Diving knife - Weapon or not??

[Diver0001]

Not wanting to add to the hijack of this thread.

But when I left in '95 it was indeed as Roatan mentions.Eventhough my Dutch (language) was better that most Dutch, I had studied and payed taxes......I was still classified by law as a different class of citizen (eventhough carrying a Dutch passport). Went abroad, and lived in many other countries, where such a thing does not seem to exist. The government tried to do the right thing, but didnt think it through..............in terms of reality.

-End of Hijack.

The Dutch have never liked foreigners but since 2001 it's become a nightmare. Pim Fortuyn made hating foreigners a political objective and probably would have become the Prime Minister if someone hadn't capped him. The situation is incredibly tense now.

Just to give you a couple of examples. I live in Rotterdam. The anti-foreigner party just got voted out but they had been in power locally for 4 years. They passed/enforced all kinds of bylaws in blatantly discriminatory fashion. For example, it's a law in Holland that you need to put your kids in school at the age of 5. If a Dutch person doesn't do it they get a letter. If a Foreigner does it they get arrested and fined.

Same goes for not having a light on you bicycle and a host of other things. As a foreigner you get hounded.

Another example. I have a house and I need a parking permit for my car. The city wouldn't give it to me because I didn't have a Dutch passport. Of course they *knew* that I didn't need a Dutch passport to get a parking permit but they were just being difficult.....because....they....could. And the last few years it's been like this every....single....time....I've had to deal with the local government. It wasn't just an incident....

Local elections. Another one. The anti-foreigner party conveniently "forgot" to send a percentage of foreigners their voting cards in the mail. We were on the list but we weren't called to vote. As far as I know, this didn't even make it into the media..... go figure. Apparently even the press thinks this kind of thing is perfectly normal.

It's not just local government either. The federal government tried passing a law last year that would theoretically enable them to deport foreigners....and get this.....even 2ND generation immigrants who have the Dutch nationality.... for *any* crime, including things like getting a speeding ticket or even for not having a light on their bicycle..... They promised not to enforce it to its full extent but the fact that they presented it to the lower house AT ALL is a sign of how cynical and loathing Dutch politicians have become towards their foreigners.... There is already a law like this but it only applies to repeat offenders who commit misdemeanors.... This wasn't good enough for them....

And that's just the tip of the double-standard-for-behaviour iceberg.

Basically from a foreigners perspective they've turned the country into a complete hole. I wouldn't advise anyone to come here. If it were up to me I would leave and go back to Canada now (which, of course, is exactly how they want me to feel....) but I now have a wife and 2 children and I'm out-voted.

I just had to renew my resident's permit a couple of weeks ago. In about a month I'll know if they're going to renew it or not. I give it better than 50% odds that they try to revoke my residents status for no good reason and I'll have to go through the courts to get my pass renewed.

R..

 

[H2Andy]

this is truly scary

clealry, the goal is to have a "pure Dutch" nation where foreigners
and immigrants are kept in the minority and harassed at all times

sound familiar?

 

[Sasquatch]

this is truly scary

clealry, the goal is to have a "pure Dutch" nation where foreigners
and immigrants are kept in the minority and harassed at all times

sound familiar?

Sounds like a skinhead solution to me, but on the topic of knives here's my 2psi.

A knife is a tool and, traditionally, no man was properly dressed unless he had a blade whether it was a sword, a dagger or a pocket knife. I use a blade (multi-tool) every day just for "stuff".

Sea ya!

 

[H2Andy]

ooops sorry... got way off topic there, didn't i

i have a small (2 inch?) blade knife on left harness. i keep
EMT shears on my right drysuit pocket.

i have yet to need them underwater, though the
knife comes in handy for cutting fruit during
surface intervals ...

or should a rabbid pitbull suddenly appear, hey,
i'm armed!

 

[Rick Murchison]

Back on track here...
Tools become weapons in the hands of anyone who wants to use them as weapons. Knives are no exception.
For a little perspective, for the average user, baseball bats or shovels are much more effective weapons than knives.
Rick

 

[Ber Rabbit]

or should a rabbid pitbull suddenly appear, hey,
i'm armed!

Dog on a stick ROFLMAO!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[HarryWhisman]

this is truly scary

clealry, the goal is to have a "pure Dutch" nation where foreigners
and immigrants are kept in the minority and harassed at all times

sound familiar?

No

 

[Damselfish]

If somebody has a collection of knives designed to kill that aren't used for that, they are "decor."

 

[Dean810]

Ok, let's settle this. The primary purpose of dive knives is to protect yourself from giant attacking squid, like in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". Therefore, they should be as long and sharp as possible. I don't know why anyone lake diving would wear a knife, since there are no giant squid there that I know of. Although maybe in Loch Ness.....

 

[ReefGuy]

Oh yeah? What about all of those hosecutters that are unemployed since Seahunt went off the air?

Ok, let's settle this. The primary purpose of dive knives is to protect yourself from giant attacking squid, like in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". Therefore, they should be as long and sharp as possible. I don't know why anyone lake diving would wear a knife, since there are no giant squid there that I know of. Although maybe in Loch Ness.....