Smaller knife = less scary???

[AimlessWanderer]

One thing that should not affect you but sadly does is how comfortable YOU feel about using a perfectly legal knife in public in your respective location. I don't care if I live in the USA, or the UK or anywhere in between. If I have a legal knife and am using it in a legal manner than smurf off or call the cops. Doesn't make a difference to me because I have done nothing wrong. When people start sacrificing their own rights to make other people comfortable its a sad, sad day and you should be ashamed.

Can I just challenge this point for a moment. Let me take you back to my point about me wearing a sheath knife in public outside a court house..... in the UK. I m neither sacrificing my rights, nor living in fear, I m merely conducting myself respectfully to my fellow man. If I need a bowie knife or a machete, I ll wear/use it. When I don't need anything which may cause alarm to ANYONE with a different perspective on blades, I'll carry something which is urban/public friendly according to my locale.

I see no comments above from any member for which they should be ashamed of their actions or judgements

I know I said I would not comment anymore, but I will on this occasion to clear things up as I do not want to leave you hanging.

This thread was never about fixed blades, but its one in the same. As far as you not carrying a fixed blade in certain situations. If you do not want to carry a fixed blade because you do not think you will need that much knife then great. If you do not want to carry it to "be respectful to your fellow man" then great. I just cannot see how carrying a fixed blade would be disrespectful to your fellow man.  We come from worlds apart and I guess things are just perceived differently around there. If me carrying a knife on my belt disrespects anyone then to be 100% completely honest I do not care. I hate to sounds like a dick or insensitive or what not, but come on. That's just ridiculous. Again, this is most definitely a matter of location and how the general public was raised into perceiving certain things. Everyone has the right to feel and think how they want. Why does your right trump mine? (Not yours specifically. I am using yours in the general sense).

This is all with respect and keeping things civil. 

I should of never said you should be ashamed. I apologize for that. 

Thanks for coming back on that one Cap'n

You are completely right with location being the key. It seems that where you are any size folder or a sheath knife is acceptable to the majority of the public. So unless someone was walking round with an unsheathed katana, nobody is likely to be perturbed. If that is the culture you have always lived with, it makes sense for you to be bewildered by public knife perception elsewhere. I mean that with all due respect of course.

There are a few aspects of our laws I have issues with, but on the whole I hink they are fair and fit our societal structure. There is facility to carry a "sensible" pocket knife for general carry, one which will not cause undue concern for OUR population, and facility to carry and bigger stuff when specifically needed. To many people used to more lenient settings, this will appear overly restrictive, but I believe it works pretty well.

I do feel for those in other areas around the globe who seem to be having further clampdowns and authorities trying to classify what last year was legal as now under the restricted/prohibted categories. Where I am there seems to be a tolerant understanding of things from what I can see.

[alexTOOL]

Live and let live 

[Megan]

I think it really depends on where you live.
Every country/province/state has different opinions on knives.

I do not carry a knife because I believe I could defend myself with it. I carry it for the purpose of it being useful during my day. I carry based on my situation alone.

In a more formal office setting I will usually carry a modest SAK.
As most of my marketing tends to involve construction/outdoor companies it is perfectly fine for me to carry something larger and have it be acceptable in the workplace. They're all carrying larger knives or MTs.

I am very public about carrying knives and multi-tools. Here in Canada of course if you were to use any of these in a harmful way you'd be charged also for carrying and using a concealed weapon. But using any of these for the purposes that I do is totally fine. And I will continue to do so. I work really hard to promote carrying these things- carrying them because it makes you useful.

That being said.
I do want to ensure that folks are comfortable. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I find that here in my part of Canada it doesn't do me any good to frighten people with a knife far larger than what I would need day-to-day. It does nothing to promote carrying knives and multitools to make people uncomfortable because I am carrying a machete on my thigh.

Sure it may be your right- but it doesn't mean it will help anything.
We also have the right to choose.

[Higgins617]

Cap finally struck a chord with me and I understand a bit more. It really is a matter of place. General public isn't that general, home near Boston you'll likely find the type who fear knives. Up in New Hampshire where I work I think I could have a machete on my belt and I'd get compliments. While legality might not come into play, different "general publics" formed by similar mindsets living together is what creates the circumstances under which we now feel the need to be mindful of what we carry. Whereas other places with different types of people won't blink no matter what you have.

