Why is carrying a knife looked down upon by those who dont?

The other day at work, the bartender was trying to remove a safety seal on a jar of olives. He was poking and prodding at the seal in an ineffective manner, when I offered my SAK. I said "I think just about everyone should have one of these," to which a girl I work with replied, "I would want everyone to be able to stab each other."

I simply stood there for a moment, then said, "Wow, you're the only one here insinuating that Swiss Army Knives are weapons and not simple tools. Maybe we should be worried about you."

The bartender laughed. He and I have periodic discussions about CCW. I'm slowly persuading him, I think.
 
I live in Texas, and even here there are some unnecessary tense moments. I was at target buying a vic recruit and the lady behind the counter paused and asked me what exactly i was planning to do with it.
Click to expand...

If in Texas this counts as a tense moment no wonder we beat y'all in the World Series.:)

Go Giants!

tipoc
 
One reason could be that some knife lovers make too big a deal out of carrying a knife. A mindset perhaps similiar to at least one company that refers to a real knife [as opposed to a trainer] as a" live" blade. Come on! No matter how badass your knife may be [and those are the kind of knives I love] you're not exactly packing an AK-47.
My experience has been that if you use your knife in a matter of fact way, for a usefull purpose [ie,cutting a string ,hacking a bramble ] most people don't even blink.
 
Larry Turko said:
One reason could be that some knife lovers make too big a deal out of carrying a knife. A mindset perhaps similiar to at least one company that refers to a real knife [as opposed to a trainer] as a" live" blade. Come on! No matter how badass your knife may be [and those are the kind of knives I love] you're not exactly packing an AK-47.
My experience has been that if you use your knife in a matter of fact way, for a usefull purpose [ie,cutting a string ,hacking a bramble ] most people don't even blink.
Click to expand...


That's not the way it is around here. I've caused a near panic by calmly tightening a loose slotted screw with the screwdriver bit on my SAK Recruit.

I quashed the panic by questioning the guys manhood!:o
 
Just for starters, if you want to add to your status in a city, try this. "hey everyone, I work with my hands!". Cities are full of people who can't change a light bulb. I worked 20 years in downtown financial district, and I don't remember ever needing a knife.

You have to ask yourself honestly whether non-defensive reasons for carrying a knife are all that pure, or whether they are like guys with Harleys and noisy pipes. I imagine there are quite a few knives in cities, or other every day uses, and people don't think much about them, unless the users are all obsessed with them. (I separate out defensive uses because it isn't surprising that gets a second look, whatever the merits).

When I am working with my hands, outside of the kitchen, I rarely use a knife. I have hundreds of razor sharp tools in the workshop, so the knife is rarely the appropriate tool. The main time I carry a real using knife is when camping.

Then there is the 911 factor which kinda makes even the smallest knife a concern.
 
Last edited:
Openly carrying a handgun will quickly diminish this silly "OMG a pocket knife!!" stuff. ;)
 
Personally, I find that people who DON'T regularly carry a knife are MUCH more dangerous when they DO have a knife in their hands.

The reason is that I would suspect no self-respecting knife person would ever take their knife and make like they're going to stab you(or someone else). I mean, I would think that when someone asks to look at your knife, they're going to look at it, not pull a dickhead move like that.

So perhaps carrying a knife is looked down upon because other people assume that all of us are unstable and dangerously violent because the morons got lumped in with us.

In which case, I strongly suggest that nobody lets anyone "look" at their knives unless we're absolutely certain that the other person is a responsible knife person.
 
I'm in Western New York and I go to a little college called Nazareth in Rochester and I'm allowed to carry a knife. Several of my friends even do ranging from a Spyderco keychain knife to a Swiss Army Knife to my own Kershaw Blur S30V. My friends who know I have a knife initially didn't understand why I carried a knife, but once they needed a DVD opened they were a little more aware! Though for everyone who takes it well, even some of my own family members view knives as primarily weapons and are skittish about it. The key is as has been said before to be responsible and law-abiding with your knife use and people will come to accept it and be more understanding. At least that's been my experience barring die-hard anti-second amendment liberals.
 
EBHM4 said:
I'm in Western New York and I go to a little college called Nazareth in Rochester and I'm allowed to carry a knife. Several of my friends even do ranging from a Spyderco keychain knife to a Swiss Army Knife to my own Kershaw Blur S30V. My friends who know I have a knife initially didn't understand why I carried a knife, but once they needed a DVD opened they were a little more aware! Though for everyone who takes it well, even some of my own family members view knives as primarily weapons and are skittish about it. The key is as has been said before to be responsible and law-abiding with your knife use and people will come to accept it and be more understanding. At least that's been my experience barring die-hard anti-second amendment liberals.
Click to expand...

Great first post and welcome to BladeForums :thumbup:
 
Noctis3880 said:
no self-respecting knife person would ever take their knife and make like they're going to stab you(or someone else). I mean, I would think that when someone asks to look at your knife, they're going to look at it, not pull a dickhead move like that.
Click to expand...

Wow. That's actually happened to you? A good punch in the nose might be the appropriate response there... and that's if you LIKE the person.:eek:
 
darkflcn said:
I've always carried a pocket knife, and i come from a rural area. when I go back up to school, in a urban setting, I am looked at like I am insane. I have even switched from carrying a folder to just a swiss army knife on campus, and people still react the same way. I have always viewed knives as excellent tools that you should never be without.
Click to expand...

Because people are sheep and the knife is used for skinning.
 
it comes down to the fact that they are stupid and scared. That combo is a dangerous combo, espeically when you combine it with influence:jerkit:
 
singularity35 said:
I was on the receiving end of the "people who carry weapons are insecure cowards" argument of an NKP last night. She was a hot chick though.
Click to expand...

a hottie but probly never saw any violent acts in real life
where she or someone she knows was in danger.

some places have low crime rates and breed this mentality.
 
batosai117 said:
Great first post and welcome to BladeForums :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thank you. Anyways, another thought I just had after reading the posts after mine. Some people like to pretend they will never need a knife, usually thinking this in a weapon mentality whereas I and many others view a knife as a tool first and a LAST RESORT second. But with the mentality of the knife being a weapon people make the assumption that carrying it is for the intent to do others harm upon the slightest provocation, if not for no reason at all. That is why law-abiding use of a blade is so important because the more people see responsible knife use the more they can have a counterpoint to the stereotype. Though it still remains that a knife is a legitimate self defense tool if it unfortunately becomes necessary to defend yourself. But people like to think they don't live in this kind of world and their apathy and unaware attitude foster the feeling they don't need to bother with any means of defense.
 
i don't make a habit of playing with a knife in public, so it's often only when confronted with a task that needs a knife that people discover i carry a knife (or a Leatherman) with me 24/7.

in answer to the OPs question: FEAR. various governments have kept themselves in power by scaring the crap out of the public (the recently deposed Howard government in Australia being a prime example). they have been aided and abetted in this fearmongering by a compliant and lazy media industry (News Corp is the WORST offender in this).
 
I've already responded once but you may as well ask...

Why is gun ownership looked down upon by those that don't own guns?
Why intelligence looked down upon by the foolish?
Why is freedom looked down upon by the enslaved?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top