Gee, how time flies. So much for actually doing anything on this blog in a timely fashion.

Well, let's see if I can start something again. Neanderpundit has an interesting meme on his blog:

Take the knife out of your pocket and take a picture of it, and post it. Or post a picture of the same knife from a brochure or whatever.

No, not your favorite knife, or your prettiest, but the one that never leaves your side. Mine’s a Schrade 897 Uncle Henry, made in USA, from when they still were made in the USA. it’s stainless because I can’t find carbon steel ones anymore.

I thought about it... and realized that there are actually THREE knives that don't leave my side these days. 


From left to right, that's a Super Leatherman Tool, a Buck Vantage (engraved on the blade with GOAL and NES (Gun Owner's Action League and NorthEastShooters.com)) and the working tools of a Belly Mason, a Case Masonic Hobo Trapper. (the trapper comes apart so you can use the knife and fork separately).

I've carried a pocket knife of some sort or another for around 40+ years, every day. The day that I got my Cub Scout Knife & Axe merit badge, my dad took me down to Goodman's Hardware and bought me a pocket knife. I've carried one every day I can ever since. Except when disarmed by cruise companies, airlines, court officers (jury duty) and similar nervous nellies who think that I can't be trusted. 
And I've noticed something - very few people carry a knife these days and most people seem freaked that I carry such a "large" one. (why do I hear Paul Hogan in my mind right now? ). Yet I USE the darned things most every day. Why not carry one of man's earliest and most useful tools?

I don't understand. Perhaps this is a failing on my part, but I simply don't comprehend. And it's not even a new phenomenon; I'd get this reaction 20 years ago when I carried a Schrade that was about the same size, but fully serrated. I used that on a daily basis to open shipping boxes for work... and people would be freaked out by how "big" it was. 

Look, folks... A kukri is a big knife. A Gerber Mark II is a big knife. A Ka-Bar (what our boys carried for a combat knife in WWII) is a big knife. A folding pocket knife is NOT a big knife; it's the right size to hold and be useful. Would I be more "civilized" if I carried this?


Does smaller = "civilized", even if it's too small to be terribly useful? Or is it that the smaller "gentleman's" knife is too small to be a weapon? In which case, is it "civilized" to be unarmed?

*sigh* I guess I don't get the whole "politically correct" thing.