Why don't most humans care about knives?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

This is sortof a carry over from another thread but to make it more general I posted it here: Someone pointed out that if you take the numbers of mankind into account, we knife enthusiasts are a small fraction of the overall population, whether that be the USA, Europe, or the whole world for that matter. My question: Why is this? The knife is man's original true tool (clubs I don't count because clubs were often found as broken branches and animal by products: bones. Fire can also be considered a true tool with the knife. Ofcourse, you could say knives were also found in the form of broken stone..but you get the picture) and I would expect or hope more people, globally, would be interested and enthusiastic about the variations, kinds, and types.

I have visited assorted flea markets, garage sales, and knife and gun shows, and I do notice most fellow men and boys do tend to gravitate to the knife tables and displays. But, in general, most people I've spoken with about knives look at them as just "sharp pieces of metal", and some are genuinely amazed that I like to read books about them, and collect them, and know more than the average people about them, as do many others on this forum, who are fellow knife people. And so, why is this, everybody? Why the general lack of interest?

[Ankerson]

It's today's society compared to that of even 20 years ago is much different..

[Surfingringo]

Why do most people not care about gardening? Why do most people not care about calligraphy? Maybe the folks who are passionate about those things are wondering why you aren't. :)

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Why do most people not care about gardening? Why do most people not care about calligraphy? Maybe the folks who are passionate about those things are wondering why you aren't. :)

That is a good point :)

How about a Spyderco knife for gardening? It could have blades for grafting and pruning.

[Evil D]

The more "cultured" or "civilized" a nation becomes, the less they have to do for themselves, and thus the less they need tools like knives. You can trace it back all the way even to the industrial revolution. If you think about it, even the fact that we have mass produced knives is a part of the same system, because 200 years ago you had to have a blade forged by a smith and it wasn't just EDC, it was part of your daily life and your ability to live. Even then there were people who didn't need them like other people of the same time, and the same can probably be said for various groups all throughout time until you go back far enough that everyone was primitive and the higher class type people were the strongest, or the hunters and so they themselves had the tools. Knives these days to most people are kitchen tools or murder weapons. They only see them in these two uses because they themselves only ever use them in the kitchen, and the media has built them up as weapons.

I happened to see this video the other day and it make me laugh. It's the PERFECT example of how everyone sees knives and guns. They're weapons and you're a villain until THEY need YOUR help using them. In a city where knives are vilified and nobody is allowed to carry, what could have happened to this girl if she hadn't been cut out of that car? What if the car was on fire? Even the EMT stood off to the side while the guy with the knife made things happen.

https://youtu.be/37oIugCWxLU" target="_blank

[bearfacedkiller]

Why do only humans care about knives? My dog doesn't. Maybe some aliens on some faraway planet do but as far as we know only humans care about knives.

[Evil D]

Why do only humans care about knives? My dog doesn't. Maybe some aliens on some faraway planet do but as far as we know only humans care about knives.

That depends on your perspective. Lions care about their knives, they just come in the form of claws. Knives are what man has created to allow us to do the things that animals do. That, plus we simply have the higher intellect to allow us to make and use tools. You can give a chimp a knife and he'll put it to use just as we would, he just doesn't have access to them in the wild and lacks the ability to create them as we can. I think if a lion had the ability to forge a blade, we humans would be in real trouble.

[gbelleh]

Different strokes for different folks. I knew a guy who was totally obsessed with shoes, and collected hundreds of pairs of sneakers. He was always online looking for shoes, buying them, talking about them. That sure doesn't float my boat, but whatever.

[Ankerson]

I think if a lion had the ability to forge a blade, we humans would be in real trouble.

Yeah, ain't that the truth. :D

Look at the humans that lions and tigers turned into food over the years....

[Surfingringo]

Why do most people not care about gardening? Why do most people not care about calligraphy? Maybe the folks who are passionate about those things are wondering why you aren't. :)

That is a good point :)

How about a Spyderco knife for gardening? It could have blades for grafting and pruning.

Hehe...way to keep your focus! :D

[apollo]

I think most people do not care any more because the are afraid to..
As you know since the beginning of time most of the humans are copycats in every way... So the general public follows the idea's of the politicians of its time. (because they are afraid to get a fine or maybe even a "Bad Name")
And let it just be the politicians from this timezone that are scared to **** about everything that could be used as a weapon.

this points me in the direction of the movie demolition man from sly...
I must say i would hang myself of beeing bored if i would live in that "peacefull utopia full of love and not 1 personal choise to make world all politicians dream about"

Now i do not want to take this thread to the dark side :p but that is my point of view about it.
Thank god Sal is there to make us happy with his perfect Tools :)

[The Mastiff]

People are strange. How many people that you know don't take proper cold weather jackets and shoes/boots when going out in the winter. Especially if it clashes with their clothes. :) I had a wife that did that. I used to argue with her about that because when things happened and she was cold she wanted my jacket.

I can't comprehend some peoples thought process. The irrational fear and twisted "logic" I see about guns and knives are also examples.

