Which knife is less intimidating for work.

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dzlvs8

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Jun 13, 2013
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I like bigger knives, but I need somethin smaller for work. I currently carry a Benchmade Torrent. I think my knife is just kinda scary to some. I was set on an Emissary, but I have changed my mind. I want something bigger. I have noticed that the taller the knife blade, the more it sticks out and is intimidating to some. So, out of these two big knives, which do you think would be less intimidating? ..Or is this all just terrible wishful thinking and I just need to go with something a lot smaller and be done with it :(.

Benchmade 551H20 - Yes, it has a "taller blade and looks larger, but it's orange and looks almost exactly like our terrible spring loaded Stanley Safety Box cutters.
BM551H2O.jpg


Benchmade 943 - This knife, to me, seems pretty low key. But it's longer than the Benchmade Torrent that I carry now. So, I'm not sure if my logic on the taller knife being scarier is really true in this situation.

benchmade%20943.jpg


bm-943-opened.jpg


Our Stanley Safty Box Cutters
pACE3-987572enh-z7.jpg


I am interested in these knives because I like bigger handles. The mini grip and the 707 have way too small of hanldes, I just sold my Emerson Snubby because I didn't like it, and I don't want to take a step down in quality.
 
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Griptillian...or just tell the sheeple to shove it. :p

If you are doing your job, most people won't care what your cutting tool is. I have carried a large fixed blade at work and never gotten so much as a dirty look while poking around people's yards.
 
I don't see either of those as intimidating and wouldn't imagine any rational person would.
 
The 943 has a more refined look and would probably go unnoticed. The full size grip is pretty large and the bright orange will definitely get people to notice it.
 
The orange one is in my opinion least likely to be perceived as a weapon.

The 943 is black, it's obviously a weapon.
 
Definitely the grip. The black one will intimidate in certain environments.

I work in office environment 90% of the time and in the field 10%. I carry a 707 in d2. Good size and isn't too intimidating. Your right about the handle being on the small side. But for me it's ok. I can wrap my hand around the whole thing and use my thumb and pointer finger to open the blade about 45 degrees....enough to open boxes and other light work. Onlookers can't even tell what I'm using if I do it that way.

When I'm in the field, I can open all the way without issue of being scary... Heheh
 
I think the 943 is one of the most beautiful knives around, a real gentleman's folder. The Griptilian is a teddy bear of a knife, especially in a friendly orange color.

But perception is up to other people, your knife hasn't got much to do with it. Your behavior does. If these knives are OK with your state and city, -- buy both. :)
 
Mini-grip in orange. The 943 looks all stabby and daggery. The orange is excellent camouflage.
 
Bigfatts said:
I don't see either of those as intimidating and wouldn't imagine any rational person would.
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Well, duhhh. Obviously you don't have a problem with it. I'm not talking about the rational people in this situation. These comments are terrible and hilarious. I think I am asking the wrong people. lol

I am in a lab and with what I am sometimes doing, the bigger the blade, the better. Heck, we even have big butcher knives that lay on the filing cabinet for cutting bagels and such, but people question my "gigantic" knife all the time. It's weird.

Basically, I can get away with what I carry for the most part but I don't like pushing it. Somedays it feels right, other days I think it may not be good to be "pushing it". Heck, for a while I was carring a leatherman on my belt along with a torrent or Adamas.

jc57 said:
Mini-grip in orange. The 943 looks all stabby and daggery. The orange is excellent camouflage.
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It's been a while since I held a 943. After watching some more videos on it, it is fairly people stabber friendly looking. Even though it's a clean gentlemans folder, I've noticed that, like the Torrent, that doesn't help. If it did, I could probably get away with a polished Espada XL. I think I should spring for the utilitarian looking 551H2O..or the 810SBK.
 
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It depends on the kind of people you're working with, but in my experience, the more your knife looks like a kitchen knife, then the less threatened people will be by it as the design language of such a knife is something they're familiar with and relate to non violent uses. Sharpened back edges, swedges, severe clip points and knives that look like they're made for penetration during stabbing generally freak people out, so I'd go the 551h20.
 
Tough call. As an alternative perhaps one of my favorites the Benchmade 940. Even though it has a reverse tanto blade the cool green handle makes it pereceptively less intimidating than the 943 in black. With the color anodized titanium backspacer it looks real nice too. The specs of the 940 and 943 are nearly identical.

940.jpg
 
The 943 is very weapon-y to stupid people. Unfortunately, many knives to look very intimidating to the stupid. Your best bet is to go with vibrant handle colors (or do something like a Venom Green RAT 1). The blade shape doesn't matter much except for tanto blades, it all falls down to colors. Sad but mostly true.
 
Bugout Bill said:
Griptillian...or just tell the sheeple to shove it. :p

If you are doing your job, most people won't care what your cutting tool is. I have carried a large fixed blade at work and never gotten so much as a dirty look while poking around people's yards.
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This s true, I found if I'm at work using any knife if it is a folder and people are around I always try to open my knife with 2 hands, or slowly with one hand, if I do a tactical flip, or something quick, it makes the sheep scared. He he he
 
Almost any knife will look like a weapon to someone. I carry a slipjoint or small folder (like a mnandi) at work.
Edit to add: the ladybug on my keys has gotten a comment before. Some people just don't like knives. Open with two hands and don't wave the blade around and all should be well
 
fugglesby said:
It depends on the kind of people you're working with, but in my experience, the more your knife looks like a kitchen knife, then the less threatened people will be by it as the design language of such a knife is something they're familiar with and relate to non violent uses. Sharpened back edges, swedges, severe clip points and knives that look like they're made for penetration during stabbing generally freak people out, so I'd go the 551h20.
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This.

Reactions are contextual. If I meet you at a Little League game carrying a baseball bat, it will be interpreted one way. Do the same thing in the parking lot of a bar at night, it means another. The difference is the set of rules or expectations that people associate with different objects in different situations. This explains why a 12" knife that is "for cutting bagels" can sit in the open while a smaller knife will cause anxiety.

Thumb studs, double edges, clip points suggest weaponry. People aren't stupid, they're alert to threats around them. What is stupid is to expect it to be otherwise, IMO. One hand openers make sense on job site but not in an office/lab setting.

I find that people don't give a second look to my Opinel. For that matter, they react well to most traditionals so long as the size is not too big. Here is a number 9 that fills my big hand nicely. Would be even less intimidating if I ground down the tip more. I already knocked it back to a drop point, which helps a great deal.


edc-pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

My answer to the OP is none of the above.
 
Get the orange one and start referring to it as a "safety knife". When they ask what makes it a "safety knife" tell them about textured non slip grip, sturdy axis lock, sturdy blade that doesn't have snap away blades which are dangerous to use, etc. Downside is that the orange will stand out and draw additional attention if you clip it to your pocket, swapping out the clip so you can do a deep carry may be a wise thing to do with that knife.

But realistically your still going to be getting a lot of stares and comments, it's just that this has more of a "safety"/tool look due to the orange color people associate it with. And people have a habit of associating black colored knives as dangerous weapons more often as they are automatically "tactical" and designed to kill. Only way your going to get around this whole thing is to don't carry a knife or switch to a SAK/traditional knife as they are seen as tools by the average person. And it's quite hard for them to associate those knives as being "man killers" since their father, grandfather, and so and so forth all carried a knife like that.
 
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