‘cos a kitchen knife just doesn’t need to stab food - its already dead usually.
despite a knife amnesty and age restrictions on the purchase of kitchen knives, there is still a huge amount of knife crime in the UK. young people seem to think that carrying a knife is in some way *cool* and that it offers some protection when research tells us that the reverse is sadly true and the knife is often used against the knife owner. even young girls are beginning to jump on the band wagon and regard a blade as some kind of fashion accessory.
kitchen knife manufacturers could design a knife that allows it to be used for all horizontal functions but a stabbing forward motion would cause the blade to retract into the handle like the joke knives of yesteryear. any more forward pressure on the tip of the blade than the lifting of a quarterpounder with fries would trigger the release mechanism.
any associated silly noise such a squeak or a bark that renders the aggressor to look ridiculous would be a welcome addition.-- po, Jul 14 2006 ban long pointed knives? http://www.freerepu...-news/1411652/posts [po, Jul 14 2006] Maximum knife length in US http://www.thehighr...ades/knifelaws.htmlUS States have limitations to the length of knives you're allowed to carry. [jmvw, Jul 14 2006] Knife Amnesty http://news.bbc.co....olitics/5132530.stm [po, Jul 14 2006] Locking Knife Block http://www.viecokitchen.com/cp210-01.htm [shapu, Jul 14 2006] I'd like a retracting fork.
Stage knife?-- skinflaps, Jul 14 2006 I guess that would work in the UK where (as we learn from Agatha Christe and others) all knife attacks are delivered with a full downward stabbing motion and the elbow locked straight.-- strange606, Jul 14 2006 I want a knife set with a hole through all the blades, such that a lock can be passed through them all to lock them into the knife block for safety (at night, for example).-- david_scothern, Jul 14 2006 This could get annoying when cutting bread - I would suggest that it locks in place when the blade is pushed upwards, just so that the backwards and forwards motion can still be applied to cutting.-- fridge duck, Jul 14 2006 it can go backwards and forwards like a saw - just not via the tip.-- po, Jul 14 2006 I used to have a switchblade/flickknife that, after one two many times of being flicked open into something wooden, worked like this.
However, there is a fundamental flaw in your thinking: as we all know from horror films, meat cleaver have no stabbing function, but can still be used to kill people.
And remember this: knives as a weapon of choice are vastly preferable to guns: you can run away from someone with a knife.-- DrCurry, Jul 14 2006 could we leave meat cleavers for another day?
not quite so easy to slip inside your sock!-- po, Jul 14 2006 Excellent. You could also make the handle detachable, as a blade with no handle would be hard to wield.
Be sure to hide the handle somewhere separate from the blade.-- phundug, Jul 14 2006 a cheaper version could be a fragile tip that just breaks off under a certain pressure leaving a blunt curve-- po, Jul 14 2006 Try to stick a bread knife in a piece of wood. It'll just bend up because the blade is too thin. Not good for stabbing at all. Perhaps all kitchen knifes should have thin blades like that. But then, do you have a solution for screwdrivers?-- jmvw, Jul 14 2006 [po], your heart is in the right place, but the previous ban on longbows hundreds of years ago proved to be a failure, as any peasant with access to some wood could fashion a deadly weapon.
When you make such things illegal, all that happens is the law-abiding folks have to saw their bread with a hacksaw blade. Anybody else can fashion a pointed implement with a file and a piece of plastic, metal, or even glass.
And points aren't necessary. In my rudimentary sword lessons I learned how most of the wet work is done with the edge.
To quote Duncan Idaho, "Killing with the point lacks artistry".-- normzone, Jul 14 2006 Word up, normzone. The US have limitations to the length of knives you're allowed to carry. They're different by state, because obvously the distance of the heart to the skin differs by state.-- jmvw, Jul 14 2006 norm, sweetie, I am not trying to ban anything. my point is that a lot of young people carry ordinary kitchen knives with them just to be cool or as a fashion accessory (yes, really) or because they are mistaken in their belief it will protect them. as a result of this, a lot of innocent people are being hurt or killed.
