Public recognition of SAK?

[cbl51]

I did read in an old knife magazine in the old days before I quit reading knife magazines, that aside from Coca-Cola and BIC, the the silver Swiss cross of Victorinox was one of the most recognized trade marks in the world. Having been in the military, and having had the chance to travel all over the world, I tend to agree.

But I still get a little kick out of it, when for some reason I need to use my knife in public once in a great while, Somebody recognizes the SAK. Usually it's a very good reaction, with people remarking how they had one in the boy scouts, or a nice lady remarking how she bought one for her nephew (or grandson) for his birthday.

Have you all had positive public notice of your SAK?

[theonew]

When I was at the home of one of the partners of the law firm I do work for, I pulled out my little Al Mar Falcon and flicked it open to cut open a box. He remarked, "Geez, didn't know you carried a weapon."  A couple of weeks later at the firm's office party I pulled out a Vic Camper to cut open an edible bouquet that had been delivered, the same partner said fondly, "Oh that's one of those Swiss knives. I used to have one of those."

[k12cop]

I was at the post office ten or so years ago...pulled out a SAK, think it was a spartan, to open a package...post master said, "you can't have a knife here,"...I replied,"a swiss army knife?"

He said, "oh...that's ok, as long as its not a weapon."

No comment on whether I was technically violating the law, or on whether a SAK, or any other knife could be used as a weapon.

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[PTRSAK]

yeah, I'm dreading the day some nutjob cuts someone's throat with a SAK and it ends up in the news... I just KNOW some media turd will call it a "Military Assault Knife" or something and then you may as well carry a badass tactical folder because the sheeple reaction will be the same if you produce either of them. 

All MacGyver's hard work will be undone.

[T.J. Hooker]

Here in Australia if you bring out any kind of knife(even if a few centimeters long) everyone around you looks at you like you're a hoon/thug.

If you get caught carrying a sak by the police I think you can get in big trouble for it unless its for work use, and then you have to prove its for work use(call boss).

[Accujohn]

You all need to come to Oregon... I went to have breakfast on sunday and the little hostess had an assisted Kershaw Leek clipped to her pocket. That said, i saw someone get pulled aside by his supervisor for whipping out a kershaw to open a box. Never ceases to amaze me. There are million ways to cut yourself out there... Without a knife. Those are all ok.

[T.J. Hooker]

You all need to come to Oregon... I went to have breakfast on sunday and the little hostess had an assisted Kershaw Leek clipped to her pocket. That said, i saw someone get pulled aside by his supervisor for whipping out a kershaw to open a box. Never ceases to amaze me. There are million ways to cut yourself out there... Without a knife. Those are all ok.

If you had a assisted opening knife here in Australia I think you would get jail time ! 

[dks]

.. What would Crocodile Dundee think...   



On the main  topic, I have been told that my mini toothpick, buck, made me armed by a woman, who then proceeded to use it..   

SAKs, especially the red ones, are generally a lot more safety-inspiring to most people, seen more as gadgets, for the office workers than real working knives.

In reality, the people I know that actually use their knives when in the fields, farms etc have single blade low cost folding knives, usually with a largish, 10+cm blade, rather than the generally more expensive SAKs etc.

[Northern Geek]

Here in Australia if you bring out any kind of knife(even if a few centimeters long) everyone around you looks at you like you're a hoon/thug.

If you get caught carrying a sak by the police I think you can get in big trouble for it unless its for work use, and then you have to prove its for work use(call boss).

It's like that here in Sweden as well.

A girl I used to work with asked if anyone had a knife and I brought out my Vic Climber.. she said she didn't know I tended to be armed.

We do have pretty strict laws though.. but still. When she even asked to borrow scissors.

[Grateful]

 I don't remember ever getting any kind of negative response from using or showing a sak.
Jim

[Northern Geek]

To be honest, they do tend to be spared of negative reactions most of the time here as well. That particular moment bugs me though.

[Yalius]

You all need to come to Oregon... I went to have breakfast on sunday and the little hostess had an assisted Kershaw Leek clipped to her pocket. That said, i saw someone get pulled aside by his supervisor for whipping out a kershaw to open a box. Never ceases to amaze me. There are million ways to cut yourself out there... Without a knife. Those are all ok.

I have to second this. Out here in the sticks (20 miles south of Portland) a pocket knife, even a 3" or larger blade, isn't anything to look twice at. Kind of a nice fit considering how many manufacturers are based in the area. Heck, even our shopping malls have standalone knife and cutlery stores. It almost seems alien to me to hear stories about peoples' adverse reactions to seeing someone use a knife.

