Do you love knives, but have difficulty finding uses in your lifestyle?

http://imgur.com/gallery/6KgMBHh
I live in jersey & have an office job, so ecd type blades that make up 95% of this site are not really my forte. I did have a densely forrested property before hurricane sandy blew most of it over. After chopping up the wood with axes for a while, I started checking out heavy duty machetes and got hooked in pretty good. I enjoy chopping up firewood on weekends, and cutting boxes down to size. I take 'em camping, but in jersey a machete in the woods will eventually get you in trouble.
 
ZDHart said:
jackknife! .....what most of us do here has very little to do with any actual need. Our enjoyment of and fascination with knives is not about need; it's about desire. We desire the shiny new sharp edge that everyone here is raving about. We spend sometimes crazy amounts of money to add another sharp edge to a collection that far exceeds any use other than fiddling and imagining cutting things.

Most of us would be well-served indeed, most or perhaps ALL of the time, with a pen knife (or box cutter?) in our pocket, or in the counter drawer. When the blade dulls, replace it with another 10¢ razor edge blade and it's like "brand new" once again.....
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It starts with NEED and after need is satisfied, then it changes to want if you like knives. But I think most of us feel we need a knife, just not a 100 of them.

Box cutters may work for basic utilitarian tasks but they do not satisfy a need for a longer stronger blade. Not much good slicing an apple or pealing one either.
 
Ah yes, peeling fruit with a folding knife. A holdover from simpler, better times.

Maybe the guys that carry traditionals are one up on guys like me that prefer modern folders.
 
22-rimfire said:
It starts with NEED and after need is satisfied, then it changes to want if you like knives. But I think most of us feel we need a knife, just not a 100 of them.

Box cutters may work for basic utilitarian tasks but they do not satisfy a need for a longer stronger blade. Not much good slicing an apple or pealing one either.
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Indeed... a box cutter most certainly has its limitations!

Kitchen knives aside, I don't know how many knives I have... far fewer than many here have - perhaps 25 knives. Most of them are completely unused. A handful of them get some use.

Aside from kitchen knives, with my lifestyle, I could easily get by with two or three folders and a moderate-sized fixed blade or two. I do like to keep a knife or two, here and there in various places in the house. So, that could account for at least 6 knives right there. Nice to keep a folder and a fixed blade in the truck, also.

But it is enjoyable to handle and fiddle with more knives than that - I consider it mere entertainment.
 
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ZDHart said:
Indeed... a box cutter most certainly has its limitations!

Kitchen knives aside, I don't know how many knives I have... far fewer than many here have - perhaps 25 knives. Most of them are completely unused. A handful of them get some use.

Aside from kitchen knives, with my lifestyle, I could easily get by with two or three folders and a moderate-sized fixed blade or two. But it is enjoyable to handle and fiddle with more knives than that - I consider it mere entertainment.
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I with you brother. I could get by with 10 knives no problem. Hell, I only use a couple of them and most are brand new. Honest entertainment is good where ever you can find it.

I probably have 10 box cutters. :D
 
sabre cat said:
You know, my brother-in-law has a Kershaw Leek and they really are a nice knife.
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The stainless Leek is a very nice knife, but that blade is long, very thin, with a very sharp point - a bit on the delicate side. It might be considered to be a "Gentleman's folder", suitable to very light duty.

The $35 Stainless Zing (that you may not appreciate) looks to me like an excellent, low-cost EDC folder! If I didn't already have so many nice, unused knives, I'd buy one in a heartbeat!
 
22-rimfire said:
I with you brother. I could get by with 10 knives no problem. Hell, I only use a couple of them and most are brand new. Honest entertainment is good where ever you can find it.

I probably have 10 box cutters. :D
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And box-cutters are such awesome tools! It's great to have at least a few of those around!
 
I keep enough on hand for a crew.... job stuff although I do tend to have certain preferences and they sometimes bind up and I get pissed at them.
 
Nope. No difficulty finding a use for them.
Just used one to trim some overhanging brush today, in fact.​
 
Beastchopper said:
NJ is pretty opressive with knife and gun laws. 10k property taxes used to overenforce laws so vague cops & courts could screw you however they deem fit.
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Jeez man, I do have sympathies with fellow-Americans who are taxed outrageously and ruled/controlled by numb-skull, backward brained iron fist legislators.

The only saving grace of being an American is called "States Rights" and the ability of Americans to freely re-locate to those states which treat their citizens more in a manner which one might wish to be treated.

I spent nearly all of my life in California, Oregon, and Washington. Ultimately, I had to flee the left coast (beautiful as it is/was) to find a life-style and political environment more in tune with my personal and political beliefs.
 
jackknife said:
.....We live in weird world. A lot of the markets are artificially stimulated for the sake of sales and making a lot of money on products that appeal to the emotional side, but have little real world use. Knives, cars, guns, all make use of advertising and hype to sell and rake in the money. Overkill is the order of the day for the bigger profit margin....
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Overkill, ha, I am just prepping for the zombie apocalypse. ;)

N2s
 
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ZDHart said:
...I spent nearly all of my life in California, Oregon, and Washington. Ultimately, I had to flee the left coast (beautiful as it is/was) to find a life-style and political environment more in tune with my personal and political beliefs.
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You are lucky to be out of here. California is really beginning to go downhill thanks to the idiots in Sacramento. For some unknown reason morons throughout the state keep voting them back in office.

I want out of here so badly but the big question is where do I take my family?
 
sabre cat said:
You are lucky to be out of here. California is really beginning to go downhill thanks to the idiots in Sacramento. For some unknown reason morons throughout the state keep voting them back in office.

