Imagine taking a Bowie knife to school !!!

[superstring01]

Here's what I sometimes carry around (blade is 6"). Has a nice sheath to it as well.

My knee jerk response is to make some off-hand joke about beheading infidels... but that would be crass.

But really...

So, here's a sort of scientific question about knives. If titanium is so darned strong, why don't they make knives out of it?

~String

 

[Kadark]

My knee jerk response is to make some off-hand joke about beheading infidels... but that would be crass.

lol, it's all good.

So, here's a sort of scientific question about knives. If titanium is so darned strong, why don't they make knives out of it?

Maybe titanium is too pricey? Not sure.

 

[Syzygys]

So, here's a sort of scientific question about knives. If titanium is so darned strong, why don't they make knives out of it?

Probably because steel is strong ENOUGH and much cheaper, easier to make it.

After all you want to cut wood, meat, etc and not diamond with an average knife...

"Physical

A metallic element, titanium is recognized for its high strength-to-weight ratio.[6] It is a light, strong metal with low density that, when pure, is quite ductile (especially in an oxygen-free environment),[18] lustrous, and metallic-white in color. The relatively high melting point (over 1,649 °C or 3,000 °F) makes it useful as a refractory metal.

Commercial (99.2% pure) grades of titanium have ultimate tensile strength of about 63,000 psi (434 MPa), equal to that of some steel alloys, but are 45% lighter.[5] Titanium is 60% heavier than aluminium, but more than twice as strong[5] as the most commonly used 6061-T6 aluminium alloy. Certain titanium alloys (e.g., Beta C) achieve tensile strengths of over 200,000 psi (1380 MPa).[19] However, titanium loses strength when heated above 430 °C (800 °F).[5]

It is fairly hard (although not as hard as some grades of heat-treated steel) and is difficult to machine, as it will gall if sharp tools and proper cooling methods are not used. Like those made from steel, titanium structures have a fatigue limit which guarantees longevity in some applications."

But I digress, they do make titanium knives:

http://images.google.com/images?q=t...&hs=xBB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title

You can order quite a few from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...ting-index_30704956_1&results-process=default

 

[Enmos]

I own this baby:

"Boker’s Magnum 2003 collector knife was of a classic double edge dagger blade. The handle was a black linen micarta, which is layers of linen cloth permanently bonded together and compressed to form a lightweight and strong material, which is highly favored in working knives of all sorts."
http://www.bladesbybrown.com/article_handle_materials.php

"Dietmar Pohl has designed a classic Dagger for Boker Magnum, by successfully fusing traditional and modern elements into a 7 1/8 inch blade of 440C stainless steel with handles made of linen Micarta. With a solid stainless steel cross-guard that hints of an old style with a full tang that gives this dagger added strength. The overall length is 12 5/8 inch with a weight of 12.6 oz. Each Dagger comes with a durable black leather sheath."
http://a-1-tools.com/pro616154.html



Edit: I never carried any knives to school though.

 

[Harnu]

We were never allowed to carry knives to school. Even swiss army knives that go on your keychain could get you damn near expelled. Now for work I carry a little mini gerber.

I carry the smaller of the two, though I own the larger one aswell and take that to the field with me. But on deployment I always have my Ka-bar on my flak jacket.

 

[Dinosaur]

SuperString99: I am almost 80 and have spent most of my life in the North Eastern part of the USA, except for various overseas assignments doing programming.

The world in which I spent the my first 30-40 years was both worse & better than the world of today. For esample:

• It was more racist & anti-Semitic. Hank Greenberg was barely tolerated as a baseball player & Jackie Robinson was subjected to both verbal abuse and attempts to physically injure him.
  
  
• A stranger in a rough neighborhood might be forced to fight some local tough guy, but it would be a fair one-on-one fight. If the stranger won, there was no retaliation by the gang, although he might have to fight a bigger tough guy the next time he came to the same neighborhood. Today, a stranger is likely to brutalized fiercely by a gang of assailants. When I was a teenager, pride prevented an assault by more than one person.

In the 1950's, I often hung out at coffee houses which catered to a sub-culture referred to as Hippies or Bohemians. We played chess & Go, as well as discussing various subjects & socializing. Most aspired to be artists, writers, actors. Few had much talent. A lot of this crowd was supported by wealthy parents, some worked on & off at odd jobs. I was one of the few who had a regular job. I was a programmer and logical designer.

The hippie crowd included quite a few gay people. They were called queers and some worse names. I had several good friends who were gay and I attended some gay weddings (not sanctioned by any civil or religious authorities). I was not aware of any violent homophobic incidents. I am sure that such incidents occurred, but were not widely reported.

I (and most of the people I knew) did not consider gays to be “normal” but did not view them as evil, immoral, or a bad influence on young children. They were viewed as harmlessly different from heterosexuals: Neither evil like pedophiles nor weird like necrophiles. I am sure that many from that era were anti-gay and some would be violent toward gays & other minorities if they thought they could get away with such behavior. I happened to know few such people personally.

