Knife Abuse

[KennyB]

Why do people so strictly define what a knife "should be used for". I mean, isn't that just limiting the type of innovations that will come to knives by saying, "You're not supposed to use them like this." I mean, would we even have the modern design of knives today if someone hadn't said, "Well, instead of using this spear/arrow to stab you, I'm going to use this rather pointy rock I cut meat with."

When you really think about it, knives simply have a very popular intended purpose that everyone thinks is their only use, but in my eye a knife is a multi-tool whether a person really wants it to be at all. You have a cutting edge, a point, and a straight, narrow and rigid piece of metal. There are all sorts of things that can be done with it, some better than others, and simply because there's one conventional task that most knives are designed around people seem to have the idea that you cannot review a knife based on its usage as say, a prybar or a screwdriver.

I can see if maybe someone is reviewing the merits of a knife based on doing something that it's not expected to do, but I don't see why people are so concerned about that. If there's a lot of people that want to know how a knife does as a prybar, then guess what, a lot of people are using knives as prybars, that's just the way it works. Rarely have I ever seen anyone say, "This knife sucks, it broke in the first door I tried to shimmy!" so what's the problem?

I mean, it'd kind of be like if someone formed an opinion on a tire company based on how their inter tubes served as pool toys. People should have the good sense to realize one thing doesn't have anything to do with the other, and then just allow people to use things how they want, and just understand their opinions and reviews are based on that and not as the same use that you yourself are expecting.

What really bothers me the most though is that I think most people don't even really use the "proper tools" for the "proper jobs" judging by how many times I've seen someone using a carpenters hammer to break boxes down or a hacksaw to saw through a bunch of tree trunks, a pair of pliers to turn a bolt, etc. I mean, how many of these "proper use" proponents has used a standard slot screwdriver in a Phillips head?

There just seems to be a very great deal of resistance against using knives to do anything than cut or stab something, and that sucks since really the people resisting that are in the minority. I know more people that treat their knife as a Jack of all Trades and Master of None than a master cutting tool or something, so the entire idea is really out of touch with what people are actually using knives for.

At the end of the day, you can carry around a tool box with all kinds of screw drivers, pry bars, picks and needles, but if you're in a pinch your knife can do a reasonable job of all of these. If someone wants to know how well a particular knife does in a job it wasn't meant for, what's it matter to anyone else? I mean, if I'm a painter, and I don't want to carry around a pocket knife and an uncomfortable scraper, I might one day also realize "Hey, I can pop paint cans with this knife too? Wow, I just replaced two tools with one." Don't you think other painters that also carry that knife might want to know it can do that, and maybe other painters that carry another knife may want to know if their knife could?

 

[motababoy]

and so what was the question again???

 

[kozak6]

Oh, I don't know, I just think that using a knife in a way that may damage or break it in a way that will possibly void the warranty is foolish.

Your examples of other uses of tools are poor. It's not going to break a hacksaw to saw through a tree. And the sawblade is disposable anyways.

Using a flathead screwdriver on a Philips head screw? Fine. Using the tip of your knife? Abuse.

My thought is that if you are going to do a significant amount of prying, perhaps you should just buy a cheap prybar instead of risking an expensive knife.

 

[singularity35]

One analogy I can give is the car. What was the original purpose of the car? I guess the common answer is transportation. If until today, that is only what it's used for then we would not have F1 racing, Or monster trucks, or nascar. We wouldn't have lowriders or even a spyder sports car. And yes, using a car for racing or for offroad will void the warranty.

Original purpose is not the be all and end all of any design. In fact, some of the best designs of any artifact is the versatility of the object. The more versatile a design is, the more widespread will be the use of this artifact.

Also, initial intended use is not the only criteria of anything to be successful. Take viagra for example, it was designed to improve blood circulation in the heart. If that was all it was used for then, probably the old guys who crow most about a knife just for cutting will not be having their jollies today.

 

[Tony8179]

Sorry. I'm going to disagree. Knives are meant to cut and stab. That is why there is a sharp edge on it and a sharp point. It's not a screwdriver, a pry bar, or a hammer. That's why they make multi tools and SAKs. I'm an electrician and I use my knife for cutting. When I need to turn a screw I use a screwdriver, when I need to strip wire I use a wire stripper, when I need to drive a nail or pull one up I use a hammer, and when I need to bottom out a bolt I use a wrench or a ratchet.

New innovations in the knife industry are happening all the time, but the main focus of a knife is to cut. Some companies add hex holes for drivers and bolt heads in the scales, others can hold bits and have a small driver built right into the handle, some have glassbreakers, built in seatbelt cutters, some open using assisted opening, IKBS, Roller Thrust Bearings, VooDoo Bearings, even rubies! At every turn in the industry there is a new innovation. The bottom line though is that a knife was made to cut, slice, dice, and stab. If you want to carry a bunch of tools in one package get a Leatherman or a SAK.

As soon as someone figures out that they can do something with their knife that it wasn't made to do, they are running the risk of injury. If you, as a tradesman, tell another tradesman, "Hey you can do this with your knife." and that guys cuts his hand open or stabs himself then you are to blame because you tried to show him a shortcut. That's when people get hurt. Just because you can pop a can of paint open with your knife doesn't mean the next guy can do the same thing with his. The guy can bend or break his knife or at worst he opens an artery and bleeds out all over the floor.

Just my opinion.

 

[misterjuiceman]

my rule is, don't do anything with a knife that you wouldn't do with a razor sharp, and slightly longer fingernail.

 

[singularity35]

Here we go again. :yawn:


Hard use, go, go, go!

 

[The Government]

As long as you are in tune with the limits of your knife, you will not break it unknowingly.

We can accomplish alternative tasks without damaging the tools we use.

