shhhhhhhhh- don't tell them that! You know and I know, but if I tell them that it is just the folding version of a traditional Indonesian utility knife, they feel smarter and safer and I get less funny looks. Just because the west sees it as a weapon, remember than nunchucks started off a grain flails.

Besides, you'd have a hard time proving that it wasn't first developed by sailors. Knifes are made of iron, and are expensive- the pinky ring keeps you from loosing it overboard. The curved blade gives you the advantage of a point but can't stab with a straight thrust- less likely to get the point in the belly. And the angle of the point gives you great power AND control for things like gutting fish, cutting line, etc. If you put your thumb along the side of the blade, you can control how deeply you cut much more safely than you can with a straight blade.

*sighs* What I really want is a two bladed folder with a hawksbill semi-serrated blade, a one handed drop or spear point blade, with being liner locks(!), a pocket clip and a pinky ring. It's just impossible to make.