It's true, dull knives are safer most of the time!

I believe in putting (what I deem to be) the appropriate level of sharpness on my blades and such. A straight razor obviously has to be sharp enough to cut hanging hair, but a machete does not need to be that sharp. The knife I use for sushi is close to hair-splitting sharp, while my regular western kitchen knives are just sharp enough to push cut paper.

Storage is also something to consider. Any knife that I simply toss in the drawer is purposely kept to just paper cutting sharp. Anything sharper than that gets a sleeve or put in a block for obvious safety reasons. I don't consider myself an idiot, but I can't guarantee to never have idiot moments. They say "to err is human", so I always try to strike a balance between performance and safety.
 
I will always keep all of my knives as sharp as I can reasonably get them. My point is that I will be less insistent in sharpening everybody else's knives to the same level. If I figure someone is going to use them a lot I will sharpen them finer than if they will rarely get used. There is no benefit to having a sharp knife you don't use, only greater risk. For in between cases I will look for a balance.
 
Jeff Clark said:
If I figure someone is going to use them a lot I will sharpen them finer than if they will rarely get used. There is no benefit to having a sharp knife you don't use, only greater risk.
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Why would you have a knife then if you wouldn't use it?:thumbdn:
 
I'll admit to not reading all the responses here but I'll give my 2 cents anyway.
My Dad always told me that a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one simply because you take more chances with a dull one than you would with a sharp one. You'll have more respect for the sharp one. Whether its in the drawer or your pocket.
 
There is no benefit to having a sharp knife you don't use, only greater risk.
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Perhaps the most ridiculous statement I have read on BF this year.

Right up until the time you need it eh ? So the time you need it , is the day you sharpen it ? A knife has a purpose - to cut. To me , a dull knife may as well be a butter knife.

What about if the knife is a backup to your primary , maybe one you bought in case something happen to the one(s) you use daily ? To replace one should it break perhaps , no sense in the back up or replacement knife being sharp eh ?

Sorry , but to me , your "theory" makes zero sense. Why have other knives then ? Why not just wait and buy it when you need it rather than have so much " liability" sitting around.
 
You know what guys, we're never gonna agree on this. Just agree to disagree. Some people feel that a sharp,
but non-razor-sharp knife or even a dull knife is safer and other feel that the screamingly sharp blade is safer. It's a draw.
 
When the truth is told, a fool can cut themselves with any knife with a decent edge, they will blame it on the tool as do all poor workman.
 
It's a matter of awareness, focus, and familiarity, in other words is the person blade ignorant or not and not about their overall level of intelligence. Example is a mechanical engineer who would probably cut himself if he used a screwdriver. I stabbed myself to the bone [the bone actually stopped the blade] in a most unpredictable way, I was trying it [the knife] in a spring loaded sheath not designed for it.

EDIT: @udtjim: you would agree that "everybody plays the fool; sometimes..."?
 
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Atheletes are told to "be" the ball. Then "be" the knife and you will have no problems.

Even if someone is capable of being the knife can they always do it?
 
John T Wylie Jr said:
Perhaps the most ridiculous statement I have read on BF this year.

Right up until the time you need it eh ? So the time you need it , is the day you sharpen it ? A knife has a purpose - to cut. To me , a dull knife may as well be a butter knife.

What about if the knife is a backup to your primary , maybe one you bought in case something happen to the one(s) you use daily ? To replace one should it break perhaps , no sense in the back up or replacement knife being sharp eh ?

Sorry , but to me , your "theory" makes zero sense. Why have other knives then ? Why not just wait and buy it when you need it rather than have so much " liability" sitting around.
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The situations and kinds of people Jeff is talking about do not have backup, or primary, daily users. He is saying people that don't use knives aren't any safer around sharp knives. I wouldn't say a 540 horsepower GT500 Mustang is as safe a choice for a first car as a Prius, even if it has antilock, traction control, airbags, and the kid aced his driving exam. Knives have no passive safety features or road test for the user.
 
I think alot of people are kind of missing the point here.

