Knife Etiquette Question

Mark J

Mark J

Joined
Mar 15, 2001
Messages
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On the few occasions that I have let coworkers borrow my EDC (William Henry Evolution), I’m never quite sure how to hand it to them. Here are the options from my perspective.

Option A: Hand it to them closed. I’ve tried this, but some of them actually have trouble figuring out how to open it. One guy almost managed to slice his hand he was so inept at opening it! :rolleyes: Others have almost dropped it. Many of these folks have probably never opened a pocketknife, and the whole scene very quickly takes on the “monkey with the bone” aura at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Amusing, but disconcerting.

Option B: Open it for them and hand it to them (handle first, of course). This is what I currently do, and it seems to work OK. This still gives them the ability to close the knife (read: monkey scene #2) and work the folder. I’m just a little paranoid that someday the person will carelessly pull it from my hand and I’ll be on my way to the ER for stitches.

Option C: Don’t lend it to anyone. I really don’t want to do this, considering the generally positive responses I’ve received from coworkers. Plus, you never know who the next knifenut convert will be, do you?

Are there other options I’m missing? Ideas? What do you do?

- Mark
 
option b but make sure the spine of the knife is in your palm, that way, even if there is a problem, you will only have that moved across you.

hope thishelps.
Conn
 
Option D: Open it and close it in front of them and then hand it to them!

Option E: Carry two knifes, one to use and one to lend.

Option F: Carry a simple disclaimer for anyone to sign in case of a accident and then you most likely will not be lending out many more knifes! :p LMAO hehe

Cheers!
James
 
Definitely option B and like Conn (hewasntrightint) says, spine towards your hand for safety.

And then I watch the confused look on their faces when they can't figure out how to close the knife (I suppose I should carry a slipjoint as a loaner :rolleyes: ).
 
Originally posted by Mark J
Option C: Don’t lend it to anyone. I really don’t want to do this, considering the generally positive responses I’ve received from coworkers. Plus, you never know who the next knifenut convert will be, do you?

Are there other options I’m missing? Ideas? What do you do?
Click to expand...
I like your thinking on this one, but having lent out a knife, only to have it returned a few minutes later with a ruined edge, and broken serration (Spyderco Goddard ltwt), have rarely let anyone use one of my knives since, and only then under my supervision.
One of my coworkers, while holding one of my folders, and after asking me what kind of steel "this knife" has, and getting an earful about 420V, was about to bang the edge of my CF EDC onto a steel plate, when I stopped him. "What the @$#! are you doing?" You know what he told me? "It shouldn't hurt a knife that cost that much."
:rolleyes:
I've gone with option C, since then. It's probably kept me out of jail...
 
I have taken the loaner route. I keep an inexpensive but sharp and sturdy locking folder in my pocket that is loaned and if they ruin the edge it's no big deal as I can fix it or replace it or give it to them and gently explain to them any knife manners they may not know.

I use the Mercator K55 Cat knives which I purchased for $50 a dozen, got a few dozen, and they are fine, slim, good locking knives. I also have a few boxes of sharpened Fury locking folders as well. I've given away about 5 or 6 knives a year but the cost is low -- like buying someone a cup of Starbucks coffee. :)

I don't loan out my good knives unless it is to someone I know is aware of proper knife care and of course it's very seldom that that sort of person doesn't have a knife with them anyway.
 
Usually Option B.

I do make sure to only grasp the blade on the spine, with only the tips of my thumb and index finger. That way, if it gets "ripped" from my hand, I shouldn't get cut.

I usually carry a loaner, or at least choose the cheapest one on me at the time, to lend out. I too have seen some pretty amazing things done with my knives, by non-knife people. Like Mumbly-Peg on a carpeted floor!
 
Isn't it exactly the ones who don't know how to handle knives who are the most upset that we walk around carrying "weapons"?

I agree with the idea of not lending out a good knife, and I think the best loaner would be a small slipjoint. But I can't be bothered carrying a beater like that. So I do what I always did with my pens -- I tell them, "No, you can't borrow it. It's too expensive to lend out."
 
Last time I loaned a knife was 3 years ago. My co-worker managed to do major damage to his hand requiring surgery to repair ligament and nerve damage. Never again.

