Tell me again why we need a knife??

[pitdog]

Come on brother, nobody is saying that you shouldn't have a very nice knife in the style you prefer. Go back and read your thread, Knives you trust, as soon as someone mentioned a Mora they were pounced on and ridiculed. I have asked many times what people need such tough knives for and am treated like I am an imbecile, I feel like Sly Stallone not knowing how to use the sea shells. If someone would just say that is what I like, it would be enough for me without running others down or trying to come up with false justification. Chris

I think I will leave this thread to run it's course, I knew I was starting a sh!t storm but felt someone needed to say it.

I have said that, I think, more or less !!!

I like the referance to the sea shell's in DM, made me smile !!!!

 

[Bushman5]

What exactly is a REAL LIFE SURVIVAL SITUATION, for me it is getting lost and having to hunker down for the night, no knife needed. I live on the east coast of the United States, cell coverage is actually very good, so I just call my wife on my cell and tell her I am going to walk out in the morning. This has actually happened more than once out wheeling and a cell phone came in much handier than a knife. Chris

thats great for you. Up here you step into the woods and cell coverage drops to zero, especially in the mountain valleys

as for the knife issue, I place its importance right alongside with a good pair of boots, proper clothing etc etc etc. It is a tool i use everyday, and even more so on hikes. It is an extremely valuable wilderness tool that can build shelters (be they for fun or for unexpected stays), fire (wood gathering, fuzz sticks etc), food procurment and dressing if i decide to hunt, etc etc etc etc etc etc. It has nothing to do with TEOTWAWKI, aliens or zombies. It has everything to do with going properly equipped and for being SELF reliant.

unexpected things/situations can happen in the blink of an eye in the woods, EVEN WITH proper planning and careful steps to avoid said unexpected situations.

I cant even believe this is an issue that needs to be discussed. Its common sense
really.

its also PERSONAL CHOICE to carry a knive be it a chopper or a dinky little folder, something we are allowed to do on our own free will.



as for people "pouncing" on someone for having a Mora, give your head a shake and look at the posts that "pounce" on people who choose big chopper blades .

 

[MEAT57]

How the hell did you get out there without proper gear? And if you are flying over the remote far north in your antique bushplane that didn't follow it's flightplan did crash and strand you, and your pack burned up or sank in the wreckage before you could grab it and escape, then yes the knife would definitely be more important than the cell phone but not more important than the strobe and PLB I would have in my pocket.....since we are fantasizing. Chris

You know when I first read your take on my post alot of different responses came to mind. After taking a few moments to think about it, I have decided that I just need to apologize. I'm sorry that I had the nerve to dare post a different viewpoint than your own. Obviously I gave you no other choice but to ridicule my words. I don't know what I was thinking. Please note that in the future I will never be so brazen as to challenge your considerable wilderness & survival acumen again. As always I look forward to your wonderfully insightful and open-minded posts.

Chad

 

[Hang_them_later]

What exactly is a REAL LIFE SURVIVAL SITUATION, for me it is getting lost and having to hunker down for the night, no knife needed. I live on the east coast of the United States, cell coverage is actually very good, so I just call my wife on my cell and tell her I am going to walk out in the morning. This has actually happened more than once out wheeling and a cell phone came in much handier than a knife. Chris

A REAL LIFE SURVIVAL SITUATION = unable to call your wife
I feel sorry for you

 

[mymindisamob]

Chris, it often comes across to me that choices and situations are ridiculed or scoffed at because someone doesn't believe someone elses reasons. The point I was trying to make, is that a knife is a good thing to have around, and situations come up that are not always completely under our control for many, many reasons. Posting in the disbelieving vein is not conducive to fair discussion. None of us know all the scenarios, sh!t happens. I don't need justification, but I do like clarification.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

What exactly is a REAL LIFE SURVIVAL SITUATION, for me it is getting lost and having to hunker down for the night, no knife needed. I live on the east coast of the United States, cell coverage is actually very good, so I just call my wife on my cell and tell her I am going to walk out in the morning. This has actually happened more than once out wheeling and a cell phone came in much handier than a knife. Chris

So to you, a "real Survival situation" is waiting out one night in woods that are not remote, and phoning home so nobody worries. . .

I hope to never get in a true survival situation, since by definition, it would mean that my life was on the line. A good knife could come in handy depending on the situation. Better to have one than not. . .

I don't carry a knife in case of a survival situation. . . I always carry a knife because it is one of the most useful tools that exists, and I need one every day to cut various things.

Discussion on a bladeforums sub forum about survival and wilderness skills are inevitably going to focus on knives. . .

