How Much Do You "Baby" Your TRADITIONAL Knives?

Thanks Dean, the "beefiness" of your knife coupled with those beautiful handles caught my attention. Very nice! OH
 
If I'm getting a knife it's has to be usable. I don't want it if it just for show. What's the point if you can't actually use it and beat it up the way it is mean to be used?
 
powernoodle said:
If you treat something gently, whether its a knife, a car or a smart phone, its going to last longer. Some guys abuse their stuff just for the sake of abusing it, and that's fine. But I enjoy taking care of my stuff and making it last as long as possible. I don't see any downside to it.
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This post has been quoted a couple times, so that's why it's the one I'm quoting as well. The OP was asking about putting a knife in his pocket with change or keys and getting scratches on the covers and bolsters. Somewhere around page 2 people started talking about abusing knives and toy breakers vs. toy keepers and whatnot. Is there any evidence that a knife that has scratched up covers and bolsters doesn't last as long as a knife that is kept looking new? I'm genuinely curious because some longtime members have echoed this sentiment. I'm confused as to whether we just drifted from the original question or whether keeping a knife in a pocket with other items is being classified as abuse. Just to clarify, I have no opinion on what anybody else does with their knives, I'm just trying to understand whether or not I'm shortening the life of my knives by carrying them in the same pocket with keys.
 
Cory Hess "I'm confused as to whether we just drifted from the original question or whether keeping a knife in a pocket with other items is being classified as abuse."
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Forum topics tend to drift off and back on subject a little, it's just the nature of the beast.
Myself I don't consider carrying a knife in a pocket with change abuse, it'll cause superficial wear but won;t harm the knifes function. No oil on the joints is abuse, using it as a screw driver or pry bar is abuse, battoning is abuse.

Having to break down 30 card board boxes when your daughter moves is a pain but it's not abuse.

Sruss47 “If I'm getting a knife it's has to be usable. I don't want it if it just for show. What's the point if you can't actually use it and beat it up the way it is mean to be used?”
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The point is there is no valid point, my whole collection if you can call it that fits into an old two drawer Kennedy tool box. Boxes and sheaths all fit in it. I could get along with one, just choose not to. I could drop it in my pocket with keys and change, just choose not to. I have chosen to use them and keep them looking as nice as possible.
If there is a point, it is that we are Knife Nuts and do not need a point, reason, logic or anything like that to buy use and or collect.

No point other than pure enjoyment, If there was a point there would be no bladeforums.com.
 
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I'm thinking of hard use as some things like cutting something on a hard surface if necessary, scraping corroded battery terminals, or deburring metal with the blade if you can't reach it with the spine. Things which would certainly detract from the cosmetic appearance of the knife. Not to mention shortening it's life span due to more sharpening.
 
A knife gets it's own pocket or wrapped in a handkerchief.... I see nothing wrong with a pocket slip other than bulk. I oil the joints and keep the blades wiped clean, but I don't usually oil the blades unless they got something salty on them. I don't use them for something they shouldn't be used for.
 
Mora2013 said:
I baby my knives until the first scratch. When the first scratch happens, it's the worst day ever. Then the second scratch occurs, and Im annoyed. And then after another scuff ... it dosent matter and it's now in my pocket like any other item.

I keep my pocket knife in the same pocket as the keys and change. The phone goes in the pocket and the wallet in another.
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this.
 
Dep4ending on the size of the pocketknife, it rides in either my right front pocket, or the watch pocket. If it's the watch pocket it doesn't have any competition. If it's my right front pocket it is alongside a small AAA flashlight and maybe a few coins. I try not to baby them too much, but as a knife-nut it happens. It's also not like in my younger days when I only had a few knives & used them for everything. Nowadays I have more to choose from and less to use them on. But if a knife sits unused for over a year I start looking at it as trade material.
 
I just recently started using the pocket slip that I got with my Northwoods FJ.
My main concern is keeping the knife free of grit and dirt.
Some days at work I can end up with lots of sand/dirt in my pockets so the leather case may be a good thing to carry.
It has only been a week now so I am still getting used to using a slip.

As to the OP I don't baby my knifes that I carry during work at all but I don't abuse them either.
I am a carpenter so I either haver the correct tool on my belt or nearby.
Then I have off work knives and collection knives and they get treated accordingly.
There is no right or wrong to this, just personal preference.
 
I agree to that. I keep mine in great condition, but I also use them for everything. I just don't think I'd go as far to keep them separate from my keys in my pocket. But you throw a good point. Maybe I should be a little more careful with my nicer knives.
 
