Sharp and present

B

Brian.Evans

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This is my every day carry knife. It is an Imperial easy open jack, made in the 1936 to 1952 era. I carry it about 25-29 of 30 days a month. It really is my every day carry, as I hardly ever carry anything else, So of course it was in my pocket three days ago when I responded to the following call.

"Medic 3, Engine 4, Truck 1, respond to 22nd St. and Logan Street. MVC, two vehicles, unknown injuries."

We arrived on scene and everyone appeared fine. However, there were two ladies that decided to be seen at the hospital. Because of the impact to their small SUV, the side curtain airbags had deployed. Hanging down from the roof, and stretching from post to post across the entire door opening, they made it almost impossible to remove the women from the vehicle without first cutting away the multiple thick nylon straps holding them in.

I was on the passenger side, and there was a young city firefighter on the driver's side. I retrieved my pocket knife at the same time he retrieved his. Of course, I was carrying my EO that I had freshly sharpened just the night before. His appeared to be some newer, tactical style folder of some sort. I nimbly sliced through all seven or eight of the thick nylon straps holding the side curtain airbag in and tossed it on the ground. I noticed he was still trying furiously to saw through his first nylon strap. I offered my knife and his to was quickly removed.

Gentlemen this is my point; it doesn't have to be big and it doesn't have to be tactical. It has to be sharp and it has to be present. The firefighter's knife would've worked fine had been sharp, but as it was,
he might as well have been carrying a butter knife. In his moment of need it failed him. Thank goodness it was a nonemergent situation, rather than a true life or death situation. What if that had been an air pack strap that needed cut, or a seat belt in a burning vehicle. Not to be melodramatic, but we do deal in life and death on a daily basis. Not every call, but often. I'd hate to have a tool that didn't work when the chips were down. My EO barely has a blade longer than a peanut, but it made very quick work of that air bag. Not bad for a 60+ year old knife.

Keep 'em sharp and in your pockets gents!
 
awesome story and thank you for what you do. That knife is awesome too. Its so nice to see such an old knife being respected and used, AND to save lives! It has a beautifully aged look, and the blades have a nice patina, very compact size, and i dig the blade configuration on that one, pen in front of spear.
 
Now THAT is what carrying a traditional is all about!

Many times people ask me why I carry a "weapon", (please dont forget that I live in New Zealand and there is absolutely minimal historical behaviour of Traditional knife carrying ), I say that as a weapon it would only be against myself as it would fold onto my fingers and cut ME very badly if I tried to use the knife incorrectly - and then I go into the explanation of the usefulness of carrying a Pocket Knife.
 
Good looks and quick thinking. Just curious, are dedicated strap cutters not in common use in these kids of situations? Makes me think of an older thread about someone's SBJ saving the day when no other sharp object was at hand.
 
There is a great lesson here. My knives have gotten smaller over the last couple of years but the work just as well as before. Even better in some cases.
Jim
 
Good story, and great to see that old girl still performing after all these years. There's something to be said about a quality-made knife! So many knives today are made to be flashy, with the latest high-tech materials, when in the end, the blade just has to be sharp and ready.
 
Thanks for this thread, Brian :)

It shows once more, that it doesn´t need to be tactical at all to , just need to show for what a knife is built = cutting. Nothing else!

Great thread.
 
A terrific post:thumbup: It is so true. Be on hand, be sharp, this is a winning combination every time:)

Thanks for your service and your EO's;)

Paul
 
Great post, and you've hit the nail on the head. Thank you for keeping people alive & safe!
 
Sonnemann said:
Good looks and quick thinking. Just curious, are dedicated strap cutters not in common use in these kids of situations? Makes me think of an older thread about someone's SBJ saving the day when no other sharp object was at hand.
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Sonnemann, I don't know of any agency around here that uses dedicated strap cutters, seatbelt cutters or other types of straps.

Honestly, it wasn't even quick thinking. The thought process was: "hey, that thing needs cut. Grab my knife......there you go, ok it's cut. Put it back away, and go on.". I didn't worry about stuff like "is it going to cut", or "is it big enough" because I knew it was sharp, and I knew it would cut just fine.

Sharp wins over big almost every time. I almost wish it would have been Kinsey's peanut in my pocket that day, just so we could have had another awesome peanut story. I have no doubt it would have done fine as well.

I bought this knife for $25 from an antique store, and it has become my favorite knife. Perfect size, big enough to do the job, small enough to not be in the way.

I do need to teach that young fire fighter to sharpen his knife, but hopefully he went home and sharpened it. Doubtful, but maybe.

I'm carrying it today. I'm sitting in the dr office right now, but before I left I grabbed it and stuck it in my jeans pocket. My wife asked me, "Why do you need a knife to go to the dr.". I said, "I may need it.". She sighed and let me be. She is slowly understanding me. :D
 
My girl wouldn't have even asked. When she needs to cut something she just says "Knife." and holds out her hand.
 
Jack Black said:
And that's a great-looking knife BTW :)
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Thanks JB. To be honest, I actually bought it with the intent to take it apart for use as a pattern from which to make a new knife. But then I looked up and found its age, and started carrying it and just couldn't do it. If someone had one similar in poor condition, I'd be interested in finding one to use as a pattern.
 
Great story. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to see a beautiful old knife like that still being cherished and used. I know a few people that have the "newest, greatest knife" out, that never bother to sharpen them.
 
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