Carrying knives makes me less confrontational

goodeyesniper said:
Also, most homeless have some form of mental health issues. I wouldn't feel too good about having to ventilate a crazy person no matter how abusive they are, so it better be extreme plan Z stuff there. Couldn't walk away, couldn't run away, couldn't talk yourself out of it, couldn't shove him and leave, etc...
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he wasn't a homeless man haha, just some trashy dude trying to solicit a free fare
 
josh yu said:
on my non-flippers, the pivots are on the tighter side if anything. The native 5 is pretty hard to swing open, but it's possible because of the weight of the blade, also, i do keep my knives cleaned and lubed nicely. the reason i had the native 5 in my bag was to carry it one last time before selling it, so i can't demonstrate with the same knife... but i can swing open all of my spydies, including my Delica 4 that has a similar back lock. if you'd like a demo, i can post a video or gif later in the evening from home. this is clearly not a something i like to do with my knives, but i have to test them whenever i'm dialing in a pivot...
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I get what you mean about the "gravity" test. Customs agents here in Canada do that when checking knives they inspect coming across the border. I met someone who works for the CBSA and got to talking about it and she showed me using the ZT 562 I was carrying. I can't do it with Native though. Maybe my backlock isn't worn in much yet. Regardless, it's something I keep in mind when going places other than my usual routine like work, etc.

I think it's great that simply carrying a knife helped you to reassess your actions in how you handle situations. If only everyone could think as responsibly we'd live in a very decent world. :)
 
It's hard to not be confrontational when you feel you're right, knife or not. You did the right thing and are a better person for it. Stuff happens and all of a sudden you're dealing with law enforcement over something you never really give much thought to with knives. Walk away if you can. No taunts.

Using a knife in that situation would never occur to me unless they pulled a knife and I'd get the hell out of there at that point if I could.
 
Those laws are a little extreme...

I guess knife laws are just weird everywhere.
I can't even own a launch 4, but i can carry my ZT 0452 pretty much anywhere.

On the situation you were in.
Just ignore these people. I'm a pussy with that stuff i guess, i avoid confrontations pretty much always.
I'd also never take out my knife, that's just makes a bad situation much worse for 99% of the time.
 
BTGuy said:
What I wonder about is how you have the Native 5 G10 opening by swinging and holding just by the handle. I have a Native 5 G10 also (great knife to carry to avoid worry by others about flippers, murdery look, etc.), but I can't open it unless I use the hole on the blade. I have the pivot adjusted so it will partly fall shut when I depress the lockbar, but no way I can open by "gravity". Do you have the pivot really loose?
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Agree, on this detail that is slightly tangential to the thread. I just received a nicely adjusted Native G10 back from Spyderco service. Even with their adjustments and it now opens smoothly, it is still a VERY stiff opening knife due to the back lock, there is NO WAY my knife could open unless I use the Spydie hole in the blade. It will not fall open no matter how hard I shake it.
 
Eagle Scout said:
Good call and good result.

It's interesting how cordial people are in areas where everyone is carrying something.
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An Armed Society is a Polite Society... Yes, I know that we would rather react differently sometimes, to defend our manhood...or whatever. However, we are better off walking away...even when it hurts...
We have lots of bums here in Florida also...it's hard to get used to them.
 
Before I trained extensively in martial arts and began carrying weapons , I had an unfortunate tendency to "mouth off " . Also I would tend to respond to any threat with an aggressive attitude . Thru my training and good teachers ,I eventually began to understand that I had a moral responsibility to avoid confrontation . I could no longer afford to engage in casual insults or verbal exchanges that could lead to physical violence . And , really , except to defend your life and loved ones , the aftermath of violence is just not worth the possible fleeting satisfaction .
 
As with everyone above, I applaud the OP for his non-action and for the moral of his story. I am very averse to violence. My attitude comes from decades of combat sports (boxing and wrestling, Asian martial arts, shooting, and bladed fighting). From involvement in many a beat-down (both giving and receiving), I became aware of the real results of violence. I'm just not willing to dish that out on someone for any reason other than imminent bodily harm (to me or a loved one); not for words spoken or property stolen. I do carry a knife every day and some of those knives would be considered fighters to some, but nothing short of a full on physical assault would lead me to pull it on someone. Same would go for a firearm if I ever go for the CCW permit.

I'm glad to see such sensible heads in this thread.

