# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 74
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1462 "2023-01-14T14:51:03Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > How often do you find yourself in a situation where you urgently need a knife when you’re away from home? It happens. I was in a bar and the manager was hanging up an advertisement banner. When he asked the bartender to get him a knife, I flipped mine open and handed it to him. I was shopping at Sam’s Club for home and work. When I dropped stuff off at work I opened the packages with my knife. I keep some paracord in my Jeep and occasionally need to cut off a piece. We were eating dinner at a brewery. Food-truck food. We wanted to slice our sandwiches in half so we could swap halves. A nice sharp knife sure beats the plastic knife that came with the napkin and salt/pepper. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1463 "2023-01-14T14:57:49Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > > [@Zyada](#): > > > > By the time I got out of the car, opened the trunk, and found it, I would be dead or unconscious. So I don’t consider that a weapon. > > This. I have a wrench (but in the boot, not the trunk, 'cos i’m from the UK !) but i took > the question to mean easily accessible weaponry. …although, i suppose it could be used as an _offensive_ weapon - i also took the question to mean _defensive_ for some reason ! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1464 "2023-01-14T15:35:55Z")
Carrying weapons in a car is a Bad Idea and often illegal. What I carry in the car are _tools_. Some of them a sharp tools. If the kukri was tucked next to the driver’s seat, I could get into big trouble during a traffic stop. But stashed in the trunk next to the jumper cables, it’s just a tool. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1465 "2023-01-14T17:07:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > We were eating dinner at a brewery. Food-truck food. We wanted to slice our sandwiches in half so we could swap halves. A nice sharp knife sure beats the plastic knife that came with the napkin and salt/pepper. I don’t want you cutting my sandwich with the knife you used for all that other stuff. Unless you’ve got a dishwasher in your car too. My lug wrench is located under the spare tire. To access it, I have to open the hatchback, unclip and fold away the panel covering the spare tire compartment, unscrew the nut holding the tire in place, lift out the tire, and _then_ I can reach down and grab the wrench. So it didn’t even occur to me to list it as a potential weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1466 "2023-01-14T17:12:20Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I don’t want you cutting my sandwich with the knife you used for all that other stuff. Unless you’ve got a dishwasher in your car too. I’m not that squeamish. Go ahead and cut my sandwich ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1467 "2023-01-14T17:13:13Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Hell, I wash potatoes before _and_ after I peel them. Potatoes are one of the dirtiest vegetables in terms of pesticides and other contaminants… though I don’t have a good sense of how dangerous that is overall, after decades of eating potatoes regularly. But does that do anything? The surface you just washed was just peeled off into the garbage? Did washing it do anything? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1468 "2023-01-14T17:33:38Z")
Peeling a potato is very tactile - your hands and the peeler are all over the outside of the potato while you’re doing the actual peeling. You touch the unpeeled potatoes, then all over the partially-peeled potatoes while peeling, also the bowl, and whatever else you might casually touch. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1469 "2023-01-14T17:46:57Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I don’t recall ever having to open a package when I was away from home. When does that happen? Whenever I buy something I want to use right away. And the pocket knife’s often the handiest thing to use to open packages when I’m at home, also. I’m not always opening things while standing at the kitchen counter. > [@squeegee](#): > > Keys are excellent at cutting tape on boxes Are they? I’ve never tried that. My knife’s always in my pocket; my keys only if I’m going somewhere. But I doubt keys are any good at opening plastic bubbles; I suspect not even strapping tape. > [@Zyada](#): > > If I have a lug wrench, I don’t know where it is. By the time I got out of the car, opened the trunk, and found it, I would be dead or unconscious. So I don’t consider that a weapon. That’s a good point. I know where mine is, but it is indeed in the trunk (as are the jumper cables). Some other tools are in the back seat, or the center console; but I don’t think the tire gauge would be much good as a weapon. There’s probably a hammer and some wrenches in the back seat footwell, and there’s at least one screwdriver either there or in the center console. Whether it would make any sense for me to attack a carjacker with them is another question entirely. I might become a fumbling terrified little old lady and drop the car keys under the car (come to think of it car keys between the knuckles are reputed to be a weapon) but in all honesty I don’t know what I would do. However, the question didn’t specify a scenario. Maybe the driver saw a fight, or a person who looked like they were running away from somebody, and had time to pull over and grab something out of the trunk before going to try to protect the running person. (Yes, call the cops. But they might not get there in time. No, you don’t have to risk yourself, even