A hypochondriac with a single blade knife?

[Obsessed with Edges]

Does anyone take special care to clean out nail nicks? I use a pocket knife to snack on fruit at work and I usually stray away from slipjoints because the nail nicks collect dirt (or whatever's under my nails). Thumbstuds and opening holes collect it too but I can keep them out of the food if I'm careful. I'm not overly concerned with microorganisms but the potential for a visible solid transferring unto my apple slice is kinda off-putting.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I'm glad this thread was started.

A toothpick (clean, of course ) handles the nail-nick-cleaning chores pretty well. Even better if using it with a little soap & water while washing the blade. Toothpicks can also be handy for digging some of the gunk out of pivots on folding knives. A sewing needle also handles these things nicely.

Toothbrushes also work well. Just be sure you don't mix your knife-cleaning brush with the one you reserve for your teeth. I've done it more than once, absent-mindedly picking up my stone-cleaning toothbrush, previously left on the countertop to dry out.


David

 

[SwiftDream]

When backpacking or hiking I carry a little one ounce nalgene filled with white vinegar. I wipe down the blade before and after any food prep with that.

 

[Brian.Evans]

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."

That's kind of how I am about sleeping arrangements. After 9 years in EMS and one wonderful night sleeping on the concrete floor of the helo pad at Camp Warhorse, Iraq, I'm happy if the place I fall asleep is mostly horizontal and I'm not getting shot at. Those are pretty much my only requirements, and the first is quite negotiable.

However, back to the knife thing. I rarely use my pocket knife for food. I have kitchen knives for that. But, I'm not above slicing an apple without washing it off first. Unless, of course, I've been working around farm chemicals or stuff like that. Dirt is fine, but I don't want poisoned. Just common sense and a highly developed sense of self preservation.

 

[meako]

Another interesting ,relevant and worriesome thread. When a couple of other threads have pups and this is the pick o the litter. Or you're out on the sea and whale spouts in the distance then all of a sudden it surfaces right near your boat.I like it when a thread kind of evolves like that.
Anyhow I'm a bit worried -
Ken what will you do if the dog keels over five minutes after you finish your bit of the apple?
and most disconcerting of all -Paul you owe it to the entire human race to take a sickie and just take the missus off for a picnic or something at least once a year-remember its not about illness its about statistics.Just be aware that a pen pushing desk jockey on the mainlland will know what you're up to if you take the sickie on any of the following
Weekends
Sporting events
Public Holidays
Special occasions
Birthdays(immediate family only)
Days after any of the above.
Pretty much open slather apart from that.
Now on the subject of germs which we all need in order to exist remember one thing -the toilet seat in your house is home to far less germs than the kitchen surface.Why? because its gets cleaned better.
How ? harsh chemical cleaning products that's how. Many of which particularly anything touting "hospital grade cleanliness" will contain potent compounds that are if ingested far more detrimental to health than the germs themselves.

 

[harronek]

Another interesting ,relevant and worriesome thread. When a couple of other threads have pups and this is the pick o the litter. Or you're out on the sea and whale spouts in the distance then all of a sudden it surfaces right near your boat.I like it when a thread kind of evolves like that.
Anyhow I'm a bit worried -
Ken what will you do if the dog keels over five minutes after you finish your bit of the apple?

I got the idea from the Courts of Old .
Every Royal had a " taster "
Mine just has four legs



Ken