Anyone care to define "abuse"

Stirring paint:

Kershaw - all it's good for, go ahead.

Spyderco - Are you crazy? Put it BACK in your pocket and go get the Kershaw!


:D


Just kidding! Everyone knows you use Cold Steel to stir paint!:thumbup:


Right tool for the job!
 
IMO, the definition of "knife abuse" aptly describes the action (amongst other unspoken things carried out by the user) of not doin' a single thing in terms of proper care and maintenance of a said bladed tool.
surely there are times when someone knowingly pushes the physical limits of a knife until it snaps, chips or breaks.
but then again, it's his or her business on how they treat their possessions, emergency or not.
if a said knife owner finds that he or she has to get hold of knife replacements far too often, than it's probable that they fall in the category of natural born knife abusers; of which there is no hope for rehabilitation.
surely a knife is just another tool, like all other tools meant to serve a specific purpose.
it's a case of goin' back to the drawing board, once the majority of knife users start to expect a ton of magic (other than 2 dice 'n slice, mince or chop organic material) from the humble knife.
 
tomcrx said:
Abuse is damage that occurs to my knife by the action of another person. If I caused the damage it is considered "hard use". :)
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Love that one!

To a degree (and in seriousness) I can agree with the other sentiments that each user will extend the "hard use" definition in the case of emergency. That said, I would no longer care or pursue a warranty claim for these (exceptionally rare) situations.
 
Abuse is using the knife in a manner for which it was not designed. Prying, chopping etc. A knife is not an axe. It is not a chisel. It is not an awl or screwdriver. Using it to cut is good. Using it for other purposes is abuse.
 
Blais said:
+1 Absolutely. As mentioned earlier, it also depends on the knife. Perhaps tell us which knife you were thinking of?
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It could be any type of knife. If a tool is used for it's intended purpose it should not break or fail if properly made. Failier is the result of the wrong tool for the application at hand.

For example using a knife as a screwdriver, then expect damage to the tip.

Solution; just use the right scewdriver, even if it means a long ardious walk across the shop, way over there to the screwdrivers:yawn:
 
Though I wholeheartedly agree that abuse can be defined as "misuse of a proper tool for what it's not intended to", I think you have to bring into consideration the quality of that tool.
 
Knife Outlet said:
Abuse is using the knife in a manner for which it was not designed. Prying, chopping etc. A knife is not an axe. It is not a chisel. It is not an awl or screwdriver. Using it to cut is good. Using it for other purposes is abuse.
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Well said, I agree.....and when you call your knife a sum beach when it bites you, that's verbal abuse:D
 
If it breaks, it's abuse.
If it doesn't, it is one tough knife.
I don't press my luck and only use my knives for their intended purpose.
If you can cut down a Redwood tree with a Swiss Army knife, more power to ya!
 
Velcro said:
If it breaks, it's abuse.
If it doesn't, it is one tough knife.
I don't press my luck and only use my knives for their intended purpose.
If you can cut down a Redwood tree with a Swiss Army knife, more power to ya!
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But my swiss army knife has a saw on it. Are you saying I cant topply a six foot in diameter tree with it? :p
 
Knife Outlet said:
Abuse is using the knife in a manner for which it was not designed. Prying, chopping etc. A knife is not an axe. It is not a chisel. It is not an awl or screwdriver. Using it to cut is good. Using it for other purposes is abuse.
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Sorry, but this sounds like woosy knives! (Although I agree that my convex edges don't work well as screwdrivers)

I started this post kiddingly, but now that I think about it, the knives I have that might need that kind of limited, restricted use usually stay home! There are too many good knives available (at nearly any reasonable price point) that will do those things.

Obviously, prying needs to be within reason for the particular knife,, but chopping should only be limited by your patience and the size of the knife, Chisel? Unless you're trying to cut bolts or something, why not? (I may not understand your use of a chisel?) As for awl- as long as it's pointy enough.

I expect my knives to do what I need them to do in the moment. I pay good money for them and enjoy seeing how far they can go. I've only once broke the tip off a knife (and at the time I knew it would happen but needed to get the task done, so I was willing to sacrifice it) so I know I'm not being unreasonable.

The beauty of knives is that they are such simple, and thus, versatile tools.
 
MVF said:
Sorry, but this sounds like woosy knives! (

The beauty of knives is that they are such simple, and thus, versatile tools.
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There we go! Someone finally said it.

I can agree with both sides...but at some point you have to admit that the reason many of us carry knifes is to save time by not getting the exactly correct tool for the job every time (weather that tool is a letter opener, or a reamer...it is up to the user to decide where to draw that line between using the knife on your person, or trotting over to get the "right tool".)

This gets to the heart of the matter (that we all probably draw the line in different places). I was discussing blades with my wife last night and she suggested getting me a very dressy and delicate knife for Christmas (she is pretty cool). I nudged her in a different direction though stating that my rugged knives would probably pick on a "pretty" knife and eventually bully it out of the collection.
 
LUW said:
Though I wholeheartedly agree that abuse can be defined as "misuse of a proper tool for what it's not intended to", I think you have to bring into consideration the quality of that tool.
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That doesn't change the definition of abuse. It only recognizes that some knives will withstand abuse better than others.
 
My definition of abuse would be the point where you start sacrificing the tool to the task. Certainly not necessarily unjustified, but it's going to shorten the tools' life. Of course some tools are specifically designed for this sort of use - like utility knives.

I think a knife carried with the premise of potential SHTF use has wider parameters than one that's not. In other words, 'emergency' tools are more potentially expendable than non-emergency tools.
 
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