Why wouldn't knives or similar weapons be standard SF issue?

[Black Jesus]

Why wouldn't Starfleet issue knives or similar weapons in certain situations? Seems pretty sensical in, say, a combat situation, when a person's phaser might be taken away or while engaging in hand to hand combat. The Jem'Hadar used bayonets, pretty sure they carried knives, too. The Klingons did, as well. The one time we saw a Starfleet guy use a knife it was remarked that it "wasn't standard issue," which seems to entail that it's either a phaser fight, or they're using Starfleet kung fu. It's an item that would've proven useful.

[Jim]

I think that knives are over-rated as a tool in todays world, much less in the world/time of Trek. I have a few very good blades (Emerson, etc) and I keep them handy. I have one in my briefcase/bag, in each car, a couple handy places in the house. Over the last decade or so I have barely ever used them though. I took a couple burrs off of plastic pieces, cut a few strings from shirts, fut a piece of foam pipe insulation... nothing major at all.

In the ST universe outside the occasional potential of hand-to-hand there appears to be no real use to a knife. You can't use one to repair anything because it is all optical this and digital that. They are not going to be cutting fiber optics and splicing them together with a Strider. Also, their uniforms don't seem to have pockets. Their h2h training seems to be geared towards fighting opponents that have knives, without having a knife yourself. The first strike or two seems to typically disarm their opponent of the blade and the SF person never tries to get the weapon. It simply seems to be a piece of equipment that SF believes is quite unuseful and antiquated.

[Graham Kennedy]

We've seen that knives are available. Janeway took one out of an emergency kit thingie in that stupid macrovirus episode. And it would certainly be easy to replicate a knife if you wanted to.

[McAvoy]

Knives are useful. Rambo sized knives? Not so much.

I can imagine the flip blade style being useful. I can easily imagine my black Gerber blade being clipped to a Starfleet officer's hip.

[Jim]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

[Graham Kennedy]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

STABBING THEIR ENEMIES IN THE HEART!!!!!!

[Teaos]

Carving their names on trees.

[kostmayer]

Proving they're not a changeling?

[McAvoy]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

Same exact reasons a modern soldier of any nation carries one. You should ask them that.

[Sonic Glitch]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

STABBING THEIR ENEMIES IN THE HEART!!!!!!

Carving their names on trees.

Carving trees on their enemies hearts?

[kostmayer]

Stabbing Troi in the turboift whilst you're sleepwalking

[Jim]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

Same exact reasons a modern soldier of any nation carries one. You should ask them that.

You mean the same way a modern soldier wears camo, a helmet, Kevlar, extra rations, night vision, a giant back-pack full of all kinds of shit? ALL things that SF officers don't use?

Maybe how in the middle of a city, in office on the 29th floor of a building, half of the military officers wear camo fatigues and combat boots to sit behind a computer? (the other half wearing blues)

[McAvoy]

What would a Starfleet officer use a knife for?

Same exact reasons a modern soldier of any nation carries one. You should ask them that.

You mean the same way a modern soldier wears camo, a helmet, Kevlar, extra rations, night vision, a giant back-pack full of all kinds of shit? ALL things that SF officers don't use?

Maybe how in the middle of a city, in office on the 29th floor of a building, half of the military officers wear camo fatigues and combat boots to sit behind a computer? (the other half wearing blues)

Oh you mean the wide variety of camo the military uses. You mean the military who may not even be in the field that still carries a knife because he works on tanks, planes, helicopters, and jets? You mean the military who are supply who needs a knife to cut through boxes?

You mean knives are useless because Starfleet doesn't wear camo and office military wears camo.

Yeah. Makes perfect sense.

Oh and BTW, I carried a knife or two on me when I was in the military. Funny isn't it?

[Jim]

Oh you mean the wide variety of camo the military uses. You mean the military who may not even be in the field that still carries a knife because he works on tanks, planes, helicopters, and jets? You mean the military who are supply who needs a knife to cut through boxes?

You mean knives are useless because Starfleet doesn't wear camo and office military wears camo.

Yeah. Makes perfect sense.

Oh and BTW, I carried a knife or two on me when I was in the military. Funny isn't it?

No, it's not funny or odd for you to have done it because in today's reality a knife might come in handy from time to time in the military. In the Trek time it is about as useful as a rock. How many boxes did you see in Trek? Things were always in plastic crates that opened via a hinge and the items were non-wrapped inside. Knife not necessary. In the motorpool knives can be used to cut hoses, strip wires and cut zip-ties. More things that you never see in Trek. If anything you would think that they would always carry one of those things that looks like a screwdriver with a light at the tip instead of the flathead/phillips head.

[Black Jesus]

If an officer were just doing her/his day-to-day duties on a starbase or starship, then sure there's no need for a knife. Same as there's no need for Phil in accounting to carry a knife, even though he seems to think that doing paintball once a month makes him a badass. But hey, that's neither here nor there. On an away mission or in a combat situation there might be a need for a blade. Certainly in a combat situation, look how at useful blade weapons are for the Klingons. They also seem to be an effective weapon on the Borg.