A hypochondriac with a single blade knife?

M

Mora2013

Joined
Dec 1, 2013
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Not exactly sure this belongs in the traditional forum, but since most of my time is spent here ...


So I usually carry either a Case mini copperhead 2 blade, or a Buck 373 medium stockman. I've recently purchased a SAK Alox Pioneer, but have one mental difficulty...

With the 2 and 3 blade traditionals, I usually reserve the main blade as my food blade, while the others do other work. However, I'm having difficulty using the SAK single blade for garden pruning of plants or other non-food prep because ... Well... It seems dirty to mix food and dirt.

How do you single blade folks clean your blade between different applications?

(FWIW, yesterday my stockman did food fruit with the main clip, a bunch of cardboard with the sheepfoot and a bit of trimming of the plants with the Spey. All wiped down with cloth or tissue after use, but then the whole knife got soap and water at the end of the evening. )

Didnt realize i was a Hypochondriac...
 
There's a fair number of Traditional posters who like single blade knives. There's also a fair number who use their knives for food prep. Let's see what answers you get.

Since I don't use my pocket knife for food prep, I can't offer any advice.
 
Usually I just wipe it off, unless I'm doing something particularly dirty in which case I'll take water or soap and water to it. It all depends on what it has been used for. Generally, I'm not too worried about dirt. It's when I get into cutting up nightcrawlers or raw meat that makes me give it a quick scrub. If I'm trimming some plants or whittling on a stick it'll usually just get a quick wipe on my jeans and I'm good to eat off of it.

Years ago I would have been more worried about it, but I partook in a dinner about 17 years ago that changed my view on eating dirt. I was sitting in a foxhole in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO during a field exercise. Somebody made the "Gas, Gas, Gas" call and I got up to put on my biological/chemical protective gear. When we got the all clear I took off my gas mask and saw that the MRE that I had been eating had tipped over and was now full of dirt from me scrambling around. I had the choice to embrace the suck and eat dirt or go hungry until morning. I ate the dirt. Now, when a slice of apple hits the grass or I see one of my kids drop a cookie and snatch it up and pop it in their mouth before I can stop them I just think "I've eaten worse".

For the last 15 years or so I have prepared the vast majority of the food that my family and I have eaten and I have yet to get somebody sick. If somebody else is going to eat something that my knife is touching I'll definitely give it a quick scrub as a courtesy, but I do so knowing that they'd be just fine if I didn't.
 
I don't use my pocket knife for food prep as much as some, more from the fear of gunking up the joint.

I do fairly often spear fruit pieces to eat at work while working. I wipe the blade down with a kleenex usually. The blade is cleaner than my hands at that point.

Have you ever been working and eaten with dirty hands? *Usually* my blade is better than that.
 
Cory Hess said:
Usually I just wipe it off, unless I'm doing something particularly dirty in which case I'll take water or soap and water to it. It all depends on what it has been used for. Generally, I'm not too worried about dirt. It's when I get into cutting up nightcrawlers or raw meat that makes me give it a quick scrub. If I'm trimming some plants or whittling on a stick it'll usually just get a quick wipe on my jeans and I'm good to eat off of it.
Click to expand...

I love single blades and that's exactly how I do it. Plants, sticks and cardboard/tape etc are ok by me but raw meats are a no-no.
 
I carry single blade pocket knives almost exclusively. I don't use my pocket knives for food prep. Being a "knife guy" I have lots of Kitchen Knives for that purpose.
 
I think this is more of a mild form of mysophobia rather than hypochondria. While there are lots of nasties out there, a lil dirt will keep immune systems working. Wet wipes work on blades too, and keep 'em lemon fresh. Most 'common sense' thinking (avoid raw proteins & rotting items) will keep you safe. Some illness could come from cleaners and lubricants, but those amounts are small, and the 'common sense' thing should make that apparent too. I'd like to think most people have at least some 'common sense', but one never knows.... (Don't open a case of pesticide then slice a twinkie to share with one's friends without a 'lil wipey-wipey!)
 
davek14 said:
I don't use my pocket knife for food prep as much as some, more from the fear of gunking up the joint.

I do fairly often spear fruit pieces to eat at work while working. I wipe the blade down with a kleenex usually. The blade is cleaner than my hands at that point.

Have you ever been working and eaten with dirty hands? *Usually* my blade is better than that.
Click to expand...

For the win.

I use my pocket knife for food all the time but generally follow Dave's advice. I treat my blade like my hands. Soap and water. Organics like dirt and wood and weeds don't bother me too much.

Actually, I treat knives with a bit more paranoia. I don't use my pocket knife for things that involve chemicals and toxins.

Lastly, I definitely don't trust multi-blade knives more than single blades. Things are just too close. If one blade is fouled, the knife if fouled imo.
 
When I use a knife for some dirty job, I clean it afterwards. I might run the blade(s) over an ultra fine ceramic stone and strop as well. That pretty much prevents any problems associated with the next job that comes up.
 
I don't use pocket knives/tools/multi-tools for food prep...my rather extensive fine and not so fine kitchen cutlery takes care of that. On the occasional picnic, or camping adventure, I use a stainless fixed blade, such as a BK14 for slicing already cooked foods, cheeses, cold cuts, etc. I don't field dress wild game, but will clean fish with a filet knife that remains on the boat year round, and is only used for dressing fish. Anti-bacterial wipes used to clean the fixed blades, and hot soap and water clean up when I get home.
 
I like using my pocket knife when eating my food. I do the eating more than I do the dirtying. I have specific knives that I carry and use for dirty jobs so that I don't dirty the knives that I use to eat my food. A lot of the dirty stuff I do involves glues and residues that don't just wipe off.

Now, about the Pioneer... If I'm out and its the only knife I'm carrying and I haven't dirtied the blade then I'd use it for food. If I have dirtied it then I won't use it for food until I can give it a wash. I'd rather find one of those plastic knives to use with food at that point. I hate using those plastic knives if I don't have too. That's why I rarely carry my Pioneers now. I went and got an Electrician instead :)
 
I typically don't worry about using a blade to do yard work and using it to do food prep. I think the U.S. is overly concerned with food cleanliness. Grocery stores do a good job of helping us forget that our food was grown in dirt (I was once told by a cashier that she couldn't believe I had put potatoes in the cart without a plastic bag, I guess she forgot they grew in the ground and were dirty before the cart). Typically if there is visible dirt on a blade, have used it to cut raw meat, or around chemicals/fertilizers I will clean the blade off first.
 
Usually a quick wipe on my pants or handkerchief. If I notice the joint is sticky or difficult to open or close then I will rinse it out with soap and warm water.

Sometimes i will wipe my blades with an alcohol swab to remove fingerprints and glue residue but that is infrequent.

I grew up in a house with a generous time rule for dropped food and if food has mold on it, you cut the mold off and eat the rest.

The only things I keep my knife away from are chemicals, antifreeze, and some fertilizers.
 
Like many of us, I ate all sorts of dumb stuff with my camper knife back in Scouts. But you survive. (Ever notice how the can opener on those things often looks worse than the other tools? Decades-old dried pork-and-bean residue.)

However, today I generally avoid using folding knives (however many blades) for food. An occasional exception is going to a local beer garden where you can bring in food: cheese, sausage, etc. There I bring my #9 Opi, but I wash it off before leaving the house and I'm careful to make sure that only the outer part of the blade touches the food, not all the way to the joint.

On leaving, I'll clean the blade as best I can (OK, spit & napkin), fold it in, then wash the entire knife in hot soap and water when I get home. After drying, the blade gets a v. light wipe with olive oil. That's all, and no illnesses so far.

(This wouldn't have been enough for a guy I once worked with. Total hypochondriac: his theme song was the "Halleluia" chorus from Handel's Messiah, only instead of "halleluia," he substituted "paranoia.")

But I think if you use common sense, you'll be OK.
 
I use it for both, I'll just wipe/wash the blade when I'm done, the only exception is any kinda chemical contact, then I'll make sure it's washed well in soap and water.

I've been doing this for over 35 years and no problems yet. One comment about germs and what not, I worked in a nursing home for many years as a mechanic and the everyone around me was constantly sanitizing their hands and everything they had. They got sick more frequently than I did, I'm a firm believer in allowing your body to develop its own immunities by exposure.

Granted, it's not for everyone but if you have no auto immune issues it might be for you, a little exposure at a time allows you to build up immunities.

One other option, carry a dedicated food prep/eating knife, I usually have my French Laguiole folder for eating and food prep away from home.
 
Purell hand sanitizer.

Comes in a little bottle that gets lost in the pocket, kills 99% of germs, air dries very fast, and can be wiped on the blade with a clean paper napkin, corner of a bandana, or just fingers. Traveling with kids or grandkids makes one aware of these technological miracles. It works as well on knives as a grimy 5 year old.
 
Either wipe the blade with dry tissues
or wet the blade then dry it with dry tisues
or carry sealed individual antiseptic alchol wipes
 
After cutting food...wipe the blade with a little hand sanitizer....60% ethyl alcohol and adds a nice little Benzophenone-4 and Tocopherol zing next time you use it! :eek:

:p
 
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