I really don't disagree with any of the thoughts here, it's cool hearing people from all over talk about things.

[claws42]

I think it's partly the knife size, mostly the situation + 'look' of the knife. A 111mm SAK would usually attract less attention than a tactical looking folder, even if the SAK had a longer blade length.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

[Etherealicer]

A knife is a tool for me and I do many things with it from regular slicing, smearing butter on bread to precision cuts, prying and occasionally I use it as a screwdriver . Being a tool gives different preferences and uses, so there is not one choice for everyone.

Longer knives are:
- Heavier
- Larger (= less pocket friendly)
- Less tip control
- Scarier* (Why would I want that?)

For me, the sweet length is about 8cm, any longer blade I find impractical for EDC.
Shorter I don't mind so much (I like the 93mm SAK electrician blade, it does everything I need, except spreading butter, its not good at that). Even the whimsy 58mm SAK blade is extremely capable and, to me at least, preferable to a 10+ cm blade for EDC.

* ARE LARGER KNIFES SCARIER?
Yes, depending on the environment, they are. If someone carries a XXL knife downtown where there is really no use for it, I myself wonder, why they choose such a large blade. In an office, the only thing a larger blade does better is hurt people. So when I see someone with an XXL blade in a place there is no use for that I automatically categorize that person:
- He has huge hands and probably finds that large blade more comfortable
- He came from/goes to something that requires a large blade (e.g. my Hunter colleague)
- Maybe he forgot (e.g. my Hunter colleague)
- He has malicious intend (This is very rare, but has occurred before. Never to a degree where I felt to call the police, but I could see this happening.)
- He is a Mall Ninja (I think they grow like weed, getting more and more abundant by the day)

[firiki]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_You_Are_%28if_you_think_so%29

Edit: I agree that this discussion can never end since it all comes down to personal preferences and opinions.

Also, I agree with Mr. Ben Franklin that “Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".

I take it that the people who do not wish their gun/knife rights infringed have the same fervent concern about upholding other civil -and human- rights as well; LGBT status and marriage equality for instance. I'll stop now before listing other cases becomes inflammatory.

I can understand wanting something and I can differenciate between wanting and needing something. Because I can/want to do something doesn't necessarily mean I should do it (e.g. punch a kitten, kill a dog/man, run around with my priapic male reproductive gland exposed so everybody can see it).

I was brought up to accept that my liberty ends where the other person's rights begin. I like knives and I agree that, sadly, there are many sheeple in this world (bear in mind I despise the word sheeple). What do I gain by willingly intimidating the sheeple downtown with my scythe? Hysteria, bans on knives and various other unpleasant -to me- situations. Stating that "if other people are scared of my big knife then that's their problem" one negates other people's "right" to feel safe. In my view, such an attitude ultimately turns against the person acting this way, since that person's disdain of others justifies disdain towards said person.

Having rambled thus far, I'll conclude by saying I prefer EDCing a SAK because a SAK is people friendly, it provides much more function that just a knife blade, it's generally easy to carry in a pocket and it is a quality product. Should I feel I need a bigger knife I'd reach for a fixed blade, however most of my non food-related knife needs are met by some SAK blade perfectly well.

2nd Edit: As for the actual topic, I think that most people tend to relate blade size to how periculous that blade is/can be. I believe it all depends on the looks of the knife, the person holding the knife, the way that person is using the knife, the person seeing the other person using the knife, as well as circumstances (such as necessity, sobriety, time of the day/night, among others). So much complexity!

[pfrsantos]

I was reading this thread and either the title isn't correct or the posts are about something completely different.

If we're talking about the fact that bigger knives are scarier than smaller knives, I think it's pretty obvious the answer is yes. Maybe not so much for people who like knives. To them, regardless of size, knives do not cause fear.

To people who are not very confortable with cutting tools or haven't had great contact with them, the larger the blade, the scarier it is. It's normal. If I'm affraid of dogs, I would be more affraid of a Labrador than of a Chiuahua (even if the latter is more dangerous than the former).

The other discussion about it making sense or not, of if we should be allowed or not to carry/use bigger or smaller knives is a completely different question.

At least this is what I think, but I could be wrong (there's a first time to everything).

