Why people are afraid of knives?

Whenever I get a sheeple reaction to my knives, I immediately ask them about the knives they have in their kitchen. They usually shut up then.
If they keep going, then I usually mention that the number 2 murder weapon is a kitchen knife.
And then I might go on to say that a screw driver, baseball bat, hammer, crowbar, pipe wrench, or even candlestick (I LOVE Clue!) can kill just as quickly.
Cluedo_arms.png

(picture from Wikipedia)
 
Walking Man said:
Whenever I get a sheeple reaction to my knives, I immediately ask them about the knives they have in their kitchen....
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Yea, that's what I do - and when I am at someone's house and they do that, I have been known to go to the kitchen drawer (or block) where there are carving knives, pick one up and throw it into the trash with the admonition: "Murder weapon!" :D

(I don't get invited to many dinners any more ;) )
 
my wife was afraid of knives.I have a few (60+) and she would never pick one up.then she got a job at a florist.lots of stuff to cut and open.she now has 2 schrade cliphangers.I' m now trying to get her used to autos.she'll hold it with both hands to open one and always flinches when it opens.I think with what I saw her go thru it leads me to believe lack of knowledge is the main cause of the fear of knives.
 
Most people seem to equate any knife outside a kitchen as being a weapon and therefore dangerous. I got told once that my Fallkniven U2 was a dangerous weapon even as I was cutting a tomato for my lunch while sitting at my desk.
Fear doesn't always win though. I brought two large knives back from Thailand last week (one has a 8 inch blade about 2.5 inches wide) that I declared because of the wooden sheaths--I did not declare any weapons! The customs officer didn't bat an eyelid as she declared the wood OK to enter Australia.
Greg
 
The only thing I've really had people comment on is my friends say something like "Wow, you could really f*** someone up with that thing" when they see one of my new knives. I'm also known for my sharp knife edges, people are always surprised at how little effort a cut takes when I lend them a knife to use. Otherwise no one has ever said anything about my knives. I do keep a discreet sense about my knife usage though. I'm not afraid to use one out in public, I just don't keep it visible any longer than I have to.

One other time my mom told me to just use the knives in the kitchen for food instead of my pocket knives. I would if they had decent edge angles ground on them and my family knew enough about knife care to make me motivated to sharpen them. I don't like trying to slice up food with blunt, chipped, rusted pieces of kitchen cutlery.
 
When presented with two evils always choose the one that's more fun.
I saw this posted above and it reminded me of something Mae West used to say, "When presented with two evils, pick the one you haven't tried before."
 
C 'Farm, your suggestion is pure genius!:D

Why this had not occurred to me before, I don't know.
 
I still have problems figuring folks out...I bought a Camillus Sizzle to carry for work (opening boxes, packages and the like)...it is small and very friendly...or so I thought. I don't know if it was the black blade or the quick assisted opening, but I have heard "wow...why do you have that" "geesh that is really intimidating" from that little teeny blade. On the same hand...I can carry a Case Sod Buster or Buck 110 and no one seems to care when I take it out, open it and use it. I guess the presentation of the knife, the color of the blade (yes...very silly IMHO) and how fast it opens seems to have a lot to do with how people react to it. It is really a paradox though...the same people who look at me with wide-eyed wonder when I take out a blade, are always very appreciative that someone has something to open whatever it is they were struggling with.

So how to deal with the sheeple? Just do the job, and put the blade away without any flourish or bravada...and most times folks will just be glad you had one.
 
I go to our county-run recycling center at least weekly. If you shop at a Costco or Sams Club, you're always needing to get rid of a lot of cardboard boxes.

Several times, I have gone, and people are struggling to break the boxes down flat. I usually pull out one of my thinned out Spyderco's, courtesy of Tom Krein, and zip, zip, zip, zip, it's now folded flat. All this in about 5 seconds, while they are either trying to balance each other while stomping the boxes, or trying to use their car keys as a knife. Every once in a while I get a wide eyed expression, and I usually shake my head and ask, "Why aren't you using a knife?" Turn the tables on them for a change.
 
I myself always carry a LM Fuse and a FK U2 in my pockets and if doing something else I also bring my FK F1.
Most people around at work carry different types of multitools so they are used to sharp things, but people have not yet understood that a knife is allowed even in schools if used for "normal use". How would they open a box with lots of tape without a knife? Get a pair of scissors?
Also, most people have easier to accept a small red SAK than a Strider or other "big" folders.
 
nodh said:
IMost people around at work carry different types of multitools so they are used to sharp things, but people have not yet understood that a knife is allowed even in schools if used for "normal use".
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Lucky here it is Knife in school instant expulsion, and criminal charges. Just mentioning you collect knives gets you a lot of wierd looks. When someone says "why do you carry/collect them you could kill someone with one" i do what most people here do i say utility and to cut food and besides i could kill you just as fast with a pencil pen or just point out what they have and what is around them that i can kill them with. That normally shuts them up, I am still annoyed by the sheeple in my boyscout troop who use cheap chinese knives without any recognizable edge just cause they have to, try to cut rope with it and when i come over with my minigrip to help Say "why do you have such a big sharp knife?". I think the fear stems from the fact that people associate them with weapons because all that is in the news is, so and so was stabbed today. Saying "A man today used a knife to open a box his Iphone came in" woukd kill ratings fast. People do not realize the tool purose.
 
