"Always carry a pocket knife"

[Number6]

Nicely observed Jackknife .Your writing reads real easy, it resonates with the reader (well it does with me ), I reckon there is a market for such writing as yours.
Paul.

 

[T.K.C.]

I love reading the things you write. That is another great story.
I agree that you REALLY SHOULD be writing for a publication!!

I do have my Alasdorf Ironwood INterframe Jack in my pocket as I write this.

 

[spydie fanatic]

First post here on the forums, but I totally agree...I am 25 and the only person I know amongst my friends to have an EDC on me at almost all times. I guess my dad always had a small multi-blade schrade or other brand name penknife, but 2 years ago I got him to start carrying a spyderco native III SE and he tells me all the time how useful it is at work. The good old days are fading and I think the few old school ones out there need to teach the younger generation a thing or two.

Gives me memories of my grandpa using his Imperial M4 bayonet to dig dandelions out of his yard

Looking forward to activation of my platinum membership and learning from the folks here on the forums.

Thanks for your story.

Cheers

 

[navihawk]

I find it unique that someone can have one knife for many years and be quite content with it without feeling the need to get more. It's their tool as well as their companion.
Thanks for the story JK.

 

[Gadgetaholic]

I was at my nephew's birthday party a few weeks ago and forgot to carry a knife. There were a lot of toys in plastic and cardboard packaging that needed to but cut open. My family knows I always carry a knife. I was asked at least half a dozen times for my knife and each time I had hang my head in shame.

Rightly so - you shouldn't leave the house naked! Without my SAK & LM on my belt I just don't feel dressed!

The older gent had a small pocket knife in his hand, and was telling the boy that it was an important thing for a man to have a pocket knife, and that it did not have to be big, just good quality and sharp.

I wasn't taught this as a child and I never got into the habit of always carrying a knife. Then 10 or 11 years ago while working as a computer tech I read about a pocket knife designed for computer techs - it seemed that Victorinox had made something called the 'Cybertool' specifically for people like me. I went to a shop that sold things like that and inquired about it - they talked to their rep and got one in for me. Since then I have carried it every day - bloody useful little thing it is too! Soon after that I also added a Leatherman Wave. I have now carried the SAK and LM every day for over a decade and they are both in excellent condition - quality lasts! I do sharpen the blades now and then to keep them nice and sharp and clean & lube them - but I have probably averaged less than a couple of hours a year on maintenance, these things are very easy to own and live with.

I do like gadgets (hence the username I chose) and it gives me pleasure having the tool I need to do a job. I carry 3 torches, a SAK, a LM and 2 lighters (I don't smoke) and some other stuff. I recently added a Leatherman K502x as well - sometimes you want a bigger blade. I have a Squirt C4 that I want to add somewhere - I think I need more pockets (I don't like 2 metal things sharing a pocket). I might be a little addicted to carrying every possible useful item I can on my person everyday - I hate wanting something that I know I have at home and wish I had with me! Now if I didn't have a sharp blade on me somewhere (even the Squirt has a very sharp little blade) I wouldn't feel right!

These days some people get hung up on blades being weapons - but they are also tools. If you receive a package in the mail and it is all taped up, do you know what is a good tool to open that package? That's right, a sharp blade! If there is a new gadget inside the package and you are a gadgetaholic then it is VERY important that you get that sucker open! We have a bin for recycling stuff including cardboard, but some packages that arrive in the mail are in cardboard boxes that are too big to fit in the recycling bin, do you know what a good tool to make the cardboard smaller is? That's right, a sharp blade! Having a small easy to carry tool like a SAK on you is just plain ol' good sense!

 

[.41Dude]

Long ago When I was about 12 yrs old.

I read a Readers Digest "Drama in Real Life" story.

An aircraft had crash landed and caught on fire.

Everyone exited the aircraft safely EXCEPT one passenger with a jammed seat belt.

A crewmember re entered the burning plane to try and free the passenger.

They both died.

Even as a 12 yr old 40+ years ago I thought "Didn't someone have a knife?"

I am VERY rarely without some kind of sharp knife with me.

Strange how a story can stick with you

 

[jackknife]

Long ago When I was about 12 yrs old.

I read a Readers Digest "Drama in Real Life" story.

An aircraft had crash landed and caught on fire.

Everyone exited the aircraft safely EXCEPT one passenger with a jammed seat belt.

A crewmember re entered the burning plane to try and free the passenger.

They both died.

Even as a 12 yr old 40+ years ago I thought "Didn't someone have a knife?"

I am VERY rarely without some kind of sharp knife with me.

Strange how a story can stick with you

Most of us will have the good luck to go through life never having to face a life or death situation. But sometimes something happens. My dad and Mr. Van both hammered that into my head when young, and I never forgot it. Mr. Van told us that when you leave the house in the morning, only God above knows what is in store for you in the course of the day. So it behooves you to be ready.

