Do you carry a sheeple-friendly knife?

[fistful]

Am I the only one that carries a small, traditional pocket knife for public consumption and a real knife for bigger jobs?

I prefer to carry a tame-looking, drop point, one-hander lock-back, with at least a 3.5" blade. Unfortunately, the only economical knives of this description have plastic or metal handles. Besides their ugliness, they look scarier than a wood-handled knife. I'm an old-fashioned guy, and I like pretty knives, so I bought myself a Case scout knife. It was going to replace my CRKT Alaska Bwana, but I started carrying both of them. I find the Case is handy for those times when I need a knife, but don't want to draw attention or scare anybody.

Anybody else do this?

 

[eatatjoes]

not anymore.

i decided that if i was legal i wasn't going to care about what people thought. i carry this at school since there are restrictions over 3" blade length.


but if i am just about town or at work i carry my spyderco pacific salt (@4 inch blade) since i like the light weight and i don't have to worry about corrosion (i wash dishes everyday of the week and knives rust fast when my pants are constantly wet.)

(Pacific salt on top, BM555 Mini-Grip on bottom.)

 

[ACP230]

I used to carry a small Browning lockback and a larger Buck Ranger.
The Browning was for cutting string and opening letters. The Buck was just in case I needed a larger sharper knife.

Now I generally carry the Browning and a Smith snubnose.
The Buck goes along, in place of the Browning, when I'm hunting.

 

[Dagger10k]

I carry a Benchmade 921. The 3.3 inch blade should be pretty friendly, but if even more sheeple-friendliness is needed, it has the tiny little secondary blade. Works great for me.

 

[GigaBuist]

I -thought- I did, but everytime I whip out my 3" Smith and Wesson "SWAT" el-Cheapo I get weird looks. It's black -- I guess that makes it more dangerous.

Last week I was hanging out with friends and family, and a guy dropped by to hand me a package -- a lock picking kit (new hobby). I pulled out my knife to cut it open and left the knife sitting on the table opened up while I extracted the contents.

Young woman asked me "that was safe" -- leaving a knife 6" from my control on the table. ***?! They think nothing of having a 6" cooking knife on the counter, but that evil black knife is suddenly more dangerous.

Me: "It's just a knife. It's not going anywhere."
Her: "Yeah, it just looks scarey."



Heaven forbid she'd find out that two people in the room were carrying firearms.

 

[Soap]

Not as an EDC. I do have a SAK Soldier in my desk though @ work.

 

[Otony]

Oddly enough, one of the reasons I bought my psuedo sheepsfoot bladed Mini-Griptillian was exactly because it had a less "scary" look .

The odd part comes about as I discovered that knife suited me much better than the majority of the blades I've carried over the years, so much so, that my next knife purchased was a Griptillian Doug Ritter. To me, at least, both blade styles are user friendly, and observer friendly.

Of course, now I have gone and purchased Arinvolvo's Dalton Mini Miltia switchblade, so all bets are OFF!

 

[DigMe]

I don't really consider it sheeple friendly but I guess that's subjective:

brad cook

 

[444]

No

I almost always carry a knife that attaches to my pocket with a clip. Right now, I am carrying an Emerson Commander. I sometimes carry automatic knives but I think the Commander is faster, so that is what I carry.
Pretty much everyone that I work with carry some type of "pccket clip" knife. I see them all the time in public.
I do have a few nice small pocket knives that I would carry if I ever got dressed up. However, I couldn't tell you the last time I was dressed up.

 

[fistful]

Is legality the only thing that matters? What about just not getting annoying questions or comments? What about not looking like a mall-ninja? Too many "tactical" knives out there. I think a big, one-hander lockback in any normal blade style will be a good weapon, even if it doesn't look scary or ugly.

How about not freaking people out? Some people need a good scare just to have their mind expanded, but sometimes it's just inconvenient.

 

[Skofnung]

I carry 2 knives.

1) SAK "Tinker"- This one is about as tame as it gets.

2) Spyderco Endura - I guess it's a matter of opinion. Never had a problem with sheep.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I carry a Benchmade 550 Griptilian clipped to my pocket, even when I'm wearing a suit (which is thankfully not too often).

 

[griz]

I've found that the people who are capable of being scared by a knife are more concerned that the knife looks easy to use than which knife it is. If I am really concerned about a reaction (rarely) I use two hands to slowly open, and eventually close, which ever knife is in my pocket at the time. This seems to make them more comfortable than flipping open a small knife and closing it back up with one hand. I guess it looks like a clumsy tool to them that way.

Me: "It's just a knife. It's not going anywhere."
Her: "Yeah, it just looks scarey."

I guess it's easier than thinking!

 

[Don Gwinn]

I am not a sheeple-friendly person.

I carry a gift from a good friend who means more to me than most people I meet.
It's a Spydie Native III for anyone wondering. I actually cut a little linoleum with it today, which is probably a sin, but it worked very well and it needed to be sharpened anyway.

 

[Rupestris]

I carry a Mini Griptillian and a Leatherman Squirt P4 daily. With Michigans laws limiting knives to a 3" blade the Benchmades 2.9" blade makes it as Sheeple friendlt as one canget and still have a knife that serves a purpose.
the law is discretionary of course but better safe than sorry (read out $70).

 

[moorerwc]

I replaced my Emerson liner locks a few months back because the ti lockbars weakened and they developed a lot of bladeplay after only a few years of light duty. I have decided to only trust liner/frame lock folders for their KISS simplicity and ease of use/ergonomics--and then only trusting thick lockbars (thicker than the standard emersons) made of steel or titanium with hardened engagement surfaces. The only production Ti framelocks that I was able to confirm as having hardened locking surfaces were the CR Sebenza and the Buck Mayo TNT--I'm pretty sure that the Striders are too but we're talking PC knives.
I ended up with a small Sebenza that I'm very happy with--it is stronger with ergonomics just as good as my emersons and it has a very unassuming appearance--I even loaned it to a pretty young mother a couple of weeks ago at the football game so she could peel/slice an apple for her kid. The Sebenza is less "tactical" looking than most of the knives out there but it is stronger than the _vast_ majority of them--it is even available with wood inlays.

Remember, most often, knives are utilitarian tools. Having a good bit of martial arts training and a bit with knife, I know that the knife becomes a weapon as a very last resort. Most people who carry "tactical" knives as "weapons" are only fooling themselves.

One solution some "knife fighters" have found is to conceal a quality fixed blade for defense and to pocket a SAK or unassuming traditional pocketknife for more mundane tasks. This is probably not a bad solution.

-Chad

 

[fistful]

Remember, most often, knives are utilitarian tools. Having a good bit of martial arts training and a bit with knife, I know that the knife becomes a weapon as a very last resort. Most people who carry "tactical" knives as "weapons" are only fooling themselves.

Amen, Moorerwc.

A knife should have a proper shape for the expected mundane task(s), because that's all it's likely to be used for, for most of us. In a crisis, though, almost any locking blade can be used as a weapon. Then again, for some people, the carry knife is only a badge of virility.

I use two hands to slowly open, and eventually close, which ever knife

good tip

 

[eatatjoes]

Is legality the only thing that matters?

of course not, i carry what i find fits my requirements the best. since i needed a blade that wouldn't corrode much/at all and i wanted something with a handle that fit my hand well i chose the pacific salt.

What about just not getting annoying questions or comments?

since i got my knife a few months ago the only questions have been along the lines of "what kind is that?" or "can i see that?" or in the case of the gas station clerk who sells me cigarettes; "is yours as sharp as mine?" *whips out Benchmade AFCK*

What about not looking like a mall-ninja?

if this makes me look like a mall ninja than my state must be the mall ninja capital of the world. it is not as if i whip the knife out of my pocket, spyder-drop it open and then slash through the object that required cutting as quick as possible.

Too many "tactical" knives out there. I think a big, one-hander lockback in any normal blade style will be a good weapon, even if it doesn't look scary or ugly.

How about not freaking people out? Some people need a good scare just to have their mind expanded, but sometimes it's just inconvenient.

for my own edification; "tactical" is identified by one-handed opening, a pocket clip and the color black? since when did usefulness and convenience turn one into a "mall-ninja"? i plan on getting a new pacific salt in the color yellow when they are released, is this not tactical?

my knives aren't weapons, not even in the sense that i see them as tools but in the sense that any confrontation that would require me to use an edged weapon could be dealt with in a better way (i.e. beating feet.)

if someone gets "freaked out" by a 3-4 inch piece of steel they have some deeper issues to deal with than i have time for anyway.

