Ever wish you had a beater?

RogueBowie

RogueBowie

Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
2,603
Ever been in a situation where you wish that instead of one of the nicer knives in your collection you were carrying a cheap beater? Either instead of or in addition too?

Recently I was in a situation that I'm sure many of you have been in before, us being knife aficionados and our coworkers likely knowing that. One of my coworkers had to cut open something or other and he asked me for my knife and I had my newer Manix2 in my pocket (yeah, it's not a Sebenza or anything, but it's not a Gerber Paraframe either).
The coworker is someone that I know usually carries a knife too (some giant Cold Steel folding-sword looking monstrosity, hmm, wonder why he didn't happen to have it on him when he needed it). Seeing as he's kind of a knife person too I figured he would know how to use it. Short version, he cut himself and my knife came back with glue and scratches on the blade. Nothing major, but I sure wish I'd had my Flash II on me.

What are some recent situations you've been where you wish it wasn't your good knife in your pocket?
 
This is why I always ask and it just happened today.

I was at work and someone asked if anyone had a sharp knife. And of course everyone knows I have a laser sharp sebenza on at me at all times.

So I asked "what for?" With to cut something in response and then "what are you cutting?" With what are all the questions for?!

Which resulted in me just doing it for them. It was 5 layers of thick waterproof tarping and they had mangled the end with some kind of serrated butter knife and they were amazed that I push cut the whole thing like butter.

Moral of the story is just do it yourself and try to convince them that they should carry a decent folder.

Maybe someday people will realize that having a sharp knife on them is an essential tool.
 
I always have my main blade in my right front pocket (usually a spyderco or benchmade) and either a victorinox super tinker or alox soldier in the other, that way I have a screw driver/pry, can opener, beater blade that is only about $20 to replace if need be and usually a lot easier to reprofile should it get a dent or ding in the edge from poor use or a surprise staple or something.
 
I totally wanted to be like 'What do you need to cut? I can do it my knife is kind of tricky' but I was in the middle of doing eight different things. I had a Leatherman in my pocket too and I considered handing him that but I knew five minutes later he'd be running back up to me asking 'where is the knife part and how do I get to it?'

Next time I will let him figure out the Leatherman if I'm too busy to cut it for him.
 
I bought a Kershaw Scallion awhile back and I guess I consider it a beater knife (I pretty much abuse all of my knives, plus I can't afford $100 knives right now)
one time at work, my co-worker needed to borrow a knife to cut some plastic straps off of a shipment, he gave it back to me with the tip broken off, scratched and dulled...
I was upset, but it's not a huge deal because its only a 30 dollar knife.
 
I've been carrying an OLFA as my off-hand EDC for the last month now. That way I don't have to lend my precious Military to me when an abusive task comes up.
Having a super thin, sharp, and disposable blade can be really nice sometimes.
 
A SAK farmer is usually back-up. Lately at work, I've just carried a Kershaw Crown. $10-15 bucks and it's solid gentleman-style beater for me.
 
RogueBowie said:
What are some recent situations you've been where you wish it wasn't your good knife in your pocket?
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Though my Delica4 FFG is no sebenza, it was brand new in my pocket and my brother in law was showing me how his worksharp functioned. He asked for my knife and a long story short he ground down the blade and rounded the tip in a matter of seconds. It was a sad day and I will never make that mistake again.
 
One time, a few of us were sitting around in the grass during a break at work. One of my coworkers had his boots off and asked if he could borrow my knife. I said sure and handed him my Manix 2. He opens the knife, adopts a shit-eating grin, and uses it to pop this monster friggin' blister on his foot. Without bothering to wipe it off or anything he hands it back to me, still open, with pus, blood, and every other damn thing running all over the blade. :eek:

I don't mind using or even abusing my knives when I need to, and I don't mind other people using them, but that was just nasty. :barf:
 
I used to carry a Gerber Exchange-A-Blade at work. That was my beater and loaner. If they needed a longer blade, it wasn't my problem. I've had some jobs that take me to banks, and construction sites. There's no need for me to have a good knife, it will just get F*$@%d up. One day I was told well need to cut some sod, bring a sharp knife. Yeah, I bought a linoleum blade for that day, it just hooked into my razor knife.

I was at Sportsman's Warehouse one day, walked past the knife counter. The guy had a Sharpmaker on the counter, and asked if I had a knife, he was going to demonstrate how it works on my knife. I declined giving him my Custom Bark River Highland Special, I told him it was already sharp. I'm sure lots of people carry dullish knives, and that Sharpmaker may well help out on some knives. I just don't know the guy, nor if he's going to scratch up my knife, drop it, etc..

Lesson: don't let a stranger demonstrate something on your property.
 
Hmmm, whatever knife you carry should be a useable knife.. no reason in carrying a safe queen if you're afraid it might get glue or tape residue or even, OMG scratched..

As far as letting other people use it.. same thing, if you are carrying something you are afraid of letting someone else use.. you should be carrying something else..

