knife or phone?

hardheart

hardheart

Joined
Sep 19, 2001
Messages
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As I was heading out to pick up dinner last night, I grabbed a knife (Spyderco Gayle Bradley) but realized I had left my cell phone (Samsung Epic) on the charger. The thought crossed my mind 'well, as long as I have one or the other'. Now, I'm wondering, is that a valid line of thinking? What is more important to you on a day to day basis? Also, I started thinking about how the cell phone is kinda like the pocket knife for the 21st century, maybe the swiss army knife.

The communication options, the hardware, the apps, I can do an awful lot with my phone, just as how I can do an awful lot with a knife. Is that where the knife is losing ground? There is less to do with a knife due to legal restrictions, the move away from production/manual labor and toward technology doing more stuff for us, and easy to handle processing/packaging of products (other than blister packs) Also outside of what we have to do, the stuff people want to do (and can) nowadays is a different suite of things, covered by a multimedia communications device, not a tool for manual tasks.

When I carry a knife, or some other tool, I can fix certain problems. When I carry a phone, I can still fix some problems, but I can also call someone to help by fixing them for me. Heck, even stranded out in the woods with no cell towers, a smartphone has a radio tuner, a gps, and a lightsource, and whatever useful info you thought to put on it.

To me, both are now important. Do you feel one clearly trumps the other in general, they are complementary in modern life, or that one displaces the other? Very different items, but both versatile.
 
hardheart said:
As I was heading out to pick up dinner last night, I grabbed a knife (Spyderco Gayle Bradley) but realized I had left my cell phone (Samsung Epic) on the charger. The thought crossed my mind 'well, as long as I have one or the other'. Now, I'm wondering, is that a valid line of thinking? What is more important to you on a day to day basis? Also, I started thinking about how the cell phone is kinda like the pocket knife for the 21st century, maybe the swiss army knife.

The communication options, the hardware, the apps, I can do an awful lot with my phone, just as how I can do an awful lot with a knife. Is that where the knife is losing ground? There is less to do with a knife due to legal restrictions, the move away from production/manual labor and toward technology doing more stuff for us, and easy to handle processing/packaging of products (other than blister packs) Also outside of what we have to do, the stuff people want to do (and can) nowadays is a different suite of things, covered by a multimedia communications device, not a tool for manual tasks.

When I carry a knife, or some other tool, I can fix certain problems. When I carry a phone, I can still fix some problems, but I can also call someone to help by fixing them for me. Heck, even stranded out in the woods with no cell towers, a smartphone has a radio tuner, a gps, and a lightsource, and whatever useful info you thought to put on it.

To me, both are now important. Do you feel one clearly trumps the other in general, they are complementary in modern life, or that one displaces the other? Very different items, but both versatile.
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hardheart, my wife & I have got into the habit of putting the car key ring, cell phone, charger, flashlight, & pocket knife in our foyer. When we leave, we grab it on the way out, & on the way in she puts the phone back on the charger & everything else goes there as well. Being we both survived the 60's with a little gray matter intact, this is the only way we can insure we get everything we need when we leave. Maybe it will work for you too . . . :)
Be safe.
 
I use my phone for one thing: to make phone calls.

I use my knife for one thing: to cut things.

Considering they are both single use items, which do I value more? Daily use, I would probably miss the knife more. Not having the phone is a bit of a stress reliever because no one is calling. :)
 
They're too different but important in their own ways to try and choose between the two of them for me. If I had to choose I would simply say pocket knife because I could use a payphone, or even ask a stranger for their phone - I didn't have a cell phone until three years ago, and even now I really don't use my phone every day... but I also use my phone to text google, find places around me, or even just... get information. Typically I have a knife in my pack as well, and I'll have one in my (new) truck, so I probably not be in the situation too often.

I don't know, I just try and not rely on others as best as possible, so I would hope I wouldn't have to choose between the two.:rolleyes:

That was a difficult question.
 
phone.

i use my phone way more often and for far more things in any given day than i have ever used a knife.
 
No,a knife is really more important. Easiest knife question ever posted.

There are plenty of people who feel like a cell is necessity, but I find like folders/vs fixed, home internet and communications are more important. The cell is so vulnerable to disabling damage. I am hard on electronics.
 
hardheart said:
As I was heading out to pick up dinner last night, I grabbed a knife (Spyderco Gayle Bradley) but realized I had left my cell phone (Samsung Epic) on the charger. The thought crossed my mind 'well, as long as I have one or the other'. Now, I'm wondering, is that a valid line of thinking?
Click to expand...

I don't know if it's very sound, but i can tell you I had a very similar thought when i forgot my phone the other day.
 
I thought something similar a while ago. Having a blade with me won. I got a cell phone only three years ago and never really warmed up to it. I carry it for those hurried calls where people can get in touch with me. And that's it. When I forget it at home, I'm not too worried. But when I leave my blades (there were three times total, I think), I feel weird all day.

This is biased as I came up at a time when no one had cell phones and did just fine.
 
I remember the old days when if someone really wanted to call you, they would have to suck it up and accept defeat when they reached your answering machine. In those days there was no instant gratification, and that wasn't even that long ago!

By not carrying a cell phone, I can relive those great uninterrupted days.:D

I choose the knife.:thumbup:
 
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As a contractor my job requires constant communication with clients, employees, and subs. If I leave the house without it I have to go back home. Same with my wife and kids' schedule and after school activities. I'm never far from my truck if I need a knife to cut something but it does suck when you reach for one and it's not there.
 
I always put the knife I'm going to use for the day right next to my phone (HTC EVO) before I turn in for the night. I feel naked without both.
 
Well one day, I got in my car with my wife, children, and grandaughter. We had just parked in the mall when I discovered that I had my knives and phones but not my wallet. I had to take alternative transport home to get my wallet with driver's license inside.
 
When I am on call for work my phone is far more important, when I am not I often leave it at home.
 
Even if I walk out of the house without a knife in my pocket I always have one in my truck. If I leave my phone at home I really feel lost.
Another post mentioned using a public phone. Good luck finding one.
 
both my handset (way way more than a 'phone') and my knife are pretty high on the "don't forget" list, BUT the knife tops everything, except maybe clothes. honestly, i'll end up w/o my creds, my piece, a lighter, a flashlight, my handset, on an occassional accident. BUT a knife? not likely.
 
Knife for me. I havn't bothered getting one of those fancy do everything phones, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. :) But I think on average my phone gets used maybe once a week, where as my knife gets used many many times a day.
 
Probably my knife because unlike the cellphone, I don't worry about recharging the batteries.
 
if push came to shove and his life depended on it, something tells me the guy who picked the knife over the phone won't have too much trouble getting a phone from the guy who picked it over a knife. just sayin.
 
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