What does a knife mean to you?

Riz!

Riz!

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So I was thinking about this recently...

Why do I love knives so much? It is just a tool isnt it? This is what I came up with...

To me a knife is functional art. I enjoy the lines, the flow of the design, the feel of a razor edge. To me a knife is a tool. A functional piece of art that is a tool. A tool that makes my life a little easier. This is the big one... To me, a knife, especially a fixed blade, represents an adventure. Every hunting trip, every fishing trip, everytime I camp, everytime I kayak, everytime I hike, everytime I burn up trails on my mountain bike, I have a fixed blade with me. Its a little security in my pack, on my neck, in my pocket, on my belt. Its the knowledge that with my knife I can build a shelter, start a fire, make food, fix a problem, even defend myself. I can Survive! ( <--- see what I did there?) When I dont have my knife I feel naked, like something is missing. To me the knife is memories. Everytime I grasp the handle I think of time spent with my dad, my buddies, even my kids. I cut my younger daughter's umbilical cord with my favorite pocket knife. I whittle marshmallow sticks for the campfire for my older daughter and my son. There is something soothing about maintaining that edge, the sound that the blade makes as is slides across the stone. The feel of the edge gliding across a strop. I love the popping noise as I test the edge on my arm hair. It is definitely therapy.

There is something primal about a knife. Sitting by the fire in the cool fall smokey air, whittling a stick, I cant help but picture a primative man maintaining his knife. He probably looked at it and admired it and appreciated the same function that I do; the fact that he could survive with it, live easier with it. Thousands of years have passed and the simple tool of a knife is still relevant. The knife helped shape humanity.

The japanese swordsmiths believed their blades had a soul. I can see how they felt that way. There is a connection between humanity and the blade that doesn't exist anywhere else in nature.

What does a blade mean to you?
 
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Riz, I would love to add to this...but you so fully encapsulated how I feel that i handed my computer to the wife to read what you wrote. She is extremely understanding, but probably will never fully understand the feeling. I love the idea that man created this tool and over thousands of years there are still new innovations, be it in steel types/heat treats/grind refinement etc etc. I also agree that having a trusty fixed blade with you feels like a door to adventure.
 
Its crazy too... Even with all of the new technology that goes into a knife, in principle it is really the same tool. A very acute wedge, held in the hand to cut things.

Your wife probably thinks I am crazy!
 
Riz2530 said:
Its crazy too... Even with all of the new technology that goes into a knife, in principle it is really the same tool. A very acute wedge, held in the hand to cut things.

Your wife probably thinks I am crazy!
Click to expand...

haha no not at all i think she said "very eloquent!" I then reiterated that i felt the same way as a nudge nudge wink wink that this "disease" wasn't gonna go away!
 
Riz2530 said:
So I was thinking about this recently...

Why do I love knives so much? It is just a tool isnt it? This is what I came up with...

To me a knife is functional art...
Click to expand...

That is a great post and you have a talent for writing.

Cheers!
 
Well written piece! Unfortunately for me, I am such a newbie in knives and I have yet to fully experience what you have been through with your knives. Sure does sound like knives are part of life's great adventures.
 
pjandyho said:
Well written piece! Unfortunately for me, I am such a newbie in knives and I have yet to fully experience what you have been through with your knives. Sure does sound like knives are part of life's great adventures.
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Stick around. :-)
 
redwood22 said:
Riz, I would love to add to this...but you so fully encapsulated how I feel that i handed my computer to the wife to read what you wrote. She is extremely understanding, but probably will never fully understand the feeling. I love the idea that man created this tool and over thousands of years there are still new innovations, be it in steel types/heat treats/grind refinement etc etc. I also agree that having a trusty fixed blade with you feels like a door to adventure.
Click to expand...
I am laying in bed next to my wife, and I read this aloud to her. It's "pillow talk". She asked, "Did you write that?" She gets me... But she'll never understand.

What does my knife (lol, singular tense of "knife" for irony... as if...) mean to me?

