Fiber optic knife

This glass knife was hand-knapped by Mike Cook of Portland, Michigan out of fiber optic glass. Magnetometer-invisible and broadband; can't hardly ask for a better tool!

"Primitive" knife knapped from fiber optic glass

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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nutbastard

Knice.
ncinerate

Wow, 165$ seems like a steal here.

Perfect for taking over your very own nuclear submarine. She’s a real beauty.
- Anonymous
  
  That is a great reference to snowcrash. I doubt most people would get that.
hkedi

Being a grad student who knows optoelectronics, I was a little bit sketchy on the color since most optical glasses are pinkish colored, but there is an erbium/yttrium/chromium glass that is that exact same color that emits at 1.5 microns, which is close enough to one of the two “magic” wavelengths to be really useful to fiber optics. (the magic wavelengths are 1.55 microns and 1.3 microns, the first is the maximum transmission for glass, and the second is what is called “zero dispersion” which is technical, unless somebody asks, I won’t explain).

Being an amateur flint-knapper, that knife is serious quality. If you look at the picture, you see how the “ripples” cover the entire knife? that shows a VERY good flint-knapper at work. A lot of the cheap stuff will show ripples like that only at the edge, which you can teach to somebody in about a half of an hour. Pushing flakes (the ripples) down to the midpoint takes practice and determination.
Anonymous

I wonder how Hiro Protagonist feels about this.
- Michael Smith
  
  #3,
  
  This knife would be ideal for a person with Poor Impulse Control.
  - jungletek
    
    HUT!
- Lobster
  
  He prefers his knives be skateboard-proof.
mjfgates

On the one hand, nifty. On the other hand, seems like an odd use for optical glass. On the gripping hand, the economy’s in Michigan has gotten so bad that they’re back in the Stone Age…
Isalicus

Because of the green color it reminds me of meso-American (Aztec, Maya, etc.) obsidian knives
Anonymous

But what good is a glass dagger? (he says, remembering the excellent short story of that title).
- RainyRat
  
  Anon@6: It won’t get picked up by a metal detector, is ungodly sharp, and (because of the fibre-optic glass) can achieve stabbing speeds of up to 10Gb/s (gibs per second).
  - Anonymous
    
    I think Anon was referencing a short story by Larry Niven titled “What Good is a Glass Dagger?”
Dig Duggler

A very handsome blade.

On a related note, my father knapped arrowheads from interesting stones he would collect during our family vacations. He used a deer antler and a thick piece of leather. He learned the technique from a Navajo gentleman he met in the Four Corners region.
Anonymous

WOW!! Finally a TSA Compliant Knife?
Anonymous

It can be used for cable tv transmissions AND for Aztec human heart excision sacrifices!
Anonymous

+1 for Snow Crash ref…
phisrow

You want to know why the network is down?

I’ll tell you why the fucking network is down!
Anonymous

I am completely disappointed nobody mentioned that this looks almost exactly as the Morrowind glass dagger that I usually stole instead of buying. Morrowind, it’s a game… unlike Oblivion…
- Anonymous
  
  That’s the first thing I thought, too. Ah, gamers. I’m replaying Morrowind now and just stole a glass dagger from a Daedra temple.
Anonymous

looks like a sandworm’s tooth
nox

SOLD for 165$
Anonymous

Looks like a fabled crysknife.

Bless the Maker and His water.
- Anonymous
  
  I know I’ve had a lot of beer, but I could swear that thing is green and not milky white.
Anonymous

I don’t know how to feel about this. On one hand it’s awesome, but on the other hand now we won’t be allowed to have anything glass on an airplane.
Anonymous

Are you sure that isn’t a Kryptonite knife that you’ve cunningly labeled as ‘fibre optic’ so that Superman doesn’t suspect you of anything? Evil like Luthercorp.
Richard

So do it pass undetected through those full body scanners ?

If not you would have to pick your airports … to carry this thing through.
OoerictoO

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.