What's with EDC and boxes?

AusLoX said:
Get yourself some m4 steel man. Cut through chain link fence with this one. Chipped a little but it worked out

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Maybe someday.



I dunno about you guys, but I really don't like box cutters. I'm especially not lugging something else around with me. My job is random so I don't spend 9-5 in a warehouse all day. If you're slicing up cardboard, FFG Delica is the best I have used. The ZDP version is probably the one to get, but my VG10 has been excellent. It was the sharpest knife I've ever used, out of the box. Even when it's relatively dull, the thin blade, flat grind and no stud to get in the way; it just goes right through the cardboard.

Actually, if boxes are on the menu, one of these usually gets the job.
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Working at a hardware store, my knives see various uses through out a normal day. Yes, opening boxes and breaking down cardboard into more manageable sized pieces is one of them, but the most common task is cutting through those thick plastic bands that are placed around bunks of lumber to keep the boards secured for shipping etc.
 
stabman said:
What boggles my mind is that the people who judge how I use knives the most are...knife people. :D


Seriously, it's pretty much only here that people complain about me using a folder to cut food, or open a box, and only on the internet has anyone thought using a karambit for utility purposes is a sin that wil attract a SWAT team.


In real life, no one gives a crap!
A the lab, no one said "Hey, use a box cutter"; what they said was "Hey Mark, you have a knife...can you open this box?"


When I've used my carry knife to cut food in a restaurant, no one cared. The waitresses did not care, nor did any customers. In fact, the customers seemed to be enjoying eating their food and talking to friends and family, rather than staring at people to find something to judge them about. Weird!
But here at Bladeforums, I was told how it was against the dictates of arbitrarily made up rules of politeness, that only internet people seem to be privy to.


Moral of the story?
There isn't one...but damn, there are a lot of judgemental people here! ;)


Oh, and I opened another box today with my EDC folder, so there. :)
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Yup it's a knife forum full of opinions and judgments. It matters not whether such opinions and judgments are based on empirically based facts; it's just opinions and judgments. Don't worry about it but just enjoy reading the comments and take them with a huge grain of salt. Like all internet forums it's just a bunch of folks posting stuff and it is not subject to any sort of peer review or rigorous scientific analysis like an article published in an academic journal or anything similar.
 
marcinek said:
Really, if you aren't looking for any excuse to use your knives, what are you doing here?
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I'm here because I like and appreciate knives, but I don't go out my way to find "unnecessary" uses for them. My knives wear down just fine enough through standard use, and half the time I couldn't even tell you what if anything I used them for that day, as I use them without thinking, when the need arises. But I also use scissors and axes when scissors and axes are most convenient or appropriate, I use my kitchen knives and not my folders when I'm in the kitchen, I still use my fingers most often to tear open my mail, and so on and so forth. I don't knock anyone for their use of their knives, but for me, I just choose not to use my knives "just because" I want to use my knives, and in doing so wear out my edges (and then also my stones, strops, compounds, etc), faster then necessary. Just like I love and appreciate my truck, but I don't hop in it to drive to the mailbox just because I can, I walk to the end of the driveway. I choose (and prefer) to extend the overall life of my "stuff" moreso then use it all up whenever I can, especially if and when I can find a more suitable option to perform the same tasks.

Yes, I happen to be blessed in a position where I can have a burn barrel and so I burn most of my cardboard and paper waste, and so, I don't have a need to cut up my cardboard boxes. If my circumstances were different, I would very well break down my boxes, but again, I use my knives when the need arises and/or whenever i deem their use the most convenient option, not just "because I can". That doesn't mean I don't like or appreciate them any more or less then the next guy, just because I don't cut as much cardboard or open my bills or baton my firewood with them.

Different strokes for different folks. Do you, I'll do me. And we can agree to disagree, but still agree that knives are pretty darn great.
 
Not to mention, I have no need to simply "test" my knives on cardboard or rope or paper cutting, when I can easily read and watch a dozen or 2 reviews and videos from other people cutting such media with their knives of the same make and model, of nearly any knife I might decide to purchase...
If 12 or so other people confirm just how well a Benchmade 810 contago in m390 or a SAK cuts up cardboard boxes with their edges, great, I can rest easy and have good faith that mine will live up to expectations without feeling the need to verify their results with my own findings. And I truly do appreciate and thank all the good folks our there putting their knives through the tests, so that I don't have to, cuz Lord knows, I can't afford to...
 
Depending on where you live, recycling, and more to the point, the way recycling has become more extreme in format, cutting up cardboard is a task any EDC has to do well.

Add to that online shopping (depending on how much of that you do) and there's a never ending pile of boxes waiting for my knives.

