Are Knives JUST Tools?

My views... LOL...

They are tools to be, used, that they can also have other properties attractions doesn't make them not a tool. Its just gravy... :) And w weapon is only a weapon if its used as one, but in any case its just a specialized category of tool.

If I use my pen for writing its a pen, and a tool , if I use it to stab someone its a weapon. If I use my rifle for hunting its a tool. If I use it to shoot someone its a weapon. Nothing is inherently a weapon except that use (and intent) makes it so.

Art and collectible is in the eye of the beholder. :)
 
My humble .02 on the matter:

Yes knives are tools. Yes, as long as there is a market of willing buyers there will be collectors and safe queens.

Now, I consider at least most of my knives a tool BOX. I carry a KaBar TDI knife on my duty belt regularly. It has cut plenty, I've even harvested a 6' fatwood "pole" while working at a public park with it. As a side note, it was a wandering, exposed root that tried to grow and failed. Wow was that one dense with 'juice'. I did not have my leatherman with me so, no saw. I also had nothing (no baton) to help drive the knife into the wood, but I did find a nice sized piece of flint rock! Couple of minor dings later and, score! I have also used it as a 'hammer face', when using a baton, to drive nails back into fence boards to keep animals secure in a yard. I've used it to pry a car door away from the body (a very minimal pry) to insert a hanger to pop the lock. I'm sure I could think of several more but, you get the point.

I've known of mechanics who have beautifully engraved, gold plated, and even serial numbered sets of Snap-On sockets that would not be used in a million years. I would also not use one of my $200.00+ customs as a hammer face to drive a nail, but I do not leave them on a "do not touch" shelf in a safe. They are users, at least for their intended purpose. I do not buy a knife that I don't have an intention to use. Having said that, I can't say that I would use my father's knives, that will come to me on a day that I don't want to consider, as they will be given to my sons, when my time comes, along with all of my knives. I would hope that they will put them to use, as they have and will continue to see me do.

So, is a knife a tool, heirloom, collectible, piece of art, or 'user'?

I say... YES!

DD
 
BlueFalcon said:
As for art. There is a guy that pukes on canvas and smears it around and sells it for thousands. sooo yeaaaaah. Anything can be considered art to the right person
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Absolutely right. But I was thinking more in terms of, for instance, the Impressionist painters, or Salvador Dalí or even Pablo Picasso. I have seen in this very forum some knives, daggers, swords that are works of art.
 
A knife is a tool. The many different ways we use it or not use it does not change what it is. The value that we put on it does not change what it is. The intricacies that is involved in the making of it does not change what it is. It is what it is, a knife, which purpose of existence and ability is a tool that cuts.
 
Knives are tools in general. A gun is a tool also. Both require someone to make a conscious decision to use the gun or knife. Is an engraved gun art? Hence, even though you can cut something with a knife or shoot something with a gun, there are certain ones that are special in the eyes of collectors and many view both as "art".

I compare knives to wine.
 
Many things can be classified as a weapon, but only certain things are classified as tools. "an implement, such as a hammer, saw, or spade, that is used by hand" A knife is a tool because it has a specific task, to cut and slice things. It can be used as a weapon, but it's still technically a tool because you're using it for it's intended purpose, not as a fishing pole or bike. Items that are only weapons are things that don't have a specific purpose, such as a pile of sticks; you can use them to make a fire, or to pound someone, but sticks weren't intended specifically for either purpose.
 
Let's not foget a knife's tool-like duty to extract the last dime from your wallet to purchase it... generally as a testament to it's 'swag-like' nature.

Stainz
 
A knife is most definitely a tool that has many applications for use. I carry at least one knife everyday. They have be used as tools for many daily chores. Regrettably," They are seen as weapons to most non knife people".
 
TheSharpStuff said:
A knife is tool that can be used as a weapon. Not the other way around.
Any tool could be used as a weapon.
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A knife is a tool first. Many things are more than one thing, A screwdriver can be a weapon. A watch (a tool, really) can be jewelry.

Still...


It is a versatile tool, the first tool, made and used by us before we were fully human. In the middle ages sharp steel was power and swords (and knives) were named.

Ya, a knife is a tool, but it's not "just" a tool.
 
Yes a knife is a tool. Let's be honest here and admit that for we who frequent this family of forums, a knife is not "ONLY" a tool. Who here would make hundreds or thousands of posts on a screwdriver forum?

A knife is a tool larded with associations that fascinate a certain subset of humanity and others that are repellent to another subset. They evoke a complicated response in the brains of many.
 
I consider most of my everyday knives tools. I also have some that are collectors.
 
Is money just a medium of exchange? I know tools who collect it? I have seen it used as art. I have a silver dollar minted in 1881,the year of "The gunfight at the OK corral".The coin once belonged to a criminal ( he's dead now). The coin is a dollar, collector value $20, value to me, priceless. regards Henry
 
Maybe i'm just weird, but I have always found a beauty in function. A well designed hammer, saw or knife in my opinion can be an art piece. Fine craftsmanship, pride of ownership, the joy of use, the tactile feeling of holding a nice tool, all marry together into something that is always more than "just a tool". For me, a tool is never "just a tool". Kind sir, knives are both tools and art. I'm not sure why they need to be one or the other.

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I've always believed knives are whatever we need them to be. Whatever we encounter and whatever we ask of our knives is what they become. If we need them to be a tool, weapon, instrument of survival, pry-bar, display piece, or just to clean our fingernails, thats what they will become. They serve us in whatever task we need as long as they are capable and it isn't beyond the tolerance of their construction..
 
My schpiel whenever someone says knives/guns are scary or weapons

Knives/guns are not weapons. A knife/gun sitting on a table can not just move itself and stab/cut/shoot you. It needs a living element to control it. Therefore HUMANS are the weapons and we use TOOLS like knives/guns make that job easier for us. Its the same thing when someone uses a knife to cut open a box. The person is the boxcutter and can open a box without help BUT add a knife into the equation and that job of opening the box is made easier.
 
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