 

[runningboar]

Chris, it often comes across to me that choices and situations are ridiculed or scoffed at because someone doesn't believe someone elses reasons. The point I was trying to make, is that a knife is a good thing to have around, and situations come up that are not always completely under our control for many, many reasons. Posting in the disbelieving vein is not conducive to fair discussion. None of us know all the scenarios, sh!t happens. I don't need justification, but I do like clarification.

You are right, I know next to nothing about Alaska, I have traveled the world and seen alot of different places but haven't made it up there yet. I have offended a few people with my posts but I honestly can't think of a single reason that you would be stranded in the middle of nowhere so long that you need to think to your knife for sustenance, if anyone else can, I am all ears.

In the examples you gave earlier about fisherman stranded for weeks because of storms, were they at camps or just sat out on the shore. If it is the latter, who ever did it to me better hope I don't survive, the name Hugh Glass comes to mind. Chris

 

[JTR357]

Why we need a knife?

A knife is a tool that gives you the ability to make other tools.

THANK YOU!:thumbup:

 

[runningboar]

I think it is hilarious the way people continue to read my posts and think I am advocating not carrying a knife and that knives aren't important. Chris

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

I think it is hilarious the way people continue to read my posts and think I am advocating not carrying a knife and that knives aren't important. Chris

I did not think that. . .

But on the other hand, I guarantee most people here are chuckling about your definition of a survival situation.

 

[runningboar]

I did not think that. . .

But on the other hand, I guarantee most people here are chuckling about your definition of a survival situation.

Yeah it is pretty silly, like most of the uses people qoute for their knives.

So Rat, what is your definition and how do you get into it. Chris

 

[roughedges]

On this forum we discuss the merits of knives for Real Life Survival Situations, protection against lions and bears, . It seems every other thread is arguing over whether or not you need a big burley he man knife or just a regular blade in order to survive. Lots of people have stated that other people can stake their lives on a cheap blade but not them, they will only settle for a blade from the finest materials made and tested to the very limits of modern technology. Others seem to think that about any knife is OK.

Just exactly how much of these discussions is fueled by machismo and fantasy, IMO pretty much all of it.

Chris- I have respect for you but I have to say... it sure seems like half the recent threads, or more, that degenerate into the type of things you mention here were started by you. From my perspective, its kind of ironic that you talk about "machismo and fantasy" when the topic would come up significantly less if you weren't always bringing it up.


People use what they use and anyone who feels the need to use sarcasm or subtle insult in regard to another's knife of choice... well, to be honest, I'd have to say that they are suffering from an overabundance of machismo themselves. And, since I don't have a dog in the fight, that goes for both sides of the fence. IMO, anyone who talks trash about a big knife, or its user, is being a fool. And... anyone who talks trash about a small knife, or its user, thats right!, also being a fool. Any of the trash talkers don't like it? Well, sometimes, the truth just hurts. Pretty macho, huh?


We all like knives, survival, all of that, but these threads are getting really friggen old. RB has plenty of worthwhile info in this one, imo, and all the talk about machismo and fantasy does nothing more than take away from what is otherwise a valuable post.

but ridiculing people for not agreeing with my choice of knife is arrogant and elitest. Chris

You say this, RB, but it sure seems like ridicule to me when you talk of "big burley he man knives" vs. "regular" knives. Let the trash talkers go their way; I see no reason why any poster should have to start multiple threads on a topic that has already been beaten halfway to hell and back.

 

[actiondiver]

There is a guy that I know that is always full of snide comments towards people that are not metrosexual like himself. One day he asks me the same type of question, "Why do you always have that knife clipped to your pocket?" It was a question that was not philosophical like the original question posed here by RunningBoar, but rather one that was meant to paint me as a neanderthal in front of a group of colleagues. The group kinda snickered until I responded that I use it to open boxes, cut fruit ect and just a couple of days before I cut an infant out of an overturned car before the flames started.

The message is this, I carry the knife so that I might be ready, at the most basic level, to respond to my changing environment in ways that are advantagious to myself and others. Sometimes it means survival for unplanned situations and sometimes it is just convenient.

 

[runningboar]

Chris- I have respect for you but I have to say... it sure seems like half the recent threads, or more, that degenerate into the type of things you mention here were started by you. From my perspective, its kind of ironic that you talk about "machismo and fantasy" when the topic would come up significantly less if you weren't always bringing it up.


People use what they use and anyone who feels the need to use sarcasm or subtle insult in regard to another's knife of choice... well, to be honest, I'd have to say that they are suffering from an overabundance of machismo themselves. And, since I don't have a dog in the fight, that goes for both sides of the fence. IMO, anyone who talks trash about a big knife, or its user, is being a fool. And... anyone who talks trash about a small knife, or its user, thats right!, also being a fool. Any of the trash talkers don't like it? Well, sometimes, the truth just hurts. Pretty macho, huh?


