What do you use your knife for?

E

EngineGrinder

Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
5
Hi Bladeforums,
I am a teenager. A friend of mine likes knives. I would like to like them too. My friend says he carries it as a tool, not a weapon.

I can SORT OF understand that a knife is a tool, but is it needed to carry around with?

I mean, a knife is important when camping, maybe eating, and most importantly, cooking.

what is the need of carrying a knife? boxes can be opened by hand, threads can be cut off by scissors.

I am not trying to start a war, but why do you carry yours?

Our teachers, and the media, etc, all thinks knivers are a danger to carry.

What is your take? :thumbup:
 
Well I don't carry scissors with me all the time. In fact very few people do.

I use my knife for opening those stupid packages that are hard sealed in the thick plastic, removing plastic wrapping, opening boxes faster (I am impatient and lazy and you don't rip the box this way if you start getting frustrated with a never ending supply of boxes attacking you from all corners of the room), having something to pop off the little smooth metal guard that is on all BIC lighters, cutting strings that annoy me, cutting food that annoys me to eat uncut, and scaring away any mall ninja's that might try to eat my soul.

That aside, your teachers and the media are puppets and sheeple. They follow what they are told and they run from what they don't understand/fear or can't themselves fathom using. Knives, like any other tool, are all dangerous if used in the hands of incompetence.

Although sooner or later I am gonna get that new leatherman, because a pair of pliers would be nice to have...and a screwdriver so I can stop dulling the end of my Emerson.

Other than that, I will carry it because it is a right that I have living in this country. At least until all the sheeple cower in front of the politicians in an effort to take away one more right that we should all have.

You will either use a knife or you won't, it is also good to have in case of an emergency. Just in case you find yourself in a absurdly stupid situation...like getting hit by a drunk driver and having your car catch fire and your seatbelt jams on a dimly lit road at 2:23am in the middle of nowhere.

All of this aside, I carry everywhere I go except to Fed buildings.
 
A knife, just like a gun or a hammer is a tool which can be used as a weapon as well. These tools are not dangerous on their own and require the addition of a moron person to become dangerous. There is no end to the uses of a knife if you have one with you. My swiss army knife has a scissors. Leather punch, magnifying glass, screw drivers, can openers, cork screw and several other items. What could be handier? I carry a knife because I am an American and I want to. Given a choice of my knife or my pants, I would pick the Knife. I would however, NOT go out much in ND in the winter time.:D
 
Howdy EngineGrinder,
I am 55 and have carried a pocket knife of some sort pretty much every day since I was 8.
In the last 47 years, I have never carried a knife as a weapon. It was ALWAYS a tool and it always will be. If I need a weapon, I reach for a pistol.

Aside from hunting and camping duties, I have used my pocket knife to:
*Trim branches
*Cut garden hose
*cut twine
*cut rope
*Cut threads
*Cut rubber tubing.
*used the tip to clean out sprinklers
*Trim the edges of sheets of special rubber material that was to be mounted on an aircraft.
*Cut a cleat off the shoe of my daughter's teammate's soccer shoe (She had bought football shoes by mistake. Football shoes have an extra cleat that is illegal in soccer. The girls's parents said to go ahead and modify the shoe. I pulled out the knife and did so on the soccer field.)
*Cut plastic straps on car batteries.
*Open packages and boxes.
*cut up boxes so they would fit in the trash
*Cut off flaps of rubber from old tennis shoes because I was tripping over the flaps.
*I was on a job site and needed to cut a 40' length of heavy canvas tarp. No scissors there. Used my EDC.
 
I use my knife for opening boxes, cutting rope, camping, yard work, tinkering in my workshop, once used it to cut a seatbelt to get a kid out of a wrecked car, etc......

It's a tool. I carry a large handgun for a weapon. :thumbup:
 
If I really sat down and thought about it I could probably fill a couple of pages with things that I've used mine for or might use mine for or it could be potentially useful for. Knives can be used for anything from trimming your nails to skinningthat that rabbit you just shot. They can be used as scrapers, used to mark lines in things, peeling/cutting up fruit for your lunch, and once, I used mine to cut a horse out of an electric fence it had got tangled in.