Walking Man said:
Whenever I get a sheeple reaction to my knives, I immediately ask them about the knives they have in their kitchen. They usually shut up then.
If they keep going, then I usually mention that the number 2 murder weapon is a kitchen knife.
And then I might go on to say that a screw driver, baseball bat, hammer, crowbar, pipe wrench, or even candlestick (I LOVE Clue!) can kill just as quickly.
Cluedo_arms.png

(picture from Wikipedia)
Click to expand...
Yeah. Sometimes even quicker. You can cut someone and sever an artery and they might bleed to death, or you can bwomp someone's face with a pipe wrench and...BOOM!, they're down.
 
Dakki said:
I'm okay with people being afraid of knives. It's the ones who think knives aren't dangerous I worry about.
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Couldn't agree more. I'm also glad that people are afraid of knives. If every bozo loved knives then our hobby/fixation/fetish wouldn't be unique.

Who here enjoys their status as 'knife guy' amongst their peer group? Think about it - more knife acceptance by the general population and that sweet deal goes away people. Before you know it you're just another shmuck. Bring on the fear I say...:D
 
Ming65 said:
Couldn't agree more. I'm also glad that people are afraid of knives. If every bozo loved knives then our hobby/fixation/fetish wouldn't be unique.

Who here enjoys their status as 'knife guy' amongst their peer group? Think about it - more knife acceptance by the general population and that sweet deal goes away people. Before you know it you're just another shmuck. Bring on the fear I say...:D
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But the retarded twin of fear is ignorance. I can only keep my wife's family out of the good kitchen knives for so long before they ruin them all cutting everything except food. :rolleyes:

Does anyone else get a little miffed when a family or friend simultaneously ruins a good kitchen knife and narrowly misses cutting their damn hand off when you have a perfectly good $50-250 pocket knife that is ready, willing, and able to safely cut what needs cutting?
 
When you hunt duck you use the kwacky thinghy and maybe even so when hunting moose.
The way to find a geardo in a crowd, except for looking for 5.11 pants, Surefire lights, Camelbak and Maxped bags etc. is to place a box with lots of tape and strings on in the middle of the crowd and try to open it with a ruler or a pair of scissors or any other inferior tool. Suddenly you will hear the klicks from several OHO knives and multi tools swinging open (a worn PST can be opened like a bali :)) or if you dont have a big box, just take out a piece of wire, paracord, cable or anything else that is unoffbiteable and try to bite it off :) Your cable, string, whatever will be chopped and quartetred before you know it.

As said before, people who ask for a knife to tighten a screw are inferior lifeforms of a undeveloped kind and should not be allowed near any sharp things. :)

I am trying to teach all my friends the importance of using the right tools for the right purpose. They have a hard time understanding the need for a 50 dollar flashlight, a 100 dollar knife and such.
 
nodh said:
I am trying to teach all my friends the importance of using the right tools for the right purpose. They have a hard time understanding the need for a 50 dollar flashlight, a 100 dollar knife and such.
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...or the need to carry such things in your vehicle at all times. I have a duffle bag with the usual emergency kit contents. It also contains 2 knives, a Crescent wrench, a complete set of screwdrivers (phillips and flat) an electrician's multi-tool, hose clamps, just about every type of adhesive, 50 dollar LED flashlight, etc. I swear, I'll stab the next person who asks me "Why do you have 2 gallons of water in your truck?" or "What's that thing?" (pointing to the Hi-Lift jack).
 
Today I went to a church event where they were serving steaks and chicken. They had plastic disposable silverware. Everyone was sawing at their meat with their plastic butter knives, struggling to get a cut, while I simply popped open my Leek and had things sliced into bite sized portions in a snap. I thought it kind of sad that out of the hundreds of people there, I was the only one who did that. :D
 
I recently started a new job at a tech company, nice downtown office, and the other day some guy I didn't know was asking everyone in sight if they had a tool to tweak a bent computer cable pin. My boss asked me if I had my Wave on me, but I didn't. So I waited a little bit, and when the guy was walking by again, still without a tool, told him, to put him at ease with a bit of humor, that I have a vicious implement of destruction he might find useful. And handed him my Endura.

A while later he came back and said the cable was fixed, returned the knife, and asked my name. It was difficult to read his expression, but he sounded like a Brit and so may have been inwardly terrified of anything other than a plastic spoon.

I don't expect I will hear anything about this, but I wonder whether the guy was a sheep and marked me as trouble.
 
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