Seems not everybody is playing with the same deck of cards as I am, and some of those that are don't have a full deck.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Seems not everybody is playing with the same deck of cards as I am, and some of those that are don't have a full deck.

Well played there Joe! Some great comments in this thread and a great vid David, thanks for posting. I just had to pull myself away from the calligraphy thread to post here! Cheers, Radioactive :)

[Cujobob]

Since knives and guns are banned in so many places, I think that hurts their ability to become a part of mainstream culture. I also think we have many more specific tools these days to do certain cutting jobs and that has made man's reliance on a knife dwindle.

[Bodog]

I've worked around several people that never once carried a knife, yet they were always looking for something to cut with. I let a few of those people carry a Kershaw blur that I've had for a long time and only asked that they use it to only cut things, not anything else. Each one in turn came back with my knife and asked which knife they should get as they only had about 20 bucks to spend on a knife. That in turn started a conversation about quality and which companies provided a solid value knife.

My wife always thought I was a little crazy for always keeping a knife on me wherever I go. I bought her a midrange knife with pink handles and she just threw it on a shelf. After that anytime she asked to use my knife, I told her no. She started carrying her little pink knife until she decided that she wanted something a little bigger and started researching knives on her own to find one she liked. She bought one and now carries it everywhere herself.

Point being? Most people can get by without having a pocket knife because they've never carried one. Put them in a position to carry one and they'll quickly find out how much easier certain everyday tasks can be with a knife, regardless of job or walk of life.

Now why is it that some people will spend 100 bucks on a night out and think that's acceptable but tell them that they'll probably want to spend about 100 bucks for a good knife that'll last for years and they flip out.

[Ankerson]

Now why is it that some people will spend 100 bucks on a night out and think that's acceptable but tell them that they'll probably want to spend about 100 bucks for a good knife that'll last for years and they flip out.

Same reason why people will spend $3,000 on a gun and not want to spend $50 on a knife..

Or Spend $60,000 on a Car, but won't spend $100 on a knife...

Or get all the newest gadgets, phones etc, but $80 is too much for a knife...

They eat out 3 times a day, 6 days a week, but that $50 is just to much for a knife...

Spend $200 on a pair of sneakers.... But wouldn't spend near that on a knife...

Spend $5,000 to $20,000 on a watch, but $200 is just outrageous to spend on a knife...

Spend $80 a week at the beauty salon, but $40 is just too much for a knife...

Spend $8 for a cup of coffee everyday on the way to work, but heaven forbid $60 on a knife.... OMG.....

Just take that $8 cup of coffee that people buy everyday because they are too lazy to make their own for pennies....

$8 x 5 days = $40

$40 x 52 weeks = $2080...

That's 4 Sebenzas....

Or 13 Militaries....

Or 20 Native 5's...

Or 34 Delicas...

That $8 cup of coffee just got real expensive.....


I use the same logic when people say X knife is too expensive..... I find one thing that they throw money away on everyday, add it up and show it to them.....

[zhyla]

Everybody cares about knives. I don't know anyone who doesn't own a few that get their kitchen tasks done. As long as the tasks get done they're not wasting a penny, second, or brain cell on knives. Just like I don't waste time on clothes, sunglasses, screwdrivers, etc.

A lot of things matter more than knives.

[Screwdriver]

Everyone cares about knives, but not everyone is obsessed with them. Butter your toast, cut some veggies, cut a steak etc. A knife is a tool and is found in most every home.

[bearfacedkiller]

I can be a bit of a foodie and on occasion I go out to eat at some fairly expensive restaurants. One thing I have never understood is how people can spend large sums of money on a fancy meal and don't even seem to notice that they have been given a crappy knife and sometimes just a butter knife to eat with. I recently went out to dinner at a restaurant where my meal alone was $75 and I was given a butter knife to eat it with. It seems especially strange since I assume that the chefs that work at these restaurants care about their knives yet they hand out some garbage cutlery. I mentioned it to the people I was dining with that we were spending quite a bit of money and that we weren't given decent knives and they all agreed and told me that it was a really good point and that they had never even thought of that before. I am not asking for an expensive or fancy knife at a nice restaurant because I am sure people would steal some of them and even nice restaurants often feed all of there dishes through a dishwasher but a decent steak knife seems reasonable. People are very oblivious when it comes to knives. In most cases most people are happy as long as they can make it work and have no idea what performance or purpose built knives even are. Same applies to most peoples kitchen knives. That cheap knife block from Walmart gets the job done and that is all most people care about.

[bearfacedkiller]

The original comment that once most people start carrying a knife they realize how practical it is and begin to realize that they want to carry one at all time is similar to the experience I had with flashlights. I used to burn up the battery on my phone all the time using the flashlight app so I started carrying a small flashlight everyday. They have gotten so small and so powerful it isn't hard at all to carry at least 100 lumens with you at all times and usually at least 200 lumens. I always have at least a single aaa or cr123 flashlight on me at all times and now I do not know how I ever lived without them. People comment that they are surprised that I always have a flashlight and I try to explain to them that if they would just get a small quality light and carry it for a couple weeks that they would begin to realize how useful it can be.