Do You Dig With Your Knife?

I would if I had to, but I have better tools handy for digging. I do cut sod and roots with my machete. The machete makes pretty fast work in fitting pieces in.
 
In a unique circumstance I had to use a cold steel knife to cut sod, definitely worth it and it wasn't that hard to sharpen.
 
i try to have a heavy use knife that i can dig with on some trips where you are travelling light but have to dig a tent pole on hard ground or tundra. It's obviously not ideal but I have done it when I'm pressed. But any knife can be damaged that way so i don't recommend it. i had a nice but definite working Hayes in 01 that was damaged on a rock, which is very hard to do with any of wally's knives. The right tool was lashed in the kayak too far to walk and a storm was coming in blah blah blah. Sometimes I'm just lazy or too sore. It's nice to have a beater. I've gone through a few. Just don't destroy a great knife like i did.
 
glockman99 said:
If you want to dig something, use a shovel. If you want to pry something, use a prybar. If you want to cut or stab something, use a knife. Do you understand the concept of the right tool for the job?.:D.
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Yes , if all that I need to do when I m home .But did you suggest to me to carry all that iron when I go to the mountain ????? No my friend , I will use my knife for everything when I m out ........ If you don t like scratches on you knife keep it in box or bye cheap one :D Do you understand the concept ......... buy a knife and used it while it lasts :) It is just a knive and knive is tool !
 
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If I have no better tools at hand, I use a cheap Fixed blade or one of Spyderco's Salt folders, as they can't rust or corrode and can easily be rinsed under water or cleaned in the dishwasher

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H1 steel is very forgiving

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Went to visit my mom and noticed a number of flats containing Asiatic Jasmine(ground cover) in her yard as I drove up. About 200 plants. Went inside the house and she was laid up on the couch unable to walk. She had tried to work in the yard but her hip was giving her trouble(osteoporosis). She was worried about her Jasmine and I had no other tools in my truck, very unusual for me, so I pulled out the Kershaw Blackout and went to work digging small holes.
Had to wipe it off to take a pic so you could tell it was a knife.:D
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Cleaned it up, no big deal. It's my beater work knife, but I did decide to throw an old cheap fixed blade under the seat of my truck for next time.
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During the Operation Anaconda, an Australian SAS soldier attached to the 101st Airborne wrote about trying to dig a foxhole with a knife, his last comment was he would never go to the field again without an E-tool. John
 
Natlek said:
Yes , if all that I need to do when I m home .But did you suggest to me to carry all that iron when I go to the mountain ????? No my friend , I will use my knife for everything when I m out ........ If you don t like scratches on you knife keep it in box or bye cheap one :D Do you understand the concept ......... buy a knife and used it while it lasts :) It is just a knive and knive is tool !
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I agree with Natlek.
I am not in favor of using a knife to dig....
But it is good to feel confident that in the case of a need (in an emergency situation etc.), your knife can do it....
AND I have seen the Gerber Strongarm doing that without any problem.... (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPqkWOY1bCg Dakota Fire Hole vs. Gerber Strongarm).....
 
A fixed blade works pretty well for planting bulbs if you don't have a shovel handy.

As far as cutting sod, a knife is probably the best tool unless you want to use a hatchet.
 
If I don't have a shovel around, I will use a cheap machete or folder.
 
I don't think it's a sin , but the ground around here is very rocky . I hate having to chop roots because even stout grubbing tools get damaged . Would be very rough on a thin blade knife .
 
glockman99 said:
If you want to dig something, use a shovel. If you want to pry something, use a prybar. If you want to cut or stab something, use a knife. Do you understand the concept of the right tool for the job?.:D.
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This is a good thread for understanding thick spined knives, thick edges, and steep secondary bevels. Those "combat" knives that were designed to be able to pry as a lever, dig without rolling or chipping an edge, and cut if/when sharpened. There's even a whole classification of sod cutting knives for working in and around dirt.


miltmaldo said:
Hey when a company say if it brakes we replace it . I will do everything I can with it . ESEE 4 is what I use for my gardening I dig holes for my plants i use it for everything in my back Yard.

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That's a great photo testament to a good steel with a great heat-treatment ;-)


Ya, I would prefer to use a shovel & digging bar, but in a less than ideal circumstance a good fixed blade possesses some of the same attributes.
 
John A. Larsen said:
During the Operation Anaconda, an Australian SAS soldier attached to the 101st Airborne wrote about trying to dig a foxhole with a knife, his last comment was he would never go to the field again without an E-tool. John
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I wonder where they were out there. I was in Anaconda with the 10th Mountain and I can only remember one place I could have dug a fighting position. Was it in a book?
 
GermanyChris, I first read about it in an After Action Report and later found a book written by the same man. The book's title is "18 Hours" by Jock Wallace. If I remember correctly he and one other Australian SAS man were attached to the 101st as liaisons. John
 
John A. Larsen said:
GermanyChris, I first read about it in an After Action Report and later found a book written by the same man. The book's title is "18 Hours" by Jock Wallace. If I remember correctly he and one other Australian SAS man were attached to the 101st as liaisons. John
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Thanks for the name of the book so much that has been written about that operation was from the American POV and discussed the failings. It wouldn't surprise me at all that they were attached in some way to the 101st they were the largest force there. There wasn't all that many total, 101 was in motel 6 and about half of a battalion, the collective special people were in the old hangar and maybe a couple rifle companies in size, then there were us and the Canadians, next to the special kids and we're we're no more than a couple companies.
 
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