What Do You Use Your Punch For?

Trout Hound

Trout Hound

Joined
Sep 28, 2014
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693
Howdy Y'all,

I've never had a knife with a punch before. Looks interesting. I'm just wondering what types of tasks everyone uses theirs for. I can think of a few obvious uses, but I bet there are a lot I haven't thought of. Thanks!
 
I tend to use the punch when I need to cut or poke something that might mangle the edge on one of the other blades. It's the "beater" blade.

Once every decade or so, I use one to punch a hole in leather. ;)
 
It makes for a great awl or scribe. Also good for making additional belt buckle holes, cleaning between the liners of other knives, and a teeny tiny eyeglasses screwdriver.
EDIT: Also makes a nice little fid for splicing triple strand, and as mentioned above a dandy little marlin spike for untying a knot.

It and the can/tin opener are probably the most used "blades" on my scout/camp knives.
 
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I used the punch on my SAK Electrician once to add a new hole in a belt. Worked great. My wife uses it all the time (now *her* SAK Electrician) to create holes in the ends of corn cobs to put on squirrel feeders. Perfect tool for that.

I've used the punch on my SAK Farmer to start holes in wood so that when I started drilling with an electric drill, the drill bit would not walk around.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Basically they are good for starting holes, enlarging holes, and actually creating holes in soft material like wood or leather. Probably would be good for some types of scraping as well.
 
Just used the one on my SAK pioneer to start screw holes for numbers on a wood gatepost.

Tom
 
I use mine on my Surge, Pioneer, and Electrician a lot at work. It acts as an awl. I clean flame rods, oil electrodes, burners, contactor points, etc. I use it to make holes for plastic anchors. I've used it in a pinch to drill holes in vents to drain water. I've cleaned refrigerant metering orifices with it. Anything and everything. It's saved me many a trip up and down ladders or in and out of crawl spaces to get the "correct" tool.
 
Seems I have need to dig things out with a knife. From cleaning a hard to get to place in my car to adding a little reach for that thing that fell beside a cabinet. I also seem to find myself needing to punch a hole in something like the top in a tube of Flitz or similar. I guess what I'm saying is that I have found it to be an extremely useful tool.
 
I mostly use it to scrape ferro-rods for making fires everyweek (I am an asst. Scout master and the boys love fire :D)

I did use the awl/punch to help carve circles in Jack o'lanterns at halloween, too.
 
I use the awl on my Pioneer to scrape the waxy stuff off of apples (especially on red delicious apples) prior to washing them off and eating them.

I've lost about 36 pounds, and used it to drill a new hole in my belt to accommodate my smaller waist. I find the one on my Pioneer works much better for drilling holes than the ones on the cellidor-handled SAKs that open from the back.

Jim
 
I use it for punching holes in leather, and occasionally for making/enlarging holes in other things. Comes in pretty handy sometimes.
 
Mine has a sharp angled end so it can dig into wood to start screw holes (as others have mentioned). I also sharpened one edge of the blade (the right-hand side as you see it here), so it can function as a scraper. The longer of the two tines on the can-opener fork works well as a probe to clean out small things that need cleaning out.

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This is a Camillus Army engineer's knife from 1942-44, one of millions that were made in those years. It still has some original mirror polish in places on the blades, and it gets carried every day. (It's now in brighter, cleaner condition than it was when the photo was taken.)
 
Drilling holes into leather, occassionally cleaning stuff that need a short pointy tip and very rarely drlling into wood.
 
Wic Alox Pioneer has a good punch. I use it with leatherwork and it has proven usefull in digging crud out of tight places. Some days ago I used it to dig ice out of a bicycle pump.
 
I've used mine for leather, and as some others have mentioned, a scraping tool. I've not used it often, but when I do, it's been very handy and has saved my blade from inappropriate use!
 
I've had a few different knives with a punch. All I've ever used it for is a new hole in my leather belts. You guys have given me some other good ideas I could use a punch for.
 
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