Is there any spiritual aspect to your knife carry?

J

Jesse B.

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Oct 23, 2009
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Here I don't mean "spiritual" in the religious sense of the word. Rather, are there reasons that run deeper than simple utility which underlie your daily knife carrying? ("No" is perfectly acceptable, but think on it for a moment.)

I ask this because part of the reason I carry a knife every day, beyond its basic usefulness, is ancestral recall. My father carried a knife, his father carried a knife, and I would imagine that extends in a broken fashion to the dawn of humankind. A knife, from a certain perspective, is a tangible connection to the past. Not just recorded history, but all the way back to the primordial instant when our ancient ancestors realized what an edged tool, or weapon could accomplish.

Is there any spiritual aspect to your knife carry?
 
Very interesting question. I occasionally carry my first Cub Scout knife, or my grandfather's stockman or a gift from a family member.
At those times I do feel a deeper connection to the "who" of what's in my pocket.

Even when carrying the latest, greatest G10, super-steel tacticool folder, I guess it is a small reminder of how we clawed our way to the top of the food chain!
 
I wouldn't say spiritual, but at least for me, not having a knife in my pocket feels like not having my keys, or not wearing underwear. It's just something that a prudent person does.
 
definitely. I feel that knife possession is an homage to our advancement as a species. Also, I believe that as a man it is our duty to be as useful as possible. Having a tool like a knife helps me to achieve that goal. I want to be an able person. An asset to my community. My knives are a part of that.
 
Man should always be prepared, in case a box needs opening.

as for spiritual, I believe my yanagi has a soul...
 
I've got several personal, cultural and, if I may call them that, sentimental reasons to carry a knife.

Just a couple:

1- I grew up in a family with strong bonds to rural Argentine traditions. Men carried knives, for work, play or fight. Nicer ones for Sundays, etc. I remember being grounded for riding out on my horse without a knife.

2- I strive to be self reliant, tools and weapons are a big part of that. It has to do with spending a lot of time in isolated places as a kid and later on as an adult.

3- Knives have brought me friends. Good friends. I've met some great folks through my knife hobby.
 
I wish I had a better story to tell, but the primary reason I carry a knife is because I was never allowed to when I was growing up. For a good part of my childhood I wasn't even allowed to own a knife, not even an SAK.

Which might explain why I choose to carry a bowie knife now.
 
Nope. I view a knife as a simple tool that may or may not have some artistic appeal. I don't believe in ANYTHING spiritual, I merely enjoy using and carrying a useful and high quality tool. Granted, I DO find the history of knives, and history in general, very interesting. I'm actually a history student, but there's nothing "spiritual" about anything I do. Knives have only ever shown themselves to be a cool, useful, sometimes fun tool, so that's all I think of them as. I DO value them, but no more than I would value any other useful, expensive tool. Now if the knife is old or one of a kind, then I might consider it worth more than money: It would have historical or cultural value to the society that produced it.

The most excited I'm liable to get is either looking at an extremely old, rare style of knife with an interesting history, or reading about the scientific aspects of knifemaking and metallurgy. That stuff is cool, it's interesting, and I love seeing how technology progresses.

So no, I don't have any spiritual aspect to knife carry. I don't have an spiritual or religious aspects to anything at all.
 
The first Christmas gift I can actually remember was a pocket knife at the age of 5. My grandparents ran a campground in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana at the time and I spent every summer of my youth with them chopping wood, fishing, climbing trees, cleaning campsites, going on walkabout, and swimming in glacial streams. There was never a day in those woods that I didn't have that knife, and with it, I felt like I could take on the world.

25 years later, I still get that feeling when I slip a knife into my pocket.
 
Absolutely! When I was in Nam I carried a Gerber Mark II. I was in SF and ran some interesting missions, missions on which my Mark II served me very well. I have always carried since then. Prior to enlisting, I was heavily involved in the martial arts, and learned the techniques and effectiveness of knives.

While I do also carry concealed, I am never without a knife. To me, I think a knife is indispensable for everyday tasks, and maybe even more important as a self defense implement. So, short answer, carrying a knife brings me back to my roots. Yes, in a way it is spiritual. Those of us who fit that category will understand.
 
Yes.

It is who I am.
I often go days without using it.
But I am naked without it.
I get dressed, and the knife is in my pocket before anything else.
Often before I even put my shirt on.
In bed, it is on the stand beside me.
 
Nothing even remotely spiritual.
I grew up in an era when all boys had a pocket knife,. We also avoided Sunday school if we could get away with it. What a waste to get all dressed up when we could be making pointy tipped sticks for no apparent reason.
Knives are fun to use but hardly worthy of worship.
 
Sure. Tradition. While some modern thinking folks frown on traditions.....I find if it's a useful tradition it's still good. Hence knife is useful....good tradition with its roots still in usefulness.
 
I carry this.

EDC Pair by Pinnah, on Flickr

They're both inexpensive knives. I know there are more expensive ones out there but honestly, these knives do everything I want and do them brilliantly. So, every time I handle them and use them, I have to practice being satisfied with something that perfectly functional, even if I know "better" stuff is out there.

I practicing being satisfied spiritual?
 
I don't know if I would call it spiritual, but it stems from some of the basic things that my dad taught me so many years ago.

1. Always hold open a door for a lady
2. Always be willing to try to fix it yourself, whether it be a toaster or transmission. If you screw it up, well, you'll learn from that too.
3. Never look away from a homeless person as if they don't exist. There but for the grace of God go I.
4. Always carry a knife. It's one of the most basic tools that the human race has invented, and a man isn't complete without one.

There were lots more, but you get the idea. The lessons that my dad taught me, and reinforced by living by them himself are some of the most important building blocks that have made me the person that I am. I actually think of my dad sometimes when I am using or maintaining my knives, and hope that if he's looking down, he's happy with the way that I've lived those lessons.

So, yeah I guess there IS a sort of spiritual aspect to it for me.
 
I take a knife everywhere. I often carry a folder, and a fixed. Every dude has their "check list," you know, that quick little motion you make when you get out of the truck, you tap your wallet, keys, knife, weenie, just to make sure everything is there. :-) They're important to me, and as others said, I feel totally naked without one. My job has even made an exception for my fixed blade carrying because more often than not, they end up using it. Utility, form, and you know they look damn good.

I'm not old enough to be from an era where everyone had one, but you better believe I yearn for such a time. :-D

Spiritual? Nah. Essential as air? Absolutely.
 
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