traditional edc as a loaner

Most times I'll just ask what they need cut & do it for them. Of those I would let borrow one of my knives it is a small group. That group is made up of close friends & a few family members - all of whom I can trust not to do something foolish.

Up until a few weeks ago I stuck to this rule. While on a Scout camping trip one of the other Father's asked to borrow my Hatchet. Semi-knowing the guy I thought he'd be ok with it. A few minutes later he'd put a 1" long by 1/4" gash into his leg.
 
retired city cop said:
for starters, my primary edc is a 2008 vic alox soldier which seems to serve every knife need this retired dude needs. as you might imagine, i've become quite attached to this great knife. while i recognize how indestructible this soldier is, i often feel reluctant to loan it out when others ask to use it. and no--i simply do not have it in me to 'interogate' that person as to what they need it for as that can often me misconstrued as being a jerk. am especially reluctant to loan it as i 'think' this soldier may become harder to replace as time goes on. to take care of that, i have a wnger si on the way to act as a backup of sorts.

now lately, i've been carrying a import buck 371 stockman as a beater/loaner. would this work fine as a loaner? otoh, i also have a case amber bone mini trapper and am wondering if this knife would be a better choice as loaner.

finally, please excuse the use of all lower case in this post by me as this is due to a disabled left arm/hand from stroke:thumbdn:

my best regards to all here and mods of this great forum.

brian
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Brian,

Understanding that you do not want to be rude, I thing that buck 371 stockman would do great as a loaner, I got a rough rider toothpick as a loaner knife, just when I can't say no. :);)

Wishing for your hand speed recovery here too sir,
Best,
Falah
 
I usually do the job myself, so they don't cut themself but often I do loan under my supervision or when in the woods I have a knife for "friends" with me
I DO carry a heavier user for those harder jobs, a fallkniven TK4

Maxx
 
I think a cheap loaner is great. I usually just offer to do the cutting for someone. Sadly, a couple weeks back a girl that is part of the hockey team I train had a strap that needed cutting. I was busy working with one of the players and quickly handed her my sebenza to work with. I finished with that player and headed over to grab my seb. She was having trouble closing it, so I showed her how and put it away in my pocket. Later that week I checked it over to see if it needed some attention and noticed that the tip has a substantial damage most likely from a fall on the concrete floor. I was pretty annoyed but was able to clean it up with a little work.

Lesson for me was to make sure to do the cutting myself. I am glad I didnt lend her my Scagel as it could easily snap and cut her real bad. Knife newbies have no place using the super sharp knives that we use. Dangerous for themselves and just a pain to have them wrecked. :)

Whatever you do, lend out a knife you can replace or have broken.
 
I don't own any knives that really expensive or "good" ones. I carry a 96 Alox soldier that I got for $13.50. I have a couple of Sodbusters, large and small, an older Buck 500, a Delica and a few others all bought second hand.

Every one of them is as sharp as I can get it and is in good condition. I love every single one of them. I don't loan them out because I wouldn't be happy if anything happened to them because someone was careless. I've seen too many things, not just knives, come back bent broken and twisted.

People don't seem to take care of their own stuff never mind something that belongs to someone else. I don't like saying "no" but it's too hard to aquire stuff to have some knothead screw it up.
 
my special thanks to every one of you who took the time to respond to my post. please be assured i read each response and came to these conclusions;

for a trial period only, i will continue to carry a cheap loaner/beater. will probably end up with a rough rider for this purpose instead of the buck i mentioned...

will not really baby my treasured alox soldier especially considering that i have a wenger si on the way and vic pioneers seem to be plentiful...

now i recall during the late 70s nearly every radio cop in my precinct carried a regulation allowed buck 110 on their gun belts. at the same time, i carried a cheap peanut and was sometimes chided about that. nevertheless, my cheapie worked great for 32 years in sometimes cutting window or door screens for legally legit purposes.

also, today i watched in dismay as my daughter used a freaking old pair of sissiors to scrape glue off of a door she was working on. curiously, she knows i always carry a pocket knife but did not ask to use it. guess i should have offered the awl on my soldier but just blew it off praying she would not open her hand up with the damn sissiors blade.

finally, my special thanks to elliot for his kind wishes concerning my disability and may god bless you all

brian
 
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