Has anyone here been involved in an emergency where you had to hard use your knife to save someone's life?

Although knives are occasionally used to save lives, I'd be surprised if it happens frequently enough that the members here could fill a single thread page with such first-hand incidents.

But if you're interested in such stories (documented cases), and you like a good hero-knife story, there was an incident here in San Diego, December 2020, where a locally based Marine used his knife to cut someone's baby free from a car seat in a burning car. It was a big story down here for about a week. You can find multiple news reports on the incident by Googling "san diego marine saves baby with knife".

One report showed the knife, but not long enough to identify it. A folder with blue handles is all I recall.
 
One time I had a really bad allergic reaction to some food, and found that out afterwards while exercising at the gym. I keep some benadryl in my car, but my hand was shaking so much I couldn't peel the teeny little aluminum seal. So I went Arnold on the thing and torn the packet of pills up with the leatherman scissor I keep in my car; swallowed the pills right up and took a nice 2hour nap in the car. Could I have died? Probably not, but I felt pretty close...

I've used my spyderco waterway and caribbean a few times to cut fishing line off of wildlife and dumbasses on party boats. One time, my mom hooked this giant snapping turtle and I had to cut the hook with my Free P4's wire cutter.

No animals were hurt during the making of this post
 
killgar said:
Although knives are occasionally used to save lives, I'd be surprised if it happens frequently enough that the members here could fill a single thread page with such first-hand incidents.

But if you're interested in such stories (documented cases), and you like a good hero-knife story, there was an incident here in San Diego, December 2020, where a locally based Marine used his knife to cut someone's baby free from a car seat in a burning car. It was a big story down here for about a week. You can find multiple news reports on the incident by Googling "san diego marine saves baby with knife".

One report showed the knife, but not long enough to identify it. A folder with blue handles is all I recall.
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That headline makes it sound like the baby had the knife.
 
Paratrooper06 said:
I once used a Spyderco dragonfly to open a box of MREs for my Soldiers, thereby providing them with sustenance to keep them from starving in the field. Does that count?
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So you're the Camp Cook: Death from within...
 
XJ-linux said:
I used a dull Cold Steel SRK VG-1 San Mai to try and fend of a Grizzly. Unfortunately, he ended up killing me. I blame the blade steel. If 3V had been available at the time, it’s likely I’d still be alive. Even VG-10 would have likely given me the edge I needed. YMMV
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Shoulda had a KA-BAR :-)
 
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SteelByMySide said:
I am curious to know if someone here has a real life story where you had to hard use your knife in an a real emergency or any emergency at all where you had to act fast to save someone's life.
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Yes, if "someone" includes rams. I would think that anyone who has cared for livestock for long has saved a few lives, and likely used a knife to do so from time to time, and some of those times may have qualified as "hard use".
 
This thread has "Cold Steel" written all over it 😂

My Mini Tac Tanto is my loyal companion through these days. I use it daily to penetrate through various types of poymers to get to my food and save myself from starving. Those packages are like nothing for sheer penetrating power of my Mini Tac Tanto! Not just that, but I also save my coworker by using it to slice large sandwiches in 2! She's really lucky I have this knife on me!

I also use it to protect myself from all kinds of dangers that never happen, but I am protecting myself... from Stickman and this shitty marketing 😂
 
Thank you for everyone that answered.

I think I got the idea. A hard use hardly ever occurs. Maybe I shouldn't over concern about lock strength.

Some people raised the possibility that I could be a Cold Steel employee. I am not. Yes, Cold Steel is my favorite knife company and Tri-Ad is my favorite lock but I am not working for Cold Steel. I would love though.

As for me I had been in a handful of situation like street and school fights when I was young and I have been in 3 situations where a firearm was involved but never a situation where a knife have saved the day.
 
I once used a Buck 110 to cut a fouled star messenger line, (top line in below pic), on an UNREP fuel probe after the messenger fairlead block’s wheel fractured (upper left hand corner of pic), and that one line wouldn’t release the high tension rig so we aborted the refueling.

Didn‘t save anyone‘s life, but kept some shipmates from suddenly getting their hands smoked. Trickiest thing about it was it was at night—and those rigs are inherently dangerous.
5536920611-130e46028d-z.jpg
 
Is that one of those refueling lines they winch to another ship to refuel them in the open ocean? I only saw this military related? Or does this happen in civilian life as well? Always looked like a tricky and dangerous way to refuel but i understand the need. Just wonder what those refueling ship do all day long when not refueling? Do they just lay waiting around waiting for another customer?
 
There was that one time I conquered all evil and saved the world but then turned back time so the trauma of impending evil could not fry the grey matter of humankind.

The most impressive part of this event? I did it all with a blade-less SAK Jetsetter!
 
I saved my dog's life with a pocket knife. When I first moved out to my property, there was a lot of old stuff lying on the ground. My pup got tangled up in some old twine. It was wrapped around her neck and two front paws. Thankfully, I found her in time and was able to cut her free; it had already cut through her neck skin. I dunt think she would have made it another 10 minutes. Spyderco Manix 2 to the rescue. I've also used my Leatherman to pull cheatgrass out of her nose.
 
One of my guys responded to a major accident. Car overturned, female driver upside down hanging by her seatbelt.

He didn’t have a knife. But, he used the file on his fingernail clippers to saw through the seatbelt and, get her out. No, the car didn’t explode as he carried her to safety, but, points for solving the problem. (I would likely have grabbed a piece of broken headlight or something).

We all chipped in and I bought him a Spyderco Delica we presented to him at briefing a few days later.
 
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