"Please, don't touch me again."

May 18, 2005 3:37 PM

Your Knife Sucks - "The only difference between your knife and my knife is my knife's in my hand and your knife's in your pocket." {Real Video ram} {via Kottke via Clive}
posted by dobbs (91 comments total)

{waits for alternative format to be posted}
posted by Witty at 3:40 PM on May 18, 2005

Available in lots of pretty designs.
posted by dobbs at 3:40 PM on May 18, 2005

Your basal nervous system wants these knives! I think my heart's explodin'! These knives!
posted by Simon! at 3:45 PM on May 18, 2005

I wish there were one that weren't so tacky looking.
posted by interrobang at 3:50 PM on May 18, 2005

The only difference between your knife and my knife is my knife's actually a pistol and your knife's a knife.
posted by fenriq at 3:51 PM on May 18, 2005

Your Knife Sucks

Yeah, but my gun's pretty good...
posted by c13 at 3:54 PM on May 18, 2005

Witty, if you're on Windows but don't like or trust the RealPlayer, check into "Real Alternative", which is basically just the codecs and a simple wrapper, Media Player Classic. MPC is very much like Windows Media Player 6.4... very simple and to the point.

If you're on Linux, you can use mplayer. On the Mac, I have no idea.
posted by Malor at 3:56 PM on May 18, 2005

This particular stream isn't working in my MPC with Real Alternative.
posted by rafter at 3:58 PM on May 18, 2005

*resists urge to ask why this was posted*

That's not a knife, this is a knife:


posted by caddis at 3:58 PM on May 18, 2005

caddis, I think that knife would make slicing tomatoes very, very dangerous.
posted by fenriq at 4:08 PM on May 18, 2005

caddis - ouch, why would someone go to the trouble of making this ridiculous knife and not put a knuckle guard on it?
posted by anthill at 4:10 PM on May 18, 2005

two at once, though! Just nail one tomato to the ceiling, and then it's up down up down etc
posted by cortex at 4:11 PM on May 18, 2005

That guy's a lot of talk.. I challenge him to a knife-off..

His "best" made in Taiwan belt buckle cheapie that may or may not preform to what he claims, and me with my Benchmade 42 balisong.
What a cheeseball.

I should blast him in the kneecaps just for being a poser.
posted by Balisong at 4:15 PM on May 18, 2005

I'd be affraid to buy anything from him.
posted by NewBornHippy at 4:21 PM on May 18, 2005

caddis, I posted it because I thought it was funny how quickly his spiel escalated from using the knife to open boxes and cut fishing line to "the bad guy who puts his hand on my wife? He's gonna wake up wearing an eye patch!" And I liked the part where he checks his watch but isn't wearing one and for some reason doesn't edit that part out. And the part where he's talking about his wife and gets confused. "That's her arm, my knife..."
posted by dobbs at 4:33 PM on May 18, 2005

I bet he could slice that bug that enters the frame at the 13th second -- that would be all the same to him.
posted by NewBornHippy at 4:45 PM on May 18, 2005

That guy is really, really annoying, and unless he is a drug dealer or lives in a land full of pirates, probably is a scared little man for all the talk of knifing people. Well adjusted folks don't spend all day learning to become super 'leet with their belt knife so they can blind the hypothetical guy that touches his wife.

Wanker.
posted by teece at 4:49 PM on May 18, 2005

That's not a knife. This is a knife.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:56 PM on May 18, 2005

I think knives are a good idea. Big, fuck-off shiny ones. Ones that look like they could skin a crocodile. Knives are good, because they don't make any noise, and the less noise they make, the more likely we are to use them. Shit 'em right up. Makes it look like we're serious. Guns for show, knives for a pro.

/Soap
posted by cyphill at 5:10 PM on May 18, 2005

interrobang, here's the simplest design he offers.
posted by wsg at 5:18 PM on May 18, 2005

Since we're all showing 'em, these knives are beautifully made and only a four year waiting period to get one from the factory!
posted by fenriq at 5:27 PM on May 18, 2005

Okay help me here:

"Or the tactical side it's the only invisible knife on earth. Great for a lady..No unneeded moment . None... only knife. Knife first then move. Completely unique motion."

