Weapons and behavior

[Drasken]

I always carry a knife, sometimes I carry my walking stick as well. This doesn't change my behavior or where I am willing to go.

Honestly my knife is a tool primarily. Same with my walking stick. I prefer not to use anything to harm another person. However I am well trained in doing so if needed.
My knife is the only tool that I carry literally everywhere with me (within legal limits of course) and it is the most amazing tool I own. I have had a knife on me ever since survival training. And I paid a few hundred for my fixed blade so I could guarantee an exceptional knife. I can cut the lock out of a car door with it if I had to (i tested it at a junk yard to confirm the claims of the smith that made it. I don't see why I will NEED this capability, but it's pretty awesome to know my knife won't break or dull with normal use.)

 

[Brother John]

Do you carry weapons routinely? Does it shape your behavior? Do you go places you might not ordinarily -- or avoid places that you wouldn't if unarmed? Is it different with different weapons, like legally carrying a gun or a knife? What about if the knife is really more tool than weapon?

Do I carry weapons routinely?
no. Neither my profession nor average environment warrants it. How ever I keep many weapons strategically place in and around my home and in my vehicle. I also go walking at night with a 3' wooden stick. But really....that's nothing but a dog deterrent. The end of town I live on is notorious for strays.

Does carrying a weapon change my behavior?
yes and no.
Yes in that I'm mindful of its location for retention purposes and of where I go. I'd not carry my bolo into the local grocery store. Also....I'd not take my handgun anywhere near a school.

Does possession of a weapon change where I'd go.
Absolutely. But that depends on the weapon and the nature of the environment you're choosing to go into. Like I said before, due to my aversion to going to prison and losing my job, I'll never take a weapon near a school or polling location.

What if the knife were really more of a tool than a weapon?
I'm not totally on board with the distinction. There are scant few tools that can't be made into weapons and visa versa. Sometimes the distinction is sharper....true. Like I could hammer in a nail with my telescopic metal baton. Inefficient, but doable. I'm a big advocate of learning to fight with whatever comes to hand.
I like the mindset that says:
i and everything I can grab is a tool and a weapon...the usefulness is limited only by your own ability to perceive and adapt.

Your Brother
John