NY hipsters and pocketknives

[JAB]

The same co-worker who recently made me aware of an article in the New York Times about the lady who was making custom kitchen knives told me this article, also from the NYT.  It talks about how younger, urban men are once again embracing the idea of carrying a pocketknife as a tool to be used on pretty much a daily basis - even in New York.  Of course, the article was apparently in the Men's Style section and it does appear that these guys view their pocketknives as fashion statements as much as tools but what the heck?  Honestly, who among us doesn't like a nice looking pocketknife?  If there is enough of a groundswell for the resurgence of pocketknife carry then maybe acceptance will grow even in areas that currently have draconian knife laws and maybe some of those laws can at least be lightened a little.

 

Anyhow, here is a link to the article:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/fashion/mens-style/its-a-jungle-out-there-carry-a-pocketknife.html?_r=0

 

[hipower]

Good article, but I got more interested in the Chris Reeve knives than how the NY hipsters have adopted knives.

[JAB]

Good article, but I got more interested in the Chris Reeve knives than how the NY hipsters have adopted knives.

 

I noticed that none of the guys whose knives were specifically mentioned carry a $20 to $30 Kershaw or such.  That damascus blade the British photographer carries is quite beautiful, though.

 

The same co-worker who pointed out the article has a son who lives in NYC.  She said he was carrying a pocketknife but it was confiscated at the door when he went into a club.  I can't imagine any club I would want to go into badly enough to let them take my knife rather than just walking away.  Of course, I could have just said that I can't imagine any club I would want to go into and leave it at that.  Then, again (as I told her) the blade length of my current edc (a Spyderco Resilience) - which is perfectly legal in TN - would probably get my butt thrown under the jail in NYC.  I think I have read that the legal length limit there (and maybe in the entire state, I'm not sure) is 3 inches.

Edited June 15, 2015 by JAB

[teecro]

Hey guys sorry for a hijack but this thread put a thought in my head to clear up. What is the legal blade length or overal length allowed in TN please? I bought a very handsome knife made out of an old file a number of years ago more as a keepsake but an item of beauty that is never seen or used is but a waste.

[Ted S.]

If a pocket knife can take a beating and hold a sharp edge I couldn't give two shits how pretty it is.

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[Ted S.]

Hey guys sorry for a hijack but this thread put a thought in my head to clear up. What is the legal blade length or overal length allowed in TN please? I bought a very handsome knife made out of an old file a number of years ago more as a keepsake but an item of beauty that is never seen or used is but a waste.

You can carry whatever you want here.

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[teecro]

You can carry whatever you want here.

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Thanks had to ask... Strange as it sounds while MI allowed open carry of guns without permit statewide towns are allowed to write their own laws on knives thus creating lots of confusion....

[Ted S.]

Thanks had to ask... Strange as it sounds while MI allowed open carry of guns without permit statewide towns are allowed to write their own laws on knives thus creating lots of confusion....

It's something to get used to for everyone. Hard to get used to the feeling of not having to walk on a fine line after they get rid of the line.

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[10-Ring]

As much as I can't stand hipsters this is a good thing.  It will bring attention to the knife rights movement.  I've never been to NY but not surprisingly they need some reform from what I have heard.  Back in my Walmart asset protection days my manager, who was from NYC, told me not to try to apprehend any shoplifter who I thought may have a weapon, including a knife.  I looked at her like she was stupid (she was) and told her that this is Tennessee, everyone has a knife.  She told me that in New York only criminals carried knives.  I refrained from presenting a speech to the effect of "when knives are outlawed, only outlaws will have knives."

[teecro]

As much as I can't stand hipsters this is a good thing.  It will bring attention to the knife rights movement.  I've never been to NY but not surprisingly they need some reform from what I have heard.  Back in my Walmart asset protection days my manager, who was from NYC, told me not to try to apprehend any shoplifter who I thought may have a weapon, including a knife.  I looked at her like she was stupid (she was) and told her that this is Tennessee, everyone has a knife.  She told me that in New York only criminals carried knives.  I refrained from presenting a speech to the effect of "when knives are outlawed, only outlaws will have knives."

Funny how people who grow up in different locals or even different family lives have such broad ranging thought on what is and is not acceptable.... For so many years a nice Benchmade pocketknife and compact penlight have been part of my regular daily pocket carry that we see the likes of as completely commonplace....  

[Caster]

For the hipster, it's just another way to be fashionable and see who can spend the most money on the current trend.

Not that the guys at zero tolerance or benchmade or other high end makers will complain. Sales are sales.

[nightrunner]

I hate hipsters as much as any one, but if it makes knife carry more acceptable in the urban areas and other states, then so be it. Hipsters are about as non scary as it gets and if liberals have to fight the youngsters they are trying to get to vote for them, they won't like it.

[peejman]

As much as I can't stand hipsters this is a good thing.  It will bring attention to the knife rights movement.  I've never been to NY but not surprisingly they need some reform from what I have heard.  Back in my Walmart asset protection days my manager, who was from NYC, told me not to try to apprehend any shoplifter who I thought may have a weapon, including a knife.  I looked at her like she was stupid (she was) and told her that this is Tennessee, everyone has a knife.  She told me that in New York only criminals carried knives.  I refrained from presenting a speech to the effect of "when knives are outlawed, only outlaws will have knives."

 

 

When I was in grade school, the teachers used to ask to borrow my pocketknife because they knew it was sharp. 