Huh? I didn't watch the video, but this guy sounds like a psychopath.

"Everything is clean. Beautiful. So that it slides perfectly. Nice. Everything cleaned. Oiled. So that your action is beautiful. Smooth, Charlene."
/Gomer Pyle
posted by Stauf at 6:05 PM on May 18, 2005

I'd rather be stabbed in the eye than wear that belt buckle.
posted by nanojath at 6:08 PM on May 18, 2005

In keeping with an important theme of today, the ultimate in personal protection weapons.
posted by caddis at 6:16 PM on May 18, 2005

I, personally, prefer these.
posted by c13 at 6:19 PM on May 18, 2005

dobbs: Thanks for the post. I laughed my ass off!
posted by johnj at 6:32 PM on May 18, 2005

cool but what if you're at the beach. you can't wear a belt with a swimsuit

also what if its winter and your wintercoat is all buttoned up. if another guy had his knife in the pocket of his wintercoat, i think belt buckle guy would lose
posted by poppo at 6:36 PM on May 18, 2005

How much would you care to bet that I could board a plane while wearing one of these?
posted by SPrintF at 7:03 PM on May 18, 2005

Never bring a knife to a gun fight.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 7:10 PM on May 18, 2005

caddis: it must suck to think you have the baddest knife on the block and then have a Star Trek weenie point out that it's really just a junior training batleth. You know, for kids.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:12 PM on May 18, 2005

If I were planning on knifing somebody I'd use a cheap common kitchen knife, zillions sold every day, and leave it there -- so perhaps a plastic or metal handle that won't absorb one's own DNA is preferable; it wouldn't bother me that the cops knew he was shivved with a cheap piece of shit as long as they didn't link it to me. I think people who buy these knives, or any expensive fancy knife, intending to use them on people are morons.

But don't get me wrong, it's not that I have any first-hand experience with this subject or that I really have any idea what I'm talking about, it's just that it seems so obvious after being a big "Hawaii 50" fan as a kid. Remember how they could get long lists of everything sold anywhere on any of those islands?

It'd probably better to buy it with cash too.
posted by davy at 7:28 PM on May 18, 2005

Thanks, wsg. Do they also make one that fits onto the little binder clip I'm currently using as a belt?
posted by interrobang at 7:32 PM on May 18, 2005

Yours is still in your pocket long afer I’m done with my cut. After all that’s what they we're all after in the first place ..Right???

Those shifty they we're bastards afer you again, Greg?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:32 PM on May 18, 2005

Most of you people act as if you don't carry a knife on you everyday to, ya know.. cut stuff.
Hell, I have to cary two. One nice and sharp, for sharpening pencils, and one for abuse, cutting against concrete and such. Then, I have my utility knife.

How do you people get through the world today when everything you touch is entombed in superflous packaging?
Do you rip open your mail with your teeth?

The knife was the second tool ever made, after the "hammer"

Bring some neo-cro-mag into today's world, and they would freak out at the airplane, car, flashlight, automatic espresso maker, but you hand him a knife, and he'll know what it's for.

The guy is still a cheeseball dipshit, with horrible taste in cheap-o knives. Life is too short to carry a cheap knife.
posted by Balisong at 7:49 PM on May 18, 2005

If his opponent's knife is still in his (opponent's) pocket, how can he justify the use of a (quality issues aside) lethal weapon?

Isn't it only self-defense if the attacker (remember, that's the guy with his knife still in his _pants_) is a clear and immediate threat?

"Taxi Driver," is not a good reference-source for life strategies.

Still, it was funny in the same way the mean drunk at a party is funny when he's trying to pick a fight with someone who completely out-classes him.
posted by Crosius at 8:22 PM on May 18, 2005

Here's the same guy without the leather biker garb and the beard.

He deals in cheap knives. Anything for a buck.
posted by Balisong at 8:28 PM on May 18, 2005

God forbid this guy should ever see the little knife I've carried on my key chain for forty years. He'd figure I was a real wimp. Oh well. I probably am.
posted by notreally at 8:35 PM on May 18, 2005

The knife was the second tool ever made, after the "hammer"

Nah man, the first tool was scissors, to cut paper.

They already had rock.
posted by Kattullus at 8:48 PM on May 18, 2005

Not the best picture, but check where this guy keeps his...

posted by furtive at 9:05 PM on May 18, 2005

Balisong, you're a self-described knife and gun collector whose screen name is is a word for what most of us disgusting knife lowbrows would probably call a "butterfly knife," so I suspect in any given knife-related thread you're going to be more, um, serious about knives than most people.

Still, your second to last post makes me curious, if people generally do carry knives. My dad, a minister by vocation and woodworker by avocation, and one of the least likely people to get into a fight I've ever known, always, carries a knife and I picked up the habit (as well as receiving many knives as gifts over the years) from him, for the, yes, sheer utility of it.

I remember quite clearly when I first figured out why the called them "pen" knives, something your pencil-sharpening comment reminded me of. Stuff goes back a long way, yes.

It never occurred to me to really think about it, but I don't think a lot of people generally do carry knives. They just improvise with scissors and credit cards and stuff. Others want to chime in on blade-carrying habits?

Although I couldn't be called a collector, and I've never owned a firearm and probably never will, I am also totally behind your disdain of shoddy knives. A reverence for quality in tools is another thing I learned from Dad.
posted by nanojath at 9:15 PM on May 18, 2005

Not the best picture, but check where this guy keeps his...

Ha!! Try and get your knife to my neck!! Mine's already there!
posted by Balisong at 9:16 PM on May 18, 2005

Anybody else think of this guy?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:21 PM on May 18, 2005

Jut to let it be said, I haven't been in a fistfight since high school.. 1986-7.

I have never been in a knife or gun fight. I learned to use proper tact in confrontations through martial arts philosophy.

My knife is very sharp, but has never been unsheathed to harm.
posted by Balisong at 9:33 PM on May 18, 2005

Er Just...
posted by Balisong at 9:34 PM on May 18, 2005

I began carrying a pocket knife back in the old days, when men were men and had to carve open large boxes of computer paper to stick in their tractor-feed line printers.

I carry it to this day and find it useful, as Balisong noted, to flense packaging from product.
posted by SPrintF at 9:42 PM on May 18, 2005

Or to even intimidate.

If I ever have to pull a knife to defend myself, you won't ever see it. And you'll have tried to pull something yourself.

Ya know, someone CAN have a weapon and (not) use it wisely.
posted by Balisong at 9:44 PM on May 18, 2005

, but I don't think a lot of people generally do carry knives.

I don't know, pretty much all of my guy friends and a couple of girls carry knives all the time. In the lab we just about require everyone to have one. Well, at least we redicule ones who don't.
posted by c13 at 9:48 PM on May 18, 2005

I got mine. Some sort of Kershaw. In case the gun jams.
posted by Carbolic at 11:11 PM on May 18, 2005

I have carried a knife as long as I've carried keys -- generally some kind of small, nerdy Swiss Army kind of thing.

A couple of years ago, on a whim, I bought myself a Buck Whittaker Metro, and now I'll never go back; it opens boxes, it cuts paper, and it pops bottle caps. I would endorse this knife on television.

http://www.buckknives.com/catalog/detail/155/230

Oh, and it's made in Taiwan, and it's not terribly sharp. And the blade is almost as wide as it is long (about 1"). I would not reccomend carrying one if you want to intimidate thugs or impress bikers.
posted by medialyte at 11:45 PM on May 18, 2005

He pulls a knife, you pull a gun.
He sends one of yours to the hospital,
you send one of his to the morgue --
that's the Chicago way.
And that's how you get Capone.
posted by matteo at 11:59 PM on May 18, 2005

I'm giving them for Christmas gifts.
posted by wsg at 1:31 AM on May 19, 2005

Most of you people act as if you don't carry a knife on you everyday to, ya know.. cut stuff.
Hell, I have to cary two. One nice and sharp, for sharpening pencils, and one for abuse, cutting against concrete and such. Then, I have my utility knife.