GronK
 
Well, I think that its good that you made the point of mentioning the "converting knife people" think, it is always good. Right now, I probably do A or B the most (I disagree with people who do C, that's no fun, but there are stupid people out there). Anyway, after thinking about it, I think that I would recommend A, this way the person borrowing it will get a chance to see how the knife works, and they wont be completely oblivious to the work of "knife".
Hope that makes sense,
mmtmatrix
 
I do mainly B. Today was a good example: I am at the front desk of our office and the manager gets a parcel. She tries to open the heavily taped and wrapped package with a pen. :confused: I flick open my Spydie Native and hand it to her handle first, and as she happily uses it to open the package, she mentions how she doesn't like weapons. I of course state that it is quite obviously a tool and not a weapon as evidenced by her use of it in opening the box. She just rolls her eyes of course and returns to her tool-less utopian dreamland where she wouldn't be able to open a simple parcel....
 
<b>>Many of these folks have probably never opened a pocketknife, and the whole scene very quickly takes on the “monkey with the bone” aura at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Amusing, but disconcerting.</b>

Great line! :D
 
I don't loan out my knives.I think if you want to make someone into a knife enthusiast,tell them to buy their own knife.Plus,when I used to let people use my knives I was always amazed at how poorly people would treat my valuable property.I don't like people asking to borrow my cell phone either....
troy
 
Hand them the folder, but tell them to be careful it is ver sharp. If it is a liner lock or an axis or an auto that my friends wanna play with i show them first how it locks and unlocks. Usually if someone asks to cut something I will cut it myself, the darn things are too expensive, and most people are used to opening boxes with a butter/kitchen knife, where slips won't give you a dozen stitches or more!!! But with our folders, obviously sharp, I KNOW people will get cut, just as I did many dozens of times when I first got into this hobby. Again James Mattis helped me more than enough on what would fit me best for carry knives, and even sent me a few NO CHARGE to fondle straight up. $500 worth of folders show up at my door, I WANTED THEM ALL. Truly a great man. Can't be said enough IMO.

JC
 
Poll:

How many of you guys that won't lend out a knife, learned to drive in your daddy's car....?

Let's lighten up a notch on this post (except for you guys that came out of the womb flicking a knife...)

Michael
 
C4 when I was learning to drive,I never once took my dad's favorite car and threw it as hard as I could at a tree."just to see if I could make it stick.":rolleyes:
troy
 
I don't think I would loan out one of my knives without first asking what the person was going to use it for. If the task required cutting tape, I would have no problem with that. If they wanted to pry something open, I'd have to laugh and say "Heck no!" I have loaned out my knife a few times at work and always warn the user to be careful as I keep my blades extremely sharp.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I should have mentioned in my original post that when I do loan out my knife (Option B), I never let them take it out of my sight. I also always first warn them that it's sharp, before handing it over. The former is for my peace of mind, the latter strictly CYA.

I guess there are really two issues here: damage to the knife, and damage to the person using the knife (not from me, from the knife! :rolleyes: ). Since I only let folks use the knife when I'm around, I figure I can intervene to prevent damage to the knife. On the other hand, knife accidents can happen so quickly, that I can't prevent them from hurting themselves (or possibly me) with the knife. This is what I'm trying to avoid.

It all seems to come down to a balance between letting them have the experience of opening/closing/using the knife (i.e., learning to appreciate it) and preventing mishaps. Kinda like raising kids. :)

- Mark
 
I don't let anyone (well, hardly anyone) use my knife. I figure anyone who isn't smart enough to foresee the need for a knife isn't smart enough to be trusted with anything sharp. There's no telling what he might do with it -- hack at a steel plate and ruin the edge, cut off his own fingers, throw it into a wall and break the knife and put a hole in the wall ... the possibilities are endless....

Originally posted by C4
Poll:

How many of you guys that won't lend out a knife, learned to drive in your daddy's car....?
Click to expand...

Not me. My daddy wouldn't let me drive his car even after I got my license. He bought me a car of my own to learn to drive on. It was dented when he bought it for me and it was more dented when it went off to that racetrack above (or traffic jam below ... for that car, I bet it was the traffic jam below).

My daddy wouldn't let anyone drive his car unless it was a qualified driver, and I feel the same way about my knife.
 
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