I think we can all agree that a sharp knife cuts better and makes for a better tool.

I think we can all agree that inexperienced or just plain stupid people are more likely to hurt themselves with ANY knife.

But how many of us are truely MORE likely to cut ourselves with a dull blade?

I mean we all slip now and then, but making even the smallest of slips with a scarry sharp knife will cut deep when a less sharp blade may not cut at all.

And inexperienced people are probably 10x more likely to cut themself with a freakishly sharp knife.

No body is saying that dull knives are BETTER, the question is are they more dangerous?

Personally I like my blades to be as sharp as I can get them. Of course they make better cutting tools that way, but directly because of the fact that they cut better obviously means that they will cut the user better too. :D

And I know the old adage that you don't have to push as hard with a sharp knife, which is true, but if you are paying attention and using good technique anyway are you really more likely to cut yourself with a dull-ish knife? ....all egos aside lets be honest here.
 
Knives are not dangerous, people are.

Scary sharp or just barely sharp, doesn't matter, knives are by definition force multipliers, the entire premise of the tool is to shape the raw force of our bodies into the very edge of the blade to cut and cleave.

The real argument is that people don't need that much power.
 
However ask your self what you'd rather get cut with? Dull knives take a long time to heal and the cut stings badly. You don't feel a sharp cut and it heals alot faster.
 
When a knife is a knife, it should be sharp. It is its intended purpose. I find having knives and not wanting sharp(and yes, as a side-effect, dangerous) items laying about, a little ... peculiar. There are so many harmless things to collect. But by all means, people having dull, harmless knife-like pieces of art in the safe hurts no-one, me least of all. I must apologize for my narrow mindset, but I tend to look at knives as knives, and like to know I COULD use all my knives, if necessary.
timann
 
There is a story I wish to relate. I had a friend who was very intelligent, (almost as smart as my wife.) One day we were over at her house and I had the opportunity to use one of her kitchen knives. Super dull. I asked her if she'd like me to improve the situation and she said sure. While everyone else was watching something on the TV, I got out my Sharpmaker and got to work. Nothing intensely sharp, just sharp.

Guess what? The next morning she shows up at work with a giant bandage on her left hand, where the web of her hand is. Seems she'd been cutting up an apple for her lunch and "Hadn't expected her knife to be THAT sharp!"

Now I do not sharpen knives for others without giving them the full safety lecture. Either that or leave them with dull knives.
 
hardheart said:
He is saying people that don't use knives aren't any safer around sharp knives. .
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what he said in his other post is that if the knives in the drawer weren't as sharp , they wouldn't have got cut.... I would never advise one to intentionally dumb down the tool .

A very sharp knife will make a clean cut that heals faster.

Unlike a car , most people have been using a knife ( of some sort ) since a very young age , and yes , just like driving , some 20 years later some still ain't got a clue how to do it correctly ( yet they pay less and less attention while driving - cell phones , blackberry's , etc ). Now is that the fault of the object or the end user ?

Face it , knives are just objects , it is up to the user to understand what it is they are doing. Leave them sit on the counter all day long , they won't bother anyone , a knife has never cut someone on it's own power. It takes carelessness and negligence , to some degree , sometimes it is flat out stupid carelessness , sometimes pure dumb luck , some times just not paying attention or thinking thru what you are about to do with that knife sometimes it can be the way it is stored or presented.

But a duller knife safer than a sharp one , can't see how , with a dull knife , you have to work harder to make it cut.

Jeff Clark said:
In my kitchen I have a knife block that holds 30 knives, a large knife drawer with about 20 longer knives and cleavers and a small knife drawer with about 20 paring knives and petty knives. ..... She reached into the large knife drawer and bumped into a knife next to the one she was reaching for.
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As to his post about a drawer full of knives , that is just asking for a cut , a better storage idea would be a much better plan than intentionally storing dull knives.
 
"The truth is not simply what you think it is; it is also the circumstances in which it is said, and to who, why, and how it is said" - Vaclav Havel (Czech politician and playwright) (1936 - )
 
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