I've never even thought of using it as a weapon, in fact, where I live, it's specifically forbidden to carry one as a weapon.

Either you think a knife is a useful tool and something worth carrying around, or you don't, your choice.

There is also the fact that knives are interesting their own right. Blade shapes and steels, different grinds, handle materials, locking mechanisms, it's a long list. You're either interested, or you're not, once again, your choice.

Oh yes, one thing I forgot. Once, back in the mists of time when I was younger and used to jump out of aeroplanes, we were up there and a guy getting out of the plane managed to slip up and get his clothing caught on the step. Another guy, with a knife, managed to climb out and cut him free, otherwise we might have had to land the plane on top of him. Knives can be useful.
 
My every day carry knife is a weapon/emergency tool, and nothing else. Urban Carry: Emerson Combat Karambit! Outdoors: Emerson CQC-12!

I have plenty of multi-tools, knives I don't care if I ruin, and hatchets, to take care of everyday utility chores.
 
Good on you for going to the trouble to find BF ,register and bother asking.

A sharp little knife can do a lot. I would guess that most if not all the knives you are used to are quite dull as being able to put a decent edge on a knife is a lost art nowadays.
I use my knife as a tool but also feel better knowing that if need be I have a weapon handy in an emergency. I try to carry knives that work well as both tool and weapon although I put more importance on it being a tool as it gets 100 times as much use as a tool.

Here is a Spyderco Chinook3 which is excellent in both roles.
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Because I live in Canada a pistol is not an option as a means of self defence and most people under estimate knives as a weapon compared to guns anyway. At the distance most civilian gun fights happen at a knife is just as useful.
 
I carry mine because you never know when you will need one, I dont use it everyday but I do use it roughly every second or third. It does see heavy use at least once week when shipment comes into my store. Personally I think knives are one of the most useful things that you could carry on you in this world
 
I carry a knife for the reasons others have mentioned above, but also use one in my job everyday. As an electrician I use it to strip wire, both Romex and THHN. Can't do my job without it.
 
EngineGrinder,
You live in a different world from the one I grew up in.When I was in school all the boys carried pocket knives.We used them for everything except a weapon.I even remember a bunch of us carrying our shotguns to school on the bus to be refinished in shop class.

The terrorist acts in schools and elsewhere in recent history has caused an extreme reaction to anything that could be considered a threat.I understand the need for vigilance but the problem is that fear causes unreason.

Stop to think and I'll bet you could find any number of things in a class room that could be a more effective weapon than a small pocket knife including your desk.A knife is a good tool.Ever tried to sharpen a pencil with a desk.
 
I don't know if "whittling" is a southern pastime but I remember my grandpa whittling a small horse for me when I was a child. My dad did it to a certain extent and I've done it just to kill time and make a piece of wood disappear.
I don't condone this but I have carved "I heart you" sweethearts initials on a tree in the woods. I'm sure it's still there, that was back in the day (1973)..
I carry my knife because it's part of who I am. I used it as a tool and have used it (without hesitation) as a weapon. It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. So mine is always on me.
 
I think the list would be too long to type here on what and how I have used a knife in my daily carry. Was just using it earlier today to trim insulation from electrical wires while changing a wall outlet. Use it daily to open packages, cut string/cord, open letters etc. Once had a blow out in a moving van that wrapped the mud flap into the dual tires. Had no tools but a pocket knife - cut the flap away with no problem. The myth among the uninformed is that the knife has to be some huge, Rambo style knife to be effective. The knife I used to cut the mud flap was an old 2 inch Ka-Bar peanut. A knife is a wonderful tool and I wouldn't be caught without one.
 
I am a teacher of high school students. I carry a knife every day as a tool. A cutting instrument is probably the first tool used by early man, and it has not ceased to become useful as time has progressed. I have used my knife or multitool in my classroom(*gasp*) on numerous occasions to open packages, fix items like staplers or printers, fix kids' glasses, etc.

Things like Ipods and cell phones which, in their excessive use, retard social and cognitive development into a state akin to electronic autism - now these are dangerous items in schools.
 
