Well, some good news

Complaining is like sitting in a rocking chair...it gives you something to do for a while but it doesn't get you anywhere.
 
You are welcome. A friend of mine said it to me once when I started complaining. I haven't complained much since :)
 
hehe probably good words to live by

I am fairly certain I will toughen up over the next few weeks to where this just becomes normal work
I am thinking I just came off a really hard strip of 5 days in a row with no break after being unemployed for 4 months and it was just a bit of a double whammy :p
I am already thinking next week will be a little easier with wednesday off, a nice break in the middle to rest and recuperate.

figure in a few weeks i'll be telling some new sap to suck it up hehe
 
thanks, and enough of the whiny stuff :D

and i must say, VERY impressed with case CV under these new work conditions
it cuts very well, even hard plastic, and it keeps its edge nicely (although i do strop it nightly just in case)

my soddie is putting my one handed opener to shame :P
 
Congratulations on getting a job, that has got to feel good. That is certainly a bright side for you.

The dim side is for us, who won't see so many of your posts any more! ;)

I will make a knife suggestion now. Rotate through your traditional knives as you normally would have, and if you're cutting ties so often, you may want to just carry The Right Tool for the Job, i.e. tin snips and a diagonal (wire) cutter, also called "dykes".

Cutting plastic cable ties is going to put a lot of wear on the TIPS of your knife blades. I've found that the best knife blades for cutting plastic ties are the ones that are usually the least durable: long, pointy blades. I can sneak the tip in, with the sharp edge facing away from whatever is being bundled, and just press the knife in. It slides in and applies pressure from the cutting edge outward against the tie, until it slices through. Something like a Case Sodbuster, with it's blunt tip, I would think that would be TERRIBLE at this job. Almost as bad as a tactical folder, hehehe. Best knife would probably be a small or medium toothpick.

Cutting plastic wrap is easy, IF your knife is really sharp. > It'll just sort of glide through. If the knife is dulled from hard use on cable ties, it may not be so easy!

Good luck on the new gig!
 
Rsmith_77 said:
well i have my first day off after working 5 straight
i know that sounds normal, but 5 days standing and walking on concrete is KILLING me and my feet :p
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Do you have to wear steel toes? If so, here's a couple of tips for you, from someone who used to be on his feet all day as an electrical technician:

- Get your next set of boots 1/2 size bit, then buy a set of Dr. Scholl's insoles for them.
- Bring an extra pair of socks. It feels REALLY good to change into clean, dry socks after a half day of hoofing it around and getting the first pair all sweaty and hot. (especially if you're wearing cotton socks) They don't take up much room in the wash, and they're cheap to buy at lot of.
- Consider wool socks; they wick sweat away from your feet and into your boots. This is a trick I learned in the Army; you probably did too. We had two pair of combat boots issued to us in Basic, and nothing but black wool socks. They felt really hot, but all the sweat got wicked away from the foot and into the leather of the boots instead. We had two pair of boots to let one pair "air out" after sweating through the socks into them for a day. If you really want to treat yourself, buy a pair of SmartWool socks once in a while. They're shaped better than the old army wool, and the toe seams are a lot less lumpy too. ;)


If you can get away with athletic shoes, get some proper Nike or New Balance walking shoes. They make a hell of a difference on the feet and joints compared to work boots.

Luckily, we have much better footwear these days than our granddads did in their day, so we don't have to suffer quite as much. ;)

You said you have a warehouse-type job. Yet you interface with customers, which seems at odds with a warehouse-type job. Can you tell us more about this job? I'm curious.
 
technically my job title is customer rep
we are a home repair store (kinda like home depot or lowes, but smaller).

We find out what sort of home repair project they want (usually floors/carpets, sometimes doors or windows, cabinets/sinks etc etc, even tubs and shower units). Alot of it is walking with a customer going over the types of flooring, whether floor panels, hardwood or ceramic tiles, helping them figure out how much they need and then gathering all the boxes of stuff they need, ringing them up and then helping them put it in their vehicles. Its alot of walking back and forth through the warehouse and lugging the boxes of stuff to their vehicles.

As for the boot suggestion. I did get the inserts and a new pair of boots for the job (timberlands) the boots ARE comfortable and i wear them just fine outside of work. An extra pair of socks is a decent idea actually...
 
Yep, wool boot socks. And I HIGHLY recommend 'superfeet' insoles. I have a big old ugly pair of Redwings and they're probably my most comfortable shoe. Change of socks or a little powder in the shoe is a good call, too. Especially where you are.
 
so today i brought my wenger SI and used it for all my knife duties at work
i gotta say, it did the job just great, handled everything pretty good. Struggled a little with the hard plastic ties, couldnt get any purchase, so it was a bit of work.
but with a little work it managed just fine

i must say, my poor sak was pretty dull at the end of the day
so I guess I must say the sak will do the job, but the sodbuster still retains its edge alot longer

I just received a new knife today (THANKS again Sitflyer)
a shrade 123OT, its used but well loved. I am pretty sure its carbon steel. I am gonna try edc'ing this for a few and see how it holds up
i expect it will hold up JUST fine, maybe more than fine :P

pretty excited to try it out actually


**edit**
Ok i just looked at my sak again after typing this. Then I noticed a bunch of tape still stuck to the blade. Cleaned the tape off and it was still serviceable and decently sharp. A few strokes on the strop and it was back good to go. Seems I underestimated my lil Wenger SI.
 
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Rsmith_77 said:
Well, the good news is, after 4 months of unemployment I started a new job today
more good news, the guys at the new job seem to be knife folks which is a pleasant change. (couple of one handed modern types, 1 old timer stockman, 1 folding box cutter and now ME with all sorts of new stuff to try out)

warehouse/retail position, lots of cutting jobs (today i brought my Wenger SI and a modern one hand folder since i didn't know what to expect)
and I can tell already that this job is going to require a cutting tool AND its gonna be hard use cutting work.

Going to have to cut Saran wrap (which is easy) and those stupid plastic ties that they use to hold pallets of stuff together (some metal, which will require snips) some plastic and some HARD plastic...i actually struggled with one of those hard plastic ones with my one handed folder, hard enough to loosen things up and requiring me to tighten it up once i was finished and i noticed some slight chipping on the edge when i got home and resharpened it.

the point of this post? well 2 points
1) yay i found a new job
2) i am going to get to actually test out my knives in some hard use work. I am gonna be able to see what knives actually hold up to real work (as opposed to being for little things like opening boxes/opening mail, cutting string etc etc)

I am curious to see which ones shine and which ones dont hold up. I SUSPECT my wenger SI and sodbuster jr in CV will hold up pretty well, the rest, not so sure of. I think tomorrow i will try my Rough Rider barlow...that 440A gets SHARP, even if it doesn't hold an edge as long as i would like.
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haha, thread necromancy!
but its my thread, and its relevant so...we shall let the Mod's decide

but after just over 10 months, its official. I have received a promotion i have been looking forward to for awhile now
I am officially Assistant Manager of the warehouse. just found out today just before clocking out and going home.

i am pretty psyched :D
 
Glad to see sometimes hard work and a positive attitude pays off! Congrats, Ryan!
 
in celebration of the promotion, i have decided to get one of my 2013 short list knives
this is the stock pic, just ordered it this evening.

i am also psyched about this, pics of course when it arrives!

CaseTrapper_zps6afb2c2f.png


I am pretty leery of ordering sight unseen, but i left a note explaining just this situation and how getting case's has been hit or miss for me
so hopefully they see the note and send me a good one!
 
Congrats. Most of us will love to work at least a day in your place....just to test the knives.
 
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