I just bought a bought the book "Bushcraft" by Mors Kochanski. He recommends the classic Mora knife, but he makes an interesting point - he prefers the traditional knife without a guard, pointing out that unless you're trying to stab someone, the guard is just in the way.

Maybe we can use a trivia fact like that to educate the public (assuming you use a knife without a guard, that is). If somebody accuses you of having a "weapon", you could point out that "Oh, no, this is a carving/whittling knife, it'd be pretty useless as a weapon." (and then wait for them to ask why). Now, it probably wouldn't hold up in a court of law, and there are always going to be people who are irrevocably convinced that carrying anything with a blade makes you Jack the Ripper. And I wouldn't go flashing a 4" Mora around in the hopes of "educating" somebody. But it just might enable you to start up a "meaningful dialogue" with someone and open their eyes to the fact that not everyone who carries a knife is a terrorist or a criminal (and that terrorists or criminals are far more likely to carry a knife that is specially designed for combat, not a Mora or a Sebenza or a CRK that's designed for camping or Scouting activities).

And as an aside, I would say "camping", not "survival", because of the negative connotations of the latter.

Just my humble 2 cents worth. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />