Are Knives Just Tools?

Knives are kinda like a good watch.

Can be fancy or simple, expensive or cheap as long as you enjoy it and it tells time it gets used.

More than just a tool, but serves the purpose of a tool plus some.
 
If I buy a knife and find myself NOT carrying and using it, it gets sold or traded for something different quickly. Of course, I haven't yet reached that critical mass point where your collection becomes so big that you can't feasibly give them all meaningful pocket time. I'm sure plenty of people around here have been there and maybe back :D
 
"A knife is a tool and if we don't treat our tools with a certain familiar contempt we lose perspective". Bob Loveless.

The most important sentence i've ever read about knives. It changed the way i looked at them. An expensive knife you use sparingly has no more value than a cheap one with limited abilities. In each case you are flanged in their use. But is a knife just a tool? There again Bob Loveless made a good point: "A knife is an atavistic experience."

dantzk.
 
I use my knives as tools. My most expensive knife is about $200 and that's the one I bang up the most. If I'm not going to use it, I'm not going to buy it. Don't get me wrong I don't abuse them, I'm just not afraid to use them real hard.
 
dantzk8 said:
"A knife is a tool and if we don't treat our tools with a certain familiar contempt we lose perspective". Bob Loveless.

The most important sentence i've ever read about knives. It changed the way i looked at them. An expensive knife you use sparingly has no more value than a cheap one with limited abilities. In each case you are flanged in their use. But is a knife just a tool? There again Bob Loveless made a good point: "A knife is an atavistic experience."

dantzk.
Click to expand...

Great post. :)
For now, I can only use my cheaper knives with contempt, but maybe someday I'll be able to scar up my Microtech LCC D/A.
 
Tools, and then more.
I admire the craftsmanship, that goes into them.
I'm interested in the materials they are made of.
The properties of the blade material; and of course the handle materials, which I so often fondle.
Some knives are connected with memories, be it a person or an experience.
Just take it in your hand and the mind beginns to wander about - and I can cut my daily apple with it.

red mag
 
There are tools like hammers, screwdrivers, files etc. and many of my knives are just like them.
Then there are also tools that you just like to have in the hand and play with, absent-mindedly fondle for comfort purposes or just to de-stress.
Most of them are also knives.
I did have a special tool just for playing with, but once you get past about four years old, people start looking at you funny. Once you get to my age, you even get arrested for it.
 
Tools and so much more. I guess that's why I have Pelican cases of Benchmades still in their boxes. Just incase I need a backup knife.
 
I do look at knives as tools first. However I also look at them as examples of modern triumphs in machining and manufacturing, as well as what humans are able to build ( talking customs here mainly ). Its also a hobby, as I love getting new steels and trying them out, seeing how they perform.
 
While I appreciate certain knives for their historical or aesthetic traits...........

I don't usually buy tools that I don't intend to use. I try to buy the best quality bang for my buck when it comes to my knives, so IMHO, if a $100 knife won't give me $50 more worth than a $50 knife........well............the $50 knife wins.

That doesn't mean I am going to abuse my shit, because I don't believe in that either..............but I will use my stuff for what it is designed to do. I have found that when it comes down to it, using the right tool for the right job has saved me more heartache than you can possibly imagine. That goes for sharp stuff too.
 
Blades are early mans greatest achievement. Not much has changed with them over thousands and thousands of years and they still serve us the same. That is why we love them. Knives are more than a tool they are in our dna.
 
For me, they are tools. I actually have one I do not use, and it bugs me. I want to trade it for something I will use. That is now, what happens later in life when I have a bit more money to play with might be different.
 
Depends on the knife. Some knives are strictly for collecting and flipping. Some are for EDC stuff like cutting open boxes, food prep ( we don't have a kitchen at my work). I don't much consider knives as a Self Defense tool cause I'm not a trained knife fighter but I bet if I really had to use it I would.
 
I would never buy a knife I would not use. however its more than a tool, its something more personal than that to me. There is just something "sexy" (if you would) about a knife. its like my keys and wallet and cell phone in that I have it with me every where I go. my knifes are users however if Im going to open a bag of concrete (or other task that may jack up my finish, I may reach for a near by razor knife in the garage if one is close by, rather than mess up the finish on my blade so you could say I baby it to a degree.
 
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