#572: BladeBlunter

There is a serious problem to do with people carrying knives and getting drawn into using them to ’settle’ conflicts. Some of these are sold as hunting or ’survival’ knives, whilst many others are just kitchen knives borrowed in an attempt to appear tough.

In order to cut the numbers of knives which are available for stabbings, today’s invention is a coloured plastic disc, containing adhesive, which, once applied to the point of a blade, is almost impossible to remove.

Each disc is about the size of a £1 coin and comes with a deep slot in its outer circumference (looking as if a partial attempt had been made to separate the two faces of a coin). Into this, the point of a knife can be inserted. When the disc is pierced by the point of a knife entering the slot, it exudes a small volume of one-part epoxy adhesive which permanently bonds the blunting device to the knife point.

The cutting edge of the knife is still available for legitimate uses, but the point can’t now be used to stab anyone.