I don't mean to offend. It's probably going to happen anyway.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Is Knife

This topic has been covered to the point of being done to death, but oh well. I feel like ranting.

I carry a knife every day. My current piece is a Kershaw Crown, and I'm quite fond of it. It lives clipped to my pocket. The only times I am without a knife on my person are when I go into some area, such as an airport or amusement park, that specifically bans them. Interestingly enough, I haven't killed anyone yet. No one has ever been hurt by my blade, apart from a couple careless knicks to my own thumbs.

Why then do so many people give me the hairy eyeball when I pull my knife for something? Why do so many people comment about how there's no reason to carry a knife, as I use my knife to open a package or cut a tag for them?

A knife is one of, if not solely, the most useful tools mankind has ever created. At it's heart, a knife makes one thing and makes it into two. It creates space. Knives and their derivatives have at some point been involved in the construction of probably 99%+ of everything that people create. Cutting things is useful. Rare is the week where I don't use my knife for something. I probably use it for something more days than not. It is a phenomenal tool, with probably more varied uses than anything else I ever carry.

One of those potential uses of course is violence towards fellow man. While I acknowledge that my tool could be used as a weapon,* I do not carry it as one.** I have heard that a gentleman is never without a blade on his person. This has been true, in some form or another, for pretty much as long as there have been blades. Even the peace loving Sikh carry knives as part of their religious beliefs.

A knife is not a weapon. I am not carrying a knife because I am expecting to need to use it on a human being. Fear of a tool is just goofy. I'm getting tired of people freaking out about this.

This sorta got me thinking about a couple other things I want to touch on briefly. I do not carry a gun. This is not by any choice of my own. A combination of my age and my student status make carrying a gun illegal for me. But I would carry one if I could.

Here's the thing about carrying a gun. In that case, the gun is being treated as a weapon. Exceptionally few are the cases where a carry gun is used in another capacity in daily carry. However, that doesn't equate with expecting trouble, or expecting to use it on another human. It just means being prepared for that eventuality. A weapon is a legitimate purpose for a gun or knife. When talking to an anti in reasoned discourse** this point is a sticky one, because it's the foundational disparity between gunnies and antis. But guess what. If it comes to my life, or the lives of those I care about, or the life of the goblin threatening, I'd much rather it be the goblin, and I'd rather have the best tool for the purpose.

Only tangentially related, I've been thinking some about what I want to do with this blog. I am by nature a private person, so particularly personal content is unlikely. I don't want to become just another box spewing out the same tired stuff either. I like to think I sometimes have interesting things to say about stuff, but I don't like to put my scribbles up against the writing of the people who really know what they are talking about. Between these factors, it means that content can be a bit sparse. I write about things I find interesting that I think I can either add to the debate in or entertain with.

That was probably an overly long intro to this, but what would you, the readers, like to see here? Anything you'd particularly not want to see?



*I have lately come to the conclusion that a weapon is not an object. It is a use. No object can be by it's nature a weapon. Objects can only be used as one.

*No, really. It's possible! Ish!

6 comments:

  1. I don't know if thats better or worse than getting laughed at when you pull out your "pocket" knife....I wear the tiniest of Spyderco's bug line on a chain around my neck. I always have it and no one thinks twice about a silver chain....but for some reason they all think my tiny little knife is amusing when I pull it out to use it...

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  2. Scribbler bought me a Kershaw Crown for Christmas '11. It has not left my pocket since. I have tried all sorts of knives over the years, from cheapie Chinese knockoffs to high end Damascus handmades, and this one just FEELS right. It is extraordinarily useful. And it gets me the Hairy Eyeball on numerous occasions. I'm a doctor. I have devoted my life to preserving the health of others, and have gone to extraordinary lengths to save lives. Why then would someone look at my three inch blade and say "ohmigod! You carry a KNIFE??!?"
    ...as I open a FedEx package wrapped in Tyvek, which is pretty much impervious to any other mode of attack.

    Oy.

    -ScribblersDad.

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  3. What I would not like to see is you not putting your opinions out there because someone wants to hear something else. I like getting hint of your sribbler scrawls on gchat, and whether or not I agree with your views, I definitely always enjoy reading them. In this case I am solidly in agreement with you on all points though. Of course, going to school for three years and getting used to you pulling that knife out of your pocket every day definitely helped. (You, and every student on the robotics team, and many, many others.) Also, my dad carries one.

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    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Well thanks. Regardless of what sorta of things people want or don't want, I'm not going to bite my tongue when I have things to say. I was merely curious whether certain of my thoughts entertained or interested people more than others. There are always random things floating around my head, and not all of them are fit for general consumption.

      In other news, you clearly know who I am, but I haven't been able to place you. Any chance you'd shoot me an email with who you are?

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  4. But anonymity can be fun!

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Please comment, but please be respectful. I reserve the right to delete any comment at any time for any reason, but I don't anticipate having to do that. Let's try to have real discussions?