Well, I bought a new traditional yesterday. I took it out and shot some photos of it in all its shiny new glory, but now I'm determined to use it like a jackknife should be used, without the kid gloves. As others have mentioned, no prying, screws, hammering, etc., but I'm also not gonna hesitate to use it for whatever is needed, or cry if it gets dinged or scratched occasionally. It's a pocket knife, dang it! I still don't know if I can let the nice jigged bone handles tumble around with keys and coins though. Baby steps…
 
None of them are babied. I just avoid doing things that would do things like break off the tip or snap the blade (prybar/screwdriver scenarios). But I won't hesitate to use them on anything. Just bought a knife two days ago that's about as high end as my crappy job can afford and as soon as it came in the mail it was in my pocket at work cutting things. When i was 16 I saved up money for months to buy a cold steel trailmaster, my ultimate prized knife at the time. First thing I did when I brought it home was chopped up a bunch of wood for a fire.
 
I've had to remove too many posts about non-traditional knives from this thread. I am adjusting the thread title.
 
Cory Hess said:
. The OP was asking about putting a knife in his pocket with change or keys and getting scratches on the covers and bolsters. Somewhere around page 2 people started talking about abusing knives and toy breakers vs. toy keepers and whatnot.
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I thought at first the "toy" reference was pointless sarcasm, a cutesy soundbite, but now on reflection it might be the way those folks see their knives since they reference them as toys for the good and bad side of their argument. I don't know how to respond to the toy knife guys, but I respect that fact they see them as toys. Since I don't collect them or play with them, I tend to see them as tools.

Cory Hess said:
Is there any evidence that a knife that has scratched up covers and bolsters doesn't last as long as a knife that is kept looking new? I'm genuinely curious because some longtime members have echoed this sentiment.
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Mileage may vary around here, but in my practical experience I would say no. My pocket knives ride in my jeans pockets while I climb roofs, work off scaffolds, do demolition work, carpentry work, etc., while in with whatever goes in my jean pockets. Sometimes they go into my tool bags as well with nails, screws, tape measures, chalk lines, etc., just depending on my day's work.

I never had a knife fail because it was dirty, unpolished, stained, scratched, lightly rusted, gummed up, or had dried paint or caulk on it. A good cleaning, sharpening and a dot of oil on the joints and it is back in service. My oldest work knife has been run pretty hard by me over the last 40 years. And while it doesn't snap like it used to, the blade has a couple of pits on it, the scales are smooth and dark brown (used to be blood red), and couple of scale pins are missing their heads, I think I have really had my money's worth with that old CASE after a few decades. I reckon the knife has about another 25 years in it before it gives up. In rotation, more.

Cory Hess said:
I'm confused as to whether we just drifted from the original question or whether keeping a knife in a pocket with other items is being classified as abuse. Just to clarify, I have no opinion on what anybody else does with their knives, I'm just trying to understand whether or not I'm shortening the life of my knives by carrying them in the same pocket with keys.
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Like you, I don't care how anyone carries their knives or what they use them for during their day. But one man's ceiling is another man's floor, so some might think that contact with coins and other pocket stuff could shorten a knife's useful life. Personally, I don't see how. I have carried a lot of knives for a long time and have never experienced it personally.

I would like to see a pic or two though of some of the knives favored by the group such as the robust GECs, and others here that have sustained damage from being in contact with pocket "stuff" that would shorten its useful life as a tool.

Robert
 
I don't keep a pocketknife in the same pocket as coins just because the coins will get caught up in the knife.

Also, you have work knives and dress knives. I baby my dress knives.
 
I was only thinking about cosmetic damage with coins and keys and whatnot. I can see though, how a coin could get caught inside a folder, especially a single blade, or a Jack pinned at one end, and you would have to dig it out before you could open the blade. Still, that is just a nuisance. If you have a knife that can be so badly damaged by normal pocket contents that it will not function properly, you need to get a better knife.

I was thinking the same thing about work knives and dress knives. I would absolutely buy a GEC Esquire or Wall Street in Stag or Cocobolo and carry it in a pocket slip while dressed up, be careful what I use it for and where I lay it down, etc.
 
It really depends for me if its a ten dollar knife I would use it for cutting (maybe prying or for a screwdriver) but I would NOT use a 170$ knife for prying or using it for a screwdriver but I would use it for its intended purpose cutting
 
When I get a new knife, especially a nice knife. I baby it at first, but it will inevitably get scratched it dinged, and then I stop babying it. Don't get me wrong I take good care of my knives by oiling and cleaning them. And Never pry with them. Do whatever you think.
 
I use almost almost all my knives. I only have a few safe queens. The ones I use are not babied at all. But I don't abuse them. Most all of them have scratches or marks on them. And the carbon ones all have a patina showing use.
 
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