When you owed it to your knife...

This is embarassing. A couple of weeks ago I'm at work messin' around with zip ties when a co-worker comes up to me and asked me a question. When we were done talking I turned around to walk away and for no apparent reason had closed a zip tie around the last joint on my left pointer finger. It was TIGHT! It was so tight that it started cutting off the blood flow almost instantly. In a nano-second I heard the re-assuring click from my Spyderco g-10 Endura being engaged. I had to put the tip of the blade right against my skin and use massive force on the tip to cut that zip tie. Very dangerous and VERY stupid. Lesson learned. Don't play around with zip ties and ALWAYS carry a knife that is hair poppin' sharp.
 
ExMachina said:
There was a news item about a year ago of a elderly woman in Boston whose scarf got caught in a public escalator. She ended up being strangled to death, slowly, right in public, with people standing around. None of them able to help her because no one had a knife!! :mad:

So, this could have been the ultimate knife story for this thread. But sadly, no one "like us" was around at the time...:(
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Yeah, a very sad story :(

The unfortunate reality is probably that people who did have a knife did not want to attract attention to themselves and get into legal trouble for carrying a dangerous weapon or attempted murder. Because we know there are people who would assume that if you took a knife out of your pocket, even in that situation, that you were going to assault her rather than help her.
 
monsterdog said:
Yeah, a very sad story :(

The unfortunate reality is probably that people who did have a knife did not want to attract attention to themselves and get into legal trouble for carrying a dangerous weapon or attempted murder. Because we know there are people who would assume that if you took a knife out of your pocket, even in that situation, that you were going to assault her rather than help her.
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i hope and trust that no one who knew how to help would have hesitated for a second to save a person's life.
 
ExMachina said:
i hope and trust that no one who knew how to help would have hesitated for a second to save a person's life.
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Neither do I my friend. I was being somewhat sarcastic, though I don't doubt that some people would freak out and automatically think you were attacking rather than helping. In fact I've read stories on bladeforums where people with a knife tried to help out with something and got yelled at by other people there for pulling a weapon.
 
I was bow hunting one afternoon when I made a bad shot at a doe. The arrow hit a branch before it got to the doe and skipped over it's back and out into the swamp. After dark, when I got down out of the tree stand, I walked in the direction my arrow went not really paying much attention to where I was going or how far. I eventually found my arrow and turned to head back to the stand so I could pick up my trail to get out of the woods. After about thirty minutes of thrashing around in the dark I realized the stand was really lost and from what I could see, I was too. I wasn't in any real danger and wasn't really worried, but didn't want to spend the night in the woods either. My compass, water, jacket and the rest of my stuff was back at the stand. I remembered the knife I was carrying, a Randall, had one of those little compasses in the butt. I knew the direction I needed to walk to get out to a road and with the compass I could tell which direction that was. It was just going to be one bugger of a trip. Any other direction than the correct one, I would have been going for hours... provided I could have walked in a straight line. The compass in the butt of that Randall got me to the truck in about an hour. I always thought those things made a knife look kind of stupid and really didn't like the knife much because of it. I still have it and it has been nearly 20 years since I used the compass.
 
My girlfriend (later my wife) and I were downtown and three guys approached announcing their intention to stomp me and rape her.

I pulled my Gerber Vietnam dagger and they left.
 
Bill1170 said:
In the circle of friends I frequent I am often the only one with a knife on me. They all know it, so when a knife is needed, they come running to me.

One of the best times was many years ago my wife took me to a fancy concert for my birthday. My auditorium seat was perilously loose on its iron pedestal base, but the screwdriver on my trusty SAK was up to the task of reconnecting it. She loves to tell that story, still.

I cannot believe how many persons are comfortable without a knife. I feel naked without mine.

Bill
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I agree....if I'm awake, I have some type of knife on me.
 
puukkoman said:
You scab! Get offa my train!
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:D :p

There were a lot of jokes like that going around that trip. Basically, the train car was falling apart, literally. (Doors didn't work, loose screws rolling around the center aisle, etc.)

thx - cpr
 
I held a woman hostage with a Kershaw tactical blur in a Security training scenario for Hospital Security Officers. (Don't worry these were unarmed officers). They were not expecting this training exercise so I wanted it to look as real as possible.
 
Being a regular cigar smoker, I usually cut off the end of my cigars with an edc, rather than use a cutter.

Okay. Not an earth shaking revelation. However, it's an example of how carrying a knife makes my life easier in countless ways on an everyday basis. Whenever I have to travel by plane and can't have a knife on me, I feel much less prepared for whatever happens than when I do have a knife on me. I've never had to use a knife in a fight, but feel much safer walking down a dark street with one. How the hell do people open boxes, cut rope, or open packets of peanuts without one? I've cut off busted water hoses and fan belts on cars; pried stapes out of documents, used it as a cooking/eating impliment while camping out. Nope, can't think of one big, major event where having a knife saved may ass, but it sure had made my life more convenient.
 
