Plastic Knives (are for Mall Ninjas) -- The review

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An earlier thread about plastic knives peaked my curiousity enough to order one. I received it last night and thought I would share my impressions with you.

I ordered the Cold Steel Nightshade Boot Blade I, $13 shipped for one i found on eBay, thus avoiding Cold Steel's $25 minimum for orders from their website. The knife came yesterday and I was excited to get the box open and check out this "new" (to me) product.

I think that the words "blade" and "knife" should NOT be used to describe this product. "pointy instrument" is a much more accurate description. I wasn't expecting it to have much of an edge, but even my low expectations were not even close to being met, you get sharper edges when shooting milk jugs! It had a good point on it, at least until I stabbed the cardboard box it came in, which caused the point to fold over on itself slightly. The edge was rolled over and dulled completely just trying to saw into the corner of the box. The plastic was incredibly weak and flexible -- I was expecting something much more rigid after reading this description on the company website:

Made from Grivory™— the latest in fiberglass reinforced plastic, and stronger than even the super tough Zytel® we have used in earlier models

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The website also claimed a weight of only 2 ounces! The "blade" alone may be that light, but not the "knife" as a whole. I will try to get it weighed soon, but it will be more than advertised...
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Needless to say, this is purely a stabbing instrument, and a relatively crude one at that. It does have raised edges in the middle of the flat aprt of the blade, creating a star-shaped puncture wound (and a more serious injury for the recipient of said puncture wound).

I know I would never trust my life to something so... insubstantial. This product was made by Mall Ninjas, for Mall Ninjas. And I also found it funny that this "knife" that can get through metal detectors comes with a steel ring through the base of the hilt, I guess so really stupid people (or people without a hacksaw or bolt cutters) can't get them past security?

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You'd probably get better results with an improvisedtoothbrush "shank" - better value anyway.

-ljp

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Legba wrote:

You'd probably get better results with an improvisedtoothbrush "shank" - better value anyway.

-ljp

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Or if you want an edge, sharpen a credit card -- easier to conceal anyway...

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Shoot, I thought that was my secret use for otherwise useless CCs. That and door latch jimmies because the sharp edge is easily repaired after jimmying a door.

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I dunno, I picked up one of the nightshade skean dhus for about $8 while I was ordering some other things from a website. I was actually surprised by the sharpness of the edge and point, compared to earlier "plastic" knives I have messed with. The serrated blade easilycut through the clothing and 550 cord that I tested it on. It also easilystabs into double-thick corrugated cardboard without damaging the tip. I'm assuming the differences in results has a lot to do with the blade shape and design.

It is my opinion that the nightshade skean dhu would suffice in the role that a skean dhu (and your average pocket knife) should be used: repeatedly stabbing the neck, throat, or gut. Would it be my first choice? Hell no. Would I rather have it than nothing? Hell yes.

The two benefits I can see with a "plastic" knife is the fact that they cannot be detected by metal detectors, and they are relatively impervious to the elements. The suggestion they make about keeping one in the shower, or outside under a rock, or any other place in the house isn't a bad idea. You can just leave them there and not worry about rust. Again, it's better than nothing! As far as passing through metal detectors, I personally would never, EVER do that, since it would more than likely be illegal. However, some feel that theirright to protect themselves is more important than breaking an arguably unconstitutional law. This gives them a possible option.

As far as I know, "plastic" knives have some sort of legal requirement that states they must have a certain amount of metal in/on the product, so that they can be detected by a metal detector. Some manufacturers have complied by adding a metallic powder into the mix. Cold Steel has "permanently attached" a metal ring. These rings cannot be removed by hand. Not easily, anyway. I can say that once the ringis removed, a standard hand-held metal detector cannot see the knife, even at its highest sensitivity.

Anyway I typed a lot more than I expected to. I guess my point is, don't write them off completely. I think they do have their place, and not just in the hands of "mall ninjas".

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ScottyT wrote:

Legba wrote:

You'd probably get better results with an improvisedtoothbrush "shank" - better value anyway.

-ljp

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Or if you want an edge, sharpen a credit card -- easier to conceal anyway...

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I'm not so sure about that, if you catch my drift... :what:

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The only "plastic" knife I've ever seen that I'd consider is made of woven carbon fiber (Obviously resin impregnated). I would hope, at this price, that it's sharp. But there's ZERO metal in it to my knowledge, making it something that could be carried almost anywhere. I do like that idea, although I do not and would not, nor would I suggest that anyone else, break the law with a non-metal knife.


http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=287599


http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=418104


This thing's kind of funny, it's a 7" carbon fiber rod with aluminum tips designed to go on your keychain. It's called the "Kuba-Styk:"

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=474359

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It's not just metal detectors you have to worry about these days. The TSA is starting to use millimeter-wave radar devices that can see any hard objects through your clothes. There was some tepid resistance to this in the news, girls feeling is too invasive, etc., but the Man always wins and I'm sure that if these machines work and become cheeper you can expect to se them in courthouses and other places in the future, the sheep meekly submitting to have their genitals ogled by rent-a-goons. So unless they're too busy looking at your girlfriend's breasts you stand a pretty good chance of getting caught. I don't relish the idea of going to jail for carrying such a seemnglyweak weapon.