I want out of here so badly but the big question is where do I take my family?
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It's a huge country, saber cat, and you can thrive relatively free of political idiocy in the majority of states between the left and right coast states. No place is perfect, of course, there will always be some aspect of any place that you choose which isn't ideal - but you can do a lot better than living in California. It was a fantastic place when I was growing up and through my early decades of life, but what it has become in the last decade is truly a deplorable tragedy. What's really sad is that such a terrible thing has happened to such a beautiful state. But there is a lot of beauty all across this great country. And a lot of wonderful people.
 
sabre cat said:
You are lucky to be out of here. California is really beginning to go downhill thanks to the idiots in Sacramento. For some unknown reason morons throughout the state keep voting them back in office.

I want out of here so badly but the big question is where do I take my family?
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TEXAS!

The Peoples Republik Of Maryland was the same way. When I retired, I started making plans to leave. When the better half finally retired, we pulled up stakes and went to Texas. Karen's family was from here, her two sisters were here, and Had great memories of when I was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

It's been great!!!!!

Very conservative, except for Austin and Houston, and the freedom to enjoy your second amendment rights are backed up by a very pro gun governor. Just this past year, Governor Greg Abbott passed legislation to allow guns on school grounds in churches, and lowered the cost of obtaining a license to carry. They also changed the range qualification for the license. Used to be, you had to use at least a .32 caliber to qualify. Now they let yours a .22 for the reason elderly and some people with disabilities are laminated. When asked about this, Governor Abbott said he wanted tomato it easier to put more carry licenses in the hands of law abiding Texans.

The Gov also passed the disaster law. If its a declared disaster, hurricane on the gulf coast, tornado damage, whatever, then no permit is needed for the open carry of guns. You can carry whatever you like on your hip for the duration of the disaster to protect your property from looters.

They have some great BBQ where ever in Texas you go. No winters to speak of, but it does get damm hot in July and August. But it's a dryer heat than back in Maryland. That's okay though, because I know I'll never have to shovel snow again, or scrape ice off my car windshield again.

As far as knives go, you can legally conceal up to a 5 inch blade in Texas, and the sight off a fixed blade on a hip is not uncommon. Last year, in celebration of the switchblade law, they had a Bowie knife meet up at the Alamo. Open carry of a Bowie was encouraged, and they had a bit turnout. Lots of people wearing Bowie knives, and the San Antonio police had no problem with it. I can't see that happening in San Fransisco.

Our daughter and her family are moving from Mission Viejo California this year when she retires from her parole officer job. They can't wait to get out of the place.

Here in Georgetown, it's one of the fastest growing towns in the country, and a lot of business is moving in. Some from California. Westinghouse, and Dell have built large campus facilities. But hurry up, Williamson Country home prices are going up fast. In just the 4 years we've been in Georgetown, our house has went up 30K in value. And Texas caps the land tax for home owners 65 and up, and for disabled vets it gets cut and capped.

The kids downhere all have their ball caps on strait, pants pulled up, and they even hold the door for my wife and I, saying "after you sir." They have very very obviously been raised right. Everyone there is well mannered, and its like stepping though a time warp and ending up with Ward and June Cleaver in the 1950's.

Ya'll need to come to Texas!
 
jackknife said:
TEXAS!
<snip>
It's been great!!!!!

Very conservative, except for Austin and Houston, and the freedom to enjoy your second amendment rights are backed up by a very pro gun governor....
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That is about right and it is a great state to live in. Texas is growing very quickly in population and the politics is changing (probably due to the out of stater's moving there). I lived in Texas for about 10 years and moved East and settled in Tennessee. Very content in TN and I just like the geography a lot more than Texas. Outdoor things I like to do are either close by or a few hours drive away where as when I lived in Dallas, it was an 6-8 hr drive to Eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas or Missouri for camping and outdoor recreation. But there is a lot of interesting stuff to see in Texas. Big Bend and West Texas is certainly interesting, but I wouldn't want to live there unless I had to.
 
I’ve been saying that I want out of California for years. Idaho’s been on my mind because that’s where my daughter and her husband are.

My wife is in agreement that she wants out of California but it was only recently that she told me where she wanted to go. Arizona.

With the death of my sister down in Arizona, things may change.

For now, I’m stuck in the peoples Republic of California. Why? My wife works for the state. I’m just waiting for her to retire.

Who knows where we will end up.
 
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sabre cat said:
I’ve been saying that I want out of California for years. Idaho’s been on my mind because that’s where my daughter and her husband are.

My wife is in agreement that she wants out of California but it was only recently that she told me where she wanted to go. Arizona.

With the death of my sister down in Arizona, things may change.

For now, I’m stuck in the peoples Republic of California. Why? My wife works for the state. I’m just waiting for her to retire.

Who knows where will end up.
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My one sister moved to Reno, Nevada (from Maryland). Her son who lives and works in CA has a house at Lake Tahoe. So, she's an easy drive to Tahoe and west on the interstate to CA if she wants to. My other sister has been talking about moving to East Tennessee because of the lakes, Smoky Mt NP, and the terrain. That will probably happen after her and her husband retire. They discovered that they can make more money where they are for the time being and move later if they choose to or it makes sense. She has a son in Denver.
 
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My mother in-law's sister after they lost their house during the recession just keep a little apartment in CT, a few years ago as they're almost near complete retirement age plunked down some money on a pretty decent RV which they purchased flat out. They've been spending their summers trying out new places driving down the east coast to Florida. They've been thinking about the Carolinas where my sister has been living the past 15 years.

NJ is nuts, they're about to make it harder to get your gun permit as they want to reach out to your place of employment. All the far left folks go nuts when they hear you are 2A friendly in the NY/NJ area.
 
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