Zieg
 
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In my place, knife laws are so wooly that some municipalities consider a case xx peanut as a deadly weapon while in others, farmers, gardeners and carpenters can openly walk around wearing their machetes at their sides. So when i carry a razor-sharp folder in public and trouble happens, i disappear instantly.
 
josh yu said:
In other situations, i may have been inclined to respond, but in a split second of judgement, i remembered the knife in my bag and had to just walked the hell away. i'll admit, i was fuming when i got home and even ashamed that i had to walk away from a situation like that. But let's be real, there was a lot more to lose than gain in that situation and i'm happy that's the end of the story.
what went through my mind was the possibility of police getting involved and then finding the Spyderco Native on me.
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What a piece of s--t that bum is, a loser who should get a job, if he had any sense. Save the fisticuffs for the controlled conditions of the boxing ring. Get into a fight in the street and most of the time both of you will get arrested. Getting arrested won't matter to that piece of s--t, but the arrest will go on your record and follow you around for life. Every time there is a crime, law enforcement will be comparing crime scene evidence to your fingerprints and arrest photos, possibly dna too. I guess it's human nature to be irritated and angry after the situation was over, but remember that many two legged creeps are lower forms of life than most four legged ones. No sense getting tangled up in their crap.

You say you had the knife in a bag? Thought I heard law enforcement will sometimes random search bags, especially on public transportation. Might be a good idea to carry in pocket, as long as it doesn't print or outline. They won't random search your pockets. Clips are a no-no also. Cops are always looking for pocket clips.
 
I've had things happen to me and they usually relate to very pushy creeps asking for money; money they think I have and money I don't want to give them. They're usually drunk or on drugs. If it gets too bad, I call the police. That is mostly a threat from my end as anything that will happen will have already happened by the time the police arrive.
 
josh yu said:
the premise here is that i live in a city that is very strict about carrying knives, ridiculously strict using abstract interpretations of archaic vaguely worded knife laws. nonetheless, gotta carry. so, 90% of the time, i carry a knife that no cop would arrest/cite me for because the judge would laugh at the knife in court.

e.g., here's my carry today (this one is pretty extreme... others currently in rotation are northwoods slips, benchmade 210tk, CRK Mnandi, etc.)
XUMh4iK.jpg


story time: every once in a while, I carry something a liiittle more "questionable". A couple days ago I had a spyderco native 5 in black g10 clipped in my bag. It fails the new york city "gravity test" (SWINGING the blade while holding the handle), and with a little wrist action can also be spydie flicked open. on top of that, black handles tend to look "tactical".

During my commute home yesterday, some random asshole made some racist comments at me because i didn't respond to his request for subway pass swipe (basically panhandling for free subway fair). all i did was give him a bit of a look, and he started going off. no longer just racist comments, escalated to straight up confrontational using slurs (racial and bigoted) that probably offended half of the population walking by. In other situations, i may have been inclined to respond, but in a split second of judgement, i remembered the knife in my bag and had to just walked the hell away. i'll admit, i was fuming when i got home and even ashamed that i had to walk away from a situation like that. But let's be real, there was a lot more to lose than gain in that situation and i'm happy that's the end of the story.

sorry for the wall of text, TLDR: i've come a realization that carrying a knife causes me to be less confrontational due to the legality of carrying in my neighborhood

*edit: a couple of clarifications. He wasn't a homeless man haha, just a trashy dude trying to solicit a free fare. It NEVER crossed my mind to pull the knife on him, what went through my mind was the possibility of police getting involved and then finding the Spyderco Native on me.
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Situation well handled man. I can't say I have become less confrontational with knives because I was never confrontational to begin with. But I definitely feel safer knowing that if I were attacked, however unlikely the odds, I have something to aid me.

Don't ever feel ashamed of walking away. The type of person you encountered who just yaps and barks like a dog, hoping for you to react; they win as soon as you decide to confront them. Always better to ignore them and keep walking.

I recall reading an article about a guy in NYC who had the SOG Access card and was stopped, the dumb cop couldn't figure out how to flick it open (its ridiculously easy).
 
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The_Knife_Man said:
I feel the same way. Even more so with a boom stick in the vehicle. Oh, he cut me off that's too bad...
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It's sort of like driving a Bugatti right? No need to race the Civic at a light because you've already won the race. No need to escalate a fight when you've a hand cannon on your waist.

I'm also at a point in my life where I just won't bother. Nothing to gain and much to lose. I've got a wife and kids at home that worry me a lot more than some asshat in public.

Besides, the sort of moron who hurls racist obscenities in public probably wouldn't learn anything from an was kicking anyway.
 
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