I believe that carrying a knife on the streets should attract a sentence as harsh as carrying a gun.
knives as weapons used by real villains will always be around but there should be a concerted effort made by governments to prevent tragedy wrought by ordinary cooking utensils.-- po, Jul 14 2006 [po], knives have huge legitimate value. knives have always been important tools, and just because we know they can be used as weapons doesn't make them bad as a whole.
kitchen knives serve an indispensable role in cooking, and this takes away a good deal of their value in cooking, while not preventing their use as a weapon.
it would be better to encourage the kids who carry kitchen knives to try something else. maybe a series of short instructional videos that show what happens when you bring a knife to a gunfight?-- tcarson, Jul 14 2006 just as long as you understand that I differentiate between the usefulness of a knife in the kitchen and in the street.-- po, Jul 14 2006 Length limitations are good, but I'd like to add something. As was said above, a knife can be a useful tool (unlike a gun). It should be possible to limit knives to useful and appropriate types. For instance, a bread knife is a useful tool, but is not appropriate outside a kitchen. A bread knife on the street is ruled as illegal. (If you need to transport one, do so during daylight in a locked container.)
Using such a rule, "Swiss Army" knives would be legal, flick-knives would not. Length limits could still be enforced.
I, for one, always carry a small Victorinox knife with nailfile, scissors, toothpick and tweezers--it is a tool, and quite handy--though the blade is only an inch and a half long. I also carry a thumb-opening Spyderco, with a very short blade, just because it is very useful and quick as a tool. I wish I could combine the two, so I wouldn't be *gasp* carrying two knives.
Back on topic. The Bowie knife was built with a guard to prevent the user's hand from sliding down onto the blade whilst stabbing. It should be possible to build a grip that is much the opposite, with slick finish and grooves that make stabbing more dangerous to the holder's hand. It could still be used for slicing, with ordinary care.-- baconbrain, Jul 14 2006 Wow, kids carrying kitchen knives as fashion statements?
Sigh, this world - I believe it though. My only experience with being mugged was more than thirty years ago, when two amatuers with delusions of hood-dom tried to take my scant riches at the point of a couple of steak knives.
I guess some fashions repeat.-- normzone, Jul 14 2006 I recently accompanied my teenage son to a police station, where the wallet he had lost had been handed in. We walked past the knife amnesty dustbin in the entrance. The desk officer struggled to open the evidence bag the wallet had been sealed in and I, without thinking, reached in my pocket for my Swiss Army knife, flipped out out the scissors and passed it through the bullet-proof screen. The officer didn't bat an eyelid, opened the bag, closed the scissors and passed me the knife and the wallet.It only struck me when I'd left what a very silly thing I'd done when I'd left.I'm not convinced it ever hit the police officer. Hell, I could've lost a thirty quid knife!-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jul 14 2006 [AWoL]: Police officers don't care about people with weapons unless they reasonably believe that person is a)dangerous, b) stupid, or c) easy to incarcerate.
[david_scothern]: Locking knife blocks exist. See link.-- shapu, Jul 14 2006 I believe the answer for all crimes is through public education. Bring knife-crime offenders to the public square in the town where the crime was committed. By mechanized means, the criminal is lacerated a few times for all to see. The duration of the "education" is determined by the scope of the crime. In countries where you can loose a hand for stealing, there isn't much petty thievery.-- MoreCowbell, Jul 14 2006 There isn't much freedom either and gender equality is unheard of. Disproportionate punishments cannot be the answer.-- methinksnot, Jul 15 2006 Guns CAN be a useful tool, but as everyone knows, anything can be used for a purpose other than what was intended. I use a gun as a tool to provide meat for my family and practice with them in a safe manner as a means of recreation. I see no reason why guns should be viewed as inherently evil. But knives being carried as a fashion statement? Wow. It really is sad. I have carried a knife for years and use it at work daily and at home, as a tool. That's what a knife is for. There needs to be education about knives and the dangers involved in carrying them, but again, getting laws passed to limit knife use will cause "law-abiding folks have to saw their bread with a hacksaw blade" as well as make it that much more exciting to carry one, because now it's illegal.-- Hunter79764, Jul 15 2006 If only [po], if only.-- kuupuuluu, Jul 15 2006 Maybe people should just start buying pre-sliced bread and the problem will eventually go away.-- MoreCowbell, Jul 15 2006 I love that. Pre-sliced bread, and pre-shot meat. If only I could buy pre-shot burglars.
I carried knives openly from about age fifteen to twenty-five. It was legal, a useful tool, and a defense if required. It may be a rite of passage issue as well a a fashion statement.
I notice a lot of older gentlemen on their walks carrying sticks. Fashion, rite of passage, or - ?
[edit] [hunter], I just realized that now that I am in my second youth [fifty] I have both everyday knives and dress knives. So maybe knives as a fashion accessory are not only for the young.-- normzone, Jul 15 2006 New fashion accessory? You mean flares are out?-- Ling, Jul 15 2006 the incidents that I am addressing with this, are the ones that are not pre-planned but are the result of, say drunken fights & sudden quarrels.-- po, Jul 15 2006 Yeah, well, you let a bunch of thugs get drunk in your kitchen, there's bound to be some problems!
I think the underlying problem is the sudden fights and drunken quarrels. You can't wish those away, as long as we remain human and our teenage offspring hormone-driven, and so they'll always find something to hand when they're out to harm eachother.-- DrCurry, Jul 16 2006 <sigh>-- po, Jul 16 2006 Lock'em in cupboards (the kids and knives)-- Dub, Jul 16 2006 [+] for anything that might cut down ;-) on violence. The point isn't necessarily to ban all knives or require mfgrs to make only the new "safe" cooking knife, but rather to give people the option to equip thier kitchen with something that a robber etc will not be able to use as a weapon against them.
Having said that: Why not just put a blunt bulb on the tip?
[baconbrain] Guns can be very useful; defence, hunting, sport, etc... Sadly, like knives, they are also, often, mis-used. Which is why people have the option of using trigger locks, gun safes, and locking up ammo.
Finally, keep in mind that a nice big pair of sissors will stab you just as well as a kitchen knife. Why not buy the ones with blunt ends? Because they aren't available for the larger versions.-- James Newton, Jul 17 2006 Knives don't kill people...-- Ling, Jul 18 2006 ...Rappers do???-- MikeOliver, Jul 18 2006 Batteries not included.
Conditions apply.-- methinksnot, Jul 18 2006 Results not typical.-- MoreCowbell, Jul 18 2006 We should ban people instead and let the knives live in peace.-- MoreCowbell, Jul 18 2006 Why not just cut off everyone's hands and be done with it?
Back when the U.K. first banned guns, people were derided for saying "What's next--knife bans"? Well, knife bans aren't going to work any better, so one may as well either chop off everyone's hands so they can't wield anything or else recognize that maybe criminals are more dangerous than the objects they carry.-- supercat, Jul 18 2006 Maybe we are missing the point here. If young people consider the knives as *fashion accessories*, which oddly enough I understand, then if someone they looked up to as a role model (rock star, actress, actor, whatever) started a newer fashion trend, they might give up the knives. Myself, I have carried a Swiss Army knife in my purse for over 20 years. They now come in pink and other colors. I got the black one when it first came out and I thought it was cool, but I have never stabbed anything except for oranges, etc.-- xandram, Jul 18 2006 Any tool is a weapon if you use it right. Stop! Hammer-crime!-- Mr Burns, Jul 18 2006 Guns don't kill people. Rappers do.-- neuro, Jul 19 2006 Sound of the police. Woo woo woo!
Why do cooking knives have sharp tips? I've never needed to stab food - or anything else for that matter.-- wagster, Jul 19 2006 //‘cos a kitchen knife just doesn’t need to stab food - its already dead usually.// :)-- po, Jul 19 2006 I agree with Wagster... have been thinking same. Why don't ALL knives have "lozenge" shaped blades, with no pointed end?
What is function of point, apart from enabling its use as a stabbing tool?
+ for po's anti violence sentiments-- xenzag, Jul 19 2006 The stabbing end of a kitchen knife can be useful for opening certain types of packages. Further, a knife with a losenge-shaped end would be unsuitable for many chopping applications (which require that the knife move about a fixed pivot point).
It should be noted, however, that stabbing knives are stone-age technology. Even the ability to make stabbing knives that can evade metal detectors is stone-age technology.-- supercat, Jul 19 2006 the world moves so fast
<slash> <slash> <swipe> <slash> <slash> <slash> <swipe> <slash>-- po, Jul 19 2006 <slash> <swipe> <slash>..... wot? no burning?-- xenzag, Jul 19 2006 ok, just focusing on the design of the knife, i've seen knives for use by rescue people. It's curved into a quarter circle, with the sharp edge on the inside curve and the tip is shaped into a ball. Used to cut rope and seatbelts. Maybe you could use it as a waepon to cut fingers or limbs but slashing and stabbing attacks are impossible.-- vmaldia, Jul 23 2006 I think it might have been meant as a joke, but the reference to "hammer-crime" is real. A man here in the states killed his wife, children, and mother-in-law with a claw hammer a number of years ago. Jost goes to prove that the weapon doesnt matter. Its the person that does the killing.
Just curious, since there are so many UK'ers here on the HB, what was the effect on the murder/violent crime rate when guns were banned?-- Hunter79764, Jul 23 2006 I don't think it did very much. We don't go in for shooting each other much over here, and those of us who do get guns by other means. It was just meant as a preventative measure to stop this country ending up where the US is now. Can't say we miss 'em much though.-- wagster, Jul 23 2006 random, halfbakery