Folders Behaving Badly

[Shorttime]

Some title, huh?

So we've all used and abused our knives. Some have broken, but in many cases, we've gotten lucky.

So my question is: what have you gotten away with your knife, that you probably shouldn't.

Examples: used my Mini-grip as a screwdriver, by using the spine of the blade, and choking up. Also use my Stubby Pocket Razel for prying staples and such. But that's what it's for, right?

 

[Tim616]

Once plugged a Buck 110 into an amp (instead of my Gibson SG) and played it like a guitar, sounded great.


Jk.



But Seriously.
Don't do it.

 

[Bill1170]

Folder Owners Behaving Badly

Some title, huh?

So we've all used and abused our knives. Some have broken, but in many cases, we've gotten lucky.

So my question is: what have you gotten away with your knife, that you probably shouldn't.

Examples: used my Mini-grip as a screwdriver, by using the spine of the blade, and choking up. Also use my Stubby Pocket Razel for prying staples and such. But that's what it's for, right?

Fixed that for you.

 

[Mr. Bob]

I used my Spyderco Delica 4 to open itself (also my 3 Enduras, sadly). It hasn't been the same since.

 

[Poez]

I actually believe it is bad to break a knife or even abuse it.

 

[Shorttime]

I believe the reason the Buck 110 sounds so good when played is because of the wood handles, and the brass bolsters, which actually amplify some of the high tones. Strangely enough, a fixed-blade Buck does not sound as good, and I believe that the steel tang tends to absorb some of the sound.

You should try playing a synthetic handled knife. If I'm right, you'll get more "crunch" out of it, like the old Van Halen stuff.

Funny as hell!

The topic of "hard use", whenever it comes up here, seems to include a lot of instances of broken blades, lock failures, "torture tests", and so on. Also a lot of discussion of why cutting is the only appropriate task for a knife. Obviously, but knives get used for other things, and that's where we get into the question of "what is hard use or abuse, exactly?"

I'm still trying to define the difference between use and abuse, when it comes to knives. I'm just doing it differently.

 

[marcinek]

I'm still trying to define the difference between use and abuse, when it comes to knives. I'm just doing it differently.

When you don't abuse your folder, it doesn't break and/or you don't get into situations where you were "lucky not to break it."

I guess I don't follow the big mystery. If you can pry rebar out of concrete with your folder, and it doesn't break....then I guess you didn't abuse it. (Of course that folder would probably cut like a sledge hammer.)

 

[Shorttime]

Hello, Marcinek.

I'm afraid I'm not very much help explaining the mystery, either. In all honesty, I can't imagine what sort of cluster anybody could get themselves into that would require this mystical, mythical, unbreakable folder. After spending some time on Bladeforums, what has begun to interest me is not what this knife would look like, or what it would do, but....

Why are so many of us looking for it in the first place?

I'm trying to get some idea of the motivation behind this quest for the "ultimate hard use folder". Asking questions about what people do with their knives, in spite of their knowledge, and better judgment, helps me gain insight into that motivation.

If there really is a knife that can pry rebar out of concrete, I want to know about it. That would be so much cooler than a jackhammer!

 

[marcinek]

Why are so many of us looking for it in the first place?

Got me, my friend. All I can conclude is, with all the differing opinions on what you can and "can't" and shouldn't do with a folder, is that "folder abuse" breaks your folder, "folder use" doesn't.

Why people need these slab-bladed, bomb-proof, bank-vault locking, spine-whack defying, chubby-guy-standing-on folders when a slippie will slice circles around them....I don't get. Maybe I put a irrational premium on having my knives (especially folders) cut.

But hey, to each his own. De gustibus.