Viner's Blunt Edged Knives

[NurseButtercup]

In response to the fight against knife crime (yes and it's marketing/pr spin as well) Viner's have launched a new blunt edge knife range.

I actually commend the companies attempt's to reduce their indirect contribution to this issue.

Am I being unreasonable to say well done to Viner's? (I think I'll probably buy a set of these knives)

What do people think?

In hindsight I should have posted this in chat - sorry!

I can't see it having much impact (12 yr old was SHOT yesterday local to me ) but I applaud Viners for trying, plus they won't impale me in the dishwasher.

Sometimes you need a sharp, pointy end on a knife to complete certain kitchen tasks though. So there will always be the option if standard, pointy knives.

In any case, the knives themselves (as kitchen tools) are not the issue - it's how some people are using them. Pissing about with knife design isn't going to solve the problems (and may distract from the real issues).

I'm probably being a bit dim but what's different about them? Not pointed at the end?

The little scum bag that was going to use the knife will just use something else.

Your always going to have wankers in the world. If all knifes were blunt edged they would move on to the next thing....

Knifes aren’t the problem, it’s the people that use them to hurt others that need to change

Went into a sainsburys at the weekend to buy a kitchen knife to be told they've stopped selling them in response to knife crime

I agree OP. You can't stab someone with a blunt tip. Slashes rarely kill people.

I could get by pretty happily in the kitchen with those. There is a sort of point, but as it's not in line with the blade, you can't stab.

There will always be some people who will take the trouble to find a weapon, but knives like these make them less accessible.

So even though knives have been accessible since the dawn of man we now think that these will reduce knife crime?

@P1nkHeartLovesCake - completely agree, although knives are so common it wouldn't be a problem to get one.

So even though knives have been accessible since the dawn of man we now think that these will reduce knife crime?

What a ridiculous argument. It's about replacing something potentially deadly that is easily available in every house with something safer, so that in the heat of the moment an attack with a knife is less likely to be fatal.

You might as well argue that as guns exist and have existed for hundreds of years we shouldn't restrict access to them as someone can always get hold of them if they want to. As shooting death statistics show, less availability means fewer deaths. You can't stab someone with a blunt knife in a fit of anger.

@Hereward1332

Except that knives are a tool that have a multitude of uses whereas a guns only purpose is to shoot something? Of course guns should be restricted but it seems highly unlikely getting rid of the pointy end of a knife will reduce stabbings. - by your logic we should be replacing all hammers with a foam substitute because that wont be fatal? not like screwdrivers can be used for stabbings either.

Perhaps there's some merit to the heat of the moment thing in domestic violence cases but in cases of violent knife crime I'm pretty sure that's pre-meditated and whoever is engaging in it will equip themselves in advance with something better than a butterknife.

It's about intent, not about knives being pointy, any object can be used as a weapon.

Leaderbee a knife with a blunt tip can do pretty much anything a pointy one can. I don't imagine your foam hammer can replace a metal one.

Reducing the availability of pointy ones means they are harder to find. That means a reduction in accidental fatality or serious injury.

I don't understand your insistence that just because someone can find a substitute way to do harm, any reduction in availability is pointless. You seem to be arguing that because you can kill someone with a stick, automatic weapons should be on sale in Poundland. I think you are in in that contention.

You might as well argue that as guns exist and have existed for hundreds of years we shouldn't restrict access to them as someone can always get hold of them if they want to.

If you're a bit dim, I guess. At least that's why I don't argue that.

Unlike knives, guns have zero legitimate domestic uses.

Anyway, the UK is awash with people collecting statistics to inform all sorts of policies. I'd be interested to know what the current statistics are, and how this initiative has made a difference to them in - say - 6 months time.

Of course if nobody has these statistics to hand at the moment (what do Viners themselves say ?) then I would be more inclined to view this as a rather questionable attempt to get the Viners brand all over social media without having to pay for it, rather than any serious intention of reducing knife crime.

You can't stab someone with a blunt knife in a fit of anger.

That makes it sound like most stabbings are over quiche recipes in a hipster kitchen. I was under the impression that most knife crime happens on the streets where perpetrators have deliberately carried a knife.

