I had a right one today. One of the trucks in the warehouse decided to catch fire. The Senior Supervisor decided to try and put it out with a CO2 extinguisher. With the rest of the shift looking on. So far, so good. Problem: The pin is held in place by a "breakable" plastic security cable tidy. No it ain't. Poor sod is trying to get this thing out. No chance. He simply cannot get enough purchase on this thing to break it. I took one look at this situation. Looked at him and said one word. "Fingers!" as get them out of the way or loose them. Drew my lock knife. Cut through the cable. Grabbed the extinguisher off him. 10 seconds later the fire is out. Moral of the story is: I carry a knife for a reason....

Great example! As a Minimum Housing Inspector I find that the breakable seals are sometimes replaced with nylon cable ties, by the tenants! ! It's almost funny to see the looks on their faces when I ask them to pull the pin and they are unable to do so. Sad really.

"Fingers!' LOL You gave him fair warning <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Instead of pulling the safety pin straight out, twist it 'till the seal breaks. Works every time, even with electrical ty-wraps... but it may take 2-3 full lap turns to break those.

In highly corrosive atmospheres,(beach, Marine use, clorine storage, acid bath) pins need to be replaced constantly.
Even using stainless steel pins does't solve the problem,since the pull pin slot in aluminum valve heads also corrode.

The joke is that they keep on demanding that I use a craft knife at work. The blade on a C.N. would have snapped. They keep on saying use this..., I keep on saying " what part of NO do you not understand?" Think my point has just been taken.

Our new boss hasn't said a word about knives. His first day on the job, the shop Manager & I were using throwing knives to play darts... <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> "I 'll come back later"

The shop manager grew up in the Bronx, never leaves the house with less than 3 knives. He MAKES us carry knives!

We had a 19-year old kid we hired, didn't even own a knife.
"My Mom won't let me have one"
"It's for work, you have to have one"
"I'll have to ask my Mom"...calls her up.." My Mom want's to talk to you"
"No M'am, it's just a small one, he'll be fine...no, we won't let him play with it"
"OK kid, you got permission for a knife"
"YES! FINALLY ..WOHOOO!" ,he says.
"What were you going to do if you ever got held up,without a knife? How were going to fight back?"
"My Mom says just give them everything, don't resist.."

How's that for dumb & helpless?

How does that go now, the one about bringing a knife to a gun fight?
Right, whip out your pocket knife and then open it during a hold-up. I'm sure the gentleman holding the gun will even give you first swipe to prove he fights fair.

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

Depends on the guy behind it. I had three gentlemen of the Indian/Pakistani persuasion try conclusions with me outside the Quickfit Centre in Slough. On of them shoved a gun in my face. Look on his face when I went for his throat was worth seeing. Not sure what had pissed me off the most. His crap choice of victim or the fact that I was being threatened by an amateur. Wound up with me chaising them down the street. It's amazing how fast those buggers can run....

"My Mom says just give them everything, don't resist.."

And then after you have given them everything and they know you won't resist they will cut you anyway to show they mean business when they say "don't tell the police"

The "don't resist" crowd is why crime is so high

Ah, you noticed that little detail did you? The way I see these sort of situation is that if you think your going to be killed or cut anyway, an all out attack is probably your only real option. You never know, you might succeeded in taking one or more of the bastards with you. As it happen, I was in part thinking about the fact that if I ran away & was gunned down, you can guarentee that some [censored] is going to walk up to my parents and taunt them about their son's "cowardance". Hell will freeze over first. I for one would rather die fighting and wind up drinking mead in Odin's hall (Valhalla) than spend the rest of eternity in Nifeheim with the cowards.

Just out of interest, did it have to be sharp? Would a small pry-bar or a PryBaby have been enough to break the cable?

I don't own a prybaby ( in the U.K. possessing one might get you 6 months inmprisonment for possession of a burglarious artical). And it was snugged down tight. I had to go with what I had got on me. If it had be wire, I would have reached for my wave instead.

> I don't own a prybaby ( in the U.K. possessing one might get you 6 months inmprisonment for possession
> of a burglarious artical).

I live in the UK. You are much more likely to get arrested for a lock-knife, if you don't have a good reason to carry it.


> And it was snugged down tight.

Ah, Ok. I was imagining something you were supposed to break with fingers.

