New Toys Posted by: Dale Franks
on Wednesday, March 01, 2006
First of all, let me say that I would never, ever encourage anyone to carry concealed weapons in violation of state or Federal law. Legally, I am required to tell you to be a good little sheep and refuse to carry any sort of offensive or defensive weapon, unless you are licensed to do so by competent state authorities.
On the off chance that you can legally carry a weapon, especially one that cannot be detected with a metal detector or similar device, however, I'd recommend these little items from Brigade Quartermaster, all of which can be obtained for about ten bucks. Each of these items are constructed from Grivory™, a space-age fibergalss-reinforced plastic that's UV and heat stabilized. These items are real blades, and they are real sharp. They also don't show up on metal detectors, although, of course, that is entirely irrelevant, since there is no possible reason you'd ever want to evade a security checkpoint with a deadly weapon.:
This is the COLD STEEL® FGX JUNGLE DART. Covert ops, self defense, letter opener or giant toothpick—how you use it is your business. You can, however, use it as a tent stake or emergency spear in wilderness survival situations.
It goes without saying, of course, that you should never, ever, attempt to pass these items through security checkpoints, because, well, that would just be wrong.
They make great letter openers, by the way, which is, really, the only reason for purchasing any of these items.
Just so that you know, I do not get any payment at all if you order one of these items. I merely mention them as a public service. Because, really, everyone needs a lightweight, utility knife. You know, for slicing vegetables, opening mail, and stuff. Or for camping, They are great for camping!
Once again, let me caution you: Do not carry these blades as offensive weapons. Sure, the fact that a metal detector won't pick them up, and that two of them are push blades, might make you think that they are uniquely suited for use as self-defense weapons. But that assumption would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Just as wrong as assuming that removing the metal key-ring would make them impervious to metal detectors. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Also many states, such as California, prohibit the carrying of blades longer than 2.5" inches for almost any purpose. Which makes the Push Blade II a good—and legal—survival blade.
I mean, letter opener.
On a separate—and entirely unrelated—note, it is an interesting and curious fact that you can inflict a large number of fatal wounds on an attacker with a 2" blade. Of course, in the United States, the professionalism of our Law Enforcement personnel—of which I used to be one—makes such a consideration entirely uneccessary. Moreover, in 36 states, concealed firearms permits are more or less freely available. So carrying a small, nearly undetectable knife is hardly necessary.
Still, a small, nearly undetectable blade is quite useful for camping or emergency survival purposes. Which is, after all, the only reason I'd ever counsel anyone to acquire such a blade.
I've ordered one of each of the above items for both me, and The Lovely Christine. Because we're, you know, such dedicated campers. After all, when you're lost in the forest, you might need a knife made of a space-age polymer that can't be found by a metal detector. Those grizzly bears and their metal detectors...
Thanks, Dale. If I ever feel a need to compensate for anything, I’ll just run out and get one of these. And I’ll try not to laugh when the guy in front of me has an "awkward moment" when one of these shows up on a newer scanner that detects more than just metal, or when it’s noticed if their bag needs to be opened for any other reason. Because, you know, someone who’d try to carry one of these on a plane would be so unlikely to have or do anything else that would trigger a check.
I’ll just stick to my little .32 Kel-Tec. The concealed weapons issue is just one of the many problems with Americans’ lack of knowledge of the Constitution. If I have a RIGHT to bear arms, I don’t need to acquire PERMISSION to do so. People don’t realize how many rights we have allowed the government to convert to privileges.
On a separate—and entirely unrelated—note, it is an interesting and curious fact that you can inflict a large number of fatal wounds on an attacker with a 2" blade.
This is why anything with over a two inch blade is considered a deadly weapon under some federal ordinances. It is also why a guy like me, who works in a federal building covered by such ordinances against deadly weapon possession, carries a folding knife with a 1.96" blade. Knives are also damn handy, but opening letters is for letter openers. I’m not going to dull a good edge on a piece of paper.
