the need to carry a knife. Just my .02 worth
 
I guess I come from a different part of the world, because I don't know hardly anyone at work that doesn't carry a knife. However, because of all of the safety rules, most of the plants or companies we do work for, forbid the use of a knife unless it's a utility knife, Exacto knife, etc. No one is allowed to take personal responsibility for their own actions. They have to be protected by every rule conceivable.
 
It probably depends on what area of the country you live in. I'm in northern WV and it's pretty common for a guy to carry a folding knife around here. (granted they usually aren't as nice or expensive as mine...:D)
 
I was in a local Home Depot yesterday and I needed an item off an upper shelf (A/C air filters). I wanted 2. They come in boxes of 12. After THREE employees (all under 25) didn't even have a utility knife to open the box, I told them "I'll get it" and in less than 10 seconds had my 4 inch Kabar 1232 out, the box opened and the knife back it's sheath.

Then I had to pull it back out and show them what it was. All 3 thought I was carrying an illegal weapon.

I patiently explained that it was A) a tool, not a weapon and B) a LEGAL knife (had to explain Texas law - 2/3 believed the mythical 'longer than palm width" BS and the third, being from Corpus Christi, thought, all fixed blades were legal statewide) and showed them my 2 buck folders, and the pro-tech TR-4, (explaining that switchblades were now legal in Texas).

For their question as to why I had that many, I said that I prefer to use the right sized knife for the task. As an example, I asked them if they had more than 1 pair of shoes at home if the could only wear one pair at a time anyway?

Seeing a little interest in their eyes, I told them that there was a whole world of different knives to explore and legally use, rattling off every brand that popped into my head. Hopefully, they will remember about bladeforum and knifeforum, where I told them they could learn about knives. Maybe one out of three will become a knife person.

If 1000 BF members would convert just 1 non-knife person to a knife person / knife nut each month, and each new knife person did as well, after just a year, that would put over 4 million more knife liking people in society. That would not be a bad thing.
 
will62 said:
I guess I am out of touch, I wear a watch, prefer cash and carry a pen and pad. Don't get me wrong I like my smart phone ad have a debit card but old school still has a place. At least until they come up with a pocket sized laser that can cut 2 inch rope in one pass, shave your arm hair and skin a deer, I will still carry a pocket knife.
Click to expand...

I agree, and I am constantly amazed at the number of supposedly well-prepared and supposedly competent people who do not have pen, paper, lighter, can opener or knife - they then ask to borrow mine or someone else's.
:confused:
 
Years ago, when I was working a stock person for a retail store, we weren't allowed to use knives on the sales floor, in fear of making the customers uncomfortable. I also wasn't allowed to carry a knife when I was a tech for a cable company, they considered it brandishing a weapon in a customers home if you used a knife to open boxes. Most people I know are not allowed to have a knife with them due to company policy.
 
The sheepel heard has grown. I carry usually a large folder to work. And when i see guys out back stomping on boxes to break them down before they go in the dumpster i shake my head. when someone cant open something i use my knife that look at me weird but i just watched you struggle for 5 minutes. Meanwhile we work in a professional kitchen with over a dozen 10" chef knives floating around on tables and in random places. and a 3.5-4" folding knife is taboo? really?

on a side note i love using my CC for the points lol. but i carry a pen, a small flashlight, and situation depending my wave multitool. But at the end of the day i always try to keep 50$ cash on me because you never know when you will need to to maybe tip a guy who helps jump your car. or when you try to buy lunch and the bagel shop doesnt accept plastic


im not even from the old days and i feel "men" has became softer these last 20 years.
 
Even though I have carried knives since the age of 7 or so, I have rarely ever needed my knife.
I definitely do not look down on someone who does not carry a knife.
Anyway, if a knife is the only tool that can solve your problem, you are not thinking hard enough.

My knife is most useful in the woods and most of the world lives in cities or towns now, so the lessening need for knives seems obvious.
 
kornphlake said:
People just don't see a need anymore, take a look around at how many still wear a wrist watch or carry a pen, in 2013 a gentleman need only carry a smart phone and his credit/debit card.
Click to expand...

Heheheh, well...I carry a smartphone and a credit card 24/7. Of course I also carry a knife, a multitool, a Fisher Space pen, two flashlights, a USB flash drive and wear a watch. Am I an updated throwback gentleman or a modern gentleman with anachronistic tendencies? ;)

To the OP, I regularly find myself in situations where I am the only person around with a blade. It never ceases to amaze and amuse me.
 
Part in parcel its society and modernization but also in the back of a lot of people's heads are those random stabbings and killings that happen and are caused by mentally ill people. I think there is a societal fear of random, unplanned violence. Kinda like in the book White Noise if you ever get a chance to do some reading.
 
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