Why doesn't anyone carry a knife?

[HwangJino]

I dont carry a can of opener...

maybe an excuse to get a nice multitool to carry everyday

 

[BladeChick777]

I rarely run into anyone carrying a knife(a decent one especially) and when I do I'm always excited, then they show me it's a tanto and has serrations and I get less excited lol. I know a few that carry, but not a lot.
Before I got rid of my Blue Mini Grip, I always carried it to work and used it because I'm always dealing with boxes, tape, shrink wrap, plastic straps, you name it. I'm an unloader at Wal-Mart so I run into those things daily. You can't get less threatening than a Mini Grip(especially blue) in my opinion. But all of my bosses/etc had yelled at me, telling me I need a Wal-Mart approved knife, meaning their little crappy box cutters, I told them okay, but have yet to be given one, so I still carry my own knife. Probably a Buck Vantage Avid Large Diamond Wood now, just because I know I'd get burned for carrying my ZT 0801. The Blue Mini Grip even matched my Work Dress Code lol.

 

[leghog]

Why doesn't anyone carry a knife?

Because, by and large, we've gone from manhood to perpetual boyhood or metrosexual.

 

[BePrepared]

I don't have male friends who don't carry a knife, and i have very few female friends who don't

 

[Styg]

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?

It's mostly people not needing them that often. I live in a very liberal city (portland oregon) and it is very knife friendly. It's not a PC issue. Most work places have a no weapons policy, with a loose definition of weapons so that tools can be allowed.

 

[dogstar]

Most people have a utility knife somewhere; they just don't carry it with them everywhere. We've build a world of convenience that does not require a cutting that often. A knife cuts rope great, but when was the last time someone chose rope or string over duct tape? How many people know how to tie a proper knot these days? Scotch tape has a built in cutter, toilet paper is pre-cut, food is pre-sliced, pre-made. If you are willing to spend a few cent more, you hardly have to lift a finger any more. Like everyone on this forum, I like to carry a knife, but I almost have to go out of my way to find a use for in in the urban environment. It'd be different if I worked on a farm, but most folks don't these days.

 

[not2sharp]

Brainwashing from public school - my hometown permitted kids to have pocketknives, but they've been prohibited to students in most schools for awhile.

....and for most adults at airports, other transportation systems and public buildings, with any mistake subject to draconian punishments.

n2s

 

[leghog]

A city slicker buys a new Swiss Army Knife at Walmart. He can't get the package open without a knife. Ironic.

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

Ahhh! I miss Portland. Not because of the knife thing. I just miss Portland.
My wife is a non knife person who thinks I have a problem in this area. I carry knives at work, when I pick up my kids from school, when I go to the bank, a bar...... Well, all the time. It's true I don't NEED them all the time, but they do make life easier. When I watch somebody struggling to open something at work, I just stand there smiling. I never offer to help. I make them ask. Why? Because these are the same people who ask me why I carry a knife(knives). I am in construction. I cannot wrap my head around my coworkers lack of a knife. These are people who know from daily experience "the right tool for the job" makes everything easier.
I would have to agree this is the result of the majority of the population increasingly living in urbanized environments. Even in the rural communities kids hang out "in town". I do understand the uneasiness caused by some of the larger tacticool knives. It just seems overkill in an urban setting. But to each his own.

 

[leghog]

There are some things every man should have with him.

 

[dogstar]

A city slicker buys a new Swiss Army Knife at Walmart. He can't get the package open without a knife. Ironic.

I always used a pair of scissors. It's no big deal.

You actually have to know what you're doing to open a clamshell with a knife.

 

[leghog]

You actually have to know what you're doing to open a clamshell with a knife.

Any time you use a knife you should know what you're doing.

 

[raybateson]

Is that a karl erik freehand, leghog?

 

[Aglifter]

Just out of curiosity, are many of the posters in this thread from the UK? I've just never thought of a pocket knife as a weapon - don't know anyone who has.

Many companies prohibit anything except those retractable box cutters for liability and workman's comp issues.

 

[cards94]

Any time you use a knife you should know what you're doing.

knives, they're not just for flipping and looking good.

 

[Birnando]

It is not allowed to carry a knife in public up here in Norway.
Simply put, according to Norwegian law it is seen as a weapon.
There are many exceptions to this though.
A plumber or carpenter is well within his rights to carry a knife while travelling to or performing his job.
When hunting, trekking or otherwise spending time in nature.
A traditional fixed blade when part of a traditional outfit, like a bunad or Sami-attire.
And so on and so on.

In short, when carried or used as an appropriate tool for the setting you are in, it is allowed.

Bringing anything other than a small SAK or traditional folder without a locking blade to say a bar or area where people gather, will potentially bring you a 4 digit fine, and if used or flashed to intimidate, jail-time.

I always carry at least one though, but concealed and unused when in a setting where it might be considered wrong according to our Laws.

 

[Phydeaux]

A lot of kids don't have responsible adults in their lives to teach them how to safely and responsibly use knives. I was fortunate to have a dad who carried a small knife with all the time. Learned from him the merits of carrying a knife.

And yes, I am one of those who still wears an analog wrist watch. I tried a digital watch but found that seeing the time displayed in analog gives me a better idea of time of day or how much time I have before I have to be somewhere.

I do get more upset with myself if I forget to take a knife with me when I leave the house than if I forget my cellphone. This is probably because I have been carrying a knife a lot longer than a cell phone.

A funny thing I saw at a fast food joint, was a lady pull a pair of scissors out of her purse and proceed to cut up her kid's hamburger.

Ric

 

[Peak_Oil]

I used to carry a knife all the time, but now I rarely do. My workplace prohibits knives for a very good reason and I comply with it because it's the smart thing to do. I can't leave it in my car in the parking lot due to company policy. I just had to learn to do without. Some of my coworkers carry tiny little blades for tasks, but I think they're playing with fire. While I would like to have one with me it would create security problems I would prefer to live without.

I'm all about knife rights. That said, sometimes they really do create a hazard.

 

[cchu518]

There are some things every man should have with him.

I like your strap for the bumper and the omega too!

 

[Bloefield]

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.

The shoe anology was excellent. Never heard it before and I will use it in the future.
Thank you