Locked out on a balcony

Magnaminous_G said:
Question: why does anyone carry a knife they are not prepared to use?
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I don't imagine that most people carry a knife for the purpose of prying open door locks with it. Or maybe I'm wrong about that. I carry a knife to cut things.

Whether or not I chose to risk damaging a knife would depend on a variety of factors. Is my knife really the best tool available for the task? How important is the task at hand that I would have to use my knife? Is the task so important that I would be willing to risk damaging my knife? Could I afford to replace the knife?

It's very easy to say "Well hell yeah, I wouldn't hesitate to pry open a door with my $1000 custom knife". But I'd like to see a demonstration. So, anyone have a $1000 knife they'd like to pry a door open with? Or how about just prying open a paint can? Or maybe just use it as a screwdriver. After all, if you're not prepared to "use" your knife, what's the point of owning it?

I once used a $100 Benchmade to pry my way through a locked bathroom door. I didn't feel like sitting in the bathroom for several hours, and the knife was neither my favorite nor my most expensive knife. I didn't care if I damaged it.
 
I'll have a $600 custom in a few months that I bet could pry open a door. I'm buying it to use it, I'm picky and production knives no longer live up to my quality standards. Doesn't mean I don't love my spyderco military or cold steel AK-47 it just means I want a customized knife. It not about the cost to me.
 
Locked out on a balcony...okay i'll bite.

Call the front desk with my cellphone (never leaves my pocket)
Try to get a neighboring resident's attention to alert the front desk that i'm locked on the balcony
Use a card from my wallet to jimmy the door open or my multitool if I have it

If I absolutely need to get back inside in a hurry:
Kick the door in/ram through it/etc. They can bill me. I can pretty much guarantee its cheaper than replacing a $1000 blade.

IF (and thats a big if) I can't do any of those things (pretty sure I can kick in a door without a problem but hey) THEN i'll take out the $1000 tax return knife and jimmy the door open. I'd just hope the custom maker will fix or refinish it without dishing out next year's tax return. :)
 
I carry a custom folder, it costs five times the price of a good folder, but I use it well, it has always been by my side, I killed a mountain lion that lunged at me from a tree, when my car broke down I had to use it as a screw driver chipped the edge, when I was stuck on a balcony I used it to pry the door locks open, nicked the tip scratched the blade. Each damage just needs a little re-profiling and sharpening. I fix the tip and chips myself because I believe putting your own effort into a knife makes it your own, the scratches build character and shows other people this is my knife. No one else has the same tip, the same profile, the same scratches, the same history, after all these abuses it still locks up tight and carries a great edge, because fundamentally a knife is just a sharp edge, you pay extra for design, functionality, uniqueness, exotic material, and beauty. This knife is not just a tool, but it has saved me from losing a limb, dehydrating in the sun, and a boring night under the stars, this knife is my companion.

Wouldn't this be a great story.
 
Why does a knife have to look abused to convince some people it's used? I've got tools that belonged to my Old Man who was a fleet mechanic for Shell Oil, he used his tools hard to make a living but he didn't abuse 'em and neither do I, (I was a mechanic/millwright/machinist for 40 years using the same tools to make my living), that's why my sockets and ratchets, wrenches and screwdrivers all still look same.

An abused tool is just that, an abused tool and it might forgive ya a couple of times but if ya continue to abuse it, eventually it'll fail, nothing is indestructible, hell my daughter can break anything ya give her in 5 minutes. ;)
 
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If I'm rolling with a $1,000 knife then I am more then ready to use it. I never carry anything that I am going to be affraid to use. Plus if I drop a grand on I knife, money is not much of an object to me.
 
Any type of knife makes a very poor pry bar. It the blade has any temper in it at all it will simply snap off trying to pry a door open. (unless the door has a very weak locking mechanism) Actually I carry a lock pick in my wallet and it has saved my bacon many times.
 
goson said:
A theoretical question, if you were lock out on your office balcony with nothing on you but your 1000+ dollar custom knife,
you cannot call for help or jump down, but the door gap is large enough for you to jimmy the lock, what would you do?

A. Wait till tomorrow morning when people come back to work and sleep on the balcony

or

B. Risk damaging the tip of your knife and scratching up the blade of your 1000+ dollar knife to get in
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B all the way. If you are going to carry it use, it.
 
I was actually faced with this issue on my home balcony. And I was in undershorts and nothing else (except my knife)! I tried forcing the bolt and prying the hinge bolt with no success. Admittedly, it was only a $150 Brous Silent Soldier which I had a round my neck. But at the time, I was newly into this game and it seemed like a pricey enough knife to me. At the next knife show where I saw Jason, He was kind enough to take the knife with him and grind a sharp edge back onto it. Oh and the entry? Fortunately these were double French doors and I ultimately had to break out a pane. Tey now have a deadbolt lock so no more accidental lockouts. :-)
 
My wife and I got stuck out on a balcony of a the third story one night while in the mountains. It was cold as hell but the hot tub we were in felt great. I had a knife and used it to pry a piece off of the grill that was on the balcony. I then used that piece of metal to open the door. It took almost 2 hours because every 2 minutes I would get cold and jump back in the hot tub. Woke up the next day with a nasty cold.

To answer the original question straight without adding an additional hypothetical, damn straight I would use it. Like others have said, don't carry it unless you plan to use it!

Fun question!
 
I'd throw the knife at the door, at $1000 it's gotta have door opening features.
 
jill jackson said:
If you was walking through the woods and a mt. lion attacked you and all you had was a 1000 dollar custom knife, would you fight back with it, or offer it your arm in hope it would get full and leave you alone. You'd be without an arm, but hey your knife would still be pristine! :D
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Bada bing - bada boom!

Thank you.

Cate
 
goson said:
A theoretical question, if you were lock out on your office balcony with nothing on you but your 1000+ dollar custom knife,
you cannot call for help or jump down, but the door gap is large enough for you to jimmy the lock, what would you do?

A. Wait till tomorrow morning when people come back to work and sleep on the balcony

or

B. Risk damaging the tip of your knife and scratching up the blade of your 1000+ dollar knife to get in
Click to expand...

Hello,

I would use the knife to get inside no matter what the knife cost.

I would SCREAM FOR HELP first and if no one came to help me... oh well... I would use the knife.

What is the point of carrying a TOOL on you if you never use it or when you actually NEED IT... you are afraid to 'hurt it'?!

My late husband had many tools. TOOLS for all kinds of things! I had a few tools and my favorite push mower, tractor, chipper, saws-all with a spare TREE pruning blade, etc. He owned more tools than I did but WE TOOK CARE OF THEM and they looked fairly new and not abused even though they were used. We took care of them and they took care of us when we used them. We did not buy tools to never use them or never build a house, a garage and a small barn. We used tools to build things and fix them. We used tools for vehicles, all kinds of equipment, sail and power boats too.

I can tell you that I would not be sleeping on a high story balcony no matter what the weather was waiting for someone to RESCUE ME when I could take care of myself, use my brains, common sense, and a TOOL that would solve the problem (Personal responsibility!) even if I screwed up and got LOCKED OUT to begin with!

Here is my own stupid story:

I accidently locked myself out of my former house around 3AM one morning. FIRST and ONLY time in my life so far too! I was so tired and slap happy at the time too. I was moving stuff around from my house to the breezeway and garage for a family member to pick up. My late husband had gone to bed and company was coming from the east coast the next day. I continued to plug on and FINISH THE JOB for them. I was off 'work' the next day so I kept on working when I should have STOPPED due to my state of body/mind. I was storing some stuff for them in my home. I lived in the country. It was WARM outside. It was usually COOL in the brick house with a couple of fans but my late husband had turned on the master bedroom's small a/c in the window. SECOND FLOOR. SUPER INSULATED HOUSE - quiet too. I was working in a tall man's white t shirt of my late husband's and underpants. I ALWAYS wear slippers or sandals when I am not wearing other shoes, boots or sneakers. NO one is or WAS around to see me other than my husband and my dog. We never had children.

I SCREWED UP royally!!! I must have turned one of the back door locks - kitchen door to an enclosed breezeway door. I did not want to BREAK THE GLASS on the kitchen door. I had already locked the garage door to the breezeway. I banged and called for my husband to help me. He did NOT hear me on the second floor with a small a/c on. (He was not sleeping downstairs in the DEN that could be used for a bedroom with a couch and closet.) I was not about to go walking in the pitch dark with only moonlight and stars shining 2.5 miles in my underwear to get to our closest village! I remembered that 'WE' had deliberately put a HIDDEN KEY in a secret spot INSIDE of a special built, hand made, VERY heavy dog house that did not get used any longer. That meant that I had to go out to the back yard from the breezeway in the DARK and crawl into this dog house with a wind break panel INSIDE OF THE DOG HOUSE and FEEL FOR THE DANG KEY hanging from a NAIL. Yukkey poo! It was DARK out there because I had no need for all of my FLOOD LIGHTS that could be controlled from the first and second floors of the house and garage. All I had on outside of the house was the breezeway light and an automatic colonial post light out front by the driveway. Some people don't understand how DARK it can be in the boonies sometimes! Most of the time it is pitch dark and if you do not have many cars/trucks go by - forget that too. I usually had a spare flashlight in the breezeway but 'stupid me' MOVED IT. I had flashlights all over in the house, all 3 floors - basement, first and second, garage, small barn, car, truck, etc. but since I had ALL OF THIS STUFF TO BE MOVED... I moved the spare one from the breezeway window areas (North and south sides.) because of the stupid BOXES. Anyway, I did it - I got the key! I got inside and by the TIME THAT I DID ALL OF THAT WORK and I WAS ANGRY WHILE DOING IT - my German Shepherd woke up my husband since she made a commotion and was INSIDE MOST OF THE TIME when we were home. She liked the breezeway that opened up to a big fenced in area when we were at work too. He came downstairs and was grumpy. I was TICKED OFF that he did not hear me call him and bang on the door too. How he slept through that - I will never know. My dog was worked up and worried about me too. My routine of moving the breezeway flashlight, being stupid tired and locking myself out but remembering the key saved me. Now, if I had NOT hidden the KEY out there in a dog house that was hardly ever used and not really needed - I would have taken something OUT OF THE MOVING BOXES and broken a small window pane in the kitchen door to get inside.

That is MY stupid story and I would do anything so I would NOT have to sleep in a fairly large enclosed breezeway full of MOVING BOXES with no clean, crisp sheet and in my underwear and slippers even if it was WARM outside. Plus I would have died for a HOT SHOWER and a cup of coffee!

Cate
 
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whitty said:
My wife and I got stuck out on a balcony of a the third story one night while in the mountains. It was cold as hell but the hot tub we were in felt great. I had a knife and used it to pry a piece off of the grill that was on the balcony. I then used that piece of metal to open the door. It took almost 2 hours because every 2 minutes I would get cold and jump back in the hot tub. Woke up the next day with a nasty cold.

To answer the original question straight without adding an additional hypothetical, damn straight I would use it. Like others have said, don't carry it unless you plan to use it!

Fun question!
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You know what? I can picture this mess that you were in.

Good post and thank you.

Cate
 
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