...
I'm a little like
@fastbolt though with my pocket knifes. I have a LOT of choices but have settled on 3: a "less scary" one when I have to go to the office, a lightweight summer carry knife, and a heavier spring/fall/winter carry knife.
Yeah, sometimes it pays to consider the 'audience' in situations where a knife may be used for mundane and everyday tasks.
My cigar club has a lot of guys who carry respectably sized folding lock-blades. Including some active and retired LE and Military. Most folks aren't startled by the usual array of favorite working folders that are carried. However, there was this one afternoon where I removed a CRKT M16-14ZER Emergency Rescue Tanto, bright orange scales and a shiny 3.75" blade. Her immediate, visceral response was, "My God, that's a weapon!"
Now, when you consider that the tanto blade is exactly the same length as a Buck 110, it's probably the
appearance of the partially serrated tanto blade that looked dangerous or 'wicked' in her mind, I'd guess. Guess it's a good thing I wasn't carrying one of my other tanto lock-blades that have longer blades.
There are some people who would probably have a similar sort of atavistic, visceral reaction to seeing a big knife, but not a gun. Go figure. Then again, in earlier CA history, the carrying of a concealed dagger became a felony, while concealing a handgun was left as a misdemeanor for the average citizen. The historical reasoning is that daggers and similar large brutal knives were carried by thugs, but handguns were carried by upright citizens, so the laws were made to be harsher on the thugs of those days. Maybe so. I wasn't around at the turn of the 19th/20th century.