Well most people in the UK don't carry knives as its largely illegal unless you have a good reason. Thankfully intense technological research has provided us with alternative solutions: e.g. the pencil sharpener, which also has the advantage of being smaller than a knife.

Do you rip open your mail with your teeth?

I tend to put my finger under the little flap and lift it, et voila!
posted by biffa at 2:51 AM on May 19, 2005

If only he had one that had a fork instead of a blade. "Your fork is on the table, mine is in my hand, and your dinner is in my stomach."
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:42 AM on May 19, 2005

You draw a knife, I use a dustbin lid as a shield and smack you upside the head with it. You draw a knife and I hit you under the nose with an ashtray. You draw a knife and I splash drink from a pint glass/beer bottle in your face and then smack you with it. I can throw loose change from my pocket or a set of keys. Knives are crap.

All these wonderful things (and many more!) are to hand in a pub or on the street. Carrying a knife is stupid for self defence, in the UK it'll get you arrested pdq and I would have no sympathy at all. There is virtually no need to carry a knife in an urban environment unless a) it makes you feel good (in which case you have issues) or b) you intend to use it (in which case you have issues) or c) you are on your way to the countryside (in which case you shouldn't be carrying it, it should be secure somewhere like in a bag).
posted by longbaugh at 4:53 AM on May 19, 2005

in the UK it'll get you arrested pdq and I would have no sympathy at all.

Well most people in the UK don't carry knives as its largely illegal unless you have a good reason.

You people are fucked up.
posted by c13 at 5:15 AM on May 19, 2005

Carrying a swing knife, which may include a balisong, is a felony offense in much of the US, including Colorado. Carrying a concealed knife with a blade exceeding 3 1/2 inches is a misdemeanor in most of the US. Many states are much stricter. Basically, carrying a knife for self defense is fucked up.
posted by caddis at 5:34 AM on May 19, 2005

Not really.
posted by c13 at 6:29 AM on May 19, 2005

I've carried a pocket knife for as long as I can remember - and at least from age 11 when I was a Boy Scout and earned my "Toten Chip".

Most of the times it's just this one.. It's certainly not for self defense, but it's damn useful.

And being a proper geek, I carry this one which is EXTREMELY useful.

I find it a major pain in the ass to travel with even these knives - I pack them in checked luggage, but even that's getting to be a problem.
posted by cptnrandy at 6:41 AM on May 19, 2005

I usually stand around looking all frustrated and pissed saying "anyone got a knife?", same deal for not wearing a watch.

Actually I also keep about 5 box cutters on my desk, including one ultra-fresh dada-ist one that I got as a freebie from a shipping supplies company, it's got a day-glo fish skeleton on it, for no good fucking reason.

Fighting wise, I prefer in this order: Buy him a beer, smile and say "it's cool man." Glance over his shoulder and say, "shit the cops" then run like the dickens. Hope that I am with one or more of the vicious dirtbags I've made friends with over the years that actually enjoys and is good at fighting. Garbage can attack. Take the beating and hope the endorphin rush is some compensation.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:42 AM on May 19, 2005

What's your point c13? Carrying a 4.2 inch blade (Benchmade 42 balisong) in TN is illegal according to that chart.
posted by caddis at 6:52 AM on May 19, 2005

Who said anything about Benchmade 42 balisong? I carry a Leatherman and a Microtech SOCOM, both of which have blades of 4 inches or less. The point is that, except NC, the carry laws are a lot more relaxed than you making them out to be. That is, if cops actually give a damn about that kind of thing. I don't know about other states, but here, the few times that issue came up, they were completely cool.
Nowthen, if I think I need self defence, I'll just take my Glock with me. But even a knife, while obviously not great, is better than nothing.
posted by c13 at 7:07 AM on May 19, 2005

My knife is a Leatherman wave, and it's strictly for utility. It's a tool I use daily - both in my work, and around the house. I suppose it makes a big difference that my work and hobbies involve a lot of knife work, bu almost every day, I have folks asking to borrow mine for a quick cut.

