Do you ever feel nervous when you let someone else use your knife?

J

Jesse_A

Joined
Jan 8, 2012
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18
Every single time I let a friend or acquaintance use one of my knives I feel nervous that they are going to dull/chip the blade. Even if it is for something as simple as dicing vegetables or cutting paracord they might ding the edge on something. One time another kid asked to see one of my knives and then tried to stab it into the table we were sitting at, (I would never do such a thing) but the table was actually concrete painted brown to look like wood! :eek: I literally felt a pain inside of my stomach from the concept that someone would do such a thing with a knife. Luckily it just flattened the tip of the blade a bit and did not break it off. Quite a few other times I have lent someone one of my knives for about an hour, and I get it back to find a whole bunch of flat spots on the edge. Usually it is not such a big deal, but it's not fun when I loan out a more expensive blade and it comes back dirty, scratched, and used with no edge discipline at all. :mad: ($200 BM940 is expensive to me. No Sebenzas yet) I became so tired of people asking to borrow my knives that I decided to start carrying a knife specifically for loaning out. I picked up a Victorinox Pocket Pal from CutleryShoppe for about eleven dollars. Possible the best eleven dollars I have spent in a long time. I let someone borrow it, and don't even care when it comes back dull, dirty, and scratched. The simplicity of the design makes it so easy to maintain and sharpen. I was so happy with it that I bought five more Pocket Pals to go into various kits around the house. I've also noticed that people seem less alarmed when I whip out my Pocket Pal in public, compared to when I take out my BM940 (or my Endura 4 Spyder-Edge which I rarely carry because it looks gnarly). Do you guys carry designated loaner knives on your person for this reason or am I the only one who gets absolutely paranoid when I let someone use my knife?
 
I have a pinata that looks like a coyote full of $10 Mora's that I let the unacquainted take whacks at. Then everyones happy. No harm hurtin' one of them.
 
Jesse_A said:
One time another kid asked to see one of my knives and then tried to stab it into the table we were sitting at, (I would never do such a thing) but the table was actually concrete painted brown to look like wood! :
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I would have hoped that you learned from this experience not to let people borrow your knives. Sure, you can say you buy a loaner/beater knife to hand out to people asking, but you'll just end up buying more and more replacement knives. Why waste your money on people like that?

I don't let anyone use my knives. Non-knife people don't understand why knife people buy knives that cost a few hundred bucks. Heck, they probably don't even recognize a knife that costs that much when you hand them one. I don't expect them to know how to handle a knife without mucking it up. I'm not that nice to keep on buying beater knives either, nor am I going to buy a single beater and commit to keeping its edge sharp so I can keep on handing it out.

My advice: stop letting people borrow your knives. Sooner or later that person is gonna cut themselves with a knife they borrow from you, and probably blame you.
 
I wouldn't hand anybody a knife unless I'm there watching them use it. If this certain person asks me a lot for a knife, I'll tell them they should buy their own and give them some recommendations. I have no problem lending a knife (as long as its value isn't above $50 or so) because they are meant to be used.
 
Jesse_A said:
Because I try to be a nice guy
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You can be a nice guy without loaning knives away. Ask to do the cutting for them. That's what I do. If the material in question is something you wouldn't cut with a knife, I tell them no.
 
I don't lend my knives out. Being a nice guy has nothing to do with it, most people I run into that need something cut have no idea how to open, or unlock the knives I have in my pocket. You want to be a nice guy, offer to cut what they need for them.
 
Y'all do got a bunch of valid points, I guess you're all correct that if they really need a knife for an extended period of time, they should just get their own. I do frequently cut things for people if it is a small task (opening boxes, cutting cord) but y'all right that they should just carry their own knife. If they carry their own knife they will probably care for it more, and if not, it only affects them. It probably has more to do with me having a hard time saying no than being a nice guy I suppose. RevDevil, I've had that same problem where people do not know how to use a liner/frame/axis lock so they hand the knife back to me still open. I'm still gonna carry my Pocket Pal around though because its classic. "Lemme cut it or get your own knife" will probably be what I change to then. Thanks for sharing opinions guys :)
 
Jesse, kudos to you for being a helpful person in your environment. Wish there were more people with that mentality around the workplace. Hand someone a knife with a compression lock and watch them freak out as they try and close it. It's good for a laugh. ;)
 
RevDevil said:
Jesse, kudos to you for being a helpful person in your environment. Wish there were more people with that mentality around the workplace. Hand someone a knife with a compression lock and watch them freak out as they try and close it. It's good for a laugh. ;)
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A guy at my work was asking for a razor blade to cut something. I said I have a knife you can use ( my beater tenacious ). I handed it to him. He came back from using it and said " How do you close this bad boy?". Cracked me up.
 
Steel130 said:
A guy at my work was asking for a razor blade to cut something. I said I have a knife you can use ( my beater tenacious ). I handed it to him. He came back from using it and said " How do you close this bad boy?". Cracked me up.
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See! That right there is what I am talking about. After fumbling for a minute or so, they just hand it over with a puzzled look on their face. :D
 
Jesse_A said:
Y'all do got a bunch of valid points, I guess you're all correct that if they really need a knife for an extended period of time, they should just get their own. I do frequently cut things for people if it is a small task (opening boxes, cutting cord) but y'all right that they should just carry their own knife. If they carry their own knife they will probably care for it more, and if not, it only affects them. It probably has more to do with me having a hard time saying no than being a nice guy I suppose. RevDevil, I've had that same problem where people do not know how to use a liner/frame/axis lock so they hand the knife back to me still open. I'm still gonna carry my Pocket Pal around though because its classic. "Lemme cut it or get your own knife" will probably be what I change to then. Thanks for sharing opinions guys :)
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I'm a bit superstitious about closing a knife opened by someone else......bad juju ;)
 
i lent my leatherman juice to my brother the other day and he was repeatedly closing the saw on top of the awl, I freaked out at him and took it back, my mom proceeded to get pissed at me "For freaking out over nothing"....... I guess i'm just protective of my stuff, no sense in asking for it to be ruined
 
The other part about people not knowing how to open a knife is that when you do tell them how and they figure it out, a lot of them get shocked and are likely to drop the knife. Lemme tell ya, a knife bounces a lot more than you would initially think, given the right surface. Had one bounce straight into the side of my heel. Yea, that one left a mark. That was years ago.
 
I never underestimate other human beings' capacity for inconsiderateness, and so I never lend my knives. People are weird about things that don't belong to them. It takes someone with real character to respect something that they don't own. There are many more idiots who will rub their fingers all over the edge of a high carbon blade (fingers coated with french fry salt, etc.), use your knife to open a can of beans, leave your knife out in the rain, etc.
 
I know the people around me. Electricians piss them up, using them as screwdrivers and whatnot, machiners and mechanics know what they're doing and may even give it back sharper than before.

If I trust a person enough for him to use my knife I don't worry at all.
 
I don't lend out my knives.
I did give my brother 2 and sold him one. He broke one throwing it into a workbench, one is rusted only after one year, and the third was lost while working on the roof. Some people do not know how to care for their knives. They are probably the same people asking to borrow yours, lol.:eek:
 
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