The thread about fire starting got me to thinking about the public's view on knife possession.

Way, way back when I was a kid, we all had knives. Penknives, pocket knives, small fixed blade knives, and we carried them everwhere; in schools, banks, Government buildings, post offices, police stations, and friends houses. Nobody thought anything bad about it unless it was one of those "Gangster" style Italian switchblades which were outlawed from import to the USA in 1956.

Today, if a youngster were to carry a small penknife, they are immediately branded as strange, after all, why does a child carry a knife if he/she is not out to hurt someone? I still carry a 3" or smaller (due to State of Wisconsin laws about blade size.) bladed knife everywhere but places where they have metal detectors, and I have yet to turn into an American "Jack the ripper".

My biggest use for my knives over the entire length of my life so far is to clean my fingernails, strip wire, cut string, and make toothpicks when I don't have one handy.

We can be as innocent as newborn babies, but we have to change our current societies perceptions about certain activities and habits, or we will all be guilty by default.

It is tough being a youngster today who wants to learn and possess practical items that society has deemed are anti-social simply by their possesion.

Bountyhunter