Just USE the damn knife...

I've owned so many GD knives and now I just use what works and have basically sold the rest. I generally carry and use a Mora carbon which was $14. I carry a sharpening stone so it doesn't matter that it's not a super steel. I really like my Roselli UHC puukko and use that to cut the tops off cans... then sharpen it a as needed. I carry a Spyderco PM2 in my flight suit which, IMO , is the perfect folder. I used to think that I needed a folder like a Direware that I could use to pry in to a bank vault. Nah, man... those things are so big that you might as well be carrying a fixed blade. Buy some high carbon fixed blade monstrosity and go to work... then sharpen it.

Learn to sharpen. Your knife requirements will go waaaaaay down.
 
I have a couple knives that I keep more for collecting and preserving, but I don't carry those ones. I only carry ones I bought to use. When I first started getting into $100+ knives I kinda had to wean myself into it, but I'm happy to say I've reached the point where I won't hesitate to grab my Sebenza to cut notches in drywall, enlarge an opening in plywood, ream plastic conduit, saw big cardboard sheets, or even scrape a gasket.

However, picking open a toilet clog or getting dog crap out of my shoes is still a step too far.
 
If any of y'all delicate individuals get some poo on your expensive knives , please send 'em to me for professional disposal of biohazard waste ! :rolleyes:
 
WillB said:
I'm guilty of being one of those people who has knives I end seeing as "too nice to use" and never using them. As I'm not a collector, I tend to sell those when it becomes clear I'm never gonna use it. If I'm willing to carry it, I am willing to use it at least. But, I tend to carry what's good enough quality and $ wise to do what I want/need, but not so expensive I will freak out if it gets scratched. I'm still working on getting passed that, and doing so in baby steps.

I'm awaiting a really nice custom blade I have every intention of making an EDC, and plan to resist my "too nice" tendencies. This one will be a test! Wish me me luck.
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Good luck with that. But regardless of what I say, I still have reservations about using really nice knives for regular cutting tasks.

Comeuppance said:
I recently started working at Home Depot and have all these great opportunities to use a knife - straps, plastic wrap, rope, boxes, etc - but I have to do it in secret if I do because the only knives they allow are these ridiculously useless self-retracting safety knives. It's like 1/4" of exposed blade, and only like 1/32" goes beyond the end of the handle.
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I have seen the utility knives used at HD. I want to reach into my pocket for my knife to assist, but I resist that temptation unless they are struggling with the utility knife. I however would not risk loosing my job over a knife.

DocJD said:
In a true emergency , ALL my knives are potential beaters to be used and abused to whatever extent necessary .

But routinely , I don't see anything wrong with shamelessly babying a favored few of them . Art that can do functional cutting at need !
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I feel the same way. If my usage results in a problem for the knife, I know that I used it because I had to. I'll fix it or buy another knife. Better yet, I will just grab one of the many I already own.
 
Stumpy72 said:
I use a 3 gallon pail for occasions like that. I find a carefully aimed pour from ~3’ above the bowl will almost alway bust up the troubling blockage. No muss, no fuss, no direct contact and no E. coli contamination that could make me sicker than I care to get. On the rare occasion that technique doesn’t work, a metal clothes hanger used to bust up the clog (and then put directly into the outdoor garbage can) has always solved that kind of problem for me. As for using a knife to pick food out of your teeth just minutes after using the knife to bust up a shit blockage in a toilet (cleanings notwithstanding) -- you’re a lot more daring than I am.

On a personal note, I recently used my main EDC to cut one of those plastic hospital ID wristbands off of my wrist when I got released from a local ER after getting my head banged up but good in a car crash. That was the single happiest task I ever used any knife for. Other than that "first ever" happy occasion and rare other pretty rare light-duty uses, my EDCs live pretty quiet lives. Being a semi-retired white collar type doesn’t make for a lot of EDC use.
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Been there and done that. (The old manual power flush!) I have a steel rod (stiff coat hanger thickness) that stays in the bathroom I generally use. Stuff happens. But I have NEVER considered using a knife for something like this. Yuck!
 
stabman said:
Did you know that the Umnumzaan is really a $400 cleaning tool?

The can of Lysol I have for disinfecting things somehow managed to leak all the propellant out while the liquid stayed in (not sure how THAT happened).
Anyway, needed to clean out a locker that was rather gross before putting my stuff in there, and crushing the can to create more pressure did not work this time.

So, needed to jab a hole in there to get the fluid out.
No cheap knife on me...just the CRK Umnumzaan.

I did hesitate for a moment, then thought "Why the hell am I carrying this knife if I won't use it?"
So, a quick stab making a small hole did not do the trick; had to stab it in till full blade width was reached. This made a slit that could be opend with thumb pressure no problem.

Best of all, no blade dulling at all. :)
Lysol can is magnetic, so probably steel of some sort.

So, that's my (latest) not so exciting story of realizing you might as well just use your damn knife or not bother carrying it. ;)

What's yours?
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I used my Spydiechef to dig up a small rock with a shell fossil in it for one of my kids.

You could see the little shell on the top flat of the rock, but it was imbedded pretty tightly in hard packed caliche. Of course it had to be in one of the rare instances when I didn't have my SAK with me, otherwise the nail file would've done the dirty work. Also hard to find tool worthy sticks and such in the desert...

My kids enjoying a hiking trip and finding a cool souvenir seemed more important than the finish on my knife blade, so now the Spydiechef has a few more fine scratches and has been stropped again.

Surprisingly little edge damage though consider I used it to dig up a rock.
 
Safe Queens?

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Heck no!

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Use em:

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If I'm carrying it I use it, and I carry all of them( some just see heavier rotation than others)...it's my EDC needs that baby my knives ;)
 
Funny thing... because as knife nuts we tend to be kind of extreme : like "doing every thang with ma pocket knife, including unclogging the toilet !" (you read it here so it must be real...) to "every one of the hundreds of knives I posess and baby with oils, gums and stones (some worth more than some custom knives) get used strictly for their intended purpose". You read it here and it's real. I do that. I take no pleasure in abusing a refined tool. The pleasure is in getting the right application where the tool shines. To each his own, however. Have fun everybody.
 
WillB said:
One you're willing to use and one you're not?
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No, one I’m willing to use for certain task and another four different task. For example, one to cut up fruit as part of my lunch and another to cut sheet rock.
 
I once used my Hoback A15 to pry myself out of a stuck garage elevator.

My previous co worker was all "hey let's check to see if the elevator works"
And I said" dude... seriously? It's the COLDEST day of the year. There is no way it will work we definitely will get stuck"

Well he insisted. And we took it up to the 5th floor. Went to 4. Then got stuck between 3/4 or 2/3. And I proceeded to say. "I told you so dumbass."

We called the day porter to help. But he took a long time. So I was like well if there is any reason to use a knife in an emergency, this is it.

Pulled the knife out. Stuck it carefully between the door, and started prying it apart so I could get my hands in there.

It worked, and no damage to the knife. No bladeplay, no rocking, still rock solid. And we got to go back to the building and warm up. It was Damn cold that day.

I also have a para 3 in cruwear that use for literally everything. I bought it specifically to use as a work beater knife.
 
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