I've had people ask me if it's for self defense (it looks a little scary since it's one-handed opening), to which I reply, "Are you fucking nuts?". My first self defense options are either not getting in the situation in the first place, or running like hell.
posted by Sangre Azul at 7:11 AM on May 19, 2005

c13 - can I just ask exactly what sort of occasion would warrant you carrying a Glock? Are you a police officer or security guard?

What are you scared of?
posted by longbaugh at 7:17 AM on May 19, 2005

Caddis, it doesn't say anything under TN for balisongs.
And in Colorado, it's illegal to carry them concealed. but legal in the open. I have a belt sheath.I've never been harassed.
You know that Spyderco is based in Colorado, and have their own balisong out? They are not illegal here.
posted by Balisong at 7:26 AM on May 19, 2005

Much of the law is written so that it is illegal to carry a knife with the INTENT for it to be a weapon.
I never intend that, so I am legal.
posted by Balisong at 7:30 AM on May 19, 2005

I very rarely do. Mainly only when I go camping. But I do have a carry permit and CAN carry if I want to. But usually it's just too damn bulky to bother.
As far as being scared, it's a pretty cheap shot. I could counter that with saying that the people who don't carry do it not because they "are not scared", but because they believe, for some reason, that there will always be cops or someone else to save their ass. But either way, reality is a lot more nuanced.
posted by c13 at 7:41 AM on May 19, 2005

Or maybe they just think it's unlikely that their ass will need saving.
posted by biffa at 7:44 AM on May 19, 2005

Much of the law is written so that it is illegal to carry a knife with the INTENT for it to be a weapon. I never intend that, so I am legal.

However, if you actually use it that fact alone will speak volumes in court as to your intent in carrying the knife.
posted by caddis at 7:52 AM on May 19, 2005

I usually carry a Leatherman wave as well, Sangre Azul. Either that or a Gerber. Why carry just a knife when you can add pliers and scissors within the same amount of space? Of course, they are made for utility, not stabbing people.
posted by Roger Dodger at 8:00 AM on May 19, 2005

We all have different opinions, Biffa.
And Caddis, with the crime solvency rate of 50%, it's a pretty long way to court. Besides, there is such a thing as self-defence.
posted by c13 at 8:01 AM on May 19, 2005

It's not such a long way to court if you stab somebody. Self defense will only apply to the assault with a deadly weapon charge (assuming you can prove it is actually self defense) but will not help you on the charge of carrying a concealed weapon with the intent to be armed. Once you have used it as a weapon, your intent in carrying it starts to look criminal. I would certainly rather be defending carrying of a hunting knife than a balisong, but the mere fact that you pulled it out and used it as a weapon may establish intent.
posted by caddis at 8:20 AM on May 19, 2005

If you really need a weapon for self defense, pepper spray or mace is probably a better choice. A lot of manly men might shun these as being "women's weapons" but they work well and you are not likely to be charged with a crime just for using them (assuming they are legal in your state).
posted by caddis at 8:23 AM on May 19, 2005

That was awesome. The cheesy matte, the wierd flinching moves, the Rain Man patter delivery. I'm in scary kitsch heaven, thanks.
posted by fungible at 8:33 AM on May 19, 2005

I've carried balisongs for close to 10 years, and have never pulled it out and used it as a weapon. Therefore it isn't a weapon. It's a tool, and I use it as such. I have used it as a hammer, saw, screwdriver, chisel, prybar, scraper, bottle opener. Heck, I've even used it to cut things.
Balisongs have a bad rap. A couple Kung-Fu movies in the 70's and lawmakers got their panties all bunched up over them. When open, there is no way for the blade to accidently close on your fingers, when locked open, they are almost as strong as a fixed blade. The double handle design can accommodate almost any blade style. They can be used one handed, since most of the time when you need a knife, you already have something in your (other) hand that needs cutting.
They are a bit flashy, but no faster opening than just about any knife made today with a thumbstud.