 

[AimlessWanderer]

One of the things I was trying to address in earlier posts, is that there's more than just blade size which can deem a blade scary. Case in point was my friends' reactions to my Buck Hartsook. To them the BO and covert nature made it a scarier blade than the folders and fixed blades they'd seen me using many times before. Also my Boker Plus XS doesn't look as public friendly as some other larger knives would.

So it's not just size, but style, shape, coatings, sound of locks, speed of deployment, angle of blade to handle, handle colour, and no doubt other factors too, which affect knife perception. Any traits that are going to be appealing to mall ninja types are likely to have an adverse reaction to the non-knife carrying public 

[Steinar]

I have used my wife (who likes knives, but is not very interested) and some non-knife-enthusiast friends as test subjects for "Is this knife scary looking?", and I have realized I'm really bad at guessing when knives are scary for "non-knife people". I know how a combat knife looks and quite a few of the features it needs, and my "dear test subjects" mostly don't, and it's certainly not whether a knife is designed as a weapon they care about. I still haven't figured out what it is, but I suspect it's simply familiarity. Unknown knife bad, known knife good, utterly independently of how well they can serve for "nefarious purposes".

Yet another argument for it all being about "location, location, location".

[Corwyn]

I am very public about carrying knives and multi-tools. Here in Canada of course if you were to use any of these in a harmful way you'd be charged also for carrying and using a concealed weapon. But using any of these for the purposes that I do is totally fine. And I will continue to do so. I work really hard to promote carrying these things- carrying them because it makes you useful.

Well you do have the face-coeficient too... I think the only less threatening group than middle-aged suit-wearing white men are young white females.... I mean if you would go down the street with a katana in one hand and a machete in the other, people would probably go: "Ow look at that pretty young lady in pink, she looks so cute going to prune her roses..." 

[magentus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_You_Are_%28if_you_think_so%29

Edit: I agree that this discussion can never end since it all comes down to personal preferences and opinions.

Also, I agree with Mr. Ben Franklin that “Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".

I take it that the people who do not wish their gun/knife rights infringed have the same fervent concern about upholding other civil -and human- rights as well; LGBT status and marriage equality for instance. I'll stop now before listing other cases becomes inflammatory.

I can understand wanting something and I can differenciate between wanting and needing something. Because I can/want to do something doesn't necessarily mean I should do it (e.g. punch a kitten, kill a dog/man, run around with my priapic male reproductive gland exposed so everybody can see it).

I was brought up to accept that my liberty ends where the other person's rights begin. I like knives and I agree that, sadly, there are many sheeple in this world (bear in mind I despise the word sheeple). What do I gain by willingly intimidating the sheeple downtown with my scythe? Hysteria, bans on knives and various other unpleasant -to me- situations. Stating that "if other people are scared of my big knife then that's their problem" one negates other people's "right" to feel safe. In my view, such an attitude ultimately turns against the person acting this way, since that person's disdain of others justifies disdain towards said person.

Having rambled thus far, I'll conclude by saying I prefer EDCing a SAK because a SAK is people friendly, it provides much more function that just a knife blade, it's generally easy to carry in a pocket and it is a quality product. Should I feel I need a bigger knife I'd reach for a fixed blade, however most of my non food-related knife needs are met by some SAK blade perfectly well.

2nd Edit: As for the actual topic, I think that most people tend to relate blade size to how periculous that blade is/can be. I believe it all depends on the looks of the knife, the person holding the knife, the way that person is using the knife, the person seeing the other person using the knife, as well as circumstances (such as necessity, sobriety, time of the day/night, among others). So much complexity!

Great post firiki 

[Lichtbote]

One situation that came to my mind is:

Guy one carries a big knife, that´s still within the local legal borders. He pulls it to do whatever peacefull thing he planned.

Guy two carries a concealed gun, and is surprised by guy one pulling his knife next to him. He feels endangered and shots Guy one. "I just tried to defend my life from a threat."

  Both acting within the laws would make that a funny thing.

[captain spaulding]

One situation that came to my mind is:

Guy one carries a big knife, that´s still within the local legal borders. He pulls it to do whatever peacefull thing he planned.

Guy two carries a concealed gun, and is surprised by guy one pulling his knife next to him. He feels endangered and shots Guy one. "I just tried to defend my life from a threat."

