Who has ever had to pound something with the butt of their knife?

stanley_white

stanley_white

Joined
Nov 28, 2001
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Throughout all my time in the .mil and multiple deployments etc I have never, ever, pounded anything with the butt of my knife.

Has anyone actually ever done this?

If so, what was the situation?

-Stan
 
I find that I always find a stick or rock to do my hammering with, but I'm crazy like that.
 
crab legs and claws, tinder fungus too, but the powdered tinder fungus was just meh...
 
Tent pegs, cracking nuts, breaking down fibers, and some traps that I had to stake into the ground. All of this could have been done with a rock or heavy stick, but I used the butt of the knife...
 
I pound on the pommel more then using it to pound on things. Such as splitting but kindling or what have ya.
 
I've cracked walnuts with the butt cap of the skookum.

Also I have a Golite Hex 3 and it sets up using a trail pole but it's so tall they sell an extension you put on the end of your trail pole to make it tall enough. One time it stuck on there and I pounded it off with the skookum but cap.

There was one other time I think breaking tinder fungus off of a tree that I used it too but I can't for sure remember
 
I used to do so regularly with my Ontario USAF knife. Mostly nails, fence staples, etc.
 
I used my Swamp Rat RMD to drive a tent peg once. Just wanted to see how well it would work.
 
Well, I’ve cracked nuts as well, but probably the worst example was my first deployment to Iraq. I had a two-by-four bed frame in my hooch and I had a few large nails for hanging my gear with. I used the handle of my Mad Dog PATAK to pound them in as I was too lazy to find a hammer. Worked fine and Mad Dog’s handles are tougher than nails…literally. I’ve see a grizzled old NCO tap on the butt of his knife (I think it was a Ka Bar) to pierce around the edge of a tin coffee can (good reason I started carrying a P38).

I am a big believer in using the right tool for the job, but you know as well as I Stanley that some situations pop up and you have to improvise with what you have. I will add that using your knife as a hammer, pry bar, pick or chisel is a good way to damage it regardless if it’s built to handle tough tasks.

ROCK6
 
Thank you all for the input!

I am having a custom blade built and I was on the fence about leaving a portion of the pommel exposed vice covering it with micarta to make a longer handle.

I decided to leave the pommel exposed -- just in case.

-Stan
 
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