Pea Shooters !

[BoldonLad]

The inept crafters just bought a Milbro like me, still available I see.
The same shop used to sell airguns and a range of penknives and sheath knives and we all used to crowd around the window coveting the displayed goods.

I have noticed, on my regular trips to Mainland Europe (particularly France), that shops selling such items, still exist. Don't they have a problem with knife crime, etc etc?

 

[BoldonLad]

Oh Gawld, Elf n Saftey would cringe now...as kids (say 11 to 16) in the 70s, we had sheath knives, proper things with a 6inch (roughly) blade, i thought everyone had them on the airbases we used to live on, great for whittling spears, french arrows and playing chicken where you spread your legs as far apart as possible, your opponent doing the same about 3ft opposite you then throw the knife so it stuck in the ground between your opponents feet, who would then close one leg to that point, each time making the next throw more dangerous . No-one lost a toe or even got stabbed...
Its a wonder we survived

Edited to say, no-one withing my group of well armed friends ever used them maliciously against another person, it just never occurred to you ...why would you do that ?

My 11-16 period was 1958-1963. I lived on a sprawling edge of Town Council Estate, but, we did pretty much the same things as you describe. Plus numerous other activities involving climbing trees to erect rope "swings", flattening various size nails on the railway line (to make spear or arrow points), making and sailing "rafts" on the local "pit pond", digging in the "pit heap" for coal. As we approached 16 and beyond, there were various other activities, involving girls, but, we won't go into all that, a gentleman never tells

I don't recall any injuries or fatalities, although, one of my school friends did die of Tetnus, after a football injury, and, another died after crashing while riding a Lambretta Motor Scooter. If I recall Helmets and 250cc restriction, were obligatory by then, but, no basic training before riding, you just put your "L" plates on, and rode it.

 

[Cycleops]

I have noticed, on my regular trips to Mainland Europe (particularly France), that shops selling such items, still exist. Don't they have a problem with knife crime, etc etc?

Not right now but that could change according to BBC correspondent in Paris:

HUGH SCHOFIELD, PARIS
France has seen no equivalent of the wave of fatal stabbings in Britain, and newspaper reports on the so-called "culture du poignard" (knife culture) reigning in London and other big cities are read with universal horror.

But experts warn there is no cause for complacency. Where Britain has gone, France could all too easily follow.

According to Alain Bauer, France's leading criminologist, the carrying of knives and other weapons by adolescents is widespread in many poor neighbourhoods.

And if the number of murders nationwide remains relatively low (on average around 1,000 a year, of which only about 35 by minors), there has been a huge increase recently in acts of violence carried out by minors.

Gang culture

"One big difference here is that our gang culture is directed mainly against representatives of the state. In Britain, it is more internecine," says Mr Bauer.

"In general, here in France we haven't reached the point where knife-carriers move to the actual deed. But it's probably only a question of time."

According to Mr Bauer, Western societies are all caught in a similar pattern of youth violence, which he says is linked to a collapse of confidence in authority.

"Across the West, we have a set of moral references that date from the 18th century, 19th century laws, 20th century police - and 21st century violence," he says.

 

[pawl]

I think you’re right, name rings a bell.
View attachment 498806

Don’t walk into the local bank with that

 

[Smokin Joe]

If I recall Helmets and 250cc restriction, were obligatory by then, but, no basic training before riding, you just put your "L" plates on, and rode it.

Helmet laws did not come into force till 1972. I must have wasted many hundreds of pounds on those things over the years and the only time one ever got a mark on one was when I dropped it.

 

[EltonFrog]

Don’t walk into the local bank with that

Not difficult, they’ve closed them all.

 

[BoldonLad]

Helmet laws did not come into force till 1972. I must have wasted many hundreds of pounds on those things over the years and the only time one ever got a mark on one was when I dropped it.

Yes, I was unsure. I recall, that when I acquired my first motorcycle (very second hand 2 stroke Francis Barnet 200cc), with money saved from my paper-round, in 1963, my parents insisted I had (and wore) a helmet. I had used up all of my "savings" to buy and insure the motorbike, so, my Father bought the helmet for me (to keep mother happy, I suspect).

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Helmet laws did not come into force till 1972. I must have wasted many hundreds of pounds on those things over the years and the only time one ever got a mark on one was when I dropped it.

Yes, I remember the campaign against the new law between them announcing it and it coming in.

 

[12boy]

As an eleven year old we would take our Schwinn Racers and bows and arrows or our Winchester semi auto 22s out on the mesas around Albuquerque to slay bottles and tin cans. No one got shot. 40 years later I made blowguns for my boys from small diameter PVC pipe and darts from foot long bamboo skewers with a little cotton wool glued on the back to aid compression. These would stick an inch in a softwood tree or certainly pass through an empty soda can. The Cherokees used similar blowguns made of bamboo and oak splints to take squirrels, and my kids loved them. They also never shot at each other.

 

[Oldbloke]

We used to fold up bits of paper and use a strong elastic band between thumb and forefinger to fire them at various people in class, a cheap alternative to a catapult.

or blotting paper lumps dipped in inkwells & fired using a ruler

 

[BoldonLad]

or blotting paper lumps dipped in inkwells & fired using a ruler

Detention for you boy!

 

[Oldbloke]

Detention for you boy!

No, it was my first caning at 10 years old

 

[Blue Hills]

Oh Gawld, Elf n Saftey would cringe now...as kids (say 11 to 16) in the 70s, we had sheath knives, proper things with a 6inch (roughly) blade, i thought everyone had them on the airbases we used to live on, great for whittling spears, french arrows and playing chicken where you spread your legs as far apart as possible, your opponent doing the same about 3ft opposite you then throw the knife so it stuck in the ground between your opponents feet, who would then close one leg to that point, each time making the next throw more dangerous . No-one lost a toe or even got stabbed...
Its a wonder we survived

Edited to say, no-one withing my group of well armed friends ever used them maliciously against another person, it just never occurred to you ...why would you do that ?

Yes, i had a sheath knife. Carried it a lot. Dad gave it to me. Rather prized as appeared to have a bone handle. Oo. Maybe still have it somewhere. Someone once threw one at me. I faked being hit/staggering around. I well remember them being worried but then annoyed when they discovered i was faking so i thought it best to depart quickly.

 

[Blue Hills]

Helmet laws did not come into force till 1972. I must have wasted many hundreds of pounds on those things over the years and the only time one ever got a mark on one was when I dropped it.

Sikhs got a dispensation as i recall.
I don't think that was fake news - willing to be corrected.
No idea what evidence you had to present about being sikh.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Sikhs got a dispensation as i recall.
I don't think that was fake news - willing to be corrected.
No idea what evidence you had to present about being sikh.

They still do get an exemption. I suppose being Asian and wearing a turban is regarded as proof.