Off Topic "Mall Ninja" : Is just mere ownership of certain types of blade enough to earn the title ?

The mall ninja can range anywhere from the kid with the tacti-cool knives and/or a bit of an army surplus fetish, who is more deeply affected by action movies than the other kids, to the older perma-teen with a katana made from the finest pot metal hanging from their wall like it's a nihonto that was handmade in Japan. If it makes you happy and you're not planning an armoured car or gas station robbery, you be you. We all enjoyed having bad taste in something at some point in our lives.

The fact that as a teenager my potential knife mentors were a martial artist who preferred anything illegal or murdery, and another guy who was a bit too obsessed with Soldier of Fortune magazine, delayed me from being anything more than a guy with no more than 1-2 practical knives for a long time.
 
My introduction to mall ninjaness was not because of movies, but because of a certain store.

After my brain surgery in 1991 (I was almost 12) I constantly had to go downtown (chicago) for testing. It's a long drive, and often had to stay in a hotel due to multiple days of testing. Occasionally, if there was time, we'd go to North Pier mall to eat at the Carolina Crabhouse. Across the aisle from the restaurant was a shop that specialized in Ninja-esque weapons.

My dad's rich friend visited from out of town and we went there, he bought me throwing knives (two big ones in a sheath, and three small ones in a wrist sheath), foam nunchaku, rubber throwing stars, a butterfly knife, and a dagger. I thought I was such a badass.

I still have the belt sheath snd one of the throwing knives.
 
Mall Ninja is a philosophy, not a specific set of tools. It's the "gear version" of "the clothes make the man". Convincing yourself that being equipped to deal with a hostile situation is all you need, while lacking any training, physical or mental, to really use your equipment properly. Imagine somebody who buys a Hayabusa and trailers it straight to a track day, and you'll get the idea.

Being conscious of your progression towards Mall Ninja status is the easiest, and most counter-intuitive, way to stop the process. If you're looking at some high-speed, low-drag "combat knife", and know that you don't have the relevant training to use it in any scenario except buttering your bagel, you're safe from becoming a Mall Ninja.

The lighter version is indeed, the teen- or pre-teen who is fascinated by edged tools with low-observation qualities. Never use one word when three will do.

These "Junior Mall Ninjas" are mostly harmless, and almost all of them will grow out of it.

Their buying decisions are almost entirely appearance-based, with little concern for the actual effectiveness of their chosen equipment. A full tactical black paint job is an easy way to get their attention, but something which is larger than usual, very shiny, or, of course, associated with movie ninjas, will bring them running.

For me at least, the fascination with anything self-defense related was a side effect of maturing. I know, that doesn't seem to make sense, it was a step along the way. I started to recognize that the world was very big, and it could eat my lunch whenever it felt like it. I wanted a "Dumbo feather" to make me feel like I had at least some protection against it.
 
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killgar said:
My definition of "mall ninja", and my use of the term applies to people whose attitudes regarding knives and weapons are based in fantasy rather than reality.
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Perfect definition.

If you obsess about carrying around big self defense folders on the internet, you are a mall ninja. Just owning the knives is not enough.
 
5DoorEstate said:
I was behind a “private security” cop the other day at Bass Pro. This psycho dropped $300 on tactical nonsense and walked out to a retired police car with whatever dumb security company logo emblazoned on the side.

Frankly, this mall ninja was just depressing. Broken LEO dreams and whatnot.

Before you ask, yes I was carrying two blades and sporting tactical flip flops.
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Over 50% of “real cops“ are mall ninjas too.
For example, punisher logos, scary words on their dust cover or Glock backplate. Then hiding outside of schools while kids are killed.
 
DMG said:
Over 50% of “real cops“ are mall ninjas too.
For example, punisher logos, scary words on their dust cover or Glock backplate. Then hiding outside of schools while kids are killed.
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Except that “real cops”, as you have sarcastically put in quotes above, have been certified as law enforcement, and are, uh, really cops. We’re still human and make mistakes, unfortunately, our mistakes do tend to have far greater consequences than burning some fries or an error on a spreadsheet. Regardless, the successes still far outweigh the failures. Those successes, however, are never publicized as much for you to critique from the comfort of your keyboard, so I believe your 50% number is highly inaccurate, given the sheer number of LEO interactions which occur daily, compared to the far fewer tragic, yet highly publicized and scrutinized events which would have been even more tragic had there been no LEO response at all. But I digress. Plenty of agencies accepting applications now. Come on out and show us how it’s done.

To be clear, you’re not wrong about many cops’, particularly young, new cops’, propensity to adorn themselves with über tactical tough guy gear. I personally don’t condone it, or need such things to motivate me to do my job to the best of my ability, and I’ve been doing the job a long time. We are not punishers, nor do I think it’s prudent or even helpful to portray myself to the public as such. I tell others in my field the same when I see it.

That said, as evidenced ever so clearly by your backhanded remark here, sometimes the only support we have is each other, and such gear helps those who emblazon themselves identify with their peers in the field who share the same goal, whether you agree with it or not. Sure, I’ll concede that some wear it to try garner some sort of weird respect from the public, or identify themselves as cops when off-duty, but usually it’s just pride for the job. I personally don’t want to be readily identified as a cop when I’m not on duty, but I am proud of what I do, as are most of us.

By your logic, I guess you’re opposed to the display of military unit insignia or similar things which denote ones current or former service when not actively engaged in service and in uniform as well?
 