My dad always told me that saying I've used; it does not have to be big, just sharp. As he lived his life with a Case peanut, I took him at his word, eventually.

When my own time came that I needed a knife, it was a life or death situation. The kind of thing that I too had read about in Readers Digest, or the newspaper. When it happened, there was a brief moment of shock, like the mind needed a moment to digest what just happened right in front of you. Then the realization that you have to do something fast, or it will be too late.

One early winter morning, when myself and my duaghter saw a car loose it and roll a couple times, it was stunning. Then you just do. If I had not had a sharp knife right then, I don't like to think about what may have happened. The woman stuck in the overturned NIssan was overweight, and her weight was making it impossable to undo the seatbelt. I pushed with everything I had in my right thumb, but it was no good. I ended up cutting the belt with a Buck 301 stockman.

At that moment, I knew what my dad had told me was true; anything with a small sharp blade would have done. Anything. A Vic classic, an old Christy knife, a Boker 240 pen knife, or even a Case peanut. Something. Anything with an edge.

With all the womans weight on the belt, it cut very easy, and any small penknife size blade would have done it.

Always carry a knife. Any knife, as long as it's sharp.

 

[neeman]

You had sharp wits to be able to use your sharp knife

 

[SharpFella]

I would be happy to read them, if I could only keep my eyes from sweating. Keep it up, there are more of us than you know.

 

[Gadgetaholic]

With all the womans weight on the belt, it cut very easy, and any small penknife size blade would have done it.

I remember reading about a very sad story - emergency crews were at the scene and a woman was trapped in a car that started to burn - there was no way to free her (only doable with the jaws of life and no time to wait for it to arrive) and the emergency worker had to move away from the car and let her die. I don't think I'll ever forget that particular story.

Imagine a similar situation, but where the car is on fire and the trapped person CAN be freed by cutting the seatbelt - how would you feel if you were unable to free the person because you didn't have a knife available? The only time I leave the house without a knife is when I go for an hours exercise (fast walk covering 6kms in 1 hour with some good uphill sections) and now I am thinking of carrying something small & sharp - just in case. I would hate to be in that situation and have a persons life at risk because I didn't have something as basic as a sharp knife on me. Maybe my morning walk would be the ideal time to carry my little Leatherman Squirt S4 - it has scissors & a tiny but sharp blade - I am confident that it could cut a seatbelt if it had to.

Sometimes a knife is not enough, but sometimes a knife would have been enough - if only you had thought to carry one!

 

[eaglecaps]

People have looked at me funny as i pull my little pocketknife out, i tell them it's MY American Express Card.....don't leave home without it....

 

[The Government]

I would read your book, as long as you continue to mention all those slick knives in such detail!

Thanks for the story!

 

[rdnkbkr]

Besides, how many people really want to read the meandering musings of an old fart?

I for one truly enjoy your stories. Please keep them coming. Scott

 

[mnblade]

The woman stuck in the overturned NIssan was overweight, and her weight was making it impossable to undo the seatbelt. I pushed with everything I had in my right thumb, but it was no good. I ended up cutting the belt with a Buck 301 stockman.

At that moment, I knew what my dad had told me was true; anything with a small sharp blade would have done. ...

With all the womans weight on the belt, it cut very easy, and any small penknife size blade would have done it.

Always carry a knife. Any knife, as long as it's sharp.

And if it's not sharp, bring along a fat broad, right jackknife?

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

I'm 22 and I love traditional knives and reading your stories Jackknife. As far as I'm concerned, "tactical" knives have their place, as do Glocks and M4s. Your average person doesn't need much more than a .38 revolver to defend themselves. Most people can get by fine with a Case Peanut, or some sort of SAK. I can't really carry a fixed blade around, so I take the locking folders out if I think I might need them, just like I'd want an M4 under certain circumstances. On an average day, though, I can do whatever I need to do with a small pocket knife that takes two hands to open and a pistol with "only five shots." When something is simple and just down right works, it kinda becomes your inanimate companion, and an extension of your personality. Reading your stories, Jackknife, gives me the same feelings I get when fondling an old knife/gun/lighter/etc. and thinking about all the great memories I have of using it, and all the places its been with me. I'm sure you'd be surprised how many people that don't post read your stories. I know, because I used to be one of them.

 

[TheSharpStuff]

this story make me ashamed that i carried a spyderco for almost a year straght. Ah well I got my good old buck 112 now and dont plan on going back to the "tacti-cool" knives any time soon, its buck, case, boker, and gec from now on. Alot of these kids these days only think of a knife as a weapon and that make me sick when i here a pocket knife refered to as a weapon. A knife is a tool what you use it for is your own business. i heard one kid at walmart that was looking at a small buck pen knife say "what is this thing good for, its so small youd have to stab someone 100 times to do anything" If that was my kid i would have took him to bathroom and wore his rear end until there wasnt any skin left.