  Both acting within the laws would make that a funny thing.

That's a bit ridiculous.


EDIT: That's completely ridiculous.

[Don Pablo]

Thats completely plausible. 

[Steinar]

Oh, great we're going on to discuss CCW and general weapon ownership too... OK, eleven foot poles, eleven foot poles, when ten foot poles aren't enough!

(I suspect my views on that topic falls between several stools, but I won't go into them anyway, as this is the sound of me not posting any more to this thread. I feel I have said what I have worth saying on the original topic, and the current direction is a lovely invitation to a shouting match. Good luck to the brave souls who keep posting.  )

[captain spaulding]

 

[captain spaulding]

Thats completely plausible. 

Aliens being real is completely plausible as well. 

[sawman]

Cap'n, I don't know about you but I'm a little disappointed in some of our friends here. It seems they're hard pressed since they abolished their own rights in their own countries to deny us of ours too. At least, that's how it seems to me.

[SAK Guy]

Oh, great we're going on to discuss CCW and general weapon ownership too... OK, eleven foot poles, eleven foot poles, when ten foot poles aren't enough!

-snip-

Poles!!!  Cool!!!   

[gregozedobe]

Cap'n, I don't know about you but I'm a little disappointed in some of our friends here. It seems they're hard pressed since they abolished their own rights in their own countries to deny us of ours too. At least, that's how it seems to me.

That seems a bit of a stretch to me.  Mostly I've seen respectful offering of opinions on what the attitude is of the general public towards knives, and the quite logical implications of said public being scared (even if the "scary" knife is currently legal to carry).  I haven't noticed any non-US members actually asking US law-makers to introduce tighter laws on knives, but maybe I missed some posts ?

Methinks some individuals seem to be somewhat "over-sensitive" on their rights, and don't want to seriously consider their impact on the other people who share their society.

Let's avoid the knee-jerk reaction of attacking anyone who holds an opinion we strongly disagree with, and properly consider what they are saying and what reasons they have for saying it, otherwise this thread will get shut down.

[gustophersmob]

For me, my choice of carry falls underneath the legal limit.  While I don't necessarily carry a smaller knife for the sole intent to kowtow to people's feelings/phobias, I will admit that I do factor that in to some degree (I almost always an alox pioneer these days, as a SAK seems universally acceptable).  As many others have alluded to already, I believe that cultural norms carry weight, and shouldn't be thrown aside just in the name of "rights."  I say that because in my experience, people around me (i.e., friends and coworkers) have responded very positively when I use a SAK, and I have helped nudge at least 5 different people at work to EDC a knife now that they have seen one's usefulness. I have also occasionally carried larger, more "tactical" looking Spydercos and Benchmades. Almost every time I have carried one, someone has commented on it in a less than positive fashion.  Those knives were within Ohio's legal limits, and within my workplace's guidelines for carrying "weapons."

So, for me, it has come down to a combination of tact and respect when interacting with the portion of society I work/live in. I have found it generates better, more knife favorable results in the long term.

Ultimately, I don't believe that showing respect to those around us (society) and exercising our rights are mutually exclusive. I think the risk of always pushing our rights just for its own sake can lead to the polarization of non-knife people who would normally be reasonable and open to our point of view. If we can approach them tactfully, we will end up with more people  supporting knife rights, or at the very least, sympathetic to them.

Don't know if any of that even makes sense.  Hopefully nothing came out in an offensive fashion.  I can see why this thread could incite some passion, but I for one have found it very thought provoking reading everyone's views on the subject.

[AimlessWanderer]

to Greg and gustophersmob for the two previous posts.

In some areas, exercising your "rights" to the max without discretion could lead to more controls being demanded and granted. Quiet and discerning use of a SAK or trad slippy here would raise no eyebrows, but if the bloody ugly yet technically legal Lansky World Knife suddenly got popular in the less discrete sectors of society, it would likely be deemed "a worrying trend" and steps may be taken according

I completely understand if this is all beyond the comprehension of members who resides within different cultural settings. However, this does not mean that the rest of us are wrong, cowardly, misguided, or judgemental of other cultures. In some areas an urban knife/tool carrier, may be very much in the minority, and discretion can indeed be the better part of valour

[lister]

My Minichamp and LM squirt always get comments along the lines ow that is cute (women) or    you couldn't stab an ant with that (men). Peoples reaction to LM minitool is even more positive without anyone making fun of it. 