Your likely to be nicked either way. A B.A. is whatever the magistrate decides it is. As we are both well aware, there is this wrongheaded attitude in the U.K. of victimising the hero. Save 100 jobs and stop £10,000,000 worth of stock from going up in smoke and promptly get fired for using unauthorized equipment.....

Ohhh, that might explain that scene in 'Dr Who' where everyone makes sugh a deal over a pair of wire cutters...
I wonder what the police would have thought over his sonic screwdriver? <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

We have a bit of a problem over here with "Hoodies" carrying & using knives. A few judical executions would probably sort the problem out. Programs in the U.K. are subject to censorship. The Powers That Be are trying to demonise anything that has an edge on it. Hence the melodrama. Wrong tactic. Be interesting to see what happens when someone(s) dies because no one had a knife.

What are "Hoodies"? Are they criminals? Young toughs with too much time on their hands? Kids wearing hooded sweatshirts?

I'm going to assume that judicial executions have something to do with arresting and putting "Hoodies" in prison and not actually executing them. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Wrong tactice is absolutely right. Governments need to understand that taking weapons such as guns, knives or even non-lethal defensive ones like pepper spray out of the hands of law-abiding citizens is foolish. It criminalizes those who should not be, forces dependence on law enforcement who are already over-extended in most locations, increases crime, increases the likelihood of crime turning to violence, and makes the citizenry fear their government (instead of the other way around). Study after study, says the only people who will stop carrying weapons are those who wouldn't use them for illegal purposes in the first place. Criminals won't change no matter what laws are passed. Crazies will still find insane ways of killing the neighbors. In stead of a handgun they'll use something like a shovel or an axe.

Police State and Martial Law governments don't want their citizenry armed. I find it interesting that we don't head the lessons of history.

I found this letter written by a student to be a nice summary of the real reason we have the 2nd.

Programs lead to censorship.
Censorship leads to pograms.

Ever notice how an innocent typo can have such a chilling effect?

> What are "Hoodies"?

Kids wearing hoods to hide their faces from video cameras. In the UK we have widespread CCTV coverage - all the town centres, all the shopping malls etc. Sometimes kids want to have their fun without being identifiable by the police afterwards.

So, other than providing a false sense of security, big brotherish fear in the general populace, and general invasion of privacy, how are all of those CCTVs reducing crime? Criminals can always circumvent, hide, falsify, and redirect (masks, makeup, fake license, etc.). I've never understood the mentality behind this. It makes me want to run for office as I see it happening here too.

I'm not a law-enforcement officer of any kind. I imagine CCTV helps identify the perpetrators after the fact, and in some cases the person monitoring them can spot situations developing and nip them in the bud. They often feature in crime-related TV programmes. For example, after the bombing in London last summer, the police were able to track the terrorists movements before the incident. A google search will turn up more info - for example, here and here.

I wasn't advocating CCTV, by the way, nor trying to get into a discussion of the politics. I was merely explaining the British slang word "hoodies", which someone asked about.

Sometimes having a camera around pays off. Anyone remember that guy in a mechanics uniform who kidapped and murdered that little girl from a carwash in Florida? He was caught when his image from a survellance video camera was broadcast on the news and, I believe, his own brother turned him in. If that ape had known enough to wear a hood he might not be sitting on Death Row right now.

Hoodies are young criminal who use a hooded sports jacket and a scarf to hid their identity whilst engaged in the commission of a violent crime. I had a couple try conclusions with me a while back. They seemed to have forgotten than anyone who concels their face is automatically presumed hostile and treated accordingly. Judicial executions means exactly what it says. If they use a knife or gun in the commission of a crime, they should be apprehended, tried fairly, permitted to appeal and if the court so decides, and The Queen chooses not to grant them clemency, hanged. Long drop hanging. 3 Sundays after sentence is passed. That might get the message across. Even if it does not, that's good riddance to bad rubbish.

Sorry... I was speaking in general terms about the whole UK big brother approach. Thanks for clearing up the question about Hoodies (I had asked). I didn't mean to spark anything - except maybe discussion. Cameras certainly have their place in the world. As long as the people are in control and not the other way around, it's not an issue for me personally. When cameras are centralized and we are monitored as a people, at some point it will be abused. A camera in a gas station or convenience store or other commercial entity is another thing entirely and they can be subpoenaed appropriately if the need arises.