Too Good to Use??

B

Blade Santa Cruz

Joined
May 6, 1999
Messages
321
Have you ever bought a knife you intended to put to hard work, then found it to be such a beauty that it's sitting in its pouch? I just did that and I feel a little stupid.

I'd talked with Kit Carson about a No. 4 with a talonite blade and carbon fiber scales. We agreed it would last forever, never corrode, why you wouldn't even have to wipe the blade now and then. What a great concept for a hard-working folder!

After a few years wait, it finally arrived two days ago. What a beauty! Trouble is, I can't get myself to clip it on and start carrying it. Maybe I'll wait until the novelty of staring at it and working that glassy-smooth action wears off.

Dumb, huh?:rolleyes:
 
Not dumb, normal actually. I find that I use all my knives, but there are some that are so nice that it caused me a little unease to use them the first time. After awhile they were being used just like the rest.
 
Nope, not dumb at all.

We pay a lot of money for our pretty sharp things and I think we all have a natural tendancy to "baby" the new ones. But pretty soon the urge to slip it or clip it in the pocket becomes too strong to resist, we have to show it off to someone, or finally, we have to actually CUT something!

It gets a scratch on it after awhile, then another, then a little wear and a shiney spot here or there and pretty soon it's become a part of us and we wouldn't think of NOT using it.

That's when we really start to appreciate our knives.
:D
 
Milan, I got an M4 from Kit at Blade Show, Stellite & Stag, and I've carried it every day since I've had it. I sat in the park whittling on an old maple branch with it just to see how long it would stay sharp, I never did find out. It would still shave hair after my butt fell asleep from sitting so long. You have a long wait ahead of you if you're waiting for that "glassy-smooth action" to wear off. If you bought the knife to use, I promise you Kit made it to be used, why wait? I've been meaning to send the knife off to Gary Graley for one of his sheaths, but I haven't been able to part with it.

Why don't you use this knife, and order another more dressy knife from Kit? ;)
 
Originally posted by Ken Cook
It gets a scratch on it after awhile, then another, then a little wear and a shiney spot here or there and pretty soon it's become a part of us and we wouldn't think of NOT using it.
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Just like new sneakers. We hate to get that first spot on them. Once we do, they are used every day without a second thought.
 
Some of us make them to be used and receive as much joy from hearing about them being used as we did making them. I hate to think that my children will spend their lifes locked in display cases and safes when they were created to soar in the hand sharing life about knives and man. I understand the reluctance to put that first scratch on her, but that is her job.
 
That FIRST scratch. Heart-break, despair, devastation. you sit wondering if the pangs of this new "depression" will ever leave you. you hold the knife in your hands, your eyes begin to well with tears. Then all of a sudden, you gotta go, run an errand, and slip that beauty into your pocket. And your are required to use it again, then again. YUP, another small scratch. Then you sit and just start to become one with the knife and it is your EDC. (Hey Fish, this is my story about the Carson #4!!!). Now, you realize that it is a TOOL, a very, very fine tool and why NOT have a hi-quality tool at your disposal. WHAT can you do that Kit cannot repair???? Nothing, so I use it, NEVER abuse it, but at night it joins my very modest collection right in front for me to grab before I ever walk out of the house, EVER.......I say if it is NOT a piece of ART, it is a working man's knife, and the masters do not enjoy hearing their knives are being sold to sit and show, they rather enjoy knowing they are actually being used......wolf ( it is my opinion so leave me alone!!!!!):p
 
Sorry guys you still aren't going to convince me
to attack a cardboard box with my Ontario Bagwell
hells belle bowie..
It's just too damn pretty
 
Hey Phil, why don't you whittle out a pattern of your M4 from a hunk of old 2 X 4 and send that to Gary? That way when yer butt goes to sleep you'll have something to show it when it wakes up. :)
 
Milan,
I know what you mean about not wanting to upset the glassy smooth action of a CARSON TALONITE folder. My M18/TALONITE gets all clogged up and hard to open when its full of fat and blood from skinning deer and wild hogs ;)

But you know what, a little hot soapy water and a tooth brush, maybe a drop of TufGlide, and it feel just as smooth as the day I got it from Kit:D

Carson folders cry out to be USED. Especially with cobalt blades :cool: Carry the damn thing, Kit WANTS it that way.

BTW, congrats on getting a way kewl knife!
 
Just a thought, carbon fiber is way high on the potential list meaning that carbon in connection with most metals in an electrolyte (sea water) causes calvanic corrosion. Are these high cobalt alloys passive enough to be exempt?

TLM
 
Maybe makers ought to do one more thing after sharpening a blade and before shippin git out: put a nice scratch on the blade!
 
As soon as I get my G2 sheath for my small wood spiral damascus Sebenza, she will be an EDC! I just don't trust the clip on a knife this expensive!

I will also have to get one for my large plain Sebi as well. No more excuses then for staying in the box...:rolleyes:
 
Have you ever bought a knife you intended to put to hard work, then found it to be such a beauty that it's sitting in its pouch?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. That very thing happened to me when I bought a Buck 110 with a Damascus blade. Seven years later it still hasn't cut anything.:rolleyes:
 
I have actually sold knives because they were just too darn nice for me to put to use. I couldn't bring myself to marring the finish. I feel bad, because I don't currently own a knife from one of my favorite makers (Darrel Ralph), because his work is too pretty! I have asked him about making an ugly knife just for me. All he does is laugh!
 
I carry this one fro Darrel Ralph. It doesn't get used for heavy duty stuff but I do carry and use it.
 
You're just in lust right now:p
Stop basing your relationships on looks, and use that thing. Find out if it's really the one for you, hehe. Maybe you'll find true love:eek:
Maybe you'll sell it one day...then you can always look at the buyer and say "I had her first...hope you can tighten up the action enough to suit you" haha.

Freud who?
 
I can ONLY hope you visit New England with That beauty in your pocket and drop it!!!!!!!;) wolf
 
Other than for some purely art pieces, my feeling is that even very fine knives are meant to be carried and used.

That said, I wouldn't subject a fine, expensive knife to a situation I knew to constitute "knife abuse". I can always use a beater for that.
 
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