Normally I don't even need longer blades as I am not in a habit of field dressing mammoths anyway. 

But don't get me wrong I love some of the big OHO folders. I would love to buy sebenza 21 but I would't carry it. The added friction with normal people is just not worth it to me.

[Aloha]

Sorry if this comes off rude but.......... factor in where you live, what you do for a living, local laws, level of potential annoyance from objections, job at hand, comfortability of carry, etc etc etc and carry what you want.  We all know this and some do exactly this yet the question was not so simple, at least I didn't think it was.   

The original question is quite simple to answer and  to pfsantos for directly answering it.  I will clearly do the same, YES a smaller knife is less scary, this is my opinion.  I do believe however this wasn't exactly what was being asked, so many including myself answered to the more complex notion. 

Firiki had a wonderful post  thank you for that. 

I mentioned in my first response DECORUM must be exhibited while existing in society.  I don't understand anything less than that regardless if we are talking knives or whatever. 

[Lichtbote]

That's a bit ridiculous.


EDIT: That's completely ridiculous.

It only shows how ridicuolous this "It´s my right, and i take it"attitude is.

[captain spaulding]

That's a bit ridiculous.


EDIT: That's completely ridiculous.

It only shows how ridicuolous this "It´s my right, and i take it" attitude is.

Not exactly sure what you are saying as it does not translate correctly.

   I already know you have a aversion to firearms as you have stated this long ago and we have gone back and forth before about it. If I remember correctly you are actually a police officer or something of the manner and from what I got from our last conversation (a long time ago) you don't want anyone but police to have firearms. This conversation had nothing to do with firearms, but you insisted on interjecting a completely ridiculous situation (based on your own one sided views) into a peaceful thread stirring things up. Again this thread had nothing to do with firearms, but you insisted as you knew you would get a rise out of myself and possibly others.
   To address this comment.

One situation that came to my mind is:

Guy one carries a big knife, that´s still within the local legal borders. He pulls it to do whatever peacefull thing he planned.

Guy two carries a concealed gun, and is surprised by guy one pulling his knife next to him. He feels endangered and shots Guy one. "I just tried to defend my life from a threat."

Both acting within the laws would make that a funny thing.

Anyone can say any action between two people is plausible. Its a ridiculous claim. Of course anything is plausible but it does not mean it is probable. I just find it completely ridiculous that a CCW holder would be so scared of a person opening a knife any using it in a legal and peaceful manner as YOU stated to startle him enough to shoot someone. I mean get a grip on reality here. If you really were a CCW holder and someone next to you opened a knife. First thing you would do is either hear it or see it. Next you would access the situation. Once you noticed the person was not lunging at you, or a threat in any way you would know he is not a treat. The firearm would not even be presented in this situation. If you are so quick to shoot someone that just from the sight or sound of a knife coming out you have some serious issues. Its just as plausible for me to say a CCW holder would immediately draw and fire at a backfiring car because he was "startled". Its a ridiculous claim and you know it.

[raistlin65]

I do not carry a knife because I believe I could defend myself with it. I carry it for the purpose of it being useful during my day. I carry based on my situation alone.

+1

I live in Michigan where it is a felony to carry a knife with blade of over 3" with the purpose of causing harm to another. The idea of carrying it for self defense can be assumed to be for that purpose. So we only carry knives here with the idea that they are useful tools.

[captain spaulding]

I do not carry a knife because I believe I could defend myself with it. I carry it for the purpose of it being useful during my day. I carry based on my situation alone.

+1

I live in Michigan where it is a felony to carry a knife with blade of over 3" with the purpose of causing harm to another. The idea of carrying it for self defense can be assumed to be for that purpose. So we only carry knives here with the idea that they are useful tools.

 

[alexTOOL]

Cap'n, I don't know about you but I'm a little disappointed in some of our friends here. It seems they're hard pressed since they abolished their own rights in their own countries to deny us of ours too. At least, that's how it seems to me.

No, we are talking about no everywhere is USA, the world is much bigger

I think nobody here wants to deny anything to anyone, but if we are asked we give an answer