Displaying knives in public

[Warthogiam]

Seems like I've touched a few raw nerves with this one! Not sure where the "knee jerk" or call the SWAT team bit comes into it though?
Do what you're comfortable with guys, my only strong view is don't mix alcohol and sharps. I enjoy them both to excess but best kept apart eh!

 

[Robbi]

Seems like I've touched a few raw nerves with this one! Not sure where the "knee jerk" or call the SWAT team bit comes into it though?
Do what you're comfortable with guys, my only strong view is don't mix alcohol and sharps. I enjoy them both to excess but best kept apart eh!

looks like some serious back pedaling going on here

 

[Warthogiam]

looks like some serious back pedaling going on here

Don't get it?

 

[Miniwhisk]

Hmm, I think I'll make a sheath for my ball pein hammer and wear that with pride instead - that could be seen as a bludgeoning implement! .. . No.. it really doesn't have the same allure as a well crafted knife (wishing I had one). The point is; knives have been almost demonised in this country and those that have mentioned it already, are right to point out that we should not be shocked by knife carry. Knives are essentially a very ordinary tool.

 

[shaggystu]

i think that FGYT's point that leaving sharps unattended in your tent is a much worse idea than carrying them around on your person is a very valid one. whether or not you "need" to take sharps along to a bushcraft event or not is a matter for you to decide yourself, i'd suggest that the local constabulary might decide that you probably didn't need them though. i had intended to go along to the bushcraft show in question but couldn't make it along in the end, would i have worn a knife somewhere visable on my person if i had have gone - probably, i certainly wouldn't have been leaving it in my tent for the weekend, but then that very thought may have convinced me to leave the sheath knife at home, it certainly would've made me leave the axe at home. i think it's a really interesting question in all honesty, i nearly always have a pukko hanging under my arm baldric style when i'm out camping, especially so when i go along to meets, but 90% of the time i use the EDC legal penknife from my pocket if i need a knife. do i wear the pukko for appearance's sake? quite possibly, but then i wear a few things purely for the look of them (earing, necklace, gold ring etc.) and my pukko is a damn good looking knife, if i want to use it as a fashion accessory then i will. if anyone has a problem with that then......well.......erm......i don't like your haircut, so there

stuart

 

[sandbender]

"...The point is; knives have been almost demonised in this country and those that have mentioned it already, are right to point out that we should not be shocked by knife carry. Knives are essentially a very ordinary tool..."

Yeah, pretty much...

This is photo of a children's entertainer in Hungary, Gulyás László, he is fairly well known and quite popular, when this photo was performing for an audience of about thirty to forty children aged between two and twelve and their parents.

He has a knife on his belt!

Nobody cared. No one batted an eyelid.

It isn't that people don't get stabbed in Hungary, there just isn't the presumption that if you are wearing a knife that you are any more likely to set about someone.

Here it is simply a tool and many folks carry one around day to day.

 

[Barn Owl]

I've always felt the same when it comes to someone questioning what i wear or do.
It just gets my back up something rotten.

All to their own but I really get peed off about these sort of things.
The op question just seems a bit un-needed shall we say.

Why question the wearing of an essential tool of life at a gathering of like minded souls who can't wear same in the general public arena?

I could be minded to accuse the original post of trolling having thought it over and read the illicited replies.

 

[demographic]

As a carpenter I wear one of those leather tool belt with pouches in it for screws and tools. My hammer hangs off a loop at my side and a fixed blade stanley knife sits on one of the pouches too, but I don't wear this in the highstreet.

Not disagreeing with Martins comment as it was well said, and the others that followed. But I read the OP in quite a different light.

Pretty much the same as me there.

 

[demographic]

What's a Sheeple???

This cartoon about it creases me up...

 

[santaman2000]

So how many of them were wearing camouflage then?

 

[demographic]

So how many of them were wearing camouflage then?

Not going to get a count on that cos you won't be able to see em.

 

[Robbi]

I could be minded to accuse the original post of trolling having thought it over and read the illicited replies.

well said that man, you could very well be right.

 

[johnboy]

I've always felt the same when it comes to someone questioning what i wear or do.
It just gets my back up something rotten.

All to their own but I really get peed off about these sort of things.
The op question just seems a bit un-needed shall we say.

Why question the wearing of an essential tool of life at a gathering of like minded souls who can't wear same in the general public arena?

I could be minded to accuse the original post of trolling having thought it over and read the illicited replies.

well said that man, you could very well be right.

It would IMHO be a sad day when someone cannot write a well structured post that might differ from generally held thoughts on the forum without getting accused of trolling. If that starts then the only views we'll hear will be the ones everyone agrees with...

 

[Barn Owl]

But why question the wants of folks at a meeting of like minded souls?

It must be me..., I don't see why not and do it with pride.

It would IMHO be a sad day when someone cannot write a well structured post that might differ from generally held thoughts on the forum without getting accused of trolling. If that starts then the only views we'll hear will be the ones everyone agrees with...