Thorgrim said:
Many are the Spydercos I walked past with my nose slighting upturned, to my eyes they looked like something out of a Bud-K catalog although I'll confess I never looked at one closely. Then I found this forum and it convinced me to buy my first, an Endura/FRN in K390, and I asked for a catalog. In the month after the catalog arrived I'd bought three more and a sharpener. Oops, make that 4 more, I bought one as a Christmas present.
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Spyderco make some of the most practical knives out there. I have a Stretch 2 and serr. Police 4, that P4 being my preferred EDC.
Even their more "weapony" knives like the Yojimbo/jumbo are very useful in daily life, gave me my love for the Wharncliffe. That Endura line (Japanese lockbacks) are some of the MOST practical.
 
Modern day mall ninjas are all the schmucks carrying guns who spend no time to speak of at a range practicing.
 
wouter1967 said:
The term Mall Ninja always make me think of the Lynn Thompson Cold Steel clips.
Lots of fantasy combined with big knives.
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Lynn Thompson's over the top marketing really kept me away from Cold Steel and probably even from getting too much into knives in general when I was younger. There was this moment where I was giving serious thought to buying a Cold Steel Recon 1, right until my friend excitedly showed me some unhinged ads in one of his merc mags, which was like pouring cold water on that purchase. Unfortunately, there wasn't any moderating voice around at the time to say that they really were well made and not garbage Rambo knives. That was a shame, but Ka-Bar, Buck, and Spyderco benefited in the years that followed. I've bought a lot of Cold Steel in recent years, but now with GSM Outdoors owning them, there are different reasons for hesitating in buying them.
 
Centermass said:
Except that “real cops”, as you have sarcastically put in quotes above, have been certified as law enforcement, and are, uh, really cops. We’re still human and make mistakes, unfortunately, our mistakes do tend to have far greater consequences than burning some fries or an error on a spreadsheet. Regardless, the successes still far outweigh the failures. Those successes, however, are never publicized as much for you to critique from the comfort of your keyboard, so I believe your 50% number is highly inaccurate, given the sheer number of LEO interactions which occur daily, compared to the far fewer tragic, yet highly publicized and scrutinized events which would have been even more tragic had there been no LEO response at all. But I digress. Plenty of agencies accepting applications now. Come on out and show us how it’s done.

To be clear, you’re not wrong about many cops’, particularly young, new cops’, propensity to adorn themselves with über tactical tough guy gear. I personally don’t condone it, or need such things to motivate me to do my job to the best of my ability, and I’ve been doing the job a long time. We are not punishers, nor do I think it’s prudent or even helpful to portray myself to the public as such. I tell others in my field the same when I see it.

That said, as evidenced ever so clearly by your backhanded remark here, sometimes the only support we have is each other, and such gear helps those who emblazon themselves identify with their peers in the field who share the same goal, whether you agree with it or not. Sure, I’ll concede that some wear it to try garner some sort of weird respect from the public, or identify themselves as cops when off-duty, but usually it’s just pride for the job. I personally don’t want to be readily identified as a cop when I’m not on duty, but I am proud of what I do, as are most of us.

By your logic, I guess you’re opposed to the display of military unit insignia or similar things which denote ones current or former service when not actively engaged in service and in uniform as well?
Click to expand...

DMG said:
Over 50% of “real cops“ are mall ninjas too.
For example, punisher logos, scary words on their dust cover or Glock backplate. Then hiding outside of schools while kids are killed.
Click to expand...

The militarization of the police and public perception may also be a factor in this phenomenon. I fondly remember the days when police cars used bright colors, officers were seen as friendly community servants, and they packed wheel guns... While modern technology and best tools for the job are totally valid, the change in image never sat right with me.

I've had friends in law enforcement and generally, they are regular guys. Some are knuckleheads but that's true for a lot of professions. The "mall ninja" equivalent might be hangers-on and wannabes who aspire to be cops, usually in their teen years, who at the right time in this historical transition would have been standing next to the military wannabes at the magazine rack. The key distinction is when they focus heavily on the fantasy of the job rather than the actual job.

As far as current events, a deeper discussion belongs in the appropriate sub-forums here. Much like members of the military, let's be careful not to blame individual police officers for the bad decisions of their superiors.
 
Chronovore said:
The militarization of the police and public perception may also be a factor in this phenomenon. I fondly remember the days when police cars used bright colors, officers were seen as friendly community servants, and they packed wheel guns... While modern technology and best tools for the job are totally valid, the change in image never sat right with me.
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I get the changeup on the guns, that's understandable but the new "subdued" police paint jobs are an obvious scam to catch Joe Six Pack going 10mph too fast because he's late for work. How much crime can they possibly be preventing when the cars aren't easily recognizable? We have those around here- black or dark gray SUVs with no lightbar because they're behind the grill and graphics you can only see at a certain angle or if the lighting is just right. We're talking regular patrol cars, not detectives or some intelligence agency. They reek of the old cliché "Southern Cop Behind a Billboard Speed Trap" to me.
I've not been pulled over for 15 years and that was for a light out but still, obvious scam is obvious scam.
 
I suffer from the bought to many types of fire starters as described on page one. But really until you try them all in the rain how do you know what works? A Ferro rod and a hemp wick works great if I can save any of my fellow ninjas a few bucks. I do carry a pouch in my camping stuff that has about 8 different options. It's fun to let people try them out when they start going off about how easy it is to use and people on alone are stupid because they can't start a fire.. ect..

Here you go take your pick... Would you like to use the lighter?
 
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