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Tomahawk wrote:

It's not just metal detectors you have to worry about these days. The TSA is starting to use millimeter-wave radar devices that can see any hard objects through your clothes. There was some tepid resistance to this in the news, girls feeling is too invasive, etc., but the Man always wins and I'm sure that if these machines work and become cheeper you can expect to se them in courthouses and other places in the future, the sheep meekly submitting to have their genitals ogled by rent-a-goons. So unless they're too busy looking at your girlfriend's breasts you stand a pretty good chance of getting caught. I don't relish the idea of going to jail for carrying such a seemnglyweak weapon.

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I have heard about hard object scanners, and it didn't sound to me like they would be able to do more than find hard objects, stuff that would be invisible to a metal detector. But much like a metal detector, they don't do much more than alert security to hard objects bigger than a certain size. So, it does exactly what it's name suggests.

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It is cool that you can keep one in the shower, but for carrying purposes I'm not so keen on them. Honestly, I'd rather donate my $20 to an advocacy group so that maybe I'd be able to enjoy more rights instead of having to dance around those who take them from me.

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Would those of you who don't like this knife ever consider carrying something like that $200 carbon fiber dagger? It should be extremely strong, the only thing I don't know about is the sharpness. Plus, as a soon to be textile engineer I just plain like it.

As for the short wave detector deal, are those already in place or are they just being considered? I hadn't heard of any, that's why I ask.


For the credit card sharpeners, how did you get a nice blade out of the card? Do you cut it down to a dagger point or do you simply sharpen a side of it? What tools are able to get the card sharp enough to do damage to tissue?

I can imagine the toothbrush shank would actually work well, but again I'm wondering what kind of tools would be best to do this.

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Weak 9mm wrote:

As for the short wave detector deal, are those already in place or are they just being considered? I hadn't heard of any, that's why I ask.

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As I understand it, short wave detectors are about at the stage of microstamping. It's been proven to work... in certain laboratory conditions, once in a while... but has piqued the interest of government types, or at least enough to get them to put money into its research. Still at least a few years away, I believe.

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imperialism2024 wrote:

Weak 9mm wrote:

As for the short wave detector deal, are those already in place or are they just being considered? I hadn't heard of any, that's why I ask.

Click to expand...

As I understand it, short wave detectors are about at the stage of microstamping. It's been proven to work... in certain laboratory conditions, once in a while... but has piqued the interest of government types, or at least enough to get them to put money into its research. Still at least a few years away, I believe.

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Nope. Been deployed in Baltimore, and they say they're working well there. NPR's "All Things Considered" program did a segment on it last week, and apparently it's part of a new design for airport security that includes benches to take your shoes off and put them on, and soothing decor and sound effects to keep everyone quiet and submissive. The TSA is planning to roll the whole kit out nationwide as soon as they can.

From a traveler's point of view they do have one advantage: no more pat downs. I haven't been patted down for a couple of years, but I've always found it very offensive, both because I don't like it when people put their hands on me and because I know how to conduct a proper search, and what they do isn't going to find anything.

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Tomahawk wrote:

It's not just metal detectors you have to worry about these days. The TSA is starting to use millimeter-wave radar devices that can see any hard objects through your clothes. There was some tepid resistance to this in the news, girls feeling is too invasive, etc., but the Man always wins and I'm sure that if these machines work and become cheeper you can expect to se them in courthouses and other places in the future, the sheep meekly submitting to have their genitals ogled by rent-a-goons. So unless they're too busy looking at your girlfriend's breasts you stand a pretty good chance of getting caught. I don't relish the idea of going to jail for carrying such a seemnglyweak weapon.

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"Hard objects through MY clothes?" The people monitoring those camera had better be 18!:celebrate

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swillden wrote:

imperialism2024 wrote:

Weak 9mm wrote:

As for the short wave detector deal, are those already in place or are they just being considered? I hadn't heard of any, that's why I ask.

Click to expand...

As I understand it, short wave detectors are about at the stage of microstamping. It's been proven to work... in certain laboratory conditions, once in a while... but has piqued the interest of government types, or at least enough to get them to put money into its research. Still at least a few years away, I believe.

Click to expand...

Nope. Been deployed in Baltimore, and they say they're working well there. NPR's "All Things Considered" program did a segment on it last week, and apparently it's part of a new design for airport security that includes benches to take your shoes off and put them on, and soothing decor and sound effects to keep everyone quiet and submissive. The TSA is planning to roll the whole kit out nationwide as soon as they can.

From a traveler's point of view they do have one advantage: no more pat downs. I haven't been patted down for a couple of years, but I've always found it very offensive, both because I don't like it when people put their hands on me and because I know how to conduct a proper search, and what they do isn't going to find anything.

Click to expand...

I just went through BWI, on the way to the Kentucky Derby and I don't remember any soothing music. Would have been nice while I was getting patted. A little mood music