And when I'm bored, I can flip it around. More fun than a hackey-sack.

The Yo-yo was originally a "weapon", too... but we give those to kids to play with.

Pepper spray won't open my mail, sharpen my pencil, or trim a rubber hose to shape.
posted by Balisong at 8:45 AM on May 19, 2005

Pepper spray is also illegal in the UK.
posted by biffa at 9:56 AM on May 19, 2005

I carry a keychain knife. Blade is maybe 2" long. It's dull as a butterknife. Used for envelopes, tape, and other packaging.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:25 AM on May 19, 2005

Pepper spray won't open my mail, sharpen my pencil, or trim a rubber hose to shape.

But if you live in Canada (or BC, at least), it will help keep the grizzly bears at bay.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:26 AM on May 19, 2005

Pepper spray is also illegal in the UK.

OK, you people are fucked up.
posted by caddis at 10:26 AM on May 19, 2005

Not really.
posted by caddis at 10:26 AM on May 19, 2005

In fact - in the UK the most dangerous thing you'll likely meet is a pisshead after 8pm in most town centres on Thursday-Saturday. I feel confident in my ability to run away from pissheads and/or utilise the huge number of police officers patrolling to defend myself should the need arise.

The bizarre fetishisation of weaponry that exists in the USA in clearly a factor in your street violence (much as binge drinking is here) and it speaks volumes that handguns cause more deaths at home than on the streets. The desire to defend oneself from non-existent foes is a constant source of bewilderment to me. It seems that more innocents are harmed as a result of the firearms at home than are saved by carrying a firearm.

I could be wrong but living in a nation with virtually no private firearms ownership makes me feel enormously safe. On the other hand, several friends of mine in the US were recently threatened with a pistol. Seems fairly cut and dried right there.
posted by longbaugh at 10:26 AM on May 19, 2005

But we keep and bear arms so that we can rise up and defend ourselves against an unjust government. A little revolution is a good thing, and all that...
posted by caddis at 10:35 AM on May 19, 2005

Well get on with it then... What are you waiting for, GWB to rip of the rubber mask and reveal himself as the bastard spawn of Nixon and Reagan after a particularly vile session of group masturbation into a test tube?
posted by longbaugh at 11:16 AM on May 19, 2005

Until I moved to Texas, I thought only IT geeks carried knives. I was so used to being the handiest guy around, until I moved, and discovered that there were a bunch of people in Texas that were just as handy. Oh well. My knife comes with pliers.

If you really need a weapon for self defense, pepper spray or mace is probably a better choice. - caddis

While I would agree with the sentiment (and extensive research seems to indicate that this is true), pepper spray and mace are still not very effective. In fact, mace has proven to be less effective than a nightstick, and nothing has proven more effective than a firearm. So, if effectiveness for defense is what we're trying to achieve, then why not recommend a firearm? I think Balisong's point stands. Many people judge knives by a broader concept of effectiveness.

On preview:
But we keep and bear arms so that we can rise up and defend ourselves against an unjust government. - caddis

This is only one of a host of reasons why we reserve the right to keep and bear arms.
posted by rush at 11:31 AM on May 19, 2005

I could be wrong but living in a nation with virtually no private firearms ownership makes me feel enormously safe.

Shouldn't. Violent crime rates in the UK and US are similar. Murder rates are higher in the US, but almost all of that is people who know each other, and drug- or gang-related.

I can't find statistics on the probability of someone who's not in a gang and who's not in the illicit-drug industry being killed or seriously fucked-up by a stranger, but I'd bet a nice meal that the rates are close.

