My grandfather was a "jack of all trades". He knew auto mechanics, carpentry, basic electronics, plumbing, and much more. And he owned a wide variety of tools for such applications. But the one tool that he always carried around with him was an old single-bladed slipjoint. He carried that same knife for most of his life and during the time I knew him I watched him with great fascination as he used that knife for a wide variety of tasks other than cutting. I watched him use that knife to turn screws, pry up upholstery staples, dig paint out of the heads of painted over screws, scrape carbon buildup from spark plugs, drill holes in leather, wood, and plaster, and on and on. I once watched him completely rewire a lamp with nothing more than that pocketknife.
On another memorable occasion, his neighbor asked my grandfather for help because his car wouldn't start. My gramps went over, popped the hood and started looking around. The neighbor said he had a tool box full of tools in case my gramps needed them (another case of a guy possessing more tools than knowledge) but my gramps said that they weren't needed. My grandfather then pulled off a loose battery cable from the battery, took out his pocketknife, used it to scrape corrosion from the battery terminal and cable clamp, pushed the clamp back onto the battery and told the guy to give it a try. The car started right up. My gramps told the guy to tighten the clamp and he was good to go. Needless to say both the neighbor and myself were quite impressed that my gramps could fix a car with nothing but a pocketknife.
You see, no one ever told my grandfather that there were "rules" for using a pocketknife. And he never worried about receiving public scorn from other knife enthusiasts for how he chose to use his knife. For my grandfather, a knife wasn't a status symbol or "man-toy" that he carried around to play with or impress people with how cool it was. He didn't look upon his knife as a collectors item. He didn't look upon it as a financial investment, worrying that a scratch or ding might reduce it's resale value. He didn't look upon it as a precious work of art. He didn't bestow it with any sort of romantic feelings or sacred value. And he didn't worry about trying to keep his knife in pristine condition for future generations to enjoy.
Instead, my grandfather looked upon his knife as a tool. Something to be used to perform whatever tasks he felt it was capable of performing. Just like a screwdriver, a hammer, or a pair of pliers. And when he died, that knife was a little worse for wear, it had plenty of scratches and dings, but it still had it's original tip, and thanks to regular care and maintenance it had a tight pivot and a smooth, sharp edge.
To this day it still impresses me to think what that old man could do with just a pocketknife and a lifetime of knowledge and experience.
