Do you carry a pocketknife?

[loki44]

Once I used my pocket knife to stab a snake that had gotten too friendly. Was I in danger, no, but in a dark enclosed space (well shaft) it sure felt justified.

Please elaborate.....I'm having a hard time wrapping my imagination around these circumstances. Sounds intense though. Pray tell?

 

[Dark Jezter]

It's the small hook on the bottom next to the ring. At first I couldn't figure out what it was for, guessing incorectly that it was some type of archaic device meant to be used while doing unspeakable things to fish. Curious I looked it up online and discovered that it was a "parcel carrier". So I tried hooking a shopping bag onto it and using the knife as a handle and it worked! Beats having those plastic handles digging into my fingers. Now I just wish it was bigger so that I could carry a couple of bags at a time with it.

You call that a knife?

This is a knife!

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I used to carry a small boatswain's knife, but as I now teach English at what is widely regarded as a "tough" high school, I've gotten out of the habit and am constantly wishing I had it with me to perform any number of minor tasks.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I have a multitool that I got from somewhere 8 or so years ago that I keep in my backpack. It just comes in handy every so often, though I don't use it that much.

I nearly forgot to take it out of my bag when I was fixing to go through security on Saturday. I was going through them to make sure that Invisible Terrorist Bombing Fairies hadn't put stuff in my carry-on baggage*, and noticed it, and started cussing. So, fortunately, I was able to get my friend to carry it home with him.

Brad

* - Hey, it was out of my sight for about 30 minutes behind a locked door, and I had my back turned to it in the car...and the people at the counter get real upset when you mention those qualifiers...

 

[adwyn]

Please elaborate.....I'm having a hard time wrapping my imagination around these circumstances. Sounds intense though. Pray tell?

I had climbed down a twelve foot deep shaft only about 28" or so wide to pull a pump. Even as a lanky teen there was too little room - barely enough to squirm. Midway into the project a large snake, probably a bull snake but I'll never know, got dislodged from above and fell down the back my shirt. It crawled down my left sleeve, so when the head went past my hand I stabbed with the pocket knife I'd been using to cut wires.

In such narrow dark confines (I had dropped the flashlight from my mouth when the snake hit me) having the writhing body thrash in my sleeve while the head was pinned to the wall was unsettling -especially when rattlesnakes are fairly prevalent in the area.

 

[Teflon Billy]

there she is...

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I used to carry a swiss army knife with me, but a friend of mine that carried his got pulled over by a cop a couple of years ago and got a fine for an unlicensed weapon. So for fear of being hit with a fine I stopped taking everywhere. :\

 

[Teflon Billy]

I used to carry a swiss army knife with me, but a friend of mine that carried his got pulled over by a cop a couple of years ago and got a fine for an unlicensed weapon. So for fear of being hit with a fine I stopped taking everywhere. :\

Man...that seems odd.

I associate the US with being pretty free and easy with weapons in the hand sof their citizenry.

Here in Canada, if you're knife has a blade under 5 inches in length and only has one edge, then it is perfectly legal for you to carry it. Just about everyone I know has one.

Handguns on the other hand...uh uh.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I have a small keychain Swiss Army knife (with a USB drive in it!) and I usually carry a four-inch folding knife in my bag. I just like having something useful like that available when I need it. Rather have and not need, all that.

 

[Zander]

Have you, or has anyone here, actually used a knife in self-defense?

Yes. When I was an undergrad (a long time ago), three guys all of whom were much bigger than me wanted to beat me up. When they surrounded me, I pulled out a lock-back knife and did a routine to ward them off. I didn't attack them with it but it did let them know that attacking me wasn't a good idea. They took the hint and ran away.