What do you use your knives for?

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Peak_Oil

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Nov 6, 2005
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My use for knives has changed over the years. My most likely use of a knife is in the kitchen for any number of tasks. I open my mail with a finger, yank strings off my jeans, and it's 20/80 whether I will open a package with a pocket knife. This has more to do with my employer than anything else. I may not go to work with a knife. It's a cause to be fired. I had to get used to the idea of using rounded scissors to cut zip ties or open boxes.

Now my pocket knives have found their way into nightstands, boxes, junk drawers, a pencil cup, or on a keychain I reserve for my motorcycle. It's not in my pocket every day like it used to be.

I gave a knife to one of my friends. He's got it sitting on his coffee table. I have a couple of babies blundering around my living room so I have to stash anything sharper than an Elmo doll out of reach.

I don't use a knife for bushcraft, have not done so for over a year, and have no intention of doing so for at least another couple of years.

The main use I have for knives is in the kitchen. I probably pry a bottle cap off a beer 1-4x/day with the back of my chef's knife, so that's probably the single most common use I have for a knife.

At the same time I just bought a ridiculously huge Bowie short sword that I am frankly not qualified to use. It's just awesome and I'm keeping it. There's obviously something wrong with me. I might as well collect ceramic pigs for all the use I get out of my knives.
 
Well uses definitely change but I always have at least two blades on me and use them for everything.
Food
Packages
Mail
String/Rope/Cord
Tape
Plastic

Just a lot. I can find a use for my knife in any situation lol. I just love my knives.
 
Well then you're like 90% of knife owners, myself included. :D On any given day, yeah, I open clamshell packages, open cardboard boxes, cut the loose strings on clothes, cut zip ties, cut off price tags and labels, slice fruit, etc. For 99.9% of my daily uses for a knife, I need a thin, fairly-small, laser-sharp blade.

But when I go camping, it's a whole 'nother ball game. I still need a thin slicer, but I also need something to process firewood, make walking sticks, make tent pegs, make pot hangers, clean game and fish, chop heads off fish, cut material, light chopping jobs, etc. Then I need something beefier, but nothing extreme. 1/8" thick O1 in 4-5" spear point does the trick for anything I need.

I never need a massive blade like a bowie or camp knife. I don't think I ever will.
 
Over my lifetime my uses for knives have changed, or rather the kind of knives I like have changed. When I was younger, I liked a bigger knife than I do now. My edc for about 25 years was a Buck 301 stockman. I had a few sodbusters along the way, and a few SAK's here and there. My woods knife was Randall number 14.

Now I'm retired from the machine who, and with so much time on my hands I actually find myself needing a knife more now than when I was working. Going fishing a lot more, camping with the better half or walking in the woods, taking the grandkids on outings. But my knife has shrunk down in size to a Case peanut and a little Victorinox classic on my keying. I finally made the discovery that I really don't need more than a 2 inch blade to gut and clean a pan fish, cut bait, open a plastic blister package that my old arthritic fingers can't pull apart, cut jute twine for the tomato plants out back, and of course opening my mail.

Being a modern suburbanite, I have come to the realization that I don't need a large knife, even though I like the looks of them. Hey, I'm a knife nut, I like knives. But these days as an outdoor loving grandfather, a small sharp pocket knife is what fills the bill. Plus I don't want to take up a lot of space in a pocket since I carry so much other stuff. Small Fenix flashlight, small bottle of hand sanitizer, bandana, keys, pipe, tobacco pouch, Bic lighter, and the assorted items that one finds in a pocket that seem to accumulate.

Even camping, I have no need of anything more than a mora sheath knife for the cooking and camp chores. It took me a lifetime to find out my father was right; it doesn't have to be big, just sharp.
 
EDC - Mini grip, Leafstorm, copperlock
string
tape
carboard
zip ties (only when I have no sidecutters)
food

Anywhere I "might" need more knife - Paramilitary
 
edc- bm adamas at the moment

i use it to open boxes
cut food if a chef knife isn't in front of me
zip ties
plastics
light prying
string/ropes
i do a lot of climbing so a sharp blade is a must to carry in case of emergencies




and honestly in a week i use my knife for things. and having it on my person all the time really bring peace of mind. its similar to having a small tool set in you car. then it won't start that one morning or i blow out another u joint and i can smile knowing i can swap it out in 20 minutes because I'm prepared
 
edc- bm adamas at the moment

i use it to open boxes
cut food if a chef knife isn't in front of me
zip ties
plastics
light prying
string/ropes
i do a lot of climbing so a sharp blade is a must to carry in case of emergencies




and honestly in a week i use my knife for things. and having it on my person all the time really bring peace of mind. its similar to having a small tool set in you car. then it won't start that one morning or i blow out another u joint and i can smile knowing i can swap it out in 20 minutes because I'm prepared
 
To cut stuff...
Most recently to open 2 clam shell packages and a lot of screen while screening in my back porch.
 
Peak_Oil said:
I may not go to work with a knife. It's a cause to be fired. I had to get used to the idea of using rounded scissors to cut zip ties or open boxes.
Click to expand...
In the same boat here.

However, co-workers are surprisingly okay with a knife as long as it has a pair of pliers attached to it. Been carrying around a Leatherman Skeletool for as long as I worked. It's really useful for opening boxes sealed up with plastic straps and tape that has embedded fibers.
 
zuluninja said:
I use my knives to cut stuff.
Click to expand...

yep....thats pretty much all i use mine for. LOL... from hunting and fishing to some of the harder tasks that my job requires. different knives for different tasks, but theyre all tools for cutting.
 
Boxes, cardboard, wood, wires, fingernails, rope, cord, zip ties, and food.
 
I usually carry two knives with me a large folder I consider my "do all". Then a case peanut to cut food only.
 
For the most part just general utility. However lately I've tried to take hunting a bit more seriously and have used a few of my knives for skinning and field dressing.
 
Once in a while Im bad and use it as a regular screwdriver. I always hole it at the blade though.
 
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