Your walkin' down the street when you look down and notice a knife...............

[T. Erdelyi]

What do you do?

Lets make it interestin', it's a Sebenza or a William Henry or some other $300+ production folder, the point is, there it is, on the sidewalk, in the middle of a city street.

My first instinct is to grab it, assumin' we're all knowledgeable knife people, we'd recognize a quality knife, so isn't the initial instict to snatch it up before some one else does?

Do you look about to see if someone is lookin' for somethin' they may have dropped?

Do you shout out,"Has any one lost or misplaced their $300+ EDC?"

No, you probably would quietly pick it up and slip it into your pocket, smilin' while you secretly carresed your new found treasure.

Now to me, that's typical human behavior but as time goes on I'd begin to think about any of my knives that were lost or MIA.

I'd begin to feel bad and empathize with how the person who lost his beloved knife felt, I would find it hard to carry that knife knowin' it's owner was hopelessly searchin' for his knife.

It would wind up puttin' it away and never carryin' it, what a waste.

I know some of the higher end knives are serial numbered and you could probably contact the manufacturer/maker and do a search for the last owner, kinda like a national product/owner registry.

So ya just found a $300+ knife, what do ya do?

Are ya doin' the happy dance or are ya bummed cause some poor person is without their baby.

Think deep and hard 'cause someone might pick up a knife you drop someday, which makes this a moral dilema.

 

[cutlerylover]

hmmm, chances are good that if someone dropped an expensive knife like that and you found it...a few days later (maybe even the same day) you would find a thread on the forums that read something like...OH NO...I lost my blah blah blah...lol, and then you would know whos it was...Now I say chances are good that happens if the knife is worth a decent amount of money, not all, but a good chunk of people who shell out those big bucks on knives, also chat here on the knife forums...lol...

Now...if it were me, I admit I would pick it up...I would try my best to locate the onwer where I found the knife, but if no one is there to even ask then its my new knife...I figure best that I get it than someone who doesn't know that theve got...could you imagine a sebenza being used to pry a nial out of a piece of wood!!!!!!! or some young kid throwing it at a tree trying out his new "throwing knife" he found...Yeah...exactly!

 

[Bucktool_02]

This is an interesting thread. I honestly don't know what would be the best thing.

I know I would pick it up and look around for anyone who looks like they're franticly searching for something and approach them. But if there's no one, I'm thinking maybe taking it to the closest police station. But then is that the best thing to do? Because then the first person you hand it off to could just keep it for themselves.

Edit:
I would feel strange carrying it as a user, since it's not really mine and it's expensive. I would gladly give it back to the owner if I could find him. And if the owner never turns up, it'll probably just stay with the rest of my collection.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

This is an interesting thread. I honestly don't know what would be the best thing?

I know I would pick it up and look around for anyone who looks like they're franticly searching for something and approach them. But if there's no one, I'm thinking maybe taking it to the closest police station. But then is that the best thing to do? Because then the first person you hand it off to could just keep it for themselves.

Given the choice between letting some kid or dishonest LEO from keepin' it when I found it, I'd keep it.

Good Idea about searchin' the forums, I wonder if a stickied Lost & Found thread would be of use in the General Discussion Forum.

 

[fordf250]

The wife wanted to go to one of those Christmas craft fairs a couple of years ago. I went, kicking & screaming all the way. I poked around one table that had some antique stuff and saw a knife lying on the table. It was out of place. So I check with the owner of the booth and it's not theirs and I'm thinking "I have a new knife". OK... it's important to do the right thing so as the wife is checking out with bags of future yard sale items I ask the show management. Nope... nobody has reported a lost knife. I left my name and phone #. No one called. I did my best, but today I'm the proud owner of a Gerber Blackie Collins fixed blade about 7 inches long with sheath AND I own it with a clear concience I tried my best to find the owner.

 

[JatMat]

So ya just found a $300+ what do ya do?

Are ya doin' the happy dance or are ya bummed cause some poor person is without their baby.