 

There was talk about banning pocketknives here at work recently.  Seems someone cut themselves.  The first response was "good luck with that...", and never mind all the razor blades laying around this place.  :shake:

[willis68]

Well I guess I shouldn't have brought a Protech that never left my side on my trip to NYC Woops! 

[Caster]

Who knows, could be a really good thing. If companies sell enough product, they CAN lower prices a bit.

Who wouldn't like to see a little price cut? I thought of buying a new Benchmade from e local who carries them....sticker shock nearly gave me a heartastroke. Ohh well, Kershaw it is. Edited June 16, 2015 by Caster

[JAB]

For the hipster, it's just another way to be fashionable and see who can spend the most money on the current trend.

Not that the guys at zero tolerance or benchmade or other high end makers will complain. Sales are sales.

 

From the article I got the sense that the reason these guys start/started carrying a pocketknife is/was exactly as you say - as a fashion statement and something to give them bragging rights among their friends.  Further, the article was, apparently, in the Men's Fashion section of the NYT so a slant in the 'fashion' direction is to be expected.  However, I also got the sense that after they start/started carrying one they come/came to realize that pocketknives really are handy tools with lots of usage potential on a daily or almost daily basis and that their pocketknives - formerly only fashion statements - are now actually being used.  So by the time the hipsters move on to the next fad (maybe wearing tutus and Roman sandles with bowler hats and bowties?) maybe, just maybe, their pocketknves will have secured a place in their daily lives that goes beyond fashion and that might even influence this younger generation of New Yorkers to view pocketknives as invaluable tools and a friend to have with you rather than as pocketable WMDs or something.

 

To me, the bottom line is that there was an article in the New York Times, of all places, that took a favorable and positive view of pocketknives and the daily carry of them.  That seems pretty significant.

 

I hate hipsters as much as any one, but if it makes knife carry more acceptable in the urban areas and other states, then so be it. Hipsters are about as non scary as it gets and if liberals have to fight the youngsters they are trying to get to vote for them, they won't like it.

 

Even better, perhaps, is the likelihood that many of those hipsters are liberals.  In other words, not only do the liberals want their votes but this could indicate a significant trend among at least some groups of New York liberals towards accepting and even embracing the idea of a personal, daily carried knife.

Edited June 16, 2015 by JAB

[Motasyco]

Sorry, I just came out from under my rock.  What the heck is a hipster?  Is this like a gay hippie?  How would I recognize a hipster if I saw one? 

[peejman]

Sorry, I just came out from under my rock.  What the heck is a hipster?  Is this like a gay hippie?  How would I recognize a hipster if I saw one? 

 

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Hipster

[Motasyco]

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Hipster

I think I'm more confused now than I was before.  I'm wondering if I need to shave my beard off.

[Oh Shoot]

I think I'm more confused now than I was before.  I'm wondering if I need to shave my beard off.

 

Just nix the murse.

 

- OS

[teecro]

Sorry, I just came out from under my rock.  What the heck is a hipster?  Is this like a gay hippie?  How would I recognize a hipster if I saw one? 

Even worse than the word "hipster" itself is the new word "lumbersexual" from the hipster dictionary... A bearded rugged individual usually found wearing bluejeans, flannel shirts and sporting a beard... I'm in my 50's and pretty much once past the age of 17 I've worn some facial hair and jeans now the hip crowd wants to look like us redneck blue collared folks.... WTF

[JAB]

I think I'm more confused now than I was before.  I'm wondering if I need to shave my beard off.

 

Nah.  I'm 43 - turning 44 in two days and, while I have gone 'clean shaven' a handful of times since then I have pretty much had (as teecro put it) some type of facial hair more often than not since I was in my mid to late 20s.  I have a Pink Floyd t-shirt but I wear it because I like the band, not to be 'ironic' (same goes for any other band t-shirts I might wear.)  I have western style ('cowboy') boots, work boots, hiking boots and some that are similar to 'combat' type boots and, again, have worn such footwear (as well as 'sneakers' and sometimes even sandals - although I absolutely refuse to even own a pair of flip-flops) for many years.  I have never and will never own a pair of skinny jeans, however (nobody wants to see that.)

 

 

Even worse than the word "hipster" itself is the new word "lumbersexual" from the hipster dictionary... A bearded rugged individual usually found wearing bluejeans, flannel shirts and sporting a beard... I'm in my 50's and pretty much once past the age of 17 I've worn some facial hair and jeans now the hip crowd wants to look like us redneck blue collared folks.... WTF

 

Hey, just wait until one of them gets ahold of a pair of Liberty type overalls!  Oh, man, that gave me a bad thought - can you imagine 'skinny' overalls?

[tnhawk]

I hate hipsters as much as any one, but if it makes knife carry more acceptable in the urban areas and other states, then so be it. Hipsters are about as non scary as it gets and if liberals have to fight the youngsters they are trying to get to vote for them, they won't like it.

Will the next step be for them to carry guns?

[nightrunner]

Will the next step be for them to carry guns?

Hopefully so, anything to loosen the laws.

[2.ooohhh]

More people legally carrying knives or guns is better than less. While I hate to see guns become a fashion statement, if that's what it takes to get them legally on the hips of the next generation I'd rather that then not have any of them carry. I would hope if they start carrying firearms for fashion and utility that they come up with less gaudy pistols than some of the examples hollywood has given them.