[magentus]

I have't experienced any adverse reactions when using my Huntsman out and about, but then I think scissors detract from the 'knifeyness' and make it look more tool -like. As others have said, a lot of people seem quite fond of SAK's.

[KiwiMark]

Here in New Zealand carrying a SAK is fine, the police have no problem with it and the general public seem fine from what I can tell. 

I wouldn't want to get caught carrying any kind of one handed opening knife or fixed blade though, not without a good reason that the police would accept.  A fish filleting knife would be illegal, but a fish filleting knife and fishing rod and and other fishing gear would be perfectly legal - you need to have a lawful reason to be carrying a knife.

A SAK is different, it is not considered in law to be a weapon.  Sure the police COULD try charging someone for carrying a SAK, but the only case I have ever read about that happening the judge produced his own SAK and rejected the prosecutions case.  Thus legal precedent has been set!

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have actually had people stare wide eyed at a SAK when I pulled it out and ask if I was allowed to carry it.  Admittedly it was a Vic Soldier and so not as easily recognized by the masses as a Swiss Army Knife, but I was using it to cut a bit of string or something after I was asked by the same person if I had something to cut the string with.  Apparently its perfectly normal for me to have a pair of scissors in my pocket but not a pocket knife.

Fortunately people that dumb are still fairly rare here and the vast majority of people are OK with knives. We have so much wilderness in Canada that only the most sheltered city people get upset at the sight of knives.  Of course a lot of it is presentation too- if you whip out a one handed opening tactical folder and people just see a flash of steel and suddenly a large blade appears with a snap that sounds like thunder, then yes, you can imagine they will react defensively.

The same blade opened methodically and without flourish will more than likely not get much attention from anyone.

Def

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[kitbeard]

I believe reactions to producing a SAK in public are down to perceptions and preconceptions about what's appropriate in a particular social context.  I've used a Wenger Soldier in a Peak District pub with no adverse reactions whatosever.  It was in a pub that caters for walkers in a very popular area for walkers and climbers, and SAKs are (generally) accepted as something carried and used in that context.  However, I've had people reacting very warily to me using a Mini Champ's scissors during a meeting - the SAK didn't fit somebody's idea of what was appropriate in an office.  Nothing came of this but it did bring home to me how at least a couple of decades of moral panics about knife crime in the UK can influence peoples' view about using a particular type of tool in public.

[Steinar]

A lot of downer posts in a topic that should be uplifting here, and I add mine as well: I stopped using knives in public years ago. I always carry a knife, but I avoid using it where somebody can see it and I generally try to avoid giving people a reason to believe I carry a knife. It's really none of their business and it's pretty much only negatives associated with people knowing I have a knife. (From asking to borrow it (I am one of those who have learnt never to lend tools...) to giving lectures of the horrors or legality of carrying knives.) Right now a horribly scary Vic Camper rests in my left front pocket.

People who see my knives are friends, family and knife nuts. It's my tool, it makes my day easier, and people who don't appreciate a nice SAK can go on abusing their teeth and breaking their nails.

Yes, I sound a little bitter, that's because I am.

I've said it before and will say it again: Humans have made knives for more than two million years, and knifemaking was probably one of the keys to our evolutionary success.

[macabee]

It is unfortunate that perception of the SAK of for that matter any small/medium folder, or what was termed in my youth [dim and distant past] a penknife, as a lethal weapon.

In my younger days most boy's would aspire to owning a penknife, usually a single carbon steel bladed knife made in Sheffield, the home of world renowned cutlery! As I grew older I  realised the the beauty of the SAK, thus started the collection, but I digress.

To pull out any folder other than a SAK would probably draw the attention of the local constabulary, however people do tend to look at the SAK as not just a knife, but as a tool, which is what it is, so long as it is not waved around.

Most knife related crimes here in the UK are committed using the ubiquitous kitchen knife which is easily obtained, hidden and if necessary disposed of.

A sad state of affairs, yes but inevitable

[cbl51]

Wow, I guess I've been lucky in that all my public SAK use has been so positive. I can only think it may have to do with country of origin. I guess here in the U.S> people don't get too exited at the sight of a small pocket knife.

[kinskibrain]

I usually get very positive reactions when I use a SAK in public. A couple of weeks ago in a shared hostel kitchen an older woman said "wow you have a real Swiss one" when I used my Climber to cut some cucumber for my sandwich. (the knives in this kitchen was, of course, very dull).

I worked in a home for elderly with dementia for a while and once carefully presented a purple Spyderco Endura to help cut some food. One of the older ladies got a bit scared but was calmed by a female colleague "its just a camping knife". (The Endura looks a bit like a kitchen knife).