Seriously, you can make something to stab people out of from all sorts of things. The unavailability of nice, pointy kitchen knives in prisons doesn't stop some prisoners from constructing their own weapons out of pretty much everything they can get their hands on.

This is the kind of silly, knee jerk thinking that never actually solves the issue it claims to. Knife crime among gangs in London? Stop middle aged women looking to fillet fish or something equally exciting from buying a pointy knife in sainsburys.

At best this kind of thing is window dressing. Maybe we should concentrate on addressing the actual issues that lead to the problems.

According to 2019 government statistics, roughly one third of assaults involving a knife were domestic violence (researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04304/SN04304.pdf). If you want to reduce that to arguing over quiche, that's up to you, but it doesn't mean people don't die as a result. More blunt tips means fewer deaths.

I agree OP.

I never buy pointed ones and have never found anything that can’t be done (it’s not massively harder to use a rounded end for things you’d normally use a pointed end for). They’re also better if a knife gets accidentally knocked off the worktop - it’s not going to impale a foot/ toddler/ pet.

I don’t see why they nee to have ugly cut off ends - simple blunt ends suffice.

I don’t understand the argument re guns being only for killing, but knives have other purposes. Your average child/ teen/ yob can get hold of a knife far easier than a gun.

Seriously, you can make something to stab people out of from all sorts of things. The unavailability of nice, pointy kitchen knives in prisons doesn't stop some prisoners from constructing their own weapons out of pretty much everything they can get their hands on.

Next you’ll be saying guns don’t kill people, people do...

@Hereward1332 You're still overgeneralising and not addressing the actual issues. The presence of knives in kitchens does not cause domestic violence. They could equally have injured people with a screwdriver or any of the other potentially dangerous stuff we have in our houses. You can kill someone by hitting them with a heavy pot. Or just strangle them if you're so inclined. Should we be banning cast iron pans, just in case?

When we start fixating on stuff like what shape knives are, we stop looking at the things that might actually prevent the stuff we're trying to prevent. It really isn't the knife that is the issue. Deciding that everyone must have blunt edged knives because a minority of people can't be trusted with them is not sensible. That kind of tactic just leads to resentment without actually addressing the issues.

But, hey, it's easily marketed and photographed. That's all that matters, isn't it?

Your average child/ teen/ yob can get hold of a knife far easier than a gun.

Thing is, your 'average' child/teen isn't going to use that knife for anything other than chopping food. Let's not act like all young people are potentially going to stab each other.

There are a whole range of other things that come in to play when a kid chooses to take a knife out and to use it on a person. If it wasn't a knife, it'd just be something else.

@LemonGingerCakes I think we can all agree that there are important differences between guns and knives.

People determined to engage in violence do make weapons out of all kinds of things. Shall we ban toothbrushes because you can sharpen the ends and stab people with them? Maybe only registered tradesmen should be allowed (and licensed) to keep screwdrivers, hammers and saws?

Maybe we could look at the issues that cause a very small minority of young people to want to carry weapons (of whatever kind is available to them) and use them on each other instead.

WooMaWang

A knife can kill with one stab. A heavy pot is unlikely to.

If you really can't see the benefit of making a potentially lethal implement less readily available, then I despair. By your logic, it shouldn't be a crime to carry a knife as you can do the same damage with bare hands.

Very few children were killed by falling IKEA cabinets in comparison to the number sold, yet every cabinet I buy now has straps to fasten them to the wall.

There are safety procedures in place for window blind cord pulls.

Making knives safer is an obvious next step and I I don’t know why there is such resistance.

Of course, most things can be made to kill if you want, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make dangerous items safer where possible,

Should we be banning cast iron pans, just in case?

@Hereward1332

knife can kill with one stab. A heavy pot is unlikely to.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/harrow-school-boy-died-from-single-punch-after-telling-club-promoter-youll-work-for-me-one-day-a6991941.html

Not a pot but certainly a blunt object...

^People determined to engage in violence do make weapons out of all kinds of things. Shall we ban toothbrushes because you can sharpen the ends and stab people with them?

A cousin in the US used to work as a prison guard. Some of the improvised weapons they faced were truly frightening.