Think deep and hard 'cause someone might pick up a knife you drop someday, which makes this a moral dilema.

I have often heard integrity is what a man does when he knows for sure no one is watching and still does the right thing. Post a free ad in local paper, don't give description, give owner a chance to find his lost baby. Then if no one comes forward. Keep it with a clear conscience, unless it does have a traceable number on it. Try to trace, NO Luck?, then still keep it with clear conscience.

Just my two cents,

 

[Cougar Allen]

That'll never happen!

I lose good knives. I only find broken junk-grade pocketknives on the sidewalk, and rusty cheap throwers in the woods. I have found several usable throwing knives over the years, but nothing to equal the knives I've lost. The odds are not good for knife knuts....

 

[pancakeman157]

Overall, it is an interesting point. I like to say I too would search for the owner. If I lost something of such value, I too would want another to find me. But thats what I would like to say I would do. Thankfully, I have yet to be in such situation and cannot say what action I would take.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

That'll never happen!

I lose good knives. I only find broken junk-grade pocketknives on the sidewalk, and rusty cheap throwers in the woods. I have found several usable throwing knives over the years, but nothing to equal the knives I've lost. The odds are not good for knife knuts....

That's been my luck.

 

[gbuskirk]

I'm not saying my integrity doesn't have a price, but I know it's above the price of a pocket knife. I would do my best to return it, or turn it in at the nearest police station (and I might still hope as finder to be able to receive it if it went unclaimed). If the police "claimed" it, it's their integrity compromised, not mine.

 

[Nosetotail]

What do you do?

Lets make it interestin', it's a Sebenza or a William Henry or some other $300+ production folder, the point is, there it is, on the sidewalk, in the middle of a city street.

My first instinct is to grab it, assumin' we're all knowledgeable knife people, we'd recognize a quality knife, so isn't the initial instict to snatch it up before some one else does?

Do you look about to see if someone is lookin' for somethin' they may have dropped?

Do you shout out,"Has any one lost or misplaced their $300+ EDC?"

No, you probably would quietly pick it up and slip it into your pocket, smilin' while you secretly carresed your new found treasure.

Now to me, that's typical human behavior but as time goes on I'd begin to think about any of my knives that were lost or MIA.

I'd begin to feel bad and empathize with how the person who lost his beloved knife felt, I would find it hard to carry that knife knowin' it's owner was hopelessly searchin' for his knife.

It would wind up puttin' it away and never carryin' it, what a waste.

I know some of the higher end knives are serial numbered and you could probably contact the manufacturer/maker and do a search for the last owner, kinda like a national product/owner registry.

So ya just found a $300+ knife, what do ya do?

Are ya doin' the happy dance or are ya bummed cause some poor person is without their baby.

Think deep and hard 'cause someone might pick up a knife you drop someday, which makes this a moral dilema.

Before I finished reading the last line, I finished it in my head and it went something like this "Think deep and hard 'cause someone sure didn't think twice about picking up mine"

 

[JGarth]

Sure looks like someone wants a few guys to tell him to keep this "hypothetical $300" knife, so he can rationalize it.
Keep it, if that's all your integrity is worth.
I sure wouldn't.
If you want something... EARN IT ....

 

[Nosetotail]

This sure sounds like the case, however if you figure the odds I wouldn't think so. Consider how high the odds are that anyone even carries a 300 dollar knife, then consider how high the odds are that someone who carries a 300 dollar knife drops one, and consider how high the odds are that the first person who comes along and picks it up is someone who recognizes a three hundred dollar knife.


But I could be wrong.

That'll never happen!

I lose good knives. I only find broken junk-grade pocketknives on the sidewalk, and rusty cheap throwers in the woods. I have found several usable throwing knives over the years, but nothing to equal the knives I've lost. The odds are not good for knife knuts....

Heh Heh....I just read this.