Doesn't mean I like guns or anything.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:59 AM on May 19, 2005

True, many of the most self righteous NRA types keep them because they are fun, make them feel tough and give them a sense of safety. Some people just have them for hunting and target practice with little thought of self defense. I suppose I fall into that category, but I have left my weapons at my parents' house as I have no desire to have a gun in my house with my children. We have fostered a culture of fear in this country in many areas, fear the commies, fear the terrorists, fear the criminal (which often translates into fear those whose skin is darker than yours). As for fear of criminals and self defense, it seems to me that I hear about a lot more shootings of family members and accidental shootings than I do of shootings of intruders. My guess is that the statistics would bear out this impression, but who knows maybe we really are mowing down the criminals left and right, at least more so than each other. In any event, from a legal standpoint the question remains unsettled as to whether the right to bear arms is there so as to arm a militia or also to allow for one's self defense. I think the former is correct, the NRA disagrees.
posted by caddis at 12:00 PM on May 19, 2005

The lack of a weapons is a great leveller ROU. Someone who wouldn't dare take a shot at me with fists will feel differently if he has a knife or gun available. This multiplication of threat capability is my concern. Getting in a punch up is no great threat at the end of the day (I'm missing an eye-tooth from that) but if the guy had had a knife when he hit me I'd be missing half my face.

UK crime rates are virtually impossible to comprehend nowadays with numerous statistical anomalies. I have lived in some extremely violent cities and towns by reputation but have only had to resort to fisticuffs twice (both times 'cos I was drunk and stupid). I think the threat is overblown unless you are actually looking for violence.
posted by longbaugh at 1:19 PM on May 19, 2005

like many others here, i have carried a knife since i was a little one. i have never once needed it for self defense, but on a few occasions i was glad it was there, just in case. On the other hand, i have used it almost daily for everything from opening packages to stripping wire. i can't imagine not having it in my pocket. Personally i favor the Columbia River but just lately i have been using my Kershaw Chive as a money-clip.

And to speak to the number of posters who have commented on how their pocket knives are dull, it should be noted that a dull knife is significantly more dangerous to it's wielder than a sharp knife. A dull knife requires a lot more force to cut and increases the chances of the blade slipping and biting the user. In the instance that it does cut you it will likely result in a laceration as opposed to an incision which is more difficult to stitch and more likely to leave a scar. So, to sum up, keep your knife sharp.
posted by quin at 2:13 PM on May 19, 2005

I could be wrong but living in a nation with virtually no private firearms ownership makes me feel enormously safe. On the other hand, several friends of mine in the US were recently threatened with a pistol. Seems fairly cut and dried right there.

OTOH the level of random street crime and violence in the UK is mind boggling to me. In 15 years of living in the US, in several major cities, I knew maybe half a dozen people who were victims of violence whereas in 18 months of living in the UK pretty much everyone I know has been a victim of some kind of assault from being spit on to being stabbed for no reason. In the US where they don't usually even seperate the fans at major sporting events, which would lead to major carnage here.

I don't know if it has anything to do with attitudes to weapon ownership or other social factors but I know I feel a lot safer in the US, gun wielding maniacs or no.
posted by fshgrl at 2:53 PM on May 19, 2005

it should be noted that a dull knife is significantly more dangerous to it's wielder than a sharp knife

True, dat. OTOH, it feels far less bad to use a dull knife to pry stones from shoetread, wrestle packing staples from boxes, and suchlike. Always a shame to damage a good knife-edge doing dumb things like that.

Y'all want to feel safe, you should try Canada. I've walked the "nasty" bit of West Hastings in Vancouver a dozen times over and have yet to feel even the slightest bit of threat, even as addicts shoot up in the doorways.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:42 PM on May 19, 2005

As we sat in the south "An armed society is a polite society". I have never once been the victim of a physical assault (at least not since the second grade).
posted by Carbolic at 5:19 PM on May 19, 2005

Well most people in the UK don't carry knives as its largely illegal unless you have a good reason.

But that doesn't stop the legions now carrying knives and guns in London, Nottingham and probably a lot of other places.

I think the threat is overblown unless you are actually looking for violence.

If nothings happened to you yet I'm pleased for you, but some people live in areas where it's a constant threat, especially if you're not the type that looks for it.

Whether weapons should be legal in a particular country is not a simple matter, but please lets not act superior to our American friends just cause they want something to defend themself.
posted by lunkfish at 2:20 AM on May 20, 2005