A couple years I used my SOG Flash II to get an inch thick of ice off my windshield so I could get to work.:)
 
I was once between a would be mugger and my mom waiting to cross the street. He saddled up behind us fumbling with a .22 or .25 in his jacket pocket and eyeing my mom's purse. Just as he got behind me I deployed my knife discreetly and held it against my chest. I turned 45 degrees towards him so he could see the blade. We locked eyes for a few seconds (felt like hours) and I made sure I was within arms reach of him. He backed off and got into a car with three of his homies waiting for him. My mom was oblivious to what was going on behind her. For the record it was an old cheap $10 007 knife that they used to sell in NYC. I immediately flagged a patrol car on the street and gave them a description, not sure if they were ever caught. This was back in the Dodge City days of the early 90's in NY.
 
coolhand68 said:
I was once between a would be mugger and my mom waiting to cross the street. He saddled up behind us fumbling with a .22 or .25 in his jacket pocket and eyeing my mom's purse. Just as he got behind me I deployed my knife discreetly and held it against my chest. I turned 45 degrees towards him so he could see the blade. We locked eyes for a few seconds (felt like hours) and I made sure I was within arms reach of him. He backed off and got into a car with three of his homies waiting for him. My mom was oblivious to what was going on behind her. For the record it was an old cheap $10 007 knife that they used to sell in NYC. I immediately flagged a patrol car on the street and gave them a description, not sure if they were ever caught. This was back in the Dodge City days of the early 90's in NY.
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You sly dog.
You brought a knife to a gun fight and won :P.
 
Fishing along the East River...
The Bluefish were running, the fellow further down the seawall got a good one.
Once he brought it over the rail, we exchanged thumbs up and he went to unhook it.
The fish was caught on a giant crankbait, think 7-9" long with huge treble hooks.
He went to pin its head with his foot.
A little note on bluefish aka, yellow eyed devils, unlike trout they can move their eyes when out of the water. Their mouths are filled with small sharp, think X-Acto, teeth and their jaws are powerful. They see your hand coming and will go for it.
This fish has the front treble in his mouth and the second one in his belly.
The fish jump/lunges, the hook that's in his mouth goes into the guy's jeans and comes out of the fish's mouth.
Poor guy has the lure and about 8 or 10 lbs of angry bluefish attached to his leg and no safe way to grab either one
.
At first we thought it was kind of funny, then we realized this guy was in real trouble.
I walked over and asked if he wanted help. He didn't speak much English at all.
His eyes got real big when the Buck 119 appeared in my hand.
In my best (read: aweful) HS Spanish I said:
I will help.
First your pants, second the fish.
Si?
¡SI! ¡SI! ¡SI! ¡SI!

I pinned the fish, reached in and cut his jeans right behind the hook with one snick of the knife.
Talk about a happy camper...He split with his fish after many thank yous and high fives.

But the look on his face when I came walking toward him with that 119 in my hand was priceless.

Often wonder how he told the story when he got home.

ETA: I had just purchased the 119 and brought it to show my buddy. I'm glad I did... the extra reach over my usual slipjoint was really welcome. It worked out all around.
 
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Great stories guys! I've been carrying a pocket knife of some type since the late 70s and feel naked without one. Fortunately I've never had to use one in a self-defense situation (knock on wood). Off the top of my head the story that comes to mind is from a few years ago when I went to a buddy's new home to visit and check out the place. He had just bought a new computer desk. It was one of those big wooden deals with lots of shelves, cd racks, etc, made of laminated MDF, that are shaped to fit in a corner with the pc screen in the middle of the "V" of the desk. Anyhow, all his tools were at his shop so I whipped out my Leatherman Squirt P4 and Victorinox Midnite Minichamp and we put together that whole desk with those two micro tools. The ironic thing is that several years later he and his wife split up and soon after sold the house. I was over visiting him again and used those same tools to take the desk apart, help him move to his new girlfriend's place, then set it back up again!
 
My four year old got entangled in a seat belt. It would not loosen, the more he struggled the tighter it became. I tried to free him for several minutes, finally cut him out with a Schrade.
 
90% of my friends don't carry a knife. They know I do. Anymore when I hear "Hey Arch, you got a knife?" Any more I just say "nope." Most of my buddies could "F" up a bowling ball and have no concept of the proper use of tools... Like I'm gonna hand over my Sebenza.

I'm sure 99% of us have saved the day with a Leatherman a time or two...
 
I'm the king at Christmas. No one carries a knife in my family yet they're always buying their kids toys in blister packs.:D
 
I just remembered another incident, one that occurred 70 feet below the surface of the ocean off the west coast of Guam about 10 years ago. My wife and I were scuba diving with some friends when we spooked a good sized turtle that had been resting under a coral ledge. The turtle was tangled up in a plastic six-pack rig, with its head through one ring and front flipper stuck halfway through another. The turtle was just about worn out from trying to free itself, and had difficulty swimming. We were able to catch it easily.

Everyone was wearing dive knives, but most divers don't sharpen them. Besides not really knowing how, there are very few times when you use one for other purposes than a pry bar! Being a knife knut my TWO (a 5" blade on the inside of my calf, and a small 2" blade on my BCD strap) are always as sharp as I can get them and coated with silicon grease to keep from rusting. We were able to hold on to the turtle and cut off the plastic without any difficulty. It was a happy sight to watch it swim off. I just hope the stress of the incident didn't cause the turtle any permanent damage.

Stitchawl
 
my skyline helped me cut some branches to stick under my car tires when i was stuck in a muddy dirt road yesterday. it then helped to shatter the rear window to get my keys out of the same car, while i was locked out and the car was running and in gear.....dont ask...yes, i owed my knife :|
 
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