WHY are we like this???

scdub

scdub

Basic Member
Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
2,967
Hi Everybody!

I just answered a thread about how we all got started collecting/accumulating knives, and it got me to thinking about another, similar question.

Why are we like this? Why do we love knives?

I'm not so much looking for thoughts on what it is about knives that we love. For most of you out there (myself included) the answers are probably similar:

- We like the feeling of being prepared.
- We like the power of holding/carrying a weapon.
- We like the way knives look/feel/smell/sound/ (taste?).
- We like the feeling of slicing a tomato (etc., etc.) with a sharp blade.
- We like the feeling derived from being able to make a knife sharp.

There are surely others out there - but again, I'm asking a different question: What is it about you, me, and all the other knuts that make us the way we are? Are there certain predispositions that make us more likely to want to have/use knives? Alternately, what the hell is wrong with those people out there that DON'T want to have/use knives?

As an example, I have a friend that is very into martial arts. He studies various styles, especially those of Gracy (sp?) the ultimate-fighter-guy. He loves old kung-fu movies and owns a couple of crappy, non-sharpenable "ninja swords", but he's not a knife guy. Why? I even tried to talk him into it by showing him some magazines and talking about some of the innovations out there, but when I suggested that I could help him research a knife that he might want to carry, he looked at me like I was crazy. On the other hand, I had another friend that I was able to convert ;) and in a mater of about 2 days he had purcased a CRKT Kasper. Why?

Nature or nurture?

Is it related to testosterone levels, (there are more male knuts...)?
Is it related to exposure to other knuts?
Are there other traits we all share, (e.g. fast cars or pizza)?

What do you think?

Cheers!

SCDUB
 
It's something very primitive in our mindset I think. Humans are tool using animals. The thought of the knife, one of our oldest and most diverse tools, appeals to that instinct. Owning a knife is even better. I like having a tool on me at all times. Several actually.
 
For me, I think it's a sort of sickness...Some sort of obsessive/compulsive disorder. I keep trading off knives that I want to keep, and end up with other knives that I trade off again after awhile. I carry at least 3 knives with me everywhere I go, and I spend WAY too much time on these (and other) Forums talking about knives.

My name is Dann, and I'm a knifeaholic.:D.
 
First I like the traditional aspect of knives as tool. My Grandfather taught me how to sharpen knives and whittle when I was about six years old, and sadly I'm the only one in my family that really has a clue with knives and sharpening.
The smell of Cedar and the sight of a good slip joint still bring back memories of lazy summer afternoons whittling with my grandfather. (he's also responsible for teaching me how to fish, hunt, shoot, and most other things I learned about the outdoors as a child)

Also I DO like to be prepared and I like the feel of a good tool working at maximum performance ie: taking extremely good care of my game meat while everyone else rips and tears with thier Wally World Specials that haven't seen a sharpening since God was a youngster building sand castles.

and.... honestly...perhaps too honestly I have found that my interest in knives increases along with the stresses in my life. The more stressed I am the more obsessive I get with knives. Guess sometimes it's a bit of a mental escape at times to ponder flat grind versus hollow grind as opposed to figuring out how to get more time and money during those times when I don't have enough of either. Some people drink, some people whore, some people do illegal drugs or abuse thier children. I play with sharp things. *shrug*
 
I love knives for two reasons.

On a pratical level, knives are arguably our most useful tool. Packaging design has come a long way over the years, but it still inconvenient. There is nothing cool or romantic about opening a package with your teeth, or ripping open an envelope with your bare hands. Once you realize that even a small knife can be a big help, you will never go without again.

Knives also provide a constant historical reference point. We can literally look at the whole breath of human existance and learn a great deal about their technology, economy, social structure, trade communications ,and values; just by looking at their knives. Everyone uses knives; even the most sheeple among us will have a few in their kitchen and in their workshops. To a large extent to be human is to use knives; it is what distinguished our earliest ancestors from the other primate that co-existed with them, and it continues to distinguish us today.

The subject of knives and knife collecting is a vastly rich one. There is plenty to intrigue all of us, no matter where our personal interests may lay. Whether you are attracted by the organic geometry of artistic fantasy knives, the mechanical technology and precision of a folding knife, or the many mysteries of our cultural history; there is plenty for you to see and enjoy within knives and knife collecting.

n2s
 
Some people drink, some people whore, some people do illegal drugs
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Booze, drugs, whores and lotsa knives, what a perfect combo for a well balanced life ( forgot the firearms ). What more does a man need??
 
I suppose my fascination in knives is primarily a form of escapism. A knife is something simple on the outside, but the closer you look, the more detail and the more intricate they become. I can think about these things and ignore everything else once in a while. I have gotten to the point that just holding a knife can be an opiate. And I'll admit, I like the idea of keeping a weapon on me. I like knowing that if I end up in a bad situation, I can at least have a fighting chance.
But whenever someone actually asks, I normally just reply: "Everyone needs a hobbie."
 