 

[arinvolvo]

I carry a rather large CRKT m16, OR a sebenza most of the time...

but the sheeple never get to see it. I draw my side arm and "shoot open" UPS packages.

 

[fistful]

Eatatjoes,

for my own edification; "tactical" is identified by one-handed opening, a pocket clip and the color black? since when did usefulness and convenience turn one into a "mall-ninja"? i plan on getting a new pacific salt in the color yellow when they are released, is this not tactical?

If "tactical" means "better suited for combat" then I suppose many convenient features fit that definition. I definitely agree that one-hander knives with a clip are much easier to carry and use. When I say that too many knives are "tactical" I mean "tanto" points, serrations, and other folderol that is only built into the knife to make it look meaner. Scary knives sell, so most blades are intentionally designed to look menacing. When a teenage friend of mine saw my drop-point folder, he told me it looked like a butter-knife. I took this as a sign he needed more education, but I'm glad it looks so non-threatening. I will admit my own idiosyncracy, though - anything other than the flat-ground or hollow-ground drop-point just looks mall-ninja to me.

if someone gets "freaked out" by a 3-4 inch piece of steel they have some deeper issues to deal with than i have time for anyway.

Yes, precisely why I don't want to "freak them out." I don't want to deal with their fear, offended feelings, or annoying comments or questions.

"can i see that?" or in the case of the gas station clerk who sells me cigarettes; "is yours as sharp as mine?"

Hey! Just the kind of annoying questions I was talkin' about! I hate it when merely pulling out a knife to open a box turns into a show-and-tell session. Reminds me of adolescence.

Most knives with black plastic handles just look like mall-ninja issue. Sorry. I hope my Bwana doesn't look that way, but there's no solution until this tacticality race is over, and we see more adult-looking knives on the market at reasonable prices ( < $100 ). I like your Benchmade, though. Is that a zip-tie on the thumb-hole?

 

[arinvolvo]

Looks, tacticality, and color aside, i carry the knives that i am the most comfortable using. I dont care what color or size your knife is, if you just "use" it, rather than brandish it...nobody will freak out.

 

[Ash]

I carry a Tradesman SAK. It's friendly, handles all my cutting uses, and has both screwdrivers I use. I even use the tiny pliars on it far more than I would have expected. Of course, I'm a traditionalist. I want my pocket knife to look like a pocket knife. IMHO, too many knives these days look more like weapons than tools. And, since what I need is a sharp blade, I'm much happier with a knife that looks like something my grandfather carried over a knife that looks like some hoodlum would whip out.

Now, I'm not calling anyone who likes tactical-looking knives any names here, so don't get upset. But I do like my knives to look like tools. I also like my fixed-blade knives to have wood or horn grips and rather thin, single-sided blades of conventional shape and length. If it takes two hands to open the blade on my pocket knife, fine by me. Nothing I have to open with a knife requires any quick-draw motions. And, when I open a knife, I want to have the most control over it possible, which is too-handed. These are all preferences and I judge nobody here. I am not of the herd of sheeple, but if my knife looks friendly to them, fine by me.

Ash

 

[45R]

I carry a Benchmade 630 now and then and a Benchmade 750. Everyone is usually more absorbed by the titanium handles then they are the length of the shiny blade.

 

[Mac Attack]

Nope. I carry whatever knife I want to carry regardless of what others think. At times I choose to carry my Phil Hartsfield 4" Kozuka fixed blade but for the most part I carry one of several folders. Right now my favorite which is seeing a lot of carry time is my Strider numbered SMF. Not a knife for the faint of heart. The big 4 inch tiger stripped blade and ominous looking Titanium fired frame lock make many a liberal freeze in their tracks.

Carry what you want and don't worry about what other people think.

Mac

 

[GigaBuist]

With Michigans laws limiting knives to a 3" blade

I've tried finding this in the criminal code, and the only thing I've seen says that you must have criminal intents for it to be an issue.

As always, I could be wrong and probably am.