Hi, yes this is my knife but you cant use it because I spent too much on this knife and afraid you might eff it up.. weak :)

Keep it in the safe, or use the damn thing :)
 
sloth357 said:
Hmmm, whatever knife you carry should be a useable knife.. no reason in carrying a safe queen if you're afraid it might get glue or tape residue or even, OMG scratched..

As far as letting other people use it.. same thing, if you are carrying something you are afraid of letting someone else use.. you should be carrying something else..

Hi, yes this is my knife but you cant use it because I spent too much on this knife and afraid you might eff it up.. weak :)

Keep it in the safe, or use the damn thing :)
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Humbling statement. I think we all go through that newness factor when we get a sweet blade and want to keep it nice as long as we can. I guess like everything there is an extreme. I bought busses for beating because I wanted something that could take a beating. I babied the BWM for a spell and then beat the poop out of it. The hog Muk I just bought is still being babied a little but I intend for it to take a beating sooner or later. I think id feel pretty bad about passing this flawless knife over to someone who is going to run it through a grinder. But I would let them use it to process a moose or firewood without hesitation.
 
sloth357 said:
Hmmm, whatever knife you carry should be a useable knife.. no reason in carrying a safe queen if you're afraid it might get glue or tape residue or even, OMG scratched..

As far as letting other people use it.. same thing, if you are carrying something you are afraid of letting someone else use.. you should be carrying something else..

Hi, yes this is my knife but you cant use it because I spent too much on this knife and afraid you might eff it up.. weak :)
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I agree with this. I work in an office and the most someone would have to do is to cut open a box or open an envelope, but I still ask what they are going to do with it. I've been in other situations where someone asked for my knife and they intended to cut a rock in half, or pry open a car door, or whatever. I just decline.

If I was in a work environment that included cutting harder materials I would be carrying a different knife for me to use myself for those chores, and if other people were asking to borrow it I would carry a second real cheap knife to loan to them. Even if that meant buying a handfull of the $2 knives that I see at shows or stores. I will usually carry a knife that is too nice to loan to someone else, even if I was carrying something relatively inexpensive like a Delica. I might carry a more expensive knife like a Benchmade, but I'm unlikely to carry anything more expensive than that to start with. Today I'm carrying a $50 CRKT. It is big and heavy, with a 4" blade, and it would be very hard for someone to break, but I would still ask what they wanted to do with it. I do open boxes and such with my knife, and I get glue residue on it myself, but since I did it I will be the one to clean it off.



he gave it back to me with the tip broken off, scratched and dulled...
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I would tell him that he is buying me a new knife!



uses it to pop this monster friggin' blister on his foot
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You should have told him that you just used the knife to clean some fish and you had not washed it yet. Hope your foot doesn't get infected and fall off.

I occasionally will pull my knife out when eating if I need to cut something and the restaurant didn't provide a knife or didn't provide a proper knife. This drives my wife and daughter crazy, and because of that I threaten to do it more than I actually would do it. I tell them that the knife hasn't cut any animals recently. We were out watching some friends hunt Dove one time, the guy hands my daughter his shotgun and has her walk around the edge of the pond and shoot some big frogs. He didn't have a knife so he used my Benchmade mini-Grip to clean the frogs. So for a little while after that I could actually claim that my knife had been used to clean wild game.
 
sinjans said:
Humbling statement. I think we all go through that newness factor when we get a sweet blade and want to keep it nice as long as we can. I guess like everything there is an extreme. I bought busses for beating because I wanted something that could take a beating. I babied the BWM for a spell and then beat the poop out of it. The hog Muk I just bought is still being babied a little but I intend for it to take a beating sooner or later. I think id feel pretty bad about passing this flawless knife over to someone who is going to run it through a grinder. But I would let them use it to process a moose or firewood without hesitation.
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Exactly. I have a BM Mini-Barrage and I think I spent around the same amount on that I spent on my Manix2, but I've had it for a good while and I don't mind slicing into glue with it or scaping at something that might scratch it, because I've had it for awhile and it's not new anymore and yes it's a knife that's supposed to be used. But my Manix 2 is my newest nice folder and I still wanted to keep her that way awhile longer. Everyone likes their nice new things to stay nice and new for awhile, unless you're one of those people that feels like you HAVE to spit on it and throw it in the dirt right away to make it look used and then you're going for a different kind of status.

Unless it's a Becker...when I get a new Becker in my hands the first thing I want to go do is cut down a tree.
 
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Scratches on the blade are good character :D

I always tell someone "just be careful because it's sharp and be nice to it" but I don't care much about the knife, it's more about their safety. The most expensive folder I've carried for a while now has been a $38 Large Voyager. Let my wife hammer in tacs on the wall with the handle, cheap and tough Grivory...let family and friends cut whatever they want with it - blade is cheap, tough, easy to sharpen, etc.
 
I call B.S...Using a knife is not a all or nothing statement. There are degrees of which you may use a knife. Its one thing to cut open boxes, its another loosen barb wire that is tangled under your truck. The idea that you should man-up and use every knife for everything is idiotic.
 
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