Just pull my finger and I'll do it for ya.
Plus then you've got everyone wondering if that's a baton in your pocket or if you're just happy all the time.
But they don’t allow knives in marching band.
If it were legal, If prefer a baton. I’m better equipped to use it, and it gives me a better range of options.
Not necessarily. You can use a bigger knife. Or you can attack the bits your opponent brings into your range. And, if your opponent is using a longer range weapon (baton, bat, sword, whatever) it can be advantageous to get close, inside the range of their weapon.
They do if you want them to be effective.
Not all targets are lethal. Most are not. And of those that are potentially lethal, few are as lethal as people seem to think. But that's a moot point. If I'm using a weapon, you may take it for granted that I'm willing to kill them.
One factor to consider is how each weapon will be perceived differently through the eyes of the courts if they are to be used in a self defense situation. Even if both weapons are legal in my area, the public perception for each can be monumentally different. A baton can be utilized in more less-than-lethal ways than a knife can, allows grappling techniques to be incorporated with it and has a range advantage over a knife. However, personally I hold the threat level much higher to warrant deploying a knife than a baton. The baton can be used in more situation simply because it's less lethal(not non-lethal) than a knife, so the threat level can be lower to warrant deployment, but I'd prefer a knife the higher the threat level becomes.
I would never carry a baton in basketball shorts. It would look like I'm carrying two.
