Ol’ Diogenes has a little fun at the expense of the Brits:
Here in America we worry about democrats trying to take away our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Over in England, Royal subjects are not allowed to have guns so Brits run around stabbing each other, which prompted the government to take away knife ownership rights. Naturally British thugs have to move on to carrying something else lethal.
Or, as we put it:
That’s a badass-lookin’ Bowie, by the way, although I prefer my Fox (with 1911 to give the proper proportion of the thing):
One wonders what the Regents Park Plod would make of that? (Oh, and I have no rusty spoons in my possession, so I’d be okay — see link for explanation.)
Serious question: what do you use a knife like that for? Note that this is NOT a variation of “why does anybody need an AR-15”. I’ve noticed that knife design generally addresses a specific use goal and that form follows function (aside from the fanciful creations targeting adolescent males & Fantasy geeks [some overlap]).
Mine is a bush knife, with a heavy blade for hacking away undergrowth. I have no idea about the Bowie other than its bad-assedness.
The Bowie is essentially an American Short Sword.
Today, perhaps, it’s just show of pride, or show of force. Intimidation, maybe.
I have crazy uncles, extremely cool guys, younger than my mom so closer to my age than hers. My uncle C., he took me into the woods with a knife like Kim showed above, when I was 10 or 11. We hacked out a trail, cut kindling, gutted fish (carefully, it’s not the best tool for that purpose), and he showed me a few basic things a knife like that could do, from peeling potatoes to self defense.
I think I was not brought up like other kids.
It looks flippin’ cool and that alone might be enough to win friends and influence people.
But you can use it to your advantage. I have a larger more machete-like version called the Woodsman Pal. Are there better tools for the purpose? Yes.
But if…if…can you do it without gas- or electricity- driven machinery? It’s about max leverage, and knowing how to best wield it. It’s not a problem to know 2 and 2 equals 4 even though derivative calc is more informative.
For years while working in NYC my EDC pocketknife would’ve sent me to jail (it met the legal definition of a switchblade, because it could be flipped open one-handed and the blade locked open. There are people sitting in jail in NYC right now because a cop managed to flip their Swiss Army knife open one-handed after multiple tries.) I kept it in my pocket, routinely refused “random” searches (which I would’ve anyway, because Fourth Amendment) and was prepared to toss it should the need arise. Now in PA I wear it clipped to my pocket, because I CAN, and because there it won’t wear holes in my pants. Seriously, I own multiple pairs of pants or jeans that are in excellent condition except for a small hole by the right hand pocket where my knife wore a hole.
In fact my very first day living in PA I wore my Buck 110 in its pouch on my belt (wearing a knife, even a folder, on your belt unless actively hunting or fishing is verboten in both NYC and NJ), again because I COULD. I love living in America…..
Another NYC knife story: A guy I know owns a company that does displays for trade shows, and he carries a Swiss Army knife for opening boxes and such. He got random-bag-searched on his way into the subway one day and the cop found his knife and asked him about it. He told him he used it for opening boxes, the cop made him give him his business card to prove he needed it, and told him he was lucky it was in his bag instead of on his person or he’d have “been in trouble”. All for a Swiss Army knife with a sub-3-inch blade.