Lending out a knife.... Any good stories?

[Marion David Poff]

So, I saw the post where the guy had a Mora 2000 that got the tip bent.

I thought I would share two stories of lending, and almost lending out a knife, and the consequences....

Do you have any such stories?

One time, I had just traded for a Sebenza, and was bragging this knife up to a guy that I worked with.... And later on in the day, he asks me to borrow, that knife, the Sebenza... So, I am about to loan it out, when my spydie sense goes off.... And I ask, "What would you like to use it for?" To which he responds.... "I need to pry the back of this watch off." I barely missed that one.....

Years later, I lent a knife out on the long term... And he enjoyed it, but, he made the mistake of letting his uncle sharpen it.... With one of those powered wheels in a plastic box kinda things.... Result - Deep grooves ground into the edge, utter disaster....

Marion

 

[sixgunner455]

I haven't got any stories of knives getting messed up -- I have a habit of replying to the question, "have you got your knife?" with, "What do you need it for?" If it's prying something, they get handed the multi tool with one of the heavier screwdrivers open. If it's cutting an apple, they get a knife.

Kind of funny to be handed back the open loaner and be told, "I can't close it."

Now, the most humorous event after loaning a knife was really kind of sad for the person I loaned it to. He wanted to cut some cord. His knife was duller than a butter knife. I handed him a (v e r y sharp) little jackknife I had. He laid his finger open because of how stupid he was in his cutting method.

 

[Snow]

Only my girlfriend gets to handle my knives, and she has her own anyway.

 

[Rockywolf]

No good stories outside my own family. My sons have their own knives, but I trust them with using mine. Oh, and my best friend too. Otherwise I question the need and use, and usually do it for them.

 

[coyotebc]

A friend borrowed my kershaw outcast to go camping with.
Came back latter with a brand new one because he left mine at the camp site

 

[hunterfisher808]

Same here, but I gotta admit that I sometimes get a coin back instead of the knife

My sons have their own knives, but I trust them with using mine.

 

[Bill Siegle]

I let my brother try out a nice H&B forge throwing knife. I had a 10ftX 3ft target. He misssed and as far as I can figure the knife entered the lawn and shimmed in under the sod cause it simply disappeared I spent a little bit of time over the rest of the summer looking for that blade but it never turned up. For years I had nightmares about my Dad finding it with a tractor tire and sending me a bill but I think after 20 years, that high carbon blade and leather handle have long gone. Maybe the copper rivits might still be out there. Being known for my sharpening skills, I have fixed many of my friends knives where they have loaned out the good ones. 1 friend had to be cut off from my sharpening service untill he started carrying two knives. 1 for himself and a $5 gunshow special for loaning out

 

[Wildewinds]

I don't have a "loan" story, but I have a good story from when I bought a knife for someone. I bought a client of mine a Shun carving knife. She was an older lady and never had a knife so sharp. Well, apparently, she was using it and accidentally cut her finger. There was so much blood that the sight of it made her pass out. She hit her head on the floor and ended up going to the hospital with a concussion.

 

[Skimo]

I don't loan often, and if I do, I supervise the use.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

I've never let anyone borrow my knives except for my fiancee, and she has enough of her own that she never needs to. I always simply respond to folks with "what do you need it for" and then usually end up either saying "no way, you need a (fill in the blank tool)" or "sure. Let me do it myself." I'm not going to not help people, but I'm also not going to let someone who's a n00b with a knife destroy one of mine.

 

[WolfTracker]

Neither a borrower, nor a lender be.

 

[EMT_Lee]

Me and my cousin were out doing a little survival-skills practice one day. We had bagged a couple doves and were making a fire to roast them. I had let my cousin borrow my CS Bushman. I'm not really sure what he was doing (trying to cut a pretty thick stick in half, or something) but the blade slipped and hit his thumb. Took a big chunk off, including about half the nail. Sliced off meat and skin from the knuckle on up. We managed to get the bleeding stopped, and the wound cleaned up, but he made me finish building the fire and clean/roast the birds. To this day, his fingernail grows back looking deformed and he's got a nice scar on the thumb.

 

[udtjim]

I always try to loan out my fillet knife, however, nobody ever wants to use it.

 

[Millhouse]

Unless it is an emergency, I will not lend out a knife or indeed any other kit. Seen too many people use, abuse and do daft things.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

Usually I just warn people that the knife is really sharp and to be careful. 80+% of the time, they come back and have cut themselves.

I loaned out a knife to a friend while we worked on a church sound system. He ended up buying it. Same thing happened the next time we got together.

One time I loaned out my modified byrd Meadowlark Rescue (turned into a warncliff) and have been practicing my convex edge sharpening skills. When the guy handed it back, he said, "you must be a hunter to keep your knife that sharp". I said that I was and then told him that I also sharpen knives.

I loaned out a Military with carbon fiber scales and CPM S90V blade steel to an associate pastor at church during a cook out and he wandered off to chop limbs off of a near by tree. It came back less sharp, but nothing serious.

 

[Les]

Hand a Dozier to someone field dressing a deer and you better stay close by!
It can walk off with them!

 

[kyturkey]

Back when I was a teenager I loaned a spyderco delica to my boss. We did odd and end remodel and construction jobs. At the time we were painting at a factory, but he also was rekeying some locks for them. I believe he wedged the tip between two pieces on a lock cylinder and proceded to twist the blade to pry them apart. He returned it with a chip out of the tip and one of the serration tips broke off. Learned my lesson there. Now I don't loan my knife out unless I'm right there with them.

 

[Josh K]

Fourth of July we have a pig roast, and I sharpened up all the knives they were using. Straight up from the brown rods all the way to the ultra fine flats on my Sharpmaker. I warned them they were extremely sharp, and luckly we didn't have any injuries. Plenty of compliments though.

I think the worst thing that happened was I loaned my Tenacious to someone and later found him practicing his knife throwing into a nearby tree.

 

[Bufford]

I loaned a friend my unused Shrade Sharpfinger. He put it on his belt, and afterwards the stitching on the sheath was all butchered from him puting the knife back in the sheath backwards.... Last time I will lend anykind of knfe out to anybody.

 

[siguy]

When I was younger my only fixed blade was a bait knife I bought at the local Dick's sporting goods. It was saber hollow ground, and with much laborious grinding on a two sided bench stone, I made it into a convex ground blade. I used sand paper to mirror polish the bevel and get it screaming sharp.

A friend of a friend of my parent's was over meeting everyone, and somehow he ended up with the knife in his hand (I was probably showing off, or left it sitting around), and I watched him take it out and proceed to toss is a few feet in the air several times, each time catching it loosely in his hand. Right there in the kitchen, no less, with people standing around! As soon as I got the knife back, it went away to a dark place whenever someone new came around.