 

[pasquala]

I have a friend who when in high school (9th grade) entered in a raffle contest AT SCHOOL and won. He was called to the office over the loud speaker to collect his prize, a hunting riffle and a box of bullets. He carried the gun around school with him for the rest of the day and then home on the school bus. This was in the 70's. Can you imagine that happening today? Yet when my son was in the 4th grade he pulled a pair of nail clippers out of his pocket to cut his ragged fingernail off and he was scooped up, sent to the office and suspended from school for having a weapon, not to mention that a police report was filed in case of future dangers to the school. WTF?

 

[iceaura]

In the area of my childhood, northern midcontinent, it was common to see youths walking around carrying varmint rifles - in the ditches, fields, etc. Occasionally adolescents would bring small caliber rifles to school, for gun safety classes after school - they would put them in their lockers. Other towns held such classes at other town facilities, organized through the Boy Scouts, 4H, etc.

A pocket knife, in a pocket, was very common.

I don't think anyone even thought of fighting with them. What would be the point?

As far as poverty causing crime - it doesn't in places where everyone's poor, and hangs out together. It's not poverty itself that correlates, but income inequality and fragmentation into strangers. The 50s in the US, on into the early 60s, the gap between the CEO and his office janitor was less than 10% of what it is now.

Also, with that inequality comes more, and more intrusive, laws. The cops are working for the rich, not the town. And crime is somewhqat defined by enforcement- the "low crime" 50s had a lot of what would be recorded in crime stats now. Vandalism, for example. Fistfights. Moonshine and marijuana in places.

But no crack. Or meth.

I remember my folks ransacking the house looking for the front door key, one time before a special family vacation. Nobody'd seen it in years.

 

[Avatar]

I never carried a knife to school, nor did I ever imagine any reasons to do it.
You carry a knife to the forest, but not to an education facility.
If you're on the run, a knife can be quickly obtained in almost any shop or flat, never mind that it is quite useless against any real danger.

I did have a personal black ops body guard with a firearm for the first two grades though.

p.s. I'm from a military/huntsmen family.

 

[[a-5]]

I never carried a knife to school, nor did I ever imagine any reasons to do it.
You carry a knife to the forest, but not to an education facility.
If you're on the run, a knife can be quickly obtained in almost any shop or flat, never mind that it is quite useless against any real danger.

I did have a personal black ops body guard with a firearm for the first two grades though.

p.s. I'm from a military/huntsmen family.

1. Vengance, perhaps? Come on, you got picked on in school too. How about security? My knife, in addition to my martial arts abilities, makes me feel good about myself.

2.Not true, in a typical fight, it's hand-to-hand combat. Pull out the knife, they run for the hills. Self-defense purposes only, nukkuh.

3.I call your bluff and raise you two shillings

 

[[a-5]]

[IMG="http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMieL2YpHpV0AuSijzbkF/SIG=13srdepdc/EXP=1200368395/**http%3A//www.apex-cutlery.com/images/super_knife_large_black.jpg%3FosCsid=fe06da44b0eb90de18edd73896294525"]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMieL2YpHpV0AuSijzbkF/SIG=13srdepdc/EXP=1200368395/**http%3A//www.apex-cutlery.com/images/super_knife_large_black.jpg%3FosCsid=fe06da44b0eb90de18edd73896294525[/IMG]


It's mine! But the blade's black :/

 

[Avatar]

1. Vengance, perhaps? Come on, you got picked on in school too. How about security? My knife, in addition to my martial arts abilities, makes me feel good about myself.

2.Not true, in a typical fight, it's hand-to-hand combat. Pull out the knife, they run for the hills. Self-defense purposes only, nukkuh.

3.I call your bluff and raise you two shillings

1. Yes, makes you feel good, but also makes you dangerous to yourself and others. Vengeance is irrational and stupid, and will probably get you killed.

2. In a typical fight from where I were it's you against a few professionals with machine guns. You run and hide, not play Rambo.

3. Granted, not every kid has been on the run from soviet OMON for five months across three countries.

* On January 20, 1991, Riga OMON attacked Latvia's Interior Ministry, killing six people.[2] Seven OMON members were subsequently found guilty by the Riga District Court and received suspended sentences.

* A series of hit-and-run attacks on border outposts of Lithuania during the summer of 1991, resulting in several summary execution-style deaths of the border guards, were attributed to OMON. Some sources say that Mikhail Gorbachev had lost control of the unit. Lithuanian government continues to demand that the persons suspected in these incidents should be tried in Lithuania.

And that's by no means all that happened here.

 

[[a-5]]

1. Yes, makes you feel good, but also makes you dangerous to yourself and others. Vengeance is irrational and stupid, and will probably get you killed.

2. In a typical fight from where I were it's you against a few professionals with machine guns. You run and hide, not play Rambo.

3. Granted, not every kid has been on the run from soviet OMON for five months across three countries.


And that's by no means all that happened here.

1. What? Wouldn't you resort to any means possible to protect yourself and your loved ones?

2. Naturally, even I'm not that THAT stupid.

3. Neither have you...actually, I take that back, you might have, I don't know. But do you mind explaining how you were placed in that predicament?

 

[Avatar]

3. You, of course, know better than me.
Hey, here's a vid my friend was taking at the time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00AJoSZkaIg
Gvido with his team had just saved me from arrest two weeks before, Omon was just one locked door and one hunting rifle away, when they showed up with cameras thanks to my phone call. But you, of course, somehow think you know I'm lying.