Why is this

15mtyler

15mtyler

Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
372
I live in a small town in Arkansas called jasper. Around here knives are used everyday as a tool not a weapon. I am a junior in high school and I like many of my classmates and teachers also carry pocket knives. days when I am not in school I carry a bk17. I just have a love for fixed blade knives. But anyways I recently went to Springfield MO with my grandparents and I took my bk17 with me. I can't tell you how many looks that I got from people. I was stopped by a very friendly police officer and asked to see my knife and why I had a fixed blade knife on me. It's a realitvely small fixed blade at 4 and 3\8 inches. I told him where I was from and why I had it and he let me go. Why is nowadays that when a person sees a knife they think it is going to be used as nothing but a weapon and not a tool.
 
Usually wariness has been caused more by carriers vs knives carried. "We" brought it on ourselves, if you will.
 
It's a simple explanation of a rather complex issue. So without getting into politics, social dynamics, or anything of the sort. It would appear that more folks these days have less and less common sense. Higher brain functions are atrophied.
 
Cultural shift. Knives have become less of a necessity and are carried less often. That, combined with a frequent portrayal as the weapon of choice for serial killers and psychopaths, has turned public perception of knives from a tool to a weapon. It particularly kills me when I have someone that I know has their CCW license look at me sideways for carrying a knife.
 
RevDevil said:
It's a simple explanation of a rather complex issue. So without getting into politics, social dynamics, or anything of the sort. It would appear that more folks these days have less and less common sense. Higher brain functions are atrophied.
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I think RevDevil nailed it without writing a book about politics, social dynamics, etc.
The Pussification of society.
 
More and more people live in the city or suburbia and don't use knives, they usually only see them as weapons. They tend to fall into the psychological concept of "Groupthink", so if most of them perceive a knife as only a weapon then as a whole they will tend to lean that way with out examining it further.
 
I decided to follow suit with the fellow in the thread I read about wearing his folder clipped on his shirt pocket, even in a small town at the grocery store ive been going too since a kid I noticed people notice my knife, oh well... Most people are what id call the "sheep" anyway
 
A person can be smart and open to reason. People as a whole are close minded and dumb.
 
A lot of it obviously depends where you live. I live just a little ways outside SF and everyone gives me a dirty look when I pull a folder out especially when it is a flipper. I think a lot of people think knives are weapon when they aren't being used in a kitchen and instantly wonder why you need something like that in public.
 
It has to do with the structure of the sociocultural environment in question, with everything from social norms to the degree of urbanization contributing to the prevailing attitudes towards knives of the inhabitants of a given place. Personally, I think urbanization is huge. [Edit: At this point I'm not referring to the OP specifically.] It's not hard to imagine how people living in the concrete jungle of a major city would perceive a fixed blade on someone's belt as a weapon, whereas those living in a rural area would likely have a very different reaction.
It's an expansive topic, really.
 
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Springfield mo is no urban jungle. It's the home of bass pro and many gun and knife shows. The populace is very gun and knife friendly. It's the land of moonnshine, homegrown weed and the beverley hillbillies. The op is 15 yo.
 
Explain it to them --"A person who is afraid of an inanimate object such as a knife has serious mental and emotional problems - they should get some professional help !! "
State that to them politely , non-confrontationally and walk away !
 
When people see a knife they automatically go on alert. Too many shows like Criminal Minds and NCIS I guess. To a non- knife person a BK17 is a HUGE knife. When I carry my fixed blade it is horizontal and I try not to show it off.
 
cold one said:
More and more people live in the city or suburbia and don't use knives, they usually only see them as weapons.
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This is probably due to movies and TV portraying knives as tools of killers.

To the OP- you will learn that not all people think alike. People in different places will have different views on knives, cars, how you dress, etc. When you travel you should check on the laws in the places you will be visiting and make sure the knives that you are carrying will be reasonable there.
 
Knives are tools of killers, mostly kitchen knives because that's what's readily available, to people that put no more thought into it than killing another human when enraged. Yet kitchen knives are never feared even when they are everywhere, even in racks on walls in a church within easy reach of anyone. Something about a sizable folder though will draw all sorts of comments, from little old church going ladies, as they stand in front of the wall rack of all sorts of fixed blade kitchen knives. I suppose they think if you bother to carry it on you at all times, you must be planning some sort of evil misdeeds.
 
I don't see what all the fuss is about. When I see a person carrying a fixed-blade in public I look at them, and I carry a fixed-blade in public, a 10" fixed-blade.

Unlike some others on this forum I don't automatically assume anything negative just because someone LOOKS at you, or me, or anyone openly carrying a fixed-blade in public. Nor am I inclined to automatically judge the intelligence of such people. People look at each other for a variety of reasons, I see no cause to automatically assume those reasons are negative.

Personally, I think some of the comments in this thread are just the type of thing that promote the "Us against them" attitude that seems to prevail in the knife community. If you assume that people are stupid or judgmental just because they LOOK at you, maybe it's YOU who have the problem and not them.

If a person were to make a negative comment to you because of your knife, that's different. But the OP didn't say anything about people making negative comments. Just because people LOOK in your direction doesn't mean they are against you, or stupid, or that they were somehow raised wrong.

As for the cop, who knows what his motivation was. Perhaps he was a "knife guy" and just wanted to check out the kid's knife. One piece of advice I will give the OP (in case he already doesn't know), make sure you know the knife laws wherever you plan to carry your knife. If you violate the law, a cop might not be so friendly.

It's funny, and kinda sad, that so many knife enthusiasts see only negativity in the reactions of others. Sometimes I think that a lot of knife enthusiasts have a persecution complex.

Can anyone in this thread honestly say that if they saw a teenager openly carrying a fixed-blade in public that you wouldn't LOOK at him/his knife? And if you would, what does that say about you except that you possessed a natural curiosity about the knife and the person carrying it. Like I said, I would certainly look at the kid.
 
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I live is a small town (Less than 14K) in north central AZ. I see everything from folders carried in belt pouches to Bowie style knives with 8" blades. No one bats an eye.
I also see everything from NAA mini revolvers to Desert Eagles carried in the open. The only people who get excited are visitors from New Yawk City and San Fransicko.

I have to say though that I don't recall seeing a teen age boy carrying a large knife except a few in hunting clothes.
 
I'm baffled that some here think carrying a knife openly is the cause and we brought it on ourselves. That's a pathetic train of thought, and you're actually part of the problem if you think that.
 
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