Non-permissive Carry

 

I read a posting the other day about carrying a defensive weapon in a non-permissive environment (NPE).  I think the writer was going to a concert or a Con of some flavor.  They settled on the CIA letter opener and fabricated a cardboard sheath. I wish I could backtrack to provide a link as there was some discussion about ramifications of getting caught.  I often travel to the District of Clowns and so must leave behind my EDC gear of choice. I typically carry Kershaw Tanto point knife.  Sometimes however, I go to sporting events or trade show where bags are searched and metal detectors come into play.  So I also had decided a non-metallic knife.  I settled on the Cold Steel FGXSkean Dhu. These are modeled after the Scottish Sgian Dubhs. The advantage of this over the CIA Letter Opener is while it’s dagger shaped, it is single edged like a sgian dubh.  That’s one less charge if caught in a location that prohibits double-edged blades like NYC. Most of the “novelty” poly knives don’t come with sheaths.  They’re marketed as letter openers and are basically just a fancy shank. But they should work just well enough to dissuade someone looking for an easy target on the walk back to the car.

When the CFO broke her wrist, I went to PT and watched the specialist put on her plastic cast.  We had a great discussion about molding plastic and forming Kydex. He gave me a couple small pieces of this plastic to play around with.  It has some great properties. It can be formed at a relatively low temperature using hot water.  It has a memory and will return to a flat sheet when it’s re-warmed.  It sticks to itself when warm. Get it a little hotter and you can melt it to smooth the sharp edges.

Here's what I came up with. 

 

3 Generations of Scout Knives

 3 Generations of Scout Knives

I've carried a pocket knife everyday since my grandfather gave me my first one around first grade.  I carried one all through school. During Basic Training when told to leave knives with our personal affects, I kept mine. The only time I'm without a knife is when flying.  Then I pack a Nite Eyz DoohicKey hidden on my key chain.  It just barely satisfies my requirements.

Top is my Grandfather's scout knife, my Webelo knife, a generic Christmas present, the 'demo' knife I bought while in the Army and still carry, and the Girl Scout knife I gave my daughter.

I have a lot of knives.  I keep coming back to the stainless steel demo knife for EDC.  It does what I need.

When your only tool is a hammer: my thought on EDC knives

I’ve read lots of posts about the best knife for EDC.  My personal preference is to select the tool that’s right for the job following the old proverb that if your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail. 

I was on a forum recently where in the “introduce yourself” thread they suggested you name one thing unique about yourself that folks might not know.  Mine was – I’ve carried a knife every day since the summer that I was 6 years old.  I grew up in a different time.  Boys carried pen knives to school. Heck I remember going hunting at a friend’s house when I as in high school.  I handed my cased shotgun to the bus driver. He gave it back to me when we arrived at school. I carried it into the office where they kept it until it was time to ride my friend’s bus to his house.  Different times……

I walked right past the no-questions-asked barrel when I went into basic training.  There was no way I was going to dump my prized case stockman in there for someone else to have.  Having the only knife in the platoon made me a popular person when we were out in the field.

The Barlow at the top of the picture is the one given to me by my grandfather when I was six.  After pestering him about it for weeks he handed it to me with these words of wisdom, “Don’t do anything stupid.” 

My old Cub Scout knife still finds its way into my pocket when I’m in the office. It’s light and the rounded edges are easy on the pockets.

I bought the “demo” knife when I was in AIT at Fort Gordon. I carried it the entire time I was in the Army and it’s still my go to knife when I just need to have something in my pocket or if I'm working around the house.  If I’m in the woods carrying a belt knife this is the knife that’s in my pocket.

The Schrade titanium replaced the Gerber below it as my Sunday dress knife.

I have worn the A. G. Russell neck knife on the left on all of my trips to Africa, Argentina and anywhere I feel the need to have a little something extra, like DC. The Kershaw assisted opener on the right is my current out in public knife.

Following my EDC principles I always have a knife but I refuse to limit myself to just one.