We all like knives, survival, all of that, but these threads are getting really friggen old. RB has plenty of worthwhile info in this one, imo, and all the talk about machismo and fantasy does nothing more than take away from what is otherwise a valuable post.




You say this, RB, but it sure seems like ridicule to me when you talk of "big burley he man knives" vs. "regular" knives. Let the trash talkers go their way; I see no reason why any poster should have to start multiple threads on a topic that has already been beaten halfway to hell and back.

I edited that, good catch on your part, I did word that biased and wrong, funny how the subconscious works.

 

[mymindisamob]

You are right, I know next to nothing about Alaska, I have traveled the world and seen alot of different places but haven't made it up there yet. I have offended a few people with my posts but I honestly can't think of a single reason that you would be stranded in the middle of nowhere so long that you need to think to your knife for sustenance, if anyone else can, I am all ears.

In the examples you gave earlier about fisherman stranded for weeks because of storms, were they at camps or just sat out on the shore. If it is the latter, who ever did it to me better hope I don't survive, the name Hugh Glass comes to mind. Chris

Many of these airstrips are just that and nothing else. Sometimes fuel is stored in 55 gallon drums, against a windbreak. Sometimes there are little sheds onsite, locked most of the time. I had a buddy on his way to Russia that got himself trapped in one of these sheds for 2.5 days with a Brown Bear trying to get at him. Fortunately, when a plane was able to land, it scared the bear off. I've been told that some of the guys carry pepper spray nowadays.
As for the knife thing, we often can't carry much more than what's in our pockets or on our belts. It's just a wise choice to have a blade IMO. FWIW, I'd give up my Busse SFNO for carry before my Superknife 2 or Leatherman.

 

[tsf]

6,
I started this thread because of all the threads here lately telling people if they don't have x, y or z knife they could not survive, or condescendingly saying that you may trust your life to a 5 dollar piece of crap but not me. The cold hard facts are a 2 dollar paring knife from dollar general is probably good enough.

I love knives and carry them everywhere and in every kit and would not think of leaving home without one, but ridiculing people for not agreeing with my choice of knife is arrogant and elitest. Chris

Agreed.
Terry

 

[Bushman5]

I'll give you an example of a real life situation that NO amount of preparation could prevent it from happening, even with a cell phone and two way radio on board:

A group hike i was on, with extremely well prepared/trained people, turned into a instant hazardous to life situation after one of the hikers fell down an slate rock face and impaled her chest, puncturing her lung. Three of the hikers stabilized her, one hiker contacted SAR via the two way radio, the rest of us used our non essential demon, bad, chopper blades to fell trees to clear a landing zone for the rescue chopper, that was literally 5 minutes out.

had we not carried our machetes into the woods that day, we would have had to try to build a stretcher out of tree limbs using a SAK, and haul out the victim to higher ground so the chopper crew could safely get to her. Using a little penknife or no knife at all would have taken forever, and time was NOT on our side. We had that landing zone cleared before the SARtech rappelled down with the stokes basket.

 

[skammer]

Go back and read your thread, Knives you trust, as soon as someone mentioned a Mora they were pounced on and ridiculed. I have asked many times what people need such tough knives for Chris

The same reason some may not think a mora is sturdy enough is the same reason hunters buy the real deal firearm vs a commie knockoff or why a talented musician buys a major label instrument.

They shoot better and sound better. Knives are no different. Will a cheap gun fire and a cheap instument play? Sure they will but there are better options for those who choose to do better than just get by.

I drive a Toyota instead of a Yugo, because its a better vehicle, I dont buy my clothes at walmart because they dont last...

This concept should not be difficult to understand. Some individuals just dont want somethng they own and like to be questioned.

Moras are good value for the money but then again so is a Yugo.

MY! OPINION.

Skam

 

[pitdog]

I hope all those that bash large knife carrying folk as macho ego-maniacs, are driving around in small engined cars as surely anything larger is just an ego trip to make up for having a small appendage eh ?
A large truck or 5 litre Mustang with only one person sat in the driving seat, talk about damaging the o-zone layer, what's all that about !!!!

 

[Bushman5]

Yeah it is pretty silly, like most of the uses people qoute for their knives.

hmm, uses like:

- skinning my hunt
- gathering wood for the fire
- gather reeds to make baskets
- making an elevated sleeping shelter
- clearing the trail of blowdowns
- whittling
- making a marshmallow or hotdog stick
- slicing steak into strips
- prepping onions, etc for cooking
- chopping for the sake of chopping
- bushcraft skills training/fun
- shelter building in windy , rainy, snowy, or hot conditions


plus about a septillion other uses that a knife has in the woods, including the ability to use it to be self reliant,and not rely on the cell to phone the wife.