I prefer the Kershaw Ken Onion Chive, but I often carry a Gerber Ridge because it’s flat black and nobody notices it on my belt. Both of these are metal though, so I have to leave them at home why I fly. And I miss them a lot.
Thanks, Dale. If I ever feel a need to compensate for anything, I’ll just run out and get one of these. And I’ll try not to laugh when the guy in front of me has an "awkward moment" when one of these shows up on a newer scanner that detects more than just metal, or when it’s noticed if their bag needs to be opened for any other reason. Because, you know, someone who’d try to carry one of these on a plane would be so unlikely to have or do anything else that would trigger a check.
Oh? Like the small knife (blade >1 inch) that I carried in my fanny pack without even thinking about it? The one that was taken by TSA on my return flight?
That was a gift from my uncle and the bleepers nabbed it after I flew to DC with it in the fanny pack.
It’s not an awkward moment, you moron. They just bleeping take the bleeping item.
I like the metal "shank" letter openers, not the silly plastic ones with a small blade inside a groove. The other day, a friend at work lamented how ours come duller than butterknives. I said that I’ve thought of bringing mine home to grind it to a decent edge, but I work in NYC and might just run into one of the unconstitutional checkpoints. They’re still going on, but very infrequently.
Even at their height, they were so ineffective that they were only an illusion of safety. One can turn away and go to another subway station, which is why the checkpoints will never stop terrorists. I could also just walk back to Grand Central Station, where I could still run into a checkpoint at my train, but I could just take the next one. Now, the NYPD aren’t supposed to detain people who refuse to be searched. "Aren’t supposed to." Considering it’s the NYPD, it would be my luck to carry a letter opener on the day a uniform cites "probable cause" and detains me for "suspicious behavior."
Someone with no criminal record like me might get just probation for pleading guilty to an illegal weapons charge, but a night in Central Booking is a sufficiently frightening prospect that, well, I’m going to play nice with the state and keep my nose clean as it specifies. The typical circumstances of being arrested, however, never deter actual criminals.
I’ll just stick to my little .32 Kel-Tec. The concealed weapons issue is just one of the many problems with Americans’ lack of knowledge of the Constitution. If I have a RIGHT to bear arms, I don’t need to acquire PERMISSION to do so. People don’t realize how many rights we have allowed the government to convert to privileges.
Ah thank you Fitz... I think you and the US Supreme COurt have a small squabble and I know who’s going to win. You might peruse the 1st Amendment and discover that you have RIGHTS there, too and that those rights are not unlimited and that they can be circumscribed by law. Not being a purist or absolutist, in ANYTHING, be it speech or right to bear arms, or economic liberty or well anything I really don’t have a problem with the guv’mint placing some limits on when or what I can carry....
Mark - you wouldn’t call a body-cavity search triggered by such a find an awkward moment? Unless you actually enjoy that kind of thing, I’m not the bleeping moron in this picture.
Ah...thank you, Joe. You’ve just demonstrated the kind of apathy I detest in some US citizens. "Sure," you say, "I have this right, but I don’t care if the government tells me how, when, and where I can exercise it." The second we have to acquire premission from our masters to do something, it is not a right. Rather, it a privilege that government can grant and retract at its whim. What don’t you get?
Uh Fitz, what part of "Clear and Present Danger" or "Reasonable Time, Place and Manner" don’t YOU understand, these all being acceptable standards to judge your Constitutionally protected RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH. As a society, not just a a government, we have accepted the notion that, "one can not yell ’Fire’ in a crowded theatre.", that Free Speech is NOT an absolute right.
That being the case, neither is your 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Now you can prate all you care to about your right, but when the policia/militia arrest you for violation of CCW and you stand before the judge, all I can say is you will lose and most (90%) of folks will agree with your conviction.
Government, representing the "Kings Peace" and the Civil Society-at-Large has the right and duty to restrict, in a reasonable manner, your rights. No right is absolute. Locke would agree, it is to that end that any of us enter into the "Social Contract", to forego a degree of freedom for a degree of certainty and security.