It means security. As an avid woodsman, the thought of being without a knife is terrifying... And yes, it happened once, as I left my pack in a blind when I left at dusk to flank an elk heading across a ridge above me. I got disoriented, separated from my partner, my pack, my knives, my jacket... My entire kit. The first thing I thought was, "I have no way to make fire to stay warm, and no knife to protect me. Might I, with time, flake off a shard of rock, or chip away at a piece of glass in the absence of a blade? Sure... But it wouldn't be the same. And neither substitute would be nearly as capable. But with a knife (OK, who am I fooling? With my KNIVES...) I have hope for self reliance, survival, and security.

They mean stories. When I use some of my knives, I recall which animal they butchered, which battle scar they suffered during which adventure, and on which trails they were my companion. There's a special sentimentality about some of my blades... Even my Moras, which still find their way into my pack... At least one on every trip for those, "I don't want to use my good blade for this task" situations.

They mean pride of ownership. Some blades forge a special connection between me and their makers, none of whom I have ever actually met. There's a silent, subtle bond "forged" with the maker, and their reputation as a craftsman gives me a since of pride that non-knife-people cannot conceive of second hand. I remember the days when I had a $75 self-imposed limit on the amount I would spend on a knife. Today that number is at $250, and I have thousands of dollars invested. And although the cutting performance of some knives may be only slightly better than my beloved Moras, there's a certain satisfaction in the trust I place in my blades, and the skilled hands of the (wo)man who made them. I like knowing that a real Guy (<---- see what I did there?) made my knife, and not some robot or production line worker.

Furthermore, they mean camaraderie. There's a fraternal brotherhood between forum members in the knife community that is hard to emulate elsewhere. Some car guys have it, bowhunters have it, gun guys have it, but there's less snobbery and more esprit de corps in the knife world than in many places. I've only sensed that stronger in the community of faith at my church.

In many cases, knives mean heirlooms. I cherish knives of my dad, grandfather, and great grandfather (who passed 14 years before my birth). I have 3 young sons, and hope to instill in them a sense of legacy through the knives I will leave behind. I often wonder which ones I will keep for the next few decades to pass onto them, and which ones will be passed on to others... Replaced... Disregarded.

My obsession began with a quest for a "one knife solution" to every situation I would face. I've since resigned to the fact that there likely isn't a "one knife" for me... But the quest continues to see just how close I can get to attaining the impossible.
 
Another well written piece. Really makes me wonder what will I do with mine? Maybe not much but at least I know I am going to have fun with it.
 
Every thing above was well said. A knife is a tool, they're art, and over time they do become heirlooms to be passed down to loved ones. I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't have and carry a knife. I was given a small old timer stockman at a very young age. (Probably around 5-6; too young for most kids these days.) With that small gift it began a fascination that so far has followed me to this day. The first knife I ever got is gone(stolen), but I know even after the many years of its out of sight if I picked it up I could tell you it was mine. From the broken clip point blade, to the spey that I 'reprofiled' learning to use a stone. (There was no fixing it when I got done.) When I look at a knife someone hands me, I look at the wear and the care that the knife has been put though.

Yes, a knife is a tool but for me its the memories, the adventures, and the stories to be told.

Great thread Riz.
 
Despite being made of cold steel, there is something "warming" about a knife to me. Its why I prefer natural materials like leather/wood/micarta. Maybe its nostalgia, maybe something else. As I have owned many different knives and been introduced to different ideas, things like G-10 and Kydex have really begun to appeal to me as well.
 
The knife is an extension of my body, a personal tool/weapon and form of functional art and or jewelry.
 
I got my first knife in the scouts when I was in elementary school. I loved Macgyver! It started my obsession. Then my dad got me my first real hunting knife. A Gerber LST with a camo handle and black blade. I still have it. My first snob steel knife was a Gerber EZ out with ATS-34
 
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A knife means to me the ability to influence my environment in the direction of safety, comfort, convenience, or, in some cases, excitement. Very few tools are capable of similar potential in so simple and convenient a package.
 
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My quest began in much the same way that forte-defense describes, looking for that one perfect knife. I acquired several folders, several very good folders, but it came to me that even the strongest and best of them paled by comparison to even the most modest of fixed blades. For over two years I have carried only fixed blade knives, because they can do so much more than any folder when called upon and when required. Today with over 100 fixed blade knives, I have still not found that perfect one, but I have enjoyed the journey so far. Perhaps the new 5.1 is it for me because the old 5.1 came as close as any I own.
 
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