There's many mundane things that people admire and perfect as a form of art Guns, classic cars, antique furnature, etc. I mean, a gun goes bang, cars drive you from A to B, and a chair is made for sitting, regardless of how old it is. But to some people, these things are more than mundane.

With knives though, I think it's even greater. There is definitely something intrinsic within a knife that's etched into our brains. Something leftover from the times we still hunted animals with shaped pieces of flint and obsidian. Knives and the ability to make fire are mankind's most important achievements. Knives were our fangs and claws after nature gyped us out of real ones. Then it became our tool to rise above animals and create things.

There's nothing that gives you a "There is nothing I cannot do" feeling like holding a knife in your hand.
 
Besides all of the positive reasons regarding preparedness, admiring fine things, and not losing that link to our more primitive collective past, I do concede their is an unhealthier side to this.

The compulsive, gear freaky obsessiveness in us all. I know when things aren't going so well for me, there is a tendency to pull out the knife box and fondle my meagre collection. Any Psychs on the forums care to chime in? I think one of the South Africans is a psychologist from memory, was it Bok?
 
It is just a way of life with me. I got my first knife when I was six, my first automatic when I was eight and was collecting (with my own money) by the time I was 12. If I had to answer why....Because I can! :)
 
I believe there are a number of factors involved. Firstly, there is something "primitive" about knives and it not only revolves around man's first tool etc. It involves those processes of mining the ore, the use of fire, water and air to create the blade. The use of various materials esp. stag, bone and leather for handles and also leather for the sheaths.

Also, it goes back to you upbringing - as a kid knives were "natural" everyone carried and used one.

I don't think it has anything to do with being "manly" - many women collect, use and appreciate knives.

To get back to the "primitive" there is something wonderful about sitting around a campfire whittling with your favourit knife or cutting off chunks of meat - maybe it is a form of "escapism" today but then again it wasn't so many years ago when it was the natural thing to do.
 
Planterz said:
There's nothing that gives you a "There is nothing I cannot do" feeling like holding a knife in your hand.
Click to expand...

An Oxy/Acetylene cutting torch fired up in your hand gets pretty close. I can't think of a knife that caused me look at a guy's car and made me think;" Screw with me and I'll make that thing into 6" cubes!".

John
 
Apart from the heavy duty psychological reasons for it, there is the simple fact that boys like toys. Some are serious computer geeks, some are heavily into cars/bikes/planes/etc., some like telescopes and types like us are into knives and also usually stuff like flashlights and guns and outdoors type stuff.

How many guys do you know who don't like toys of some kind?

It just so happens that our choice of toys happen to have a wide range of uses.
 
jmxcpter said:
I can't think of a knife that caused me look at a guy's car and made me think;" Screw with me and I'll make that thing into 6" cubes!".
Click to expand...
You never owned a Strider?
 
I started regularly carrying a knife when I became a firefighter, having one in a belt pouch on my uniform and one in my fire jacket.
When off duty I used to find myself automatically reaching for the belt pouch that was on my uniform!
After that I had to start carrying a knife off duty too.
Now days, if I forget to take a knife out with me I feel naked.

I regard a well designed, practical knife as a work of art. The toolbox that I keep my knives in is my gallery. Sometimes I will just take a selection out, open them, close them and then return them to the box.
 
A little of all of the above for me. I feel independent, especially when I in the woods with a knife in my hand, pocket or belt. My wife always jokes when I select a knife to take along as we walk out the door but there is no shortage of occasions when she asks to use it.
For me the passion comes from the essence that every knife contains. What I mean is; a knife is born in the imagination of a maker or in his or her hands. The raw steel may be forged or cut and ground, it undergoes a transformation that is the expression of an idea coupled with some serious brainwork and brought to fruition with the sacrifice of blood, sweat and tears. It becomes at once a tool and an object of beauty. There is true artistry and self expression in knife design. Whether it's a handmade or a factory piece, part of a human soul resides there. When I hold a factory design by Elishewitz, Carson, Hammond, Glesser, I feel it. In a handmade knife the feeling is even more evident. I used to smoke weed. Now I smoke knives :cool: .
 
When I was a kid my favorite movie was Conan. I also loved ninja movies. Maybe that has something to do with why Im like this... All my hero's carried blades. But then again..WHY did I love THOSE movies so much? Was I BORN a knifeknut???? :eek:
 
I like parting molecules, and doing with the best equipment I can afford.

Oh yeah, they're shiny and fun to hold too.
 
Man, being born at a distinct disadvantage without fangs or claws, makes do with inventions from his overdeveloped brain. ;)
A friend joked with me when I cut open some packaging with a knife, "Oh, you couldn't just tear that open?"
I replied, "I can make fire by rubbing sticks together, but I prefer my zippo."
 
DeadManWalking said:
It's something very primitive in our mindset I think. Humans are tool using animals. The thought of the knife, one of our oldest and most diverse tools, appeals to that instinct. Owning a knife is even better. I like having a tool on me at all times. Several actually.
Click to expand...

What he said!
 
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