It's a good way to test comfort over prolonged use, edge retention, and obviously, slicing capability.....
 
This thread attracted more attention than I thought! Thanks for the answers, guys! I do admit that I do tend to cut boxes sometimes(WHEN I'M ALONE WITH ANYTHING I CAN CUT) cause it's one of the only times I get to play with my knives. I don't do camping since I live in the city and I work as a Software Developer.
 
LOL, me too. Yesterday I got my storage cabinet delivered and I rendered the cardboard into small pieces for the recycle bin with my HK Turmoil.
 
stabman said:
I was using the ones with the blades that snap off when working stock.
At the lab we had one with the blades that could be sharpened, but no one had in over ten years...seriously.
It was so amazingly dull. :D
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Oy, those are like the gas station knives of the utility knife world. The Lenox look good, I use plain old Stanley blades and touch em up if they get dull, replace if chipped. But for cardboard I use my Opi, or whatever is in the back pocket. The Opi makes short work of things, and doesn't get as gummy.

Connor
 
clarkkentanabi said:
Majority of reviews I've watched about folders always mention that knife is good for cutting open boxes. I mean do most knife nuts really have jobs that involve cutting boxes. It sounds a bit of a cliche to me. I use my EDC to splice wires and to cut paper which is why I carry cheap folders. Let me know what you guys think.
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Cutting cardboard dulls the edge more quickly than many tasks which is why it is one of the knife review methods. I cut varying thicknesses of cardboard frequently (maybe not every day, but certainly several times a week) and I don't work anywhere that requires me to cut boxes. This is at home.

Cutting copper wires with a knife is a last resort. I prefer wire cutters and generally will make the trip outside to my tool box if I need to cut wiring. My multi-tools do a nice job on smaller wires.

Cutting paper.... almost never. Use a scissors. Remember, cardboard is just paper.
 
22-rimfire said:
Cutting cardboard dulls the edge more quickly than many tasks which is why it is one of the knife review methods. I cut varying thicknesses of cardboard frequently (maybe not every day, but certainly several times a week) and I don't work anywhere that requires me to cut boxes. This is at home.

Cutting copper wires with a knife is a last resort. I prefer wire cutters and generally will make the trip outside to my tool box if I need to cut wiring. My multi-tools do a nice job on smaller wires.

Cutting paper.... almost never. Use a scissors. Remember, cardboard is just paper.
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...loaded with abrasive impurities like sand.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
...loaded with abrasive impurities like sand.
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Try keeping a polished edge at my work. I split granite on site at an open pit gravel mine. [emoji6]

Everything I cut is coated in fine sand, stone dust, silica dust.

I gave up on making atom splitting edges long ago. A touch up for a draw cut , paper slicing edge on my Sharp Maker is all I do anymore.

Works fine for me. [emoji2]
 
I got by for years with a Spyderco Endura and the sharpmaker. Boxes died screaming.

These days I haven't sharpened a knife in a couple of years. Seems like by the time a supersteel sprint run goes dull, I've got two more waiting to go. Thought I was going to catch up, but then the blurple knives started coming out.
 
I just carry mine and cut whatever needs cutting for that day! As far as boxes go, I'm a box builder....Pizza Hut delivery!! LOL
 
If you shop at Costco, then you need to cut down boxes. Even if I didn't recycle my cardboard, and I do, I'd still have to cut them down for the trash bin. Most all my day is spent outside with horses, so I'm not a desk jockey by any stretch. Come nighttime I'm in the house. That's when the boxes of pasta or soda cans or whatever pile up. And imagine if we had kids! Outside I still have to cut down boxes of horse supplements, meds, and so on. And bailing twine can be murder on some blades, not to mention the tough grasses they're holding together. In some ways I'm doing the same thing the box cutting guys are doing, just with different products!

As for taped boxes, well, when I was working shipping and receiving, I used a box cutter because of the gunk and tape shards that clogged my SAKs (which was my usual knife 25 to 30 years ago).

Zieg
 
Oh, and while I don't always go out of my way looking for a cutting task, I will use the knife at hand rather than my fingers if the opportunity arises. Mail, ticket stubs, plastic strapping, and so forth. Like with my fountain pens, I enjoy how nice things work. I will take the opportunity to send a postcard to my folks and friends if there is a postcard handy (and my pens usually are) instead of an email. My mailbox is a mile and a half away, up the road, so I will come home from a client's barn, park the car, and ride a horse back up to get the mail. Sometimes I'll take the motorcycle. I could rip open the mail, but I like to slow things down sometimes and using a knife does that for me.

I guess it's why I used to smoke a pipe. Slow and deliberate with nice tools.

Zieg
 
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