Unusual high-stress folder applications

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killgar

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
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There's often discussion concerning "heavy-duty" folders, what constitutes "knife abuse", and it's common for people to say "Choose the right tool for the job", heck, I've said it myself. But sometimes in life we find ourselves in situations where we only have what we have on us at the time to solve our problems. We aren't always carrying around our full EDC package, or a tool box, and we can't always predict when we will find ourselves in a tight spot.

Here's an example of mine-

I got trapped in my bathroom at home. As it turned out a part inside the doorknob had broken and as a result the knob didn't work. I was home alone and climbing out the tiny bathroom window was not an option. Relaxing at home (and taking care of business in the bathroom) I wasn't equipped with my full days gear. All I had on me was a Benchmade Darkstar (linerlock folder). After carefully evaluating the situation I determined that the only way I was getting out of that bathroom was to lift the pins out of the door hinges and pull the door out. So I used my folder to remove the pins (easier said than done, they were painted over and REALLY tight. I had to put A LOT of stress on that knife). After removing the hinge pins I had to insert the blade in between the door and the door jamb and pry to clear the broken knob-bolt free from the metal housing in the door jamb. The door came out and I was free.

The knifes edge was temporarily ruined but otherwise it survived, and it saved the day so to speak.

We never know when that knife in our pocket or on our belt will be called upon to do things that we never intended them to do. And even if we are dead-set against ever "abusing" our knives or using them for prying, etc, you just never know.

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples stories of situations where they had no choice but to use their folder in an "unconventional" manner.
 
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I agree with you 100% about using your folder beyond its intended use.

But the obvious question is... if you are home alone, why close the bathroom door?
 
My GF had a flat in her SUV and she had to drive home 90 miles away after her shift at the hospital. I didn't want her to have to drive all that way with the temporary spare tire, so I came by with a repair kit and compressor (usually have that in the car) to fix her tire. A large bolt had punctured her tire, and the head was worn down to where it was nearly impossible to extract cleanly. The only thing I had was my Gayle Bradley and I had to pry it out slowly. I cringed as the edge developed some tiny chips, but the bolt came out after a bit of coaxing to where I could grab it with a pair of pliers. The chips sharpened out that night when I took it to the paper wheels.
 
bdmicarta said:
But the obvious question is... if you are home alone, why close the bathroom door?
Click to expand...

Thank you, I had some root beer come out of my nose for that one...

To reply to the OP's question, I can't think of any thing that really saved my can... Once I used a BenchMade Elishewitz fixed blade to punch and pry a tumbler out of a door knob to rescue a girl that was, locked inside of a bathroom.. I battoned my last Emerson Commander to death proving to someone that it would/could go through the roof of a Honda. And for the record I would have won had I paid closer attention to where on the knife i was striking.
 
bdmicarta said:
But the obvious question is... if you are home alone, why close the bathroom door?
Click to expand...

hahaha,had a big laugh midnight:D

To OP;
Your situation was pretty hard on knife but glad it didnt broke(and you get out)but if i were you i will probably carve the door to make a bad ass hole to get out,i love my knives:D
I mostly agree that folders should be strong at some level if they are not carried with multitools or they are secondarys
I havent need to use them that hard but few times need to cut or scrape stuff which damage the edge lil bit.
 
Once at work we had to set some scaffolding and there was a 4" thick tree in the way ,we had people waiting on us so I just grabbed a hammer and used my Cold Steel American Lawman to baton the tree down . The Lawman came through just fine but it did have a few marks on the back of the blade but was otherwise fine. Great bathroom story ,I also carry a SAK so I use that most of the time for abuse type situations.
 
Had a slightly similar situation to yours. I went to turn the doorknob to my bedroom in my old apartment and the knob came off. Would have just replaced it on the shaft, but the shaft and knob on the other side simply fell out. It was a spring latch, so it was still firmly closed and I had to insert the blade of my BM 710 into the hole and turn it with that. No way to avoid a fair amount of lateral stress right on the edge of the knife, but it came through with only minor damage. Ever since then I've kept a small, auxiliary tool or a full sized multi-tool in the room where I sleep.
 
Good stories.

The way I see it, at the end of the day a knife is just another tool, just a sharpened piece of steel, and if it successfully performs a task that needed to be performed, then I feel it has fullfilled it's duty. Of course I've never purchased a knife that I couldn't afford to part with or destroy if I absolutely had to, so this might be easy for me to say.

As far as closing the bathroom door, what, were you people raised by wolves? :D
 
Once upon a time I was working on a fishing boat re building the bow after it had hit a rouge wave. There was about 30 feet of damage along the starboard side going from the top deck about 40 feet down. Anyway, I needed some wooden wedges to assist in fitting a new top rail on the bullworks and all I had was a 2x4, a 4lb hammer and my Cold Steel American lawman. Ship fitters don't use a lot of wood working tools generally. Anyway, my American Lawman, It did the job.
I wouldn't usually do something like that, but it was a bid job, we were almost done and I didn't want to come back the next day to finish it up. Also, the company I was working for was falling apart and I needed to get out of there. I ended up not even getting paid for the work :/

Oddly, the hardest thing I ever did to a knife was cutting card board. I think I was cutting it up to use in tandem with a fire blanket to cover up some fancy engine room equipment, or maybe I was making a template out of it. I used my brand spanking new Spyderco FFG Endura. And this was some incredibly thick heavy duty fishing-boat card board. I've never seen anything like it before. It was like 1/2" thick and full of crazy looking bits and pieces, maybe clay, cement, rusty nails I dunno. But anyway my brand new endura ended up butter knife dull with tons of chips in the edge. Pretty lame.
 
Yes, knives are tools. Tools periodically need maintenance. We do not always have the luxury of having the "right tool for the job." So, as humans do, we make do with what we have at the time. Great stories ! I once had a co-worker ask "hey-you got a knife" but they guy next to me got his out first & handed it to the guy asking for it. He promptly used it as a pry & broke the blade in half. I never let anyone use my knife anymore as a result of that & other "stupid knife user moments." :D
 
I don't have that worry, my bathroom doors are kinda thin, if I get stuck I'll just poke my finger through to reach the other knob.
 
I got locked out of an apartment once. It was winter, my gfriend was working and this was before cellphones. I chimneyed between my place and the (distance of two feet or so) window of my bathroom which was about 15 feet off of the ground. I was able to use my Delica to carve out the window frame where the lock was and then use the blade to slip the lock. In the process of carving I heard the tip snap off. I am sure I was twisting it I was working fast so I wouldn't lose my grip and fall.
 
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