Why So Few Carriers

I recently attended a large event in rural Virginia(Pork,Pine,Peanut Festival,Surry,Va.)and there made it a point to observe who was carrying knives.Very few had any pocket clips visible.This is in a rural area with mainly country people as vendors and many of the attendees.
Even my co-workers (highway dept.)seldom carry a knive,and these are the workers,not the suits in the office. Growing up on I farm I can not remember every not carrying a knife.Have carried one almost every day since childhood.
Sadly,now I carry several knives and a multi-tool.Carry an old Case linemans knife to use around non-knife people and to lend out when someone says"anybody got a knife to cut this".This is to avoid explaining why I carry an Emerson Commander or the Endura in a neck sheath.Times sure have changed. There was a time when every man and boy carried the knife.
I guess my question is ,is what are your observations on the subject. Are we becoming a nation of Sheep and the politically correct?
Next time you are at a large public gathering,look around and check out the number of knife carriers.


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Those who beat their arms into plowshares will plow for those who do not
 
R.D.,

Whoa. That's weird. My parents still live in what would be considered "rural" California. Okay, stop laughing. Seriously, the town is caled Prunedale, and you still see people walk in the stores with either a pocket clip or a sheath on their belts.

Of course, that IS California, with all the goony knife laws and all, and people still carry pocket knives.

Me personally, I like Arizona's laws.
 
Knife carry is very common in Oregon, even in "the big city." I see them all the time.

Chuck
 
D

David Williams

Joined
May 22, 1999
Messages
1,474
R.D.,

How were you checking? You'd think Virginians would still carry some sort of knife. Here I can see people with pocket clips and knife sheaths. But if someone has a plain old Case, Old Timer or SAK in the pocket I have no idea. What surprised me when I started checking was how many guys had Gerber sheaths on their belts in Anchorage. Someone must have had a big sale or they just like the sheaths
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I saw a LM leather sheath so worn I was afraid he was going to lose his tool. The neatest thing I saw was a guy with 2 clips, one on each side and he also had a LM and some knife sheath. He most likely had stuff that couldn't be seen.

Yes, very sadly I carry two knives, two tools and two flashlights. It's sad. That's a great idea of a loner knife for sheeple
smile.gif


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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb

 
Everywhere I go I look for pocket clips on people.I see very few.I see more of the multi-tool,mostely Gerber then Leathermans
I think most men do carry a pocket knife around here in ILL. and most hunters will have a some sort of factory fixed blade.I'd like to see more pocket clips.It's not uncommon for me to ask a fella what type of knife he carries.If it's not a clip knife then I try to promote them.
scott w
 
Here in "New Joisey" I see quite a few people with knives.....that might have something to with the fact that I manage a cutlery warehouse
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.....low grade, so don't all rush to be my friend
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. Most of the people on the floor carry, as well as the truckers that pick-up and deliver. I am very happy to see so many in my day to day travels.

And as far as me..... I always have 3 Balisongs (1 for work, 2 for working out), A "Q" clipped to the adjustment band of my baseball cap (a great spot to carry, by the way), and another on my key-chain.......and did I mention my trusty SOG multi-tool?

Hmmmmmm........Hello, I'm Clay, and I have an addiction..........

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Clay G. www.balisongxtreme.com



[This message has been edited by Clay (edited 01 August 1999).]
 
It's surprising here in Austin, too. People here say "It's great to live in Austin because Texas is so close." Here there are few gun stores, and the ones there are feature overly-priced wares. Sad to say, very few people carry knives or weaponry of any sort within the city. Outside the city and in the smaller towns is a completely different matter. Sit in a Cafe in Buda, 25 miles south of Austin, and pocket clips are common. One fellow walked in with a full sixgun rig and nobody even blinked. I guess it partly depends on where you live.

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"A fear of weaponry is a sure sign of neuroses."
-Freud
 
I see quite a few knife sheaths on peoples belts usually leathermans and other multi tools and some Buck 110's and other simmilar knives, but for pockect clips I have only seen about 3 people carring knives with pockect clips. Well I am just a simple tenager from Reno where there is not a single knife store.
 
There's a really weird phenomenon here in Florida. I'd say in most rural areas of the state people carry something, but here in Gainesville, and I think in many other decent sized or larger cities it is very different. Here, many are scared of knives. Admittedly, most of my experience is with people's reactions to my Endura, but from many I didn't get a positive reaction. I just got my BF Native, and one of my roommates feels this is a large knife.

As to why there's been a decline in numbers of people carrying some form of knife, I'm not sure.

