Only YOU can prevent knife abuse!

WadeF · Dec 2, 2004

Last night I was at my grandfather's for dinner with my wife and son. My father and mother were also there. My grandfather decided to purchase one of these "Learn to play a guitar in 1 hour" deals so my Dad was tunning it for him. One of the strings broke and part of it was wrapped around the tunning post (?). So my Dad goes "Do you have a knife?" I knew he wanted to take the tip and dig it into the guitar string and pry it out. So I responded with "That would be knife abuse!" and I felt kinda like a tool, but I decided to take a stand.

So I reached for my SAK and tried one of the lilttle screw drivers, but it couldn't get in. So then my Dad got my Grandfather's Buck 110 knock off and dug it out with that. At least that knife wasn't a $100+ BM710HSSR, and it had a pretty stout tip on it so it was okay.

My Dad probably thought I was being anal, but shouldn't people stop and think "Do I want to chance breaking the tip off a $100+ knife?" uhg. It's not a $10 POS that can be easily replaced! ARGH! I should say "Why don't you take Mom's engagement ring and pry it out with that! Maybe you could f()$* that up real nice and then give it back to her and see how she feels about it!

I've seen his collection of slip joints that he has collected over the years, mostly as gifts from my grandfather (his father), and they all have broken tips!

I think when I told him he couldn't use it for that he said something like "Afraid the tip will break off and you won't be able to stab someone?" or something. A $130 KNIFE WITH A 15 DEGREE PER SIDE BEVEL AND 20 DEGREE PER SIDE EDGE THAT IS SHARP ENOUGH TO SHAVE WITH ISN'T A F'ING PRY BAR!!!!!!

fireburn1134 · Dec 2, 2004

i think that last part was real funny

loki88 · Dec 2, 2004

Don't feel bad,my wife always teases me when i just clean my knives. I once had a similar request to use my knife to pry an industrial size staple out of some wood. I said no, but i will hand the knife to you, but if u scratch or break it, u will get me the same exact NEW knife, or i will send u the bill. This was a request from my dad, and after a short consideration he said, "ill get a screwdriver from the shed"!

shaldag · Dec 2, 2004

Of course, the solution is to carry more than 1 knife. If one of them is relatively inexpensive, it won't be such a problem. I will use one of the implements on my little Leatherman radioshack model in ways that I will not use my nicer knives. But in the end, it just depends on how urgent the job is. Even the custom knifemakers that I order knives from know that their baby may actually have to work for a living some day.

Buzzbait · Dec 2, 2004

So I reached for my SAK and tried one of the lilttle screw drivers, but it couldn't get in.

Dude! That's what the SAK awl is for, not the screwdriver!!!

UnixDork · Dec 2, 2004

That's funny. I guess it does make sense not to spend big money on a knife if you're just going to break the tip off. Those are usually the same people who won't spend a lot because they have to buy a new one when it gets dull.

klattman · Dec 2, 2004

Buzzbait said:
Dude! That's what the SAK awl is for, not the screwdriver!!!

Or, if you have an extra (that you don't use often) screwdriver on your SAK, sharpen it into a small prybar. Works great!

Andy_L · Dec 2, 2004

I remeber someone cleaning out some leaves from the rear cogs of a mountain bike. The gears are hardened to make them last longer FFS. why oh why use the blade the screw driver would have done just as well

WadeF · Dec 2, 2004

Buzzbait said:
Dude! That's what the SAK awl is for, not the screwdriver!!!

Hehe, yeah, the awl probably would have worked, but I was afraid he'd screw the edge of the awl up, and I'm not sure how easier they are to re-sharpen. Plus it was kind of an akware spot to get at and I'm not sure the the awl would have been long enough to fit in there, with the handle of the SAK getting in the way.

uitlander · Dec 2, 2004

yeah I know, my ex put a bend in the tip of a few of our big kitchen knifves, and try to convince them that a sharp knife is less dangerous than leaning heavily on that dull one

Buzzbait · Dec 2, 2004

WadeF said:
Hehe, yeah, the awl probably would have worked, but I was afraid he'd screw the edge of the awl up, and I'm not sure how easier they are to re-sharpen. Plus it was kind of an akware spot to get at and I'm not sure the the awl would have been long enough to fit in there, with the handle of the SAK getting in the way.

Hmmm.... It sounds like you need a new SAK. The Vic Framer model has a long awl as one of the main blades. It doesn't "t-handle" like the plastic handled SAK awls.

I'm trying my best to give you an excuse to buy a new knife. Hehehehe

WadeF · Dec 2, 2004

Buzzbait said:
Hmmm.... It sounds like you need a new SAK. The Vic Framer model has a long awl as one of the main blades. It doesn't "t-handle" like the plastic handled SAK awls.

I'll have to check out that model!

I just saw I put "abuses" in the title of this thread rather than "abuse" UHG! If there is a moderator out there that can fix that, please do so!

Ming65 · Dec 2, 2004

I hate my SAK soldier because it really is the only knife I need for 99.9% of my life. The blade is slightly bigger than a normal SAK, the two screwdrivers always come in handy for prying etc (or as screwdrivers even). The awl is perfect for all sorts of tasks that would otherwise mess with the edge or tip of a blade. It makes me feel like an undulgent fool for all the other blades I own.