It just takes a little common sense, that is all.

 

[singularity35]

As long as you are in tune with the limits of your knife, you will not break it unknowingly.

We can accomplish alternative tasks without damaging the tools we use.

It just takes a little common sense, that is all.

Now there's a lot of sense in that. :thumbup:

 

[frontline29]

I'm sorry, but if I'm in a real tight jam and the only way I'm gonna get out of it is too possibly snap the tip off my knife, then so be it. I'll buy another one.
Sometimes you have to improvise with the tools you have on hand. And when certain tools are forced to do another tools job they break.

 

[oxbld]

I'll never understand people who try to pry with a knife then complain because it bent or broke. I have talked to two people in the last month that disliked Kershaw because they screwed their knife up by trying to pry stuff open with a Leek. Seriously, with a Leek. I could understand prying with a tougher built knife if there was NO other tool around and if it were absolutely necessary, but never with a fine slicer like the Leek.

 

[singularity35]

I'll never understand people who try to pry with a knife then complain because it bent or broke. I have talked to two people in the last month that disliked Kershaw because they screwed their knife up by trying to pry stuff open with a Leek. Seriously, with a Leek. I could understand prying with a tougher built knife if there was NO other tool around and if it were absolutely necessary, but never with a fine slicer like the Leek.

Now that's an entirely different situation than wanting a hard use knife.

Two things may have happened with that leek, the first is that he may absolutely had to do that, and had nothing else to do it with. Second is lack of sense.

But he shouldn't have complained. Or that the complaining comes with the second scenario.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

A knife, by definition, is an instrument designed for CUTTING. It doesn't do that without a very fine, sharp, delicate edge. As soon as it's used for something other than cutting, (especially if it's used as a prybar) that fine, delicate edge goes away. It's no longer a knife. It becomes, simply, a pointed piece of steel; that is, if you're LUCKY. It might become a BROKEN NUB of steel.

Obviously, if faced with a life-or-death choice, and the knife in your pocket is the only 'tool' you have, you're going to use it in whatever means necessary to survive. But that isn't justification to EXPECT it to continue to function as a KNIFE, after it's been used as a prybar (or screwdriver, icepick, rock chipper, etc.).

The realistic expectation is, after a knife has been abused in the extreme, it will no longer be useful as a knife. Make that choice, and accept the consequences. Don't whine because it 'failed'. Failure, as a result of mis-use, is the EXPECTED result.

 

[singularity35]

A knife, by definition, is an instrument designed for CUTTING. It doesn't do that without a very fine, sharp, delicate edge. As soon as it's used for something other than cutting, (especially if it's used as a prybar) that fine, delicate edge goes away. It's no longer a knife. It becomes, simply, a pointed piece of steel; that is, if you're LUCKY. It might become a BROKEN NUB of steel.

Obviously, if faced with a life-or-death choice, and the knife in your pocket is the only 'tool' you have, you're going to use it in whatever means necessary to survive. But that isn't justification to EXPECT it to continue to function as a KNIFE, after it's been used as a prybar (or screwdriver, icepick, rock chipper, etc.).

The realistic expectation is, after a knife has been abused in the extreme, it will no longer be useful as a knife. Make that choice, and accept the consequences. Don't whine because it 'failed'. Failure, as a result of mis-use, is the EXPECTED result.

Agreed, but obviously some knives can take more than others.

 

[frontline29]

Now that's an entirely different situation than wanting a hard use knife.

Two things may have happened with that leek, the first is that he may absolutely had to do that, and had nothing else to do it with. Second is lack of sense.

But he shouldn't have complained. Or that the complaining comes with the second scenario.

I never understood those people who break their tips off then complain about it.

I could see if I was cutting a sandwich in half and the tip broke off, then I'd be a little pi$$y about it.
But if I was using the knife to pry or to screw something in. I can't see a valid complaint in that.

 

[Jason B.]

A knife is the most expensive prybar you will ever break.


That said, The Government covered my other thoughts.

 

[Guyon]

 

[Tony8179]

Ya lost me.

 

[oxbld]

Knife torturer? Oops, I meant tester, lol!

 

[Bill86]

Sorry. I'm going to disagree. Knives are meant to cut and stab. That is why there is a sharp edge on it and a sharp point. It's not a screwdriver, a pry bar, or a hammer. That's why they make multi tools and SAKs. I'm an electrician and I use my knife for cutting. When I need to turn a screw I use a screwdriver, when I need to strip wire I use a wire stripper, when I need to drive a nail or pull one up I use a hammer, and when I need to bottom out a bolt I use a wrench or a ratchet.

New innovations in the knife industry are happening all the time, but the main focus of a knife is to cut. Some companies add hex holes for drivers and bolt heads in the scales, others can hold bits and have a small driver built right into the handle, some have glassbreakers, built in seatbelt cutters, some open using assisted opening, IKBS, Roller Thrust Bearings, VooDoo Bearings, even rubies! At every turn in the industry there is a new innovation. The bottom line though is that a knife was made to cut, slice, dice, and stab. If you want to carry a bunch of tools in one package get a Leatherman or a SAK.

As soon as someone figures out that they can do something with their knife that it wasn't made to do, they are running the risk of injury. If you, as a tradesman, tell another tradesman, "Hey you can do this with your knife." and that guys cuts his hand open or stabs himself then you are to blame because you tried to show him a shortcut. That's when people get hurt. Just because you can pop a can of paint open with your knife doesn't mean the next guy can do the same thing with his. The guy can bend or break his knife or at worst he opens an artery and bleeds out all over the floor.

Just my opinion.

Agreed. Especially about the leatherman part. I hate when I give my knife to someone to find out they want to unscrew something with it......it angers me.