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JP Bullivant
 
I don't look real hard for clips, but I don't go out on the town much either. I do know what ytou mean by people being unreasonably scared of knives though. I was once asked by a friend if it was legal for me to be "brandishing" my serrated Deica while opening a package in a Chicago train station. I wish I had had my Vaquero then, that would have been a good laugh! (You call that a knife...?)

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Just because I talk to myself doesn't mean I'm crazy. What's wrong with getting a second opinion?
 
As to why there's been a decline in numbers of people carrying some form of knife, I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

This is not so hard to understand, and it doesn't have to do with political correctness. Bottom line is that there is much less need for a knife in first-world urban environments. Most packaging is designed now to be opened without the need of a blade. Those people who actually work in places where cutting is very common either carry appropriate knives or boxcutters, etc. The rest of the population have forgotton the need for a sharp edge was once common.

I have to admit, though I carry some sort of folder everywhere, even to my white-collar office job, I find I only actually use it at work once in a great while. Of course its nice to have it when I do need it, and that is the point of carrying. But those who suddenly find themselves in need of a cutting instrument at the office without a knife on them have pretty easy recourse to a scissors, boxcutter, or kitchen knife somewhere near by.

That being said, many of my co-workers do carry small pocket knives or SAKs in their pockets or attached to key chains. Very few are into one-hand openers and waistband/pocket clips.
 
So now we all know what to give our knifeless friends and relations on the next birthday or other gift-giving occasion!!!

And then they too will wonder why anybody would ever walk around without a knife.

Never mind weaponry - It's painful to watch somebody trying to open a package with his car keys. Just today, at a Sephardic cultural festival, a stranger from whom I'd just bought a CD music recording borrowed my William Henry CF Lancet to cut the packing tape on another box full of them.

So I gave him my business card.
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
 
Just because you did not see any clips does not meen no one had a knife on them. I always have a knife or two on me and you will never see it or its clip.
 
Well, out here in California, land of knife oppression, it is really uncommon to actually SEE someone with a pocket clip, and even more so for a sheath on the hip, but those damn multi tools sure are popular!

However, were you to examine me visually for weapons, you would notice only the BM Axis or AFCK in my left hip pocket. What you most likely would not see are; the CS Safekeeper in the front on my waistband, the BM Nimravus behind my left hip, or the Glock behind the right hip. And that's in shorts and a tee shirt.(well only when I'm somewhere I'm not familiar with.)

I can only imagine what I could hide in those pants that the kids wear that are five sizes too big, with all those pockets. A Katana? A Busse BM certainly, an AK-47? How 'bout a Missile? Maybe.
Surely the list would be a mile long.

But I have noticed that when I travel, I notice more people with knives visible in airports than any where else, hmmmmmmm............?

Joe
 
My wife and I were in a local Espresso bar/cafe and our waitress brought us a biscotti, I pulled my Carnivour and proceeded to cut it in half, the waitress smiled and asked if she could see it. I handed it to her and she pulled her S&W autoknife and handed it to me. Imagine my surprise as this knife popped open right in front of my face. She said her B/F gave it to her and he carries an AFCK. It really made my day! BTW She loved the REKAT and I don't see nearly enough people carrying knives. I certainly hope that fear of the PC police is not the cause of this.:{
 
We call them pocket knives. You don't often know we have one unless we choose to clean our nails in public.

 
You wanna' know where there's a place with no knives? TRY MALAYSIA. I carry a spydie Delica spyderedge and scared the **** out of them. Whenever i pull it out to cut something, people would start movin' away, like as if you'll butcher them into pieces. I've been staying in Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) all my life, and out of 1000 (i'm not kidding) people i know, only 1 or if you're lucky 2 people carry somesort of cutting tool and i'm not saying a proper knife. Now try that for size.....
 
Here in the Tri state area of Md., West Virginia, and Virginia, knife carrying seems to be fairly common. It seems to be a good mix of all kinds of knives.A lot of people seem to carry pocket knives,but a fair number carry different types of clip knives and knives on belt sheaths. Zog, you have my condolences living in O Zone Austin. I hear the politically correct crowd is firmly in control in the state capital. I listen to Alex Jones on shortwave and he lives in austin. But you can escape by heading into Texas nearby!
 
Matthew, maybe you have a boring ofice job. I work as a mortgage broker and real estate agent and I use my Endura about a dozen times per day. I also keep a beer fridge in my office too.
 
Joe, just remember from "Ten Rules for Dating My Daughter" that those oversized pants should be held up with heavy duty staples.

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh


 
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