What is a knife to you? (You can vote for multiple options)

What is a knife to you? (You can vote for multiple options)

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My knives are mainly cutting tools, but I will admit to doing non-knife things with them. It would be a survival tool if necessary. I hope to pass down some, but they are not an investment. They are not art either. They definitely are not a status symbol. My wife would kill me if I some of the knives I have seen here.
 
Cutting Tool
Self Defense Option
Art
Future Hand Me Down to Child or Loved One
Fidget Toy

In general to some degree all of these are true to me, but not in equal measure to all knives.
I am not a collector or an investor. To me knives are first and foremost tools.
I like tools, have many, many tools, some of which happen to be knives.
 
A knife is a cutting tool. It can be a defensive tool if necessary, like claws on a cat. A last ditch survival tool. And since there's no reason a tool can't look good while doing the job, a knife can also be a piece of art.

Only a few can be all of these things at once...
 
Some of my knives are tools.

Some of my knives are weapons (by design, and if necessary, by usage)

Some of my knives are "amusements" (purchased just to amuse myself with).

Some of my knives are "treasures" (prized possessions and/or the fulfillment of lifelong dreams).

Some of my knives are "clutter" (knives I have accumulated that I have no use for at all).

Some of my knives are regrets (I wish I hadn't bought them).

And one of my knives was inherited from my father, so along with being a tool, it's also a family keepsake.
 
I said cutting tool, self defense option, Survival Option, Fidget Toy and Prybar/Screwdriver/Non Knife Stuff.

That being said, I've always been of the camp that a knife carried primarily as a self defense tool is an awful idea. The only times I'd even consider using a knife as a weapon is if I had no way to run away or a good reason not to, if I'm fighting someone who is outright trying to kill me and if I have no better weapon available (ie. a firearm or a long heavy object), in reach and at my disposal. Even as an infantryman, my chances of using a knife defensively are stupidly small to the point that the fixed blade that rides on my belt when I'm wearing my kit is a 4 inch blade utility knife rather those oversized 7+ inch fighting knives that some guys have convinced themselves they totally must have. Even then I can't escape the John Rambo comments from the usual suspects with a broken $15 chinesium folder attached to their plate carrier.

I also dislike the idea of a tool and potential weapon being referred to as a toy but if I'm being honest, I will repeatedly open and close (but not flick) my sebenza for that satisfying action and click sound or idly fondle a fixed blade from time to time out of boredom. And of course depending on the knife and the situation, I will use it as a prybar, screwdriver, carbon scraper or whatever else (depending on the knife ofc) when I don't have the right tool for the job readily available but need to get the job done quick, I've never broken a knife doing this but then again most my knives are on the thicker side so they can definitely handle these tasks if I'm careful, I'd never try to pry open a log or a crate with my UTX-85, Sebenza or Bushcraft Scout for instance but you bet that my Winkler Woodsman and Bravo 1 have chopped, screwed, pried and scraped countless times without damage. And then the cutting tool and survival option should be self explanatory IMO.
 
I’ve got knives, mostly used, inherited from my dad and grandfather, and I hope my son gets some from me. They are things to be passed down. Don’t throw out a perfectly good tool just because the owner died!

I definitely fidget with my knives and examine them when I’m lost in thought.

Knives are definitely art. We so often comment on their aesthetics that I find it hard to believe they aren’t also art.

In my book, if they aren’t cutting tools, they aren’t really knives.
 
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