so. But sometimes somebody does. Again, don’t know what I’d do.) – I wash potatoes before peeling, but not because they’re “filthy”; the ones I’m using are probably organic, and they’ve got good clean field dirt on them. I don’t, however, want good clean field dirt getting all over my hands and tools while I’m cooking; the stuff’s not “filthy” but it’s not good food for humans if eaten without running it through some produce first. – didn’t vote. It bothers me that the only words in English for the substance we essentially need for our food to grow in also do mean “filth”; I’m not going to use that word itself for that purpose. – I’d wipe the knife blade that’s been in my pocket off with a napkin, then cut the sandwich. Not, obviously, if the other person objects. And not if I’d opened a package of something poisonous with the knife and hadn’t had a chance to wash it; but I can’t think of when I last opened something actually poisonous with my pocket knife. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1470 "2023-01-14T18:08:40Z")
I usually peel potatoes only because my potatoes tend to be old and sprout-y. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1471 "2023-01-14T18:25:01Z")
There is always a knife in my travel kit (actually a Leatherman Juice multitool). You’ll need it to open the plastic clamshell around the watch charger you forgot to pack and had to by at the nearest Walgreens. I’ve used the pliers when the screw-top on the little bottle of Tito’s refused to come off. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1472 "2023-01-14T18:38:59Z")
I have never carried a knife with me and, honestly, I don’t recall ever thinking “I wish I had a knife right now”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1473 "2023-01-14T19:39:13Z")
I screwed up the results of the potato poll because I missed the part about peeling potatoes. If you’re gonna peel them, peel them and then wash them. I rarely peel them, though. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1474 "2023-01-14T19:45:03Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@Wheelz](#): > > > > I don’t want you cutting my sandwich with the knife you used for all that other stuff. Unless you’ve got a dishwasher in your car too. > > I’m not that squeamish. Go ahead and cut my sandwich Ditto. And it’s a “weapon” whether or not you plan to use it as such. And where are there laws against “weapons” in a car that would be satisfied if you claim the object is a tool? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1475 "2023-01-14T20:07:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And where are there laws against “weapons” in a car that would be satisfied if you claim the object is a tool? Cite? Didn’t say “against the law.” I said “in trouble.” Traffic stop - officer approaches vehicle and the first thing he sees looking down into the passenger compartment is a kukri on the passenger seat. From this point on things take a path they didn’t have to. Or… Traffic stop - cop doesn’t see anything in plain sight but asks if the driver has any drugs, weapons, etc. Being the ridiculously honest type, driver informs officer of a kukri in the trunk with the rest of the emergency equipment. Cop doesn’t even blink and the stop takes a much less confrontational path. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1476 "2023-01-14T20:13:21Z")
Okay. You said “bad idea and often illegal”. I was pushing back on “illegal” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1477 "2023-01-14T21:20:08Z")
I checked four things on the latest small appliances poll, because I do possess them; but I never use the waffle iron or mandolin, and I only rarely use the blender. The toaster I do use. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1478 "2023-01-14T21:35:45Z")
Same here ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1479 "2023-01-14T21:58:36Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@Procrustus](#): > > > > > [@Wheelz](#): > > > > > > I don’t want you cutting my sandwich with the knife you used for all that other stuff. Unless you’ve got a dishwasher in your car too. > > > > I’m not that squeamish. Go ahead and cut my sandwich > > Ditto. > > And it’s a “weapon” whether or not you plan to use it as such. > > And where are there laws against “weapons” in a car that would be satisfied if you claim the object is a tool? Cite? Well in New Jersey for one. There is one statute for possession of illegal weapons. All weapons that are illegal to possess are mentioned in the statute. Only some very specific knives are mentioned such as switch blades. For the most part knives are legal. There is also a statute for possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. That could be a gun, a knife or a pointed stick. Pretty much anything that is to be used for an unlawful purpose. Carrying a knife in case a box needs to be opened is lawful. Carrying a knife in case someone needs to be stabbed is not. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1480 "2023-01-14T21:59:56Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I screwed up the results of the potato poll because I missed the part about peeling potatoes. If you’re gonna peel them, peel them and then wash them. > > I rarely peel them, though. You can change your answer. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1481 "2023-01-14T22:34:01Z")
I expected coffee maker to be the most popular item. I don’t drink coffee, but I thought I was pretty much the only person in the USA who doesn’t. Do you people without coffee makers not drink coffee, or do you make your coffee another way? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=73) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=75)