Whether a knife is used as a tool or a weapon, it is intrinsic to what humans are, and it has enabled us to become what we are.

I carry knives both as tools and weapons, but also as a celebration of what humans have achieved.

Andy
 
You know, just the usual...

1.) Prying boulders or other large rocks
2.) Chopping down trees no less than 10” in diameter.
3.) Destroying cars and assorted metal appliances.
4.) Self defense.
5.) Climbing platform.
6.) Chopping through cement blocks.
7.) Attaching large amounts of Para cord onto.
8.) Replacing axes and saws.
9.) Digging.
10.) Surviving destruction testing.
11.) Attaching to a stick to make a spear.
 
Good questions EngineGrinder, and you have tried to ask them in a way that is non-confronting. That's the way to get good answers. I too like to get information from many sources and make up my own mind.

I use a knife many times each day. From cutting threads on clothing, to manicures, to opening packages, to cutting food. I'm sure you also use a 'sharp' every day. I carry a knife because it is more convenient that either walking somewhere to get a knife or scissors, or waiting until I can get one, or ripping and tearing messily.

I cut hangnails while sitting in traffic on my one hour plus commute to work.
The knives in the coffee room at work won't cut the tough plastic bags the coffee beans come in, so when the machine needs filling I just do it. It seems most other people won't walk for scissors either 'cause I'm about the only one who does fill the machine.

I also like to be prepared. Maybe that comes from being a scout. I wear a watch even though there are clocks almost everywhere. I carry a pen even though most offices and shops have pens available. I carry a small flashlight because you never know when you might have to search under a desk, or in the back corner of some dim shelving.

Some of my knives are also works of art, and I carry them so I can enjoy looking at them and handling them. Other people buy expensive shoes when sneakers will do, or necklaces and bracelets they don't need, but they still enjoy them. Some people collect stamps, and you can't even post a letter with them!

If you enjoy finely crafted machinery and tools, and being able to do jobs effectively, when they need to be done, then maybe carrying a knife will help you do that.

Whether you decide to either carry or not carry a knife, it should be up to you.

Greg
 
i carry a one hand opening, locking knife almost at all times. i've cut loose threads out of carpet or clothing, trimmed calluses/blisters on my skin. i almost had to cut my hair out of a fan once. i've also cut the ends off of the battery cables on my truck so i could replace them. i could use it as a weapon, i guess. i hope it never comes to that.

i also carry a multi-tool. i don't have to hunt for a screwdriver or scissors, or pliers, or a saw... unless i need something heavier duty. i've trimmed tree branches in my yard, repaired/upgraded countless PCs, racked servers in a data center put together home and office furniture. i've also opened countless beers. who knows what else.

sure, you can survive in a modern urban setting without these things, but how often do you really want to stop what you are doing to go look for tools, or ask someone else for them?
 
JKM wrote an incredibly eloquent response to this kind of question several years ago. I keep coming back to this quote to reread it: :thumbup:

James Mattis said:
My good reason to carry a knife is that God gave me rather weak teeth and rudimentary claws in an evolutionary trade-off. The hairy-armed person who figured out how to put an edge on a suitable rock made it possible for us to be recognizably human in the first place. I wear a wristwatch whether or not I have an appointment to keep, and I carry a pen and/or pencil because I am a literate person whether or not I have a specific writing task ahead of me, and I carry a knife because I am a human and not an ape.

A knife comes in handy for all sorts of random tasks that involve separating matter. Like cutting a string, or making a sandwich, or opening a package. It can also come in handy in an emergency, which need not involve a human assailant, and emergencies are by their nature unforseen, so one should carry a knife all the time.

And in a perfect world where nobody needed a weapon, I'd probaby carry a slightly larger knife, because it wouldn't scare people.
Click to expand...
 
Whenever somebody asks me why I feel it necessary to carry a knife, I tell them to carry one around for a few days and see how often it comes in handy.

That is ALWAYS, the end of it. :D

People will sit and struggle with things for 10 or 15 minutes when they could do the same job in 10 seconds with a knife. My friends/family know that I ALWAYS have one with me and after helping them out with things constantly not only have they all embraced the idea, many of them have purchased knives of their own.
 
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