http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1221

It sounds silly, but makes perfect sense. Why are kitchen knives pointy at the end?

Well as a couple of us found out last night See here (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42419) they are easily available and can be carried about no problem.

Are we having a petition?
Pass me that crayon....

did you read the bmj report strix?

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1221

It sounds silly, but makes perfect sense. Why are kitchen knives pointy at the end?
i have not read all the report but i agree, there does need to be a slight curve on the blade for chopping but there is no need for the sharp pointy edge, i never use it anyway.

Some of it.

There is usually more than one solution to a problem, and unfortunately we live in a society that believes in making rules to constrain/inconvenience the masses to facilitate the freedom of the nutters and F wits.

It's not the knives that are the problem - it's the :loopy: s carrying them.

Why can't we tackle the root cause of the problem?

And once we've erradicated pointy knives from all the middle class homes in England - coz only they will have the social concience and means to indulge in a whole new set of knives immediately - the eejits who want to harm people will turn to... I dunno.... bits of wood with nails in (for all you Simpsons fans out there :rolleyes: )

Would you rather be stabbed or have your throat slit :suspect:

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
Why are kitchen knives pointy at the end?

So that when you get a microwave meal, and it says "pierce film lid", you have somthing sharpe to pierce it with.

Or when you want to stick a knife in meat to see if it's cooked, or prick a jacket potato prior to cooking.

I thought it was an interesting point, rather abstract, but interesting nevertheless. There's no need for 10" kitchen knives to have dagger points, it is just a matter of precedent.

Originally posted by Andy
So that when you get a microwave meal, and it says "pierce film lid", you have somthing sharpe to pierce it with.

Or when you want to stick a knife in meat to see if it's cooked, or prick a jacket potato prior to cooking.

I always use a fork for that, call me weird :D

I think it's interesting from a 'why are knives pointy' point of view - but the hysteria that seems to be gathering pace over the last couple of days is far from healthy.

Broken bottles are just as easy to come by if a knife is rendered unavailable by law.

this is just idiocy. It took a study to determine that knives are dangerous, well done guys, now go back to your padded rooms.

We all have chemicals around the house that will kill if ingested, I have a 2 ton weapon of mass murder parked on my drive. I have power tools, hammers, knives, pointy scissors, my bare hands... Do you see the point. Lots of things are dangerous, and banning them isn't the answer.

Originally posted by Strix
I think it's interesting from a 'why are knives pointy' point of view - but the hysteria that seems to be gathering pace over the last couple of days is far from healthy.

Broken bottles are just as easy to come by if a knife is rendered unavailable by law.

I think that's a good point about glass bottles. I think shops should stop selling glass juice bottles. Up here it's a joke about irn bru ginger bottles being offensive weapons as they are usually found clutched in the hands of ned/chavs/hoodies to smash against the first available hard surface in the event of any trouble.

However stabbings usually result in fatalities more so than 'bottlings'.

Here are some stats:

There are 2 cars on our drive.
There are 8 pointy knives in the kitchen.

I've lost 2 friends in separate car accidents.
I've lost nobody to a stabbing.

I know what bandwaggon I'd be jumping on if there was a choice ;)

Originally posted by Strix
Here are some stats:

There are 2 cars on our drive.
There are 8 pointy knives in the kitchen.

I've lost 2 friends in separate car accidents.
I've lost nobody to a stabbing.

I know what bandwaggon I'd be jumping on if there was a choice ;)

Cars support our economy and greatly enhance people's quality of life (mobility, speed of travel, etc).

Pointed knives of the type described in the BMJ report don't actually need to be pointy so serve no useful purpose.

I know which bandwagon I'd rather jump on too....

Why hadn't they told us about the dangers before? Why has it taken until the 21st century for the pointy headed people to point out the dangers of pointy knives? Why didn't they tell me on Tuesday last week when I had blood in my cheese sandwiches due to a pointy knife wound?

See Max? If you'd injured yourself on one of those new-fangled curvy blunt things there'd be a whole finger in there :shocked: :hihi:

Originally posted by Strix
See Max? If you'd injured yourself on one of those new-fangled curvy blunt things there'd be a whole finger in there :shocked: :hihi:

Then I would have had to throw the sandwich away as I don't eat meat. So, pointy knives save fingers and sandwiches. :clap: Hurray for pointy knives. :thumbsup:

My dog knows the word 'pointy' :roll:

Too cherfin' smart for his own good.

No thumbs though - so I don't let him make his own sandwiches.

He prefers garlic bread though - and I'm not letting him use the oven :mad:

i had reason to use the point just the other day.
firstly to prick holes in my sausages to allow some of the fat out, and secondly to cut the sausages, you go in point first and you can cut them rather than crushing them!
It works just the same on tomatoes.

Just a few "points" ( ;) ) that occur to me:
"Britain in the grip of knives terror—third of murder victims are now stabbed to death." Daily Express, 31 January 2005
So 2/3 aren't then.

Unfortunately, no data seem to have been collected to indicate how often kitchen knives are used in stabbings, but our own experience and that of police officers and pathologists we have spoken to indicates that they are used in at least half of all cases.
So of the 1/3, only half are "pointy" kitchen knives, so now we're talking about 1/6 of cases only.

Although other weapons—such as baseball bats, screwdrivers, and chains—are also carried, by far the most common weapons are knives.
So now we're admitting that in those 1/6 cases the perpetrators will just go and find another weapon instead quite easily.

The Home Office is looking for ways to reduce knife crime. We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect.
Oh yeh, try reading your own report, it'll achieve nothing, except inconveniencing the general population.



What's next on the list, chisels, screwdrivers, garden forks, "sharp" forks (like you hold the Sunday roast with), broken sticks ?

Another case of the "nanny state" gone mad, IMO.


All the above "quotes" are from the BMJ article "Reducing knife crime",
link: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7502/1221

just remembered something else to add.
Most fatal stab wounds are 1" to 1.5" deep. That's sufficient to reach the heart.

So the focus on 'large' kitchen knives is completely of track and based on a bad assumption that these "researchers" have made.

Pointy sticks are pretty dangerous as well. My ma always said "you'll have someone's eye out" when I used to carry one playing pirates as a kid. Never did blind a fellow buccaneer tho.

Chainsaws are dangerous.

Axes are dangerous.

Media scapegoating is dangerous.

That's it. Ban the Daily Mail and lumberjacks otherwise the country is doomed!

Originally posted by Cyclone
just remembered something else to add.
Most fatal stab wounds are 1" to 1.5" deep. That's sufficient to reach the heart.

So the focus on 'large' kitchen knives is completely of track and based on a bad assumption that these "researchers" have made.

I have some blunt spoons about that size :D
(Robin hood - prince of thieves quote for those who are scratching their heads ;) )

it's pointed knives in hoodies that you have to watch out for:suspect: