Monkey arm...lol

Don’t worry, there is knife content in this post…I think.

A few years ago my friend and fellow knife lover coined the phrase, Giving yourself a “Monkey arm”, to describe the process of shaving hair off of you arm to test knife sharpness. No one knows how removing hair resembles a “monkey arm” since monkeys HAVE hair on their arms but the term stuck none the less. “Monkey arm” is now the common term used in our circle of knife friends. Although we laugh almost everytime we say it, we ALWAYS say it. This got me thinking, since there is no official term to describe the shaving test I would like to nominate “Monkey arm” as the official term. With the rapid rate at which things spread on the internet I think this term could grow to legendary proportions
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So, lets all write about a factual recent experience and incorporate the use of the term “Monkey arm”. I’ll go first.

I recently received a custom neck knife by T L Hearns and a Bud Nealy Pesh Kabz. While the Hearns is capable of giving me a nice “Monkey arm” it is no where near as sharp as the Nealy.


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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
I sharpened a friend's gerber gator last night, and upon going to test the sharpness,I found that all I had left was monkey arm
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guess I will have to start on monkey legs next.

[This message has been edited by Josh Feltman (edited 05-11-2001).]
 
LOL,

Josh, I have done the same. I realized that I had no hair left on my arm so I started giving myself a monkey leg. I instantly realized the absurdity and decided against it. I had to wait for all my hair to grow back on my arm, just so I could monkey arm it again.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
Bobwhite

Bobwhite

Joined
Nov 30, 1999
Messages
2,913
I have bald patches all over my arms and legs. It looks like I have mange. Monkey arm mange?
 
I used to do this ALOT...Every time I would sharpen a knife I would shave a lil patch to test...It looked really bad because I have lots of dark hair(ie. Chewbacca on Rogain).

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What's wrong with talking to yourself?? It's sometimes the best conversation and eitherway your always right... -Me-
Formerly Endura Duck
 
I have long called it "knife collector's mange", and that's not original with me. "Monkey Arm" ain't bad, either!

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AKTI Member #A000934
"Always just one knife short of perfection!"
 
Monkey arm! Lol! I have that after spending a bit of time working on my CPM440V Military! Use an Ultra Fine Benchstone and a 15 deg angle=Monkey arm!

I find shaving hair is the ONLY way to tell 100% if an edge is symetrical.

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Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
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Certified steel snob!
 
I love the mange post, I currently have a bad case.
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I would suggest, however, if you really think your knife is sharp, try shaving your chin. It's much more difficult than arm hair.
 
Swede, I agree with you %100. If I can cleanly shave a patch of two-day-old beard, the knife is sharp! Speaking of monkey arm, I have a few patches of it around my wrist, as I stopped doing the outside of my forearm when I noticed it was getting bare. Much less noticeable when it's covered by your watchband.
 
Monkey arm--that's freakin' great!!!

Monkey armed myself this afternoon after sharpening my Chinook and CQC6 on a Spyderco ultra fine stone and stropping with red, then green compound.

Oh, and in deference to billytran, "Me lick to get mankey arm, hay?"

sorry, couldn't resist
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Ryan
 
Louis, since even you admit "Monkey Arm" has no meaning I'd like to suggest a change to "Monkey Mange"

MANGE(noun)
: any of various persistent contagious skin diseases marked esp. by eczematous inflammation and loss of hair, affecting domestic animals or sometimes humans, and caused by a minute parasitic mite -- compare SARCOPTIC MANGE
 
I second monkey arm. I like that far better than monkey mange. Who said expressions have to make sense? It's supposed to be an insider joke after all
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Seek simplicity, and distrust it.
Whitehead, Alfred North (1861 - 1947)
 
Monkey arm is better because it doesn't have any meaning to other people. Look at it this way. Suppose you are talking to your friends about "monkey mange" and someone overhears. You don't want peope to think that you have minute parasitic mites, do you? I know I wouldn't......
Matt
 
I'm sorry, but "monkey arm" is totally wrong!
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. Every monkey that I've ever known has had VERY hairy arms, and little, or no access to sharp knives.
biggrin.gif
.

I nominate "hairless as a balloon" as the "correct phrase".
biggrin.gif
.

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Dann Fassnacht
Aberdeen, WA
glockman99@hotmail.com
ICQ# 53675663
 
The wife made fun of me for having one hairless arm (the left) so I started weak hand blade testing on the other arm. I practiced weak hand shooting so I figured I could handle weakhand blade testing.
Now my arms are balanced and smooth.
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[This message has been edited by speedrck (edited 05-12-2001).]
 
I just "monkey armed" my hairy ass......does that count? Or would that be "monkey assed"?
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Ken
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"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
----Abraham Lincoln
 
Phil,

It not making sense is the beauty of the whole thing. It only need make sense to US.

Jazzmzn and Culter said it best!

Excellent usage of the term, guys. Keep it up!



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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"
 
destined to be a classic.

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Brian
The first knife was probably used to cut stuff.
 
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