This "image problem" is about people who are misbehaving in public . It has NOTHING to do directly with the type of knife . Many people CC all manner of impressive , scary lethal weaponry without ever causing any public reaction ...because they keep their armament CONCEALED and act normal/respectful for the local social environment.
The problem is rude , aggressive , insane BEHAVIOR ...not the equipment !
Why is this simple truth so difficult to understand ?
I think because your assertion ignores a) cultural norms of decency and b) the cultural significance of aesthetics.
One can't argue that a plastic scrotum hanging off of a pickup truck's hitch has any purpose other than to offend. Aesthetically, it was designed to violate social norms, just as sure as Lady Gaga's meat dress was. There's just no way to "deploy" a plastic scrotum or a meat dress in public without being offensive.
The thing that makes a "tacticool" or "mall Ninja" knife what it is is precisely the fact that the intended design goal is to look scary. They belong in Spencer's Gifts for a reason. The same can be said for many fantasy knives.
It's ridiculous for a man to defend his truck's plastic scrotum as "Just a plastic decoration" and it's impossible for Lady Gaga to defend her meat dress as acceptable. It's just as silly to defend intentionally threatening looking knives as "just a tool". Nobody buys that line.
FWIW, my most carried knife of the past 2 years has been a Buck 110 and being the age I am, I fully appreciate the long association it has with biker gangs and that the clip point itself can appear scary. I'm more careful about it's deployment than I would be with an Opinel or large Sodbuster.
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