 

[JGarth]

I would also hope so ... but ya' have to wonder why these people submit such posts ...
But the value is irrelevant ....
$3 pen, $300 knife, or a $3000 Nikon camera .......
what is the difference ... INTEGRITY is INTEGRITY, there is no minumim limit.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Sure looks like someone wants a few guys to tell him to keep this "hypothetical $300" knife, so he can rationalize it.
Keep it, if that's all your integrity is worth.
I sure wouldn't.
If you want something... EARN IT ....

Not to worry the best I ever found was a Colonial BSA knife on the side of a hi-way.

I don't have to rationalize my integrity, it is what it is and anyone who knows me would know what kind of person I am and my integrity wouldn't be a question.

How ever I also would know better than to cast aspersions
about a Forum Member you know nothing about, because if you did you would never had made such a comment but you did, and in that vein I'd like to respond to your comment,

Sure looks like someone wants a few guys to tell him to keep this "hypothetical $300" knife, so he can rationalize it.
Keep it, if that's all your integrity is worth.
I sure wouldn't.
If you want something... EARN IT .

But I won't.

 

[offsetlover]

i'd keep the knife and would prolly try to ask around and see if anyone in the area lost a knife. for me its kinda like the dropped money. if some one looses a $10 or a $20 i will pick i up and do a quick look around to see if anyone is looking for the money they dropped. if i see no one, i just pocket it and go about my business. if its higher than a $20, then i will go and talk to someone at like the service desk (if in a store). out side though, its still look around, then pocket and walk away

 

[T. Erdelyi]

What prompted this thread was, while attendin' Music Fest in NEPA, on the way back I heard my wife call back to me and she had picked up a small Buck folder she found in the dirt, as soon as she handed it to me I immeadiately recognized it as the knife I had given my daughter's boyfriend about a week ago, I figured it musta fallen outta his pocket.

My wife wanted to know if I was gonna bust his butt a little and make him squirm for the knife, knowin' how I feel if I lose or misplace a knife I couldn't do that to someone who liked knives as much as me so I just gave it to him.

This made me think of the few knives I've lost and I wondered if the people that found 'em ever thought of the person who lost 'em.

And yes people do carry more expensive knives than most average people.

Not that I paticularly care but I hope any wayward questions concerning my interity from the the newer ........ah who am I kiddin', if ya don't know me do ya really think I care what ya think of me?

 

[Confederate]

I have often heard integrity is what a man does when he knows for sure no one is watching and still does the right thing.

You are absolutely correct, Jimmy Todd. I don't think I could enjoy another man's knife without taking every recourse I could to get it back to him. Why? Because that's what I'd like someone to do for me under the same circumstances. You can bet that the fellow who lost it would be kicking himself because of it. (I recall when my brother left his expensive new Texas Instruments calculator on a restaurant seat. I grabbed it and stuffed it in the sleeve of my winter coat. Now this was back in the days when even a simple calculator cost a mint, and this one did complex functions. Anyway, we got a few blocks away and my brother didn't pick up on the handfull of hints I uttered. So then we spotted a wood burning stove in the window of a hardware store. It was outrageously priced, but I said, "I wonder what the tax on that would be." Quick as a flash my brother reached for his calculator. Then, the blood drained out of his face, he turned and without saying a word began running back to the restaurant. I yelled out after him and that got his attention. Anyway, he was so glad to get that thing back. I imagine the knife owner would have a similar reaction.)

You could also post a large note on a telephone pole or streetlight saying, "Lost Knife," and asking the owner to identify it.

 

[JD Mandrell]

Look around for someone looking for it and if there isn't.

1. Run an ad in the local paper that said "Pocket Knife Found" and if someone calls and correctly identifies it, return it.

2. At the same time, search the forums for anyone saying they lost one and if it was in the area where I found it.

3. If after a few weeks or so, nobody has claimed it, I would think it was OK to then keep it.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

I have a large number of knives and don't need someone else's prized possesion. I would do what The Last Confederate listed, except that if no one claimed the knife I would give it to Judy so she could sell it and put the money towards the VG fund.