Knife Loaning Horror Stories

I find most non-knife carrying guys are pretty good. If you work or spend a lot of time together you kind of notice other peoples habits about certain tools, and try to follow suit.

I've picked up on some "alert" phrases however. If I here the words "how sharp is it?" I can guess that they will soon attempt to cut themself, or damage the blade in some way.

Working in a kitchen you also have to worry about random knife snatching rather than borrowing. It always amazes me that chefs with excellent knife skills are often so bad at maintaining them. Improper steeling and poor storage choices for example.
 
Vivi said:
The last restaraunt where I worked I saw something similar happen. This young guy, 17 or so, is bragging about how good he is at sharpening knives ever since he learned how to at culinary school. Goes to sharpen one of the cook's knife for them while they were busy, using a weird technique I rarely see (Placing the honing steel vertical on the counter). After a little while he went over to the head cook holding his hand, showing him where he had just cut himself. Got the side of his palm good enough to have the owner take him down to ER. I quit before he came back but from what I heard the first day he came back, he managed to do it again. He quit after the second incident.

It was painful working there anyways. The knives were ran through the dishwasher, getting banged on silverware and plates all night, and whenever anyone sharpened them they thought the more force you use with a honing steel, the sharper it would be, paying no attention at all to the huge burr left on one side of the knife. The same kid mentioned above would often try to rip open the bags of salad with his teeth (Real sanitary) since he didn't figure to carry a knife to work. I'll also let you guess who took a long time breaking down boxes at the end of the night.
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I can only shake my head at all the stories.. good freaking grief. Einstein was right.

As for steeling, I'd always though that "tip down into the counter" is the standard chef's technique, which is how I was taught to do it. Seems completely foolproof, however, with the knife always below and never close to the hand holding the steel. Unless your prodigy was holding the steel tip up, I can't imagine how he managed it.
 
There are some good ones here!! I run local Tavern here in my hometown that is pretty much a working man's bar. Lots of guys in the trades, and as a result, many are interested in knives. An old collector friend of mine asked me to bring in a discontinued tactical folder that I had just paid a hefty sum for so he could see it. After I took it back from him, another friend who knows VERY little about knives asked to see it. He asked what I paid for it, and when I told him, he exclaimed, "You gotta be SHI**IN' me!!!" He then threw the knife across the bar and onto the floor thinking I was fooling around......until he saw the look of utter horror on my face. :mad::mad: Gotta be careful!!
 
Yah I think there is no worries with that if you get the correct angle. As long as he isnt clanging the the flat side of the blade against the steel and grinning like a rabid dog. Which happens more than you think.
 
Midwest Ninja said:
1. People swinging a knife/sword AT someone else. I usually explode at that point, take the sword from them, and refuse to share any more of them.
2. People who test the edge with their finger. Well, I have no sympathy. I even refuse to help with first aid on something this idiotic.
3. People trying to pry with a knife blade. This is the most common example of sheeple stupidity, and I have stopped people from doing this with their own knives. I also NEVER lend my knife. EVER. I'm always eager to use mine anyway, so its no problem to do extra work to protect my knife.
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2 works fine if done right. I've been doing it for 30 years, purely reflexive at this point, and can't recall ever having a problem. Lightly scraping across (never along, obviously) at different (acute) angles can tell a lot about the edge, if you know what different edge conditions feel like. YMMV.
 
Where do I start?
Probably worst thing I ever had some one do with my knife. Hey let me see your knife. He then tosses it towards a girl lying on the floor (closed). It opens partially and the blade hits her in the face, right beneath her right eye. Cuts her, and oops, she is a hemophiliac. Bleeds for ever. If it had hit her in the eye she would have been blind and then dead.

At work a co worker says hey can I borrow your knife. it was brand new. She hands it back and the edge looks like she has been cutting steel cable with it. The entire finish of the blade is scarred and scratched. She used it to cut open a bunch of bags of silicone carbide sand blasting grit. Instead of cutting the top of the bag, where the grit was not, she split all them in the middle. ruined the finish on the knife.

My older brother asks me, hey let me see your knife. I hear him in the other room say OOPS. He hands my knife back minus an inch. He used it to pry something.

I always now, ask what they are going to cut. Many times I will just do it my self.

When people cut them selves after I tell them it is sharp, I only laugh at them and call them stupid.
 
Pierre Couture said:
I sometimes lend knives, but I tell a story first. 8 years ago, I held a weekend demonstration at a store in downtown Québec City shop with knives on display, various materials, and sharpening knives for bystanders, all part of a Victoria Day weekend activity organized by the shop owners in that street. One of the helpers for the shop owners brought me a few kitchen knives to sharpen, including a Sabatier cleaver. I got them all razor sharp. But, since there were some steel filings on my portable bench, from handfiling a blade prior, I noticed his blades were magnetized, and told him he would have to clean them thoroughly before using them. I showed him how sharp they were too. When he got back home, he used the cleaver right away, without cleaning. He realised his mistake and swiped the blade across the back of his thigh, unaware that he had opened his trousers, and cut his leg half an inch deep by roughly two inches wide. One of his friends noticed blood on the floor and he was rushed to the hospital, requiring ten stitches...:eek: Since then, I always tell that anecdote before lending knives or handing sharpened knives to customers, telling them that I stand behind my work, but that I cannot be held liable for any self-inflicted injuries...
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what do i need to sharpen my knives , i have a few cold steel with san maii 3 steel , im getting a work bench what else do i need , want to have them razorsharp, thanks ratamrautenbach966@hotmail.com
 
I had just bought a brand new leatherman surge
I brought it up to the lake with me, on the way back from a island my dad and uncles dicide they want some wine, bad news no wine opener
I said here I'll get it open, so I take the bottle and stick the blade in the cork and begin to twist it out
my dumbarse uncle grabs the bottle with the knife in it and tells ME to be careful
he yanks the blade out thinking it will pull the cork out
he then just drops the blade, it goes about a half an inch into his leg then falls to the floor and the tip breaks
 
John79 said:
I let a friend of a friend see my NEW Sog twitch 2 at a friend's party about a year ago, he seemed nice enough, and I thought that he just wanted to try out the assis. opening feature. Wrong. He proceded to flip it open, and attemps to open a soup can by jabbing it with my new knife. I almost broke his jaw. Instead, I snatched it away while bitching at him loudly for scratching up the blade...... do you know what this dude says to me?!?!?!?!?! He says, "Relax, it's stainless steel princess."
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relax, it's stainless steel princess, you see I wouldnt be able to hear that above the load buzz in my head from anger
what an idiot, he obviously has no knowledge of knives
but really, he was lucky it was you and not me
 
frogot this one
another time at the lake and another uncle
while going to put in bay we hit some rocks and have to change the prop
so my uncle gets down on the swim platform and asks for a straight slot screwdriver
I thought he just needed to loosen the prop or something like that
so I hand over my brand new german army one hand trekker
I couldnt see what he was doing
he hands it back to me with the large straight slot/bottle opener bent up about 90 degrees
I ask him what the hell, he says oh well you should buy better knives
I say the thing isnt a goddamn prybar
 
I've gotten off pretty light. Instead of "can I borrow your knife," I usually hear from people "will you cut this for me?" That works out much better.

When I was a kid, my best friend would borrow my SAK Huntsman from time to time, and then when he was done, he'd deploy every single tool at once before handing it back to me. He did it just to annoy me.
 
thats why i ask"what are you cutting"? & then they look at me like i'm worried they may damage it.yeah, like sticking it in a door jam to move the bolt ,or pry something.especially when im carrying a good blade or a custom.i keep saying to myself i;m going to get a small 3" blade crkt or similar decent little folder & carry it along with my good one, & hand the crkt off if someone wants to borrow it.i;d probably still cringe.dont you also hate when they flick it open real hard? these knives today are so smooth, theres no reason to blast it open like that!i like when they put it in their pocket when they are done & go on with their buisness & all you can think of is how & when you are getting it back!:mad:
 
I only tell people that I don't like that my knives are sharp. if they are my fiends, they already know, and if I tell them, they will cut themselves. I also never loan a knife unless I really know the person. And sometimes that means I don't loan it to them. The worst that's happened to me was someone cutting themselves on a knife I loaned them for a play, they cut themself on the un-sharpened back curve of my camillus pilot knife. A friend of mine who collects swords had one worse. He'd just gotten a Paul Chen Practical katana (mostly polished hair popping sharp) and we were "fooling around" chopping small twigs of of a shrub with the last few inches of the blade, marveling at how sharp it was. Another friend asked to see it, and while the owner knew it was a bad idea, he handed the sheathed sword over, to test the friend. instead of slowly drawing the blade, he swung the blade out, and began to shadow fight with it, clipping the ground a few times. Not good, luckily no-one was hurt, but to this day, he doesn't get any sharp things. ever. I do my best to teach the people around me how to be respectful of blades, and for the most part they learn, or they bleed, I like my water stone, but I can't wait until I can get a strop to try.... then they will really be scary sharp!
 
Check this out; why I keep inexpensive knives to give to clueless people.

Gerber Brush Knife -

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My wife got it out of my shop to clear some weeds off the tractor PTO shaft. Guess she got into the shaft itself a few times!

I cleaned up the edge with a belt grinder, but right now the whole darn knife is missing. I'm waiting for it to turn up in a tire or to come flying out of a mower.......

Andy
 
I lent a knife to a friend who used it to cut grip tape. So not only was it chipped and dull, it was covered in glue residue. From then on, I always ask why they need it, and 99% of the time I do the cutting myself, or hand them the proper tool (like scissors or a screwdriver).
 
After coming back to Ft Leonard wood after a 7 month tour in afghanistan with my trusted and tested Imperial Schrade Extreme, I was ordered by my First Sergeant to have my weapon secured in the company's arms vault. I was so pissed, I argued and fought the decision up the chain of command and Top's orders were enforced by our Battalion Commander for "safety reasons".

3 weeks later I was ordered back to the CO's office and was given my Imperial Schrade back by the CO. I was excited and puzzled but when I was dismissed I bolted for the door in fear of some change of mind. As I opened the door, TOP said to me "make sure you secure your weapon and keep it under lock and key". I turned to say I would and realized that 3 of the men in the room, The Arms room Staff Sergeant, the pencil pushing utility clerk and the Arms room's Secretary all had bandages on their fingers and hands.

I almost sh*t my pants in hysterics! :D

Wuz
 
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