 

[Robbi]

yeah, i fully agree Johnboy, it would be a boring world indeed.

my objection is purely one against throwing provocative statements into the fray just to illicit a reaction......and surely knocking bushcrafters for wearing knives at a bushcraft show ( in plain view of everyone else AND with a beer in hand...shock horror !! ) is nothing more than provocative ( IMHO of course )

in my view, it's nothing short of Daily Mail scare mongering and PC gone mad. what on earth do you expect at a bushcraft show ?

 

[rik_uk3]

Trolling? What a ludicrous statement to make and insulting to the OP. I don't see why people were wearing knives in public, if camping they could have put them in the day sack they had? I'd not worry about it if I'd been there but would have thought why the flip do these folk need to carry knives, it just seems pointless. Just my opinion and I'm certainly not trolling, just expressing my view as did the OP.

Johnboy's post summed it all up pretty well I thought.

 

[cbr6fs]

Had a weekend at the track last weekend, hundreds of folks were walking round in Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini etc tee-shirts, experience tells me 99% will not be driving the car their tee-shirt attests to.

Some folks feel the need to display something to make it feel like they belong to a certain clan or have a kinship with other like minded enthusiasts.

In my experience it's the same thing at these types of shows.

How many absolutely NEED to have a knife on their belt?
My guess is very few.

How many find it a lot more practical to have their knife on their belt and actually used it during the show?
My guess is a few more, but still the vast minority of show goers.

Personally i'm secure enough with myself to not have to take on these badge on honour type things.
If i'm wearing a knife then it's 99% hidden for the simply fact that i don't want everyone knowing i've got a decent knife and that they get ideas to steal it.

But then i don't own a Ferrari, Porsche or any other marque tee-shirt.


I've said before that IMO intoxication and the outdoors aren't good bedfellows, through in sharp tools into the mix and i feel even more strongly against it.

A pint or 2 i don't see as a problem, much more and hey it's their funeral.


Sad thing is most the drinkers probably got in a car and drive home.
Now THAT's irresponsible.

 

[John Fenna]

It started with Levi Straus making pants (trousers for ya'll) out of sailcloth in California for the miners during the 1849 gold rush. The only dye he could obtain was the blue indigo that has become the signature color.

The original levis were made of hemp - a much tougher and weather friendly fabric than cotton which was used later as it was cheaper....

 

[Mikey P]

Trolling? What a ludicrous statement to make and insulting to the OP. I don't see why people were wearing knives in public, if camping they could have put them in the day sack they had? I'd not worry about it if I'd been there but would have thought why the flip do these folk need to carry knives, it just seems pointless. Just my opinion and I'm certainly not trolling, just expressing my view as did the OP.

Agree. And cbr6fs' post also summed it up pretty well. Perhaps everyone needs to look at the cartoon above again. There's a lot of group 'individual' ideas being expressed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, as long as what you are doing is legal, then go ahead; HOWEVER, we do not live in a vacuum and you may also wish to think about how our/my hobby is perceived by the general public. I would rather bushcraft be seen as a more holistic subject, involving shelters, food, craft, clothing, cooking, etc, many of which require a knife or axe. Sadly, the focus seems to be on the sharps rather than much else - look at the numbers of posts specifically on edged tools compared to other areas.

I think that is perhaps the point being made by the OP - that anyone wandering into the Bushcraft Show who didn't know much about the subject might be surprised - and perhaps put off - by the sight of a lot of people wandering around (unnecessarily, I would argue) with knives, regardless of their intent. You may feel it's 'their loss', I feel it's 'our loss' as a Community. Because, regardless of whether I agree or disagree with others on this forum and on the ground, we are still a community, aren't we?

If you genuinely believe you need to have it with you or worry about leaving it in your tent/shelter, you could always put it in your day sack (as suggested above) or wear it round your neck and under your jacket/shirt. No-one is less of a man (or a woman) for this.

And, as for 'trolling'? I don't think so...

 

[FGYT]

I don't see why people were wearing knives in public, if camping they could have put them in the day sack they had? I'd not worry about it if I'd been there but would have thought why the flip do these folk need to carry knives, it just seems pointless. Just my opinion and I'm certainly not trolling, just expressing my view as did the OP.

Johnboy's post summed it all up pretty well I thought.

because they can legally do it


if they have the legal reason the Law doesn't differentiate where or how the person has a knife on their person



we dont tut and moan about people doing 65mph on the motorway and think they should really Do 30 mph as it safer more responsible and you will get where your going any way



complain rightly if some one is messing about dangerously with a knife the same as you would some one dangerous driving

but not about people acting with in the laws etc we have enough oppressive badly thought out PC laws and rules in this country without us self policing even more restrictive levels on top


maybe we should change the way knives are made and push to get belt loops removed from sheaths that would stop all this :thinkerg: take away the choice to wear a belt knife on a belt