Knifemakers and buyers like to fantasize somewhat...They like to fantisize about loosing all of their tools...except their knife and therefore this lone tool that avoided being lost must serve as a crow bar, hammer, hatchet a number of things a knife was never meant to be.
It is a good policy to not lose all your tools except your knife.
I test my blades for the task they were designed for....Cutting, Chopping, piercing etc.
I am sure someone will design a knife like a rock in case they have to throw it to knock something out of a tree...lo....Because of course they lost all the rocks. If I test a tool for prying it is because it is meant for prying.
The Japanese have it right...many knives design for many purposes.
I think Rick's response is dead on:
It's only fantasy if you don't actually follow it up with your actions, Adam. I only take one(maybe two) tools into the woods. Like you said... the tool should suit the intended purpose. I have knives that can out-perform a hatchet at fire prep under some circumstances. My wilderness skills mentor is a 60year old half-blood First Nations who lived a bush life. He poked fun at me and my "big knife" for the first few seasons. Then he started borrowing it around camp. next thing you knew he was asking me to make one for him... and soon after, he stopped bringing out his hawk/hatchet.
I've come to learn that there are many ways to accomplish a given task and what makes sense to one, might not sit well with another. If a tool can perform to it's user's expectations, it's the right tool for the job.
People that limit a tool's potential just to remain true to its conventional label are.... well, limiting, IMO. lol.
As for me, I hear this stuff all the time from detractors of hollow handle and "survival" type knives, whether they're makers or users. Ultimately, people can say whatever they want, think whatever they want, and buy whatever they want. I don't have a problem with that at all. But here is how I approach it: Some people obviously want tools/knives that can do a lot of different things. For whatever reasons. I don't know if they all take them into the wilderness and live with them or use them hard, keep them in a safe, sit there and fondle them while they watch Rambo in their underwear, etc. It's not my job to know all that. But it is my job to make them a knife that will hold up to reasonable demands in the wilderness/emergency/survival scenarios.
That's why they're buying that type of knife. Maybe some do just fantasize about it. But some no doubt actually plan on and do use them. I know, because they've told me how they work. So my approach is two-fold: Number One: Educate the customer/new friend (which many of them become) about what my knives will do/won't do, what constitutes use and what is abuse. And Number Two: Make a knife/tool that will handle whatever is reasonably thrown at it in the real world.
I also agree about using the proper tool for the job, but sometimes if the tool isn't there, it's just human nature to improvise. I tell people that prying with my knives will void the warranty, but do I really have a problem with using the knife to lightly pry apart some wood or move a log off something in the woods? I do that stuff myself. That's the nature of wilderness knives/tools. You use them for a wide variety of purposes. As long as it doesn't get abusive, that's really no big deal.
But you can make a knife that does all of those things, and still cuts very, very well. I've got videos and pictures of using my big, hollow handle fixed blades making feather sticks as good as any 4" scandi bushcrafter, and slicing vegetables in the kitchen just fine. So again, that is my approach. While it may be fantasy to some, to others it is a very real knife/tool that does what they want/need it to do. That's part of the beauty of having so many custom makers and choices. Something for everyone, whatever their philosophy on knives.
Sam :thumbup:
) I don't think this is something to get worked up over. We all know that folks just need more knives, period.:thumbup:
or True Scotsman...lol
But the sleeping well at night... yeah, that's for real.