I was out hiking all weekend and had a Fallkniven F1 visible on my belt while entering a cafe and a supermarket. No reaction.

Swedish knife laws are very good. You are allowed to carry various blades in public if the police thing you can justify it. If you are a carpenter in working clothes its no problem to carry a sheath knife in central Stockholm etc. It is not allowed to carry such a knife or a OHO knife for no apparent reason. SAKs are never ever a problem.

[ColoSwiss]

Back when I was working in the Washington D. C. area, if I pulled out a SAK in my office there might be a mock-horror "Look out he's got a knife", but no one was really worried about it. Probably half the men in the office (and a fair number of the ladies) carried a pocket knife of one kind or another, though the percentage tended to decrease as people were younger. Only problem I ran into was at the U S Geological Survey's national headquarters in Reston, Virginia, where security wouldn't allow my SAK into the building; had to take it back to the car. Considering the number of Buck folding hunters and other large knives being carried around the halls at their Denver center I thought it a bit odd.

A friend pulled into the Library of Congress parking lot and all of a sudden found himself staring at a half-dozen leveled weapons. Seems he had been doing some brush clearing on some rural property over the weekend and accidently left his machete in the trunk.  That got their attention.

[WiSAKfan]

in the state of Wisconsin we have no knife restrictions (at state level) but we have concealed weapons laws so there is gymnastics as to what is considered a concealed weapon.

generally they will only charge you on the weapons charge if it was in the commission of another crime.

but it is wise to never say to police or authorities that your pocket knife is for self-defense, that makes it a weapon.

most of the state is farm country and woods so knives are just part of day to day life.

our biggest city milwaukee has a 3 inch county knife law.

[ironraven]

OK, so last weekend I ran errands (hardware store, gas, liquor store, the bank) with one of my Paklites on my belt rather than a folder without thinking about it. No one said a thing, no odd looks, I wasn't dressed for hunting, and I didn't have anything over it. I'm sorry guys.

[Pacu]

The further south you go in the states the more brazen open knife carry is. I see full sheath knives on folks in the electronics stores...Geek Squad guys carry blades to pop open boxes all day.


on a side note my great grandma knows what brand my red knives are.

[kkokkolis]

It's not much of a problem here either. But times change. When I was underaged I carried an out of the front automatic spearhead. Today it might irritate most people because we had low criminality rates then and now the opposite. I used to seath carry my Swisschamp in the hospital I was working during the 90s, but now I keep it in my bag. I use a SAK everyday in front of my coleagues and I don't get nusty comments. I can carry a SAK and use it at will, but if I ever brake the law they might add it as a weapon to my charges, regardless of the type. My camping axe set and 110 type lockback and tactical ballisong and Cadet and XLT will be considered the same. At least they distinguish your knife from your intentions.
I travelled to 7-8 States the summer before the 9/11. I carried my two Victorinox on me through 8-10 airplane trips to, inside and from US. It was THE thing to have on a trip like this. Nobody asked a word about them. Just a month later everything changed worldwide.

[Northern Geek]

It really is sad how things have changed with regard to air travel.

Just see all those confiscated knives on ebay.. there's bound to be a lot of sad people out there who had to give them up.

[macabee]

It is unfortunate that perception of the SAK of for that matter any small/medium folder, or what was termed in my youth [dim and distant past] a penknife, as a lethal weapon.

In my younger days most boy's would aspire to owning a penknife, usually a single carbon steel bladed knife made in Sheffield, the home of world renowned cutlery! As I grew older I  realised the the beauty of the SAK, thus started the collection, but I digress.

To pull out any folder other than a SAK would probably draw the attention of the local constabulary, however people do tend to look at the SAK as not just a knife, but as a tool, which is what it is, so long as it is not waved around.

Most knife related crimes here in the UK are committed using the ubiquitous kitchen knife which is easily obtained, hidden and if necessary disposed of.

A sad state of affairs, yes but inevitable

Just as a point of interest, I quite often use as my edc an Executive, it is probably even less 'intimidating than a regular SAK

[JNieporte]

Everywhere I've lived, some store sold Swiss Army Knives. The typical reaction to seeing one, on the street, is "That's not a knife..."

[jerseydevil]

I've never had a bad reaction to my SAKs in public.  I work in a retail setting, and I'm constantly using my knives in areas where customers are.  For that, the SAK is perfect - instantly recognizable, not too big or intimidating.  I carry a larger folder as well, but when others are around, out comes the SAK.  It's generated enough conversations as well, and you'd be surprised how many people have pulled their own Swiss out of their pocket or even purse to compare models.