In your opinion, is a knife a tool first or a weapon?

I've never used a knife as a weapon tho I did carry my 110 in my rear pocket with the intent to use as a weapon when I was a little younger. Never had to or got to , whatever ,I sure am glad.
Nowdays I mostly carry slipjoints. Stockmen, trappers,sak's. They would make a poor choice for a weapon but I guess they would do.
You know this is all kind of silly. I can buy a baseball bat a axe , hatchet a hammer and nobody would think twice about it, but buy a knife of any kind and some people will think I am up yo no good. I just don't get it. I am also amazed at the number of people that don't carry evan a simple pen knife. I would be lost without my pocket knife. It's a tool....whew took a long time to get that out.
 
A knife is a tool, although when I was younger (second grade or so) I carried my SAK classic thinking "Boy, nobody better mess with me!". I wold have got my ass handed to me :D
 
Depends on the knife. In general, a knife is foremost a tools. For every 1000 times someone uses a knife as a tool, I would guess that a knife is used as a weapon less than once. However, there are some knife designs that scream "weapon", so you would tend to think "weapon" when you look at them. Even those knives are most likely to be used primarily as tools, however.
 
A knife is simply a combination of a lever and a wedge. Nothing more. The multitude of uses it has for being such a simple device is a testament to human ingenuity.
 
I would define "weapon" as: A tool that is designed to kill or injure living things. By that definition, some knives are weapons and some are not.

I'm not sure that all tools are weapons, or that the intent of the user determines whether or not a particular object is a weapon. By those definitions, a pillow is a weapon; you could use one to smoother somebody. Even oxygen itself is a weapon, as it can be used to make things explode!

The features that make a knife a good weapon also make a knife less useful as a tool for everyday tasks. Knives that are good weapons have fixed-blades that are long, narrow, and thick. They also often have a large guard.

The knives that I carry are definitely tools, but some of them may have weapon-like qualities. ;)
 
Cerulean's comment about a pillow is a good one to use if we want to question the definition tools by intent rather than by design.

The semantics game with this is insane, and it's nearly impossible to come up with some sort of sweeping method of encompassing all things under 2 basic categories which are not fundamentally opposed.

I don't agree that there are only 2 categories. A lot of knives are both, I think, and some knives are for decorative/collection purpose only.

If we want 2 solid categories, one could come up with weapon versus non-weapon. Trying to fit "knife" into this is problematic as well.

When I defined "intent" as a weapon, while it does actually come into play in legal matters (anything not explicitly defined as a weapon but used with blah blah intent is considered a dangerous weapon), I was identifying intent as *the* weapon, while eliminating all other items from that classification. Knife/gun/nuke/etc are not weapons under that classification...they are merely tools that allow those with malicious intent varying degrees of advantage.

Of course, that definition may in fact be accurate, but it is not going to make anyone happy because it nullifies the value of many rules, and we can't restrict, suppress, or ban "intent". It's a mighty weapon indeed :(

Strip it down to its most basic (edge, point, handle) and you have many other objects that are never given the stigma that knives are. Question why things look "scary" to some people or why they look "mean" when in fact they are just geometric shapes (and some quite ugly).

Whenever I ask "sheeple" to strip away all the culturally accepted codes and question WHY they feel knives are weapons, I usually receive promising replies. Not only that, but it is an interesting way to get people to start analyzing their conceptions of other things in life. Sometimes I even get people interested in knives by encouraging them to think about their utility function and how often I use a knife every week.

We all have our own ways of defending things we like though.
 
I often cop the same comment at markets and fairs - "a bunch of weapons" or similar. They are TOOLS - one of humankinds first tools was a flint knife for skinning (often referred to as MAN'S FIRST TOOL ). Tools can be weapons depending on the individual hammers, screwdrivers, chisels can all be used as weapons and often are.
 
Let's face it, some knives are more likely to be purchased with the idea that they would make an effective weapon and some aren't. For example, the guy who walks in to a knife shop and gets himself a new CQC-7 is more likely to be anticipating the possibility that his knife may be pressed into service as a weapon than the one who walks out of that same store with a Schrade small stockman or SAK Classic.
 
I see my knives as tools first, weapons second. If I wanted to carry something only for defense, I would carry a gun instead of a knife. The courts will define a knife as a weapon, but I don't really agree with that. Some knives are clearly designed to be used as weapons, but I don't see a normal folder as a weapon.

Anything can be used as a weapon given the right motivation.
 
Robert Marotz said:
Whenever I ask "sheeple" to strip away all the culturally accepted codes and question WHY they feel knives are weapons, I usually receive promising replies. Not only that, but it is an interesting way to get people to start analyzing their conceptions of other things in life. Sometimes I even get people interested in knives by encouraging them to think about their utility function and how often I use a knife every week.
Click to expand...

Robert,
Very informative post. I enjoyed reading it and like the above statement.
 
For me they are first collectables. I collect knives and most in the display cases will not be used as a tool or a weapon. I have ones that I do use as tools. I have guns that I would consider a weapon when I carry it for that purpose.
 
Tool. I never had an experience where a knife was needed as a weapon and I sure doen't ever plan on using one in such a manner. What was it designed for :confused: ?
 
I have carried a knife since I was 8 or 9 years old. I have opened thousands of envelopes, hundreds of boxes, miles of tape, a few cans, the odd radiator hose or fuel line, bushels of apples, the list goes on. The number of stitches caused by my knives is zero. I have a grey tabby that has inflicted far worse wounds than any of my knives.

Frank
 
A tool is a device used to do a task more efficently.
A weapon is created when a tool is used to harm another, or in the mind of someone planning to use it to harm another.

Is a screwdriver a tool, how about a pencil, or even a credit card. All of these allow you to do a task more efficently, how ever, if used to harm another, they are all weapons.

Even hunting, i do not consider a rifle a "weapon" if you are hunting for meat, then it is simply a tool used to help you aquire the meat easier, and make it easier on the animal. Sure you could stalk a deer and kill it with your bare hands, but why, when you have a tool that will do the job.

Bottom line, "Weapon" is an entirely mental word.
 
It can depend on the knife. For example, a Spyderco Civillian is a definitely a weapon. A Moore Maker trapper is definitely a tool. I usually view my knives as tools. I admit to thinking about the usefulness of my Spyderco Delica as a weapon due it's solid locking and speed in opening :eek: , but I usually carry something more "toolish" as they seem to be more user friendly for most tasks that I encounter. :footinmou I carried a boring Schrade Minuteman today.
 
A weapon is a tool used with ill intent.

I have never used a knife as a weapon, and if I ever do, it would probably be a common steak knife rather then the latest